Irish Writing (M.Phil. / P.Grad.Dip.)

Program Overview

The M.Phil. in Irish Writing at Trinity College Dublin explores Irish writing in English from the late 17th century to the present. Students engage with canonical figures and contemporary debates through small-group seminars and specialist option modules. The program culminates in a dissertation and prepares graduates for careers in various fields, including education, the arts, and publishing.

Program Outline

Outline:

• The M.Phil.
in Irish Writing explores Irish writing in English from the late seventeenth century to the present.
• Students will engage with a wide range of Irish writing in English, from canonical figures such as Maria Edgeworth and W.B.
Yeats to contemporary critical debates around gender, sexuality, class and race.
• The course is taught through small-group seminar teaching, much of which takes place in the Oscar Wilde Centre for Irish Writing.
• Students take three core modules:
• Perspectives in Irish Writing
• Conditions of Irish Writing
• Research Skills for Postgraduate English
• Students also take two specialist option modules, reflecting the commitment to cutting-edge research-led teaching.
• In the final phase of the course, students complete a dissertation of 15,000-18,000 words.

Teaching:

• Teaching for the course is primarily delivered through small-group seminar teaching.
• The course is led by Dr. Sam Slote and Dr. Julie Bates.

Careers:

• Graduates have gone into careers in education, the arts and culture sector, librarianship, publishing, journalism, broadcasting, public relations, social work, the civil service and management consultancy.
• Many alumni have also gone on to become successful writers.

Other:

• Trinity boasts an extraordinary literary heritage, ranging from Jonathan Swift and Oscar Wilde to Eavan Boland and Anne Enright.
• It is situated in the heart of Dublin, a UNESCO City of Literature full of writers past and present, and containing a wealth of theatres, literary events and festivals, and cutting-edge magazines and publishers.
• Trinity has also long led the way in the teaching of Irish writing.
Its current faculty includes many of the foremost scholars in the field, as well as several distinguished contemporary Irish writers.
• Trinity’s historic library also offers a peerless collection of books and archival materials relating to Irish writing.