English MA

Course overview:

This innovative course combines cutting-edge 21st-century critical approaches with a range of literary and cultural texts and contexts from the 19th century onwards, enabling you to range widely or to specialise in a particular period.

It enables you to develop your independence as a researcher, skills as a writer, and originality as a critic in a supportive and structured environment.

Key features:

• This course equips you to think about deeply political questions that have been raised in contemporary theories of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, disability and class in relation to the literary and cultural texts that interest you.
• Comprising a variety of learning and assessment models, our MA English furnishes you with the skills necessary for an academic career, and with transferrable skills suited to a range of professional roles.
• Teesside University's MA English offers a unique blend of structured courses with individual options, allowing you to personalise your degree to your current interests and future career plans.
• This course develops your academic research skills and unique interests through core modules on research skills and methods, a graduate conference and a dissertation.
• You are able to develop your theoretical engagement and detailed knowledge of specific subjects with an exciting range of taught specialisms.
• You will leave your MA English with experience of organising, advertising and participating in an academic conference, along with a portfolio of professional and academic writing.

How you learn

You are encouraged to share your experiences and perspectives on aspects of practice within taught sessions and through discussions on the University’s virtual learning environment. You study with students from a variety of educational settings and backgrounds – this sharing gives you the opportunity to develop a systematic and critical understanding of the breadth and depth of knowledge in educational research and practice. Peer-led discussions in workshop and seminar sessions on a range of research and educational practice issues, both home and international, provide you with the opportunity for interprofessional discussion and debate.

How you are assessed

Staff have a wide range of educational backgrounds and specialist interests to support for your cross-disciplinary interests and multi-agency working. Another important element is how we support your transition to studying at level 7. You are offered academic support to help you understand the requirements of master’s level study; to develop your skills in academic writing and referencing, critical thinking and critical writing; and in the key IT skills such as literature searching. The assessment allows you to reflect on your own practice and context, and produce assessed work that benefits your working context. Student feedback on the programme has consistently highlighted the level of support from the staff as a major contributor to their success.

Career opportunities:

Our MA English equips you with all the skills necessary to pursue an academic career. Your research, writing and interpretation skills developed as part of MA study also enhance your employability in a range of roles and careers in an increasingly competitive graduate marketplace.