English - Modernities: American and British Literature and Film

Course details

This MA introduces students to the advanced study of American and British literature and film, from the eighteenth century to the present day. Under the guidance of leading scholars in their fields, students will encounter some of the most influential contemporary critical and theoretical models currently being applied to the notions of modernity and modernisation, and apply the ideas raised by these theories to a rich variety of literary and filmic texts from such movements as Romanticism, Modernism, and Postmodernism. Writers and directors who are studied range from canonical Romantics and modernists, including P.B. and Mary Shelley, Virginia Woolf, and Samuel Beckett, to recent and contemporary novelists and filmmakers such as Thomas Pynchon and Stanley Kubrick. Among theorists of modernity, students can expect to examine Freud, Nietzsche, de Beauvoir, Habermas, and Jameson, and to explore the relevance of their ideas to a deeper understating and greater appreciation of the literature and film in this period. 

Course Details

The MA in English (Modernities) consists of two parts: a taught course and a dissertation.

Programme Requirements

Students take 90 credits as follows:

Part I  (50 credits)

• EN6009 Contemporary Literary Research: Skills, Methods and Strategies (10 credits) 
• EN6028 Theories of Modernity (10 credits)

Plus

30 credits from:

• EN6025 Literary and Cultural Modernisms (10 credits) 
• EN6026 Postmodernism in Literature and Film (10 credits) 
• EN6027 Romanticism and Modernity (10 credits)
• EN6029 American Modernities (10 credits)
• FX6007 American Cinema (10 credits)

Part II  (40 credits)

• EN6017 Dissertation in English (40 credits)

Detailed Entry Requirements

To be considered for admission to an MA programme within the School of English, an applicant will normally possess a primary degree result of Second Class Honours Grade 1 (2H1) level or higher or equivalent qualification in English or a cognate subject. All candidates must satisfy a Selection Committee who may request applicants to provide letters of reference.

For North American students a cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 is expected.

Course Practicalities

The course involves a combination of seminars, consultation, presentations and directed study as well as associated reading. You will carry out independent research for your dissertation in close consultation with your supervisor.

Assessment

Continuous assessment including written assignments, in-class assignments, seminar participation and presentation, research journal, literature and IT review and research presentation. You will have four written assessments (2000 words each) in the Modernities module and seminar participation.