Course information

Course highlights

• Study the interdisciplinary dimension of modernism through topics which explore cultural production across the arts, music, film and literature.
• Explore the key developments in modern and contemporary literary studies in dialogue with leading scholars in the fields of Modernism, Scottish literature, war writing, modern and contemporary poetry, postcolonialism and literature of the 1940s.
• Focus on the key literary and cultural theories of the contemporary period alongside a global range of modern and contemporary texts.
• Develop your skills as a researcher within a specific area of study by taking special topic modules. 

Teaching format

The MLitt in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture is an intensive one-year taught programme which aims to enhance students’ textual knowledge and promote thinking about the interconnections between modern and contemporary literature and its historical, cultural and theoretical contexts.

In each semester students take one module that concentrates on the literature of the period and one module that engages with the period’s theoretical, cultural and historical developments. Students are encouraged to develop their own, individual interests via the 20 credits left free for an optional module.

Taught modules comprise of weekly seminars, with class sizes typically ranging from three to ten students. Modules are assessed through coursework essays.

During the course of the year, but with particular focus during the last four months, students will research and write a 15,000-word dissertation on a topic of their choosing.

Further particulars regarding curriculum development.

Modules

The modules in this programme have varying methods of delivery and assessment. For more details of each module, including weekly contact hours, teaching methods and assessment, please see the latest module catalogue.

Compulsory modules

• Literary Research: Skills and Resources: trains students in the understanding and use of the essential skills and resources of research in English Studies; it also provides preparation for the MLitt dissertation.
• Contextualising the Modern: an exploration of the radical literary experiments following the First World War in context of the wider movements in culture and society that informed literary modernism in the first decades of the twentieth century. 
• Reading the Modern: an exploration of influential British, American and French modernists' pursuit to develop modes of representation compatible with a newly urban, industrialised and mass-oriented age.
• Theorising the Contemporary: an introduction to key literary and cultural theories within the contemporary period via the close study of selected theoretical texts.
• Contemporary Literature and Culture: exposes students to a range of contemporary authors, poets and playwrights, moving between a detailed focus on highlighted key works and a wider perspective on individual writer’s oeuvres.

Optional modules

Students will choose one optional module out of the following three choices:

• Special Topic in English Studies: a directed reading programme which allows students to explore topics in greater depth than is possible in compulsory modules.
• a compulsory module from another English MLitt programme (see module catalogue)
• an approved postgraduate-level module outwith the School of English (arranged independently with another school such as Classics, Modern Languages, Divinity or Philosophical, Anthropological and Film Studies).

The modules listed ran in the academic year 2015-2016 and are indicative of this course. There is no guarantee that these modules will run for 2016 entry.

Take a look at the most up-to-date modules in the module catalogue.

Dissertation

Student dissertations will be supervised by members of the teaching staff who will advise on the choice of subject and provide guidance throughout the research process. The completed dissertation of not more than 15,000 words must be submitted by a date specified in August. 

If students choose not to complete the dissertation requirement for the MLitt, there is an exit award available that allows suitably qualified candidates to receive a Postgraduate Diploma. By choosing an exit award, you will finish your degree at the end of the second semester of study and receive a PGDip instead of an MLitt.

Conferences and events

The School of English hosts research events through its four research groups, Medieval and Renaissance, 18th century, Romantic and Victorian, Modern and Contemporary and Creative Writing. 

Events are open to all members of the School and to the public, unless explicitly restricted, and there is an active student-run Literary Society and the Postgraduate Forum, where postgraduates meet to present and discuss their on-going work. Each semester, the School invites distinguished visiting academics and creative writers to lead seminars, lectures and workshops as part of our regular research events.

• English Colloquium
• Postgraduate Forum
• Literary Society

Admission to the University of St Andrews is governed by our Admissions policy.

Curriculum development

As a research intensive institution, the University ensures that its teaching references the research interests of its staff, which may change from time to time. As a result, programmes are regularly reviewed with the aim of enhancing students' learning experience. Our approach to course revision is described online. (PDF, 72 KB).

Tuition fees

The University will clarify compulsory fees and charges it requires any student to pay at the time of offer. The offer will also clarify conditions for any variation of fees. The University’s approach to fee setting is described online. (PDF, 84 KB).