Keele has a long, distinguished history of teaching and research excellence in English and American Literatures. Our broad, comprehensive expertise in fiction, poetry, drama, life writing, literary theory, creative writing, film and media, gives you the freedom to tailor your study through tuition and one-to-one supervision from leading specialists. In a structured learning environment, youll gain an extensive grounding in literary theory and research, extending your knowledge of literary works and the conceptual frameworks used to approach them. Developing as a researcher and communicator, you'll enjoy lively debates within a passionate community which shares your love of literature.

Course summary

Whatever your motivation – the chance to pursue your passion for literature or to develop analytical, writing and research skills – our MA can help you achieve this and more, with opportunities to enjoy readings from an exciting range of published poets, novelists and peers within an intellectually stimulating, collegiate environment.

Youll be supported throughout by our leading academics in the field of literary studies, whose research across a broad spectrum of literary periods and genres feeds directly into teaching and research supervision, giving you significant scope when choosing your dissertation topic.

Core modules are designed to deepen your understanding of methodologies appropriate to the study of literature from the Renaissance to the present. You will approach texts from different theoretical perspectives, enhancing your understanding of a wide range of cultures, values, experiences and intellectual traditions.

The wide choice of optional modules from across the disciplines of English or American Literature, Creative Writing or Film, enables you to tailor your studies to your interests. You can deep dive into classic texts from Defoe, Austen or Shakespeare, for example, or explore the weird and wonderful cinematography of directors like Lilly and Lana Wachowski and David Lynch.

Alternatively, using our contacts or through your own networks, you can opt for a work placement, applying your knowledge in a work setting, gaining valuable experience and enhancing your CV. Recent English Literatures students, for example, have worked at the Samuel Johnson Museum, Staffordshire Archives and Heritage, and the New Vic Theatre.

Youll graduate with knowledge of research design, methods and processes, together with the creative, critical, reflexive, and analytical mindset that employers desire, and the ability to think critically about complex topics from different perspectives.

Your career

Pursuing postgraduate study enhances your employment prospects because it nurtures more advanced personal and professional skills, including critical thinking, originality, problem-solving, persuasive writing and speaking, innovative questioning and effective reasoning, all of which can open a wide range of careers.

Throughout the course, we offer you opportunities to reflect on the skills you are developing and, importantly, how you can articulate these skills in applications and interviews. We work closely with the Universitys Careers and Employability Service to offer bespoke sessions on postgraduate employability throughout the academic year.

By choosing the optional work placement, you can gain crucial first-hand experience of applying for a position and working in an environment where you can utilise the skills developed on your degree, developing your employability for when you leave Keele.

Duration of study: Full time - 1 year, Part time - 2 years, Modular - Up to 5 years