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English (MA) [full-time/part-time]
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
15
Closing Date
Please view Review Dates
NFQ level
Mode of study
Taught
ECTS weighting
90
Award
MA
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)
Optional EN541: Colonialism In Twentieth Century Cultural Theory - 10 Credits - Semester 1Optional IS105: Young Ireland to the Free State: Writing in English, 1849-1922 - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional DT6102: Irish Drama and Theatre from Wilde to O'Casey - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional IS106: Decline & Revival: Language, Literature & Society 1800-1939 - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional FM521: Critical Theory I - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional EN601: Writing Workshop: Poetry - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional EN529: Dissertation - 30 Credits - Semester 1
Optional EN547: Literature And Colonialism - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional GR6100: Language & Intercultural Communication - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional EN6105: Introduction to Digital Humanities - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional EN6136: Thinking about Books/Thinking about Theatre - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Required EN6116: Writing and Research - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional IS108: The Politics of Modernity: Writing in English, 1922 to the present - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional IS109: Gaelic & Free: Cultural Politics & Writing in Irish since 1939 - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional MV504: Old & Middle English - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional EN597: Approaches to the Study of Culture and Colonialism - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional DT6101: Irish Drama and Theatre from Beckett to the Present - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional FM522: Critical Theory II - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional FM6105: Digital Film and Culture - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional EN527: Literature Of North America - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional EN6113: Writing Workshop: Poetry 2 - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional EN6125: WB Yeats and the Cultural Revolution - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional FM6119: Film, Politics, and Colonialism - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional EN6131: The Odes of John Keats - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional EN570: Book History - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional EN6134: Studies in Literary History and Aesthetics - 10 Credits - Semester 2
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
Fees: Tuition
Fees: Student levy
Fees: Non EU
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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