The M.Phil. in Modern and Contemporary Literature is a nine-month course that runs from October to June. This exciting M.Phil. explores the rich array of literature in English from 1830 to the present, and encourages students to pay particular attention to the relationship of literary texts and their historical and intellectual contexts. The course structure is designed to enable flexibility in terms of period and specialism: you can choose to concentrate on nineteenth- or twentieth- and twenty-first-century literature, or take a selection of seminars in both. The flexible framework allows you to build a programme of specialised study in line with your own particular research interests. Guidance on developing your course of study will be given by a designated Faculty member who will also act each term as your dissertation supervisor.
Teaching on this three-term course consists of Core and Optional seminars, a Research Methods course, and a series of one-to-one supervisions. You will write essays in the first two terms, followed by a dissertation on the research topic of your choice. You will also have a wide choice of Graduate Research Seminar series to attend, each of which features speakers from both within the Faculty and from other universities.
The Faculty has over twenty-five members who teach and research in Modern and/or Contemporary literature (see Faculty list below). Their special interests extend into various areas, including aestheticism, nineteenth-century colonialism, Victorian social criticism, modernism, avant-gardes, travel literature, war literature, postmodernism, and postcolonial literature. Many of the Faculty members also contribute to an extensive range of lectures in areas of Modern and Contemporary literature, and these lectures are open to all students in the Faculty. In addition, you will be able to benefit from the exceptional research resources offered by the University Library , one of only five copyright libraries in the UK. Its holdings are supplemented by the English Faculty Library along with the libraries of the University’s various Colleges.
The M.Phil. in Modern and Contemporary Literature may be taken as a free-standing Masters qualification, or as preparation for doctoral study. Under normal circumstances, students will not be permitted to register in the Faculty of English for Ph.D. research in the field of Modern and Contemporary literature unless they have completed this M.Phil. course, or a similar Masters degree at another university, at an appropriate standard.