Program Overview
The MA English Literature at LJMU explores literature through diverse lenses, focusing on place, bodies, and objects, aiming to develop students' critical thinking and analytical skills. The program features interdisciplinary modules and collaborations with scholars, fostering a supportive research culture for pursuing advanced literary studies or careers in the cultural and heritage industries.
Program Outline
This interdisciplinary MA explores literature in its diverse forms, examining complex questions about human existence.
Key Objectives:
- Explore literature through a thematic lens, focusing on ideas of place, mobility, bodies, and objects.
- Analyze an eclectic range of texts, periods, theories, and genres within these broad themes.
- Participate in a supportive research culture and collaborate with emerging and established scholars.
- Develop a strong foundation for pursuing doctoral research or various careers in the cultural and heritage industries.
Program Description:
The MA English Literature program is designed to foster critical thinking about the role of literature in history and explore new directions in English scholarship. It consists of modules organized around themes that highlight key approaches and issues in contemporary literary studies:
- Objects and Bodies: Addresses ongoing debates about the body in history and emerging theories about the relationship between humans, animals, and things.
Assessment:
The MA English Literature program employs a variety of assessment methods to cater to the diverse content and learning preferences of students. Assessments are designed to encourage creative engagement with different materials and build confidence in the discipline.
Assessment Methods:
- In-class presentations
- Posters
- Online contributions
- Critical reflections
- Portfolios
- Extended essays
- 15,000-word dissertation on a topic of the student's choice
Teaching:
Teaching Methods:
- The program benefits from expertise in a wide range of research areas, including early modern cultures, romanticism, nineteenth-century print cultures, contemporary literature and culture, national literatures (especially Irish, Scottish, and American), postcolonial and world literatures.
- Staff in English have published recent books on various topics, demonstrating their diverse research interests.
- Staff are involved in large-scale collaborative projects, such as the building of a replica Elizabethan theatre at Prescot (Shakespeare North), the Archive of Working-Class Writing, the Liverpool Travel Studies Seminar, the War Widows Project, and the Marginal Irish Modernisms network.
Faculty:
- The program is led by Dr. Colin Harrison, whose research and teaching interests center on postcolonial and comparative/world literary studies and critical theory.
- Other faculty members include Dr. Emily Cuming, a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer.
Careers:
The MA English Literature program enhances career prospects in a variety of fields, including:
- Teaching
- Freelance writing
- Research
- Academia
- Print journalism
- Creative and heritage industries
Other:
- The School of Humanities and Social Science provides a stimulating environment for postgraduate study, with a lively program of cross-disciplinary research seminars, conferences, visits from international scholars, and public events.
- Research from the School is recognized nationally and worldwide.
- Staff in the English Department are active in a wide range of fields, including early modern cultures, nineteenth-century studies, regional and global literature, and contemporary and everyday cultures.
- Home fee: £7,990
- International fee: £17,750
