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Literature & Culture

MA (NFQ Level 9)

This course is available through the following application route(s)

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The MA in Literature & Culture is our flagship MA programme in English-language literature and culture. Students work with leading international scholars and world-class teachers, who have expertise in a wide range of areas, from the literature of the Middle Ages to the modern and contemporary. The programme provides an intensive combination of taught courses and supervised research, designed to develop students’ skills and confidence as scholars and critics of literature and its contexts. Current courses include seminars in Medieval and Renaissance LIterature, 18th and 19th-Century literature and culture, Contemporary American Poetics, Modernism, World Literature, Social Network Analysis, and Research Methods. 

The supervised dissertation gives you the unique opportunity to work closely on a topic of your choosing with published experts in your field of interest. All students take the core module Research Methods, and can choose other modules in a variety of areas, including British, American and World Literature.  
Recent courses have included:

  • Chaucer and the Fourteenth Century
  • American Modernism at Home
  • Re-reading the Renaissance
  • American Lyric: Document and Memoir
  • Memory Cultures
  • Feeling Modern: Thinking and Being in 18th and 19th-Century Britain
  • Social Network Analysis and Fiction
  • World-Systems, World-Literature: Mapping the Planet
  • Contemporary U.S. Genre Fiction: Intersection, Disruption, Protest
  • Concepts of Modernity

Further information on the MA in Literature & Culture is available on the UCD School of English, Drama & Film website: http://www.ucd.ie/englishdramafilm/study/postgraduate/literatureandculture/

About This Course

  • Articulate knowledge, arguments and ideas clearly and effectively through essays, presentations and proposals
  • Be effective independent researchers, who can identify a viable research topic and develop this into a research project
  • Demonstrate a developed awareness of historical contexts, theoretical positions and the range of literary and/or cultural production appropriate to their chosen specialization
  • Demonstrate an enhanced knowledge of literary and cultural analysis, including methodology, in their chosen disciplines and fields
  • Demonstrate mastery of advanced techniques in the use of archival and digital resources
  • Demonstrate their facility as readers, thinkers and writers, with advanced skills in detailed textual analysis and close reading
  • Make connections across different time periods and cultures, and identify key aesthetic/cultural/social movements in their chosen specialization

Below is a list of all modules offered for this degree in the current academic year. Click on the module to discover what you will learn in the module, how you will learn and assessment feedback profile amongst other information.

Incoming Stage 1 undergraduates can usually select an Elective in the Spring Trimester. Most continuing undergraduate students can select up to two Elective modules (10 Credits) per stage. There is also the possibility to take up to 10 extra Elective credits.

Module Type Module   Trimester Credits
Stage 1 Core Modules
 ENG42090 Public Humanities and Ireland Autumn  10
Stage 1 Core Modules
 ENG42120 Dissertation: Lit & Culture Summer  30
Stage 1 Options - B) Min 2 of:
We recommend that you take 2 options with your core module in Trimester 1
 ENG40940 Gender and Sexuality in Theory and Representation Autumn  10
Stage 1 Options - B) Min 2 of:
We recommend that you take 2 options with your core module in Trimester 1
 ENG41570 World-Systems,World-Literature Autumn  10
Stage 1 Options - B) Min 2 of:
We recommend that you take 2 options with your core module in Trimester 1
 ENG41640 Joyce, Ulysses Autumn  10
Stage 1 Options - B) Min 2 of:
We recommend that you take 2 options with your core module in Trimester 1
 ENG41670 Contemporary US Genre Fiction: Intersection, Disruption, Protest Autumn  10
Stage 1 Options - B) Min 2 of:
We recommend that you take 2 options with your core module in Trimester 1
 ENG42160 Material Girls Autumn  10
Stage 1 Options - C) Min 3 of:
We recommend that you take 3 options in Trimester 2
 EDF40060 Digital Methods Spring  10
Stage 1 Options - C) Min 3 of:
We recommend that you take 3 options in Trimester 2
 ENG41590 The Tradition and the Contemporary Spring  10
Stage 1 Options - C) Min 3 of:
We recommend that you take 3 options in Trimester 2
 ENG41840 American Lyric: Document and Memoir Spring  10
Stage 1 Options - C) Min 3 of:
We recommend that you take 3 options in Trimester 2
 ENG41860 Queer Frictions: Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Literature & Culture Spring  10
Stage 1 Options - C) Min 3 of:
We recommend that you take 3 options in Trimester 2
 ENG42080 Un/Settling Global Literatures Spring  10
Stage 1 Options - C) Min 3 of:
We recommend that you take 3 options in Trimester 2
 ENG42170 Reading Contemporary Poetry Spring  10
Stage 1 Options - C) Min 3 of:
We recommend that you take 3 options in Trimester 2
 FS40270 Stardom, Celebrity & Media Culture Spring  10
Stage 1 Options - C) Min 3 of:
We recommend that you take 3 options in Trimester 2
 FS40370 Media, Gender, and Sexuality Spring  10

 

Leanne Waters
MA 2015, PhD 2018

I chose this MA because of the depth and expansiveness of the course. Students engaged with an exciting range of literary material and cultural issues such as globalisation, art and the metropolis, sexuality and the body. Approachable lecturers provided a stimulating and open environment that fostered critical thinking, while small seminar groups meant that we were able to explore the material and ideas exhaustively, as well as make some lasting friendships. The dissertation module and the pre-requisite module on research methods prepared me for the challenging, but very rewarding, world of independent research. The research skills I learned have been essential to my subsequent PhD work, and have significantly improved my aptitude and desirability to employers in a range of work environments.

MA Literature & Culture (Z251) Full Time
nonEU    fee per year - € 22600
EU          fee per year - € 9100

MA Literature & Culture (Z252) Part Time
EU          fee per year - € 4550
nonEU    fee per year - € 11300

***Fees are subject to change

Tuition fee information is available on the UCD Fees website. Please note that UCD offers a number of graduate scholarships for full-time, self-funding international students, holding an offer of a place on a UCD graduate degree programme. For further information please see International Scholarships.

Each year the School of English, Drama and Film offers a number of competitive tuition bursaries of 1,000 euro. Applicants with an offer of a place on one of the School's MA programmes are eligible to apply.

 

An honours undergraduate degree in English or in another cognate subject (NFQ Level 8) with a 2.1 classification (Second Class Honours, Grade One) or equivalent* is normally required. A sample of written work of c.3000 words and two academic references are also required. Applicants whose first language is not English must demonstrate English language proficiency of IELTS 7 (no band less than 6.5 in each element), or equivalent.

Students meeting the programme’s academic entry requirements but not the English language requirements, may enter the programme upon successful completion of UCD’s International Pre-Master’s Pathway programmes. Please see the following link for further information: https://www.ucd.ie/alc/programmes/pathways/int%20pmp/

*equivalencies will vary depending on grade scale of award presented but will generally require a grade average of B or a GPA no less than 3.08;

*However, all applicants will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and in certain exceptional cases an award at a lower level or a 2.2 classification may be considered.

These are the minimum entry requirements – additional criteria may be requested for some programmes ​

 

Full Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes
International (Non EEA) applicants currently residing outside of the EEA Region. Yes

Part Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes
International (Non EEA) applicants currently residing outside of the EEA Region. No


This programme is of interest to anyone who has a passion for literature and cultural production in English. It will suit those who want to put a ‘capstone’ on their BA work, but also those who are considering a PhD.


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General application route(s) for Irish/UK/EU applicants* for International (non-EU) applicants* to Literature & Culture:

ROWCLASS Apply to   Application Type  
showAudience-audienceEU showAudience-audienceInt Z251
Literature & Culture
Master of Arts		 Full-Time
Commencing 2024/2025 September		 Graduate Taught Closed
showAudience-audienceEU showAudience-audienceInt Z252
Literature & Culture
Master of Arts		 Part-Time
Commencing 2024/2025 September		 Graduate Taught Closed
* you can change options at the top of the page
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