MA-GradDip-PgDip Literature Studies & Creative Writing

Programme of study
Both programmes provide you with the opportunity to gain a higher degree through a combination of taught modules, negotiated independent study, writing and research.

MA programme

Students registered for the MA choose between two pathways:

• Contemporary Literary Studies focuses on a wide variety of recent literature and on current developments in theory and critical practice
• Creative Writing offers the opportunity to develop your skills as a writer and to explore the theory and practice of writing in the contemporary world.

The degree normally consists of four taught modules and a dissertation or portfolio. It is possible to replace one taught module with a negotiated independent study.

Students on the creative writing pathway will normally take at least one of the contemporary literature modules.

All modules are normally assessed by essay or portfolio.

An introductory module on research, theory and methodology will offer students on both pathways a five-week common core unit which will provide an opportunity for critical reflection on recent developments in literary studies. You will then choose to focus on the relationship between contemporary literature and current theory or the practice of writing within 'the contemporary', according to the route you wish to follow.

You will follow this with a sequence of exciting modules that offer you the opportunity to explore approaches to contemporary literature or creative writing and examine the innovations, diversity and practice of writing now.

Masters level modules include:

• British Literature: the State of the Art - investigates current trends in British fiction, poetry and drama
• Contemporary American Writing - reading American writing and culture from Vietnam to Virtual Reality
• Writers, Reading and Audiences - considers the writer/audience relationship in prose fiction and scriptwriting through reading, discussion and practice
• Contemporary Women Writers - explores the impact of feminist thinking on contemporary women writers
• Contemporary Voices: The State of the Language - explores the connections between the way we speak now and the way we write, with an emphasis on students' own writing in a range of genres
• Post-Colonial Literatures - considers the diversity of new writings in English and theories of the postcolonial condition

Teaching
The MA programme is taught through a mixture of seminars, workshops and lectures, mainly in the evening. Occasional day schools may be offered to provide the student with a more concentrated learning experience.

Attendance
You may begin studies in October, January or April of each academic year. Study is either part-time, taking between two and five years, or one-year full-time. Modules are normally taught in ten weekly evening seminars of two hours each. You will be expected to engage in substantial independent study while you are on a module. Student attendance/participation is expected for at least eight of the ten evening sessions per term.

Assessment
Each termly module will be assessed by assignments totalling up to 6,000 words, the title(s) of which may be negotiated with the module tutor.

Graduate and Postgraduate Diploma programmes
Students registered for the Graduate Diploma follow a programme of advanced level undergraduate modules taught mainly during the day. The Postgraduate Diploma offers an opportunity to combine advanced undergraduate and postgraduate modules.

Graduate Diploma
If your academic background is in a subject other than literature this Diploma is your opportunity to pursue your literary interests and gain a further qualification for personal or professional purposes.

Postgraduate Diploma
If you completed your degree in literature some time ago or graduated from a non-UK institution, this programme, which combines advanced level undergraduate modules with taught postgraduate modules, offers you a chance to update andconsolidate your existing qualification. The Postgraduate Diploma is a qualification in its own right but also provides a bridge towards a higher degree.

Topics may include:

• Literature, Gender, History
• The Novel
• Modern Irish Literature
• Post-War American Literature
• Modernism
• Creative Writing