Course description
The MA in Gothic Studies, the only one of its kind in England and Wales, offers students the opportunity to explore how notions of perversion, desire, criminality and monstrosity are represented in a range of texts, dating from the 18th century to the present day. This entails consideration of the work of writers as diverse as Ann Radcliffe, Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, Anne Rice and Sarah Waters.
The course also includes examinations of non-literary examples of the Gothic, such as press reports during the ‘Jack the Ripper’ murders or the court transcripts of Oscar Wilde’s trials. The course will also investigate other aspects of the influence of gothic, from science to contemporary film.
Course Content
You will study a compulsory module, Researching Literature, which provides you with postgraduate-level research skills and you can choose other modules from the following:
* The Gothic Sublime: Studies in Modernity
* Murderers and Degenerates: Discourses of Urban Perversity at the Fin-de-siècle
* Transformations of the Gothic: Victorian Genre Fiction
* Science and the Gothic: 1800-2000
* Gothic Histories: Women’s Gothic Historical Fictions
How To Study
The emphasis throughout is on student-centred learning. You will be taught in small seminar groups and will be expected to continue your study independently of organised class times. Each module will be examined by continuous assessment and will involve writing essays or completing projects. Most modules involve submitting a single piece for assessment at the conclusion of each module.
Career prospects
This award will provide an excellent basis for further research in Gothic Studies at MPhil and PhD level. Courses on Gothic Literature are routinely taught in Adult Education departments, and this award would provide an excellent route into teaching in this area. An MA in Gothic Studies equips students with a wide range of skills and attributes in demand from most professional employers. Common career paths from an English-based postgraduate course such as this include a range of research posts, media and journalism, teaching, marketing and advertising.
Additional Information
Mphil graduate Emma Darwin’s novel The Mathematics of Love (Headline Review) was shortlisted for the Goss First Novel Award this year.
Another Mphil graduate, Kathryn Daszkiewicz has just published her first collection of poems, In The Dangerous Cloakroom with Shoestring Press.
Glamorgan graduate Rachel Trezise has just won the first ever EDS Dylan Thomas Award for her short story collection Fresh Apples (Parthian). This award of £60,000 to a writer under 30 is thought to be the richest book prize in the world. The prize was awarded in a ceremony at the Brangwyn Hall, Swansea on 27 October. 28 year old Rachel graduated from Glamorgan with a BA in Media Studies with English in 2000. The chair of judges for the award was screenwriter Andrew Davies, who coincidentally will be visiting the university to speak to creative writing students next May.
