English (MA) [full-time/part-time]

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Course Overview
Key Facts
Course Outline
Why Choose This Course?
Course Fees
Find Out More

Course Overview

Scholarships are available for this programme.

The MA in English is ideal for students who wish to build on the foundations of their undergraduate degrees by pursuing more advanced studies in English at postgraduate level, yet who also wish to retain the intellectual breadth of addressing a variety of literature, past and present. This MA offers an intensive specialist training in the study of literary texts and theories, and students explore sources as diverse as vellum manuscripts, serialised novels, contemporary bestsellers, digital texts or films.

The MA in English has two main strands: the taught classes (from a wide selection of modules) and the independent research project (the dissertation). This two-fold dimension enables students to develop their knowledge and skill with the guidance of lecturers in the taught coursework and to develop a substantial autonomous research and writing project.

English at NUI Galway has a number of particular research strengths in areas such as Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Nineteenth-Century Literature, Book History, Theatre History, and Colonialism and Travel Writing. The MA in English allows students to take advantage of these and other areas while also pursuing their own topics of individual interest.

Applications and Selections

Applications are made online via the NUI Galway Postgraduate Applications System.

Who Teaches this Course

Dr Fiona Bateman
Dr Dermot Burns
Professor Daniel Carey
Dr Clíodhna Carney
Dr Marie-Louise Coolahan
Professor Patrick Lonergan
Dr John Kenny
Dr Kimberly LoPrete
Dr Frances McCormack
Dr Charlotte McIvor
Dr. Andrew Ó Baoill,
Dr Muireann O’Cinneide
Dr Adrian Paterson
Professor Lionel Pilkington
Dr Lindsay Ann Reid
Dr Irina Ruppo
Professor Sean Ryder
Dr Elizabeth Tilley
Dr Justin Tonra

Requirements and Assessment

Key Facts

Entry Requirements

BA in an Arts, Humanities or Social Sciences discipline with a minimum result of H2.2 overall, with a H2.1 in English, or an equivalent international qualification (e.g., BA with minimum GPA of 3.0 for North American applicants).

Additional Requirements

Duration

1 year full-time | 2 years part-time

Next start date

September 2021

A Level Grades ()

Average intake

Closing Date

Please view Review Dates

NFQ level

Mode of study

Taught

ECTS weighting

Award

CAO

Course code

1MEN1, full-time | 1MEN2, part-time

Course Outline

Students take one core taught module (Writing and Research). In this module students study some indispensable works of literary theory and criticism, develop their critical thinking and refine their skills in writing, research methods and the use of libraries and other scholarly resources. Students learn how to design, revise and carry out a credible dissertation plan. Students choose a further five elective taught modules from a wide range of options in the areas of literature (e.g., Shakespeare, Old and Middle English, American literature, Dickens, travel literature), literary theory (e.g., narratology) and cultural and social theory as well as in the cognate areas of film studies, drama, Irish studies, digital humanities and journalism (e.g., textual studies, book history, colonialism, film theory, Beckett, Wilde, digital film, Irish modernity). The coursework takes place during term, and work on the dissertation spans the second semester for full-time students, or fourth semester for part-time students, and the summer after coursework has been concluded. The dissertation is 15,000 words long and is submitted in early August.

Modules potentially on offer each year include ones on Book History, Literature & Colonialism, Introduction to Digital Humanities, Cinema & Politics, Textual Studies, Medieval Aesthetics and Poetic Art, Thinking About Theatre, Young Ireland to the Free State: Writing in English 1849–1922, Critical Approaches, Representations of the Book in Literature and Film, Early Modern Print and Manuscript Cultures, Approaches to Culture & Colonialism, Travel Literature, Aspects of Old and Middle English Literature, Irish Drama and Theatre, The Nineteenth-Century Century Literary Marketplace, Nineteenth Century Periodicals and Serial Fiction, and Literature of North America, among others.

Module details for full-time course

Module details for part-time course

Curriculum Information

Curriculum information relates to the current academic year (in most cases).
Course and module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Glossary of Terms

Credits: You must earn a defined number of credits (aka ECTS) to complete each year of your course. You do this by taking all of its required modules as well as the correct number of optional modules to obtain that year's total number of credits.
Module: An examinable portion of a subject or course, for which you attend lectures and/or tutorials and carry out assignments. E.g. Algebra and Calculus could be modules within the subject Mathematics. Each module has a unique module code eg. MA140.
Subject: Some courses allow you to choose subjects, where related modules are grouped together. Subjects have their own required number of credits, so you must take all that subject's required modules and may also need to obtain the remainder of the subject's total credits by choosing from its available optional modules.
Optional: A module you may choose to study.
Required: A module that you must study if you choose this course (or subject).
Required Core Subject: A subject you must study because it's integral to that course.
Semester: Most courses have 2 semesters (aka terms) per year, so a three-year course will have six semesters in total. For clarity, this page will refer to the first semester of year 2 as 'Semester 3'.

Year 1 (90 Credits)

Why Choose This Course?

Career Opportunities

The taught coursework on this programme will enable students to extend their knowledge of English beyond the boundaries of their undergraduate experience and to develop a range of important and transferable skills that will serve them well in the job market, or in further education, for example on a PhD programme. Students will learn how to achieve a regular habit of research and writing, meet deadlines, give persuasive, well-researched talks and presentations, use libraries and resources effectively, articulate ideas to others, work in a team, write well, and revise, edit and improve drafts of written work. These are valuable skills that will translate easily into a wide range of careers. Graduates of this programme are well placed to succeed in arts administration, teaching, creative writing, PR, research, broadcasting, publishing, journalism, non-fiction writing and marketing.

Who’s Suited to This Course

Learning Outcomes

Work Placement

Study Abroad

Related Student Organisations

Course Fees

Fees: EU

€6,800 p.a. FT; €3,455 p.a. PT 2021/22

Fees: Tuition

€6,576 p.a. FT; €3,287 p.a. PT 2021/22

Fees: Student levy

€224 p.a. FT; €168 p.a. PT 2021/22

Fees: Non EU

€16,300 p.a. 2021/22

Postgraduate students in receipt of a SUSI grant—please note an F4 grant is where SUSI will pay €2,000 towards your tull-time tuition. You will be liable for the remainder of the total fee. An F5 grant is where SUSI will pay full-time TUITION up to a maximum of €6,270. SUSI will not cover the student levy of €224. EU Full time programme: €6,015; EU Part time programme: €3,065 p.a.

Postgraduate fee breakdown = tuition (EU or NON EU) + student levy as outlined above.

Find out More

Dr Frances McCormack
T: +353 91 495 348
E: frances.mccormack@nuigalway.ie
www.nuigalway.ie/english

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Postgraduate Taught Prospectus 2021 PDF (11.3MB)

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