ObjectivesThis programme is currently run collaboratively by the University of Salford and Manchester Metropolitan University, but from September 2007-8 the programme will be based exclusively at Salford. The programme offers students the opportunity to develop their critical ability to analyse literary and cultural texts of the modern period, and to explore a range of cultural, political and historical issues that arise when engaging with literature and modernity. The MA is built around the research interests of the English team in the literatures and cultures of modernity, in the interaction between literary and cultural texts and critical theory, and in a range of issues concerning gender and identity. Modules offer detailed studies of literary practice from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries, and several modules focus on film texts alongside literature. The programme provides you with a high degree of flexibility and opportunities for independent research in areas of modernity of your own choosing. Your research will be supported by library holdings both at Salford and at other research libraries in the area, and in addition you can access a wide range of electronic resources through our Information Services Division.
Entry requirementsWe ask for a good honours degree in English or in a related arts subject. We welcome mature students and students from non-conventional backgrounds. Applications from students with alternative qualifications and/or significant relevant experience are subject to approval through a process of Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL). For further details, please contact the School of ESPaCH. International students must provide evidence of proficiency in English – IELTS 6.5 band score or a score of TOEFL at 575 or above (232 computer based) with a TWE of 4.0 or above are proof of this. (If your current English language qualification is below this level, you may be able to take one of the many pre-sessional English courses in our School of Languages.
Academic titleMA/PgDip in English: Literature and Modernity
Course descriptionProgramme Content:
The syllabus consists of four taught modules followed by a dissertation. Students select three modules from a range which varies from year to year depending upon student choices and staff availability. Modules focus on nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first century literature and culture, exploring literature in relation to popular and working-class culture, analysing the interaction between literature, cinema, and theory, and examining issues of identity, gender and power. The compulsory module in Research Methods will prepare students for their dissertation and for further independent research. Full-time students normally take two modules per semester; Part-time students normally take one module per semester. Modules are assessed by coursework, normally either two 2,500 words essays or one 5,000 words essay; ‘Research Methods’ is assessed by coursework and oral presentation. On completion of the four taught modules MA students start working on their dissertation of 15,000-20,000 words.
Modules
-Gothic: Modernity and Monstrosity (Semester 1) – Dr. Scott Brewster
-Reading the City: Literature, Social Exploration and Urban Understanding – London 1820-1900 (Semester 1) – Professor Brian Maidment
-Relocating the Gangster (Semester 2) – Dr. Glyn White
-Culture and the popular front in Britain, 1935-1939 (Semester 2) – Dr. Ben Harker
-Research Methods [Compulsory] (Semester 2) – English staff
In previous academic years the following modules have been offered:
-Theory and Text
-Contemporary Literary and Cultural (Post)Feminism: Contextualising Jeanette Winterson and Sarah Waters
-Modernism, Feminism and Virginia Woolf
-Irish Writing in the Twentieth Century
-The Novels of Thomas Hardy: Readings and Cultural Response
-Dickens and Modernity
-Post-war British Poetry
-Twentieth Century Political Theatre
-Beckett and Modernity
Duration
MA: 15 months full-time including dissertation; 24 months part-time, plus 12 months for dissertation
PgDiploma: 12 months full-time; 24 months part-time
Programme Start Date: September
Career progression
Many students who have followed this programme use it as part of their career development in teaching, librarianship or similar jobs. Others use it as a means of access to doctoral study or further research.
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