Studying the MLitt in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literary Culture

The MLitt in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literary Culture allows students to devote a year to the study of one of the most exciting and formative periods in European history, centered on the key writer in the English literary tradition, William Shakespeare.

The structure of the Shakespeare and Renaissance Literary Culture MLitt combines core modules and optional elements, permitting students to pursue their own scholarly interests within an overall framework. 

What you'll study 

The core modules of the MLitt are:

  • Learned Culture: Rhetoric, Politics and Identity. This module explores the influence of Renaissance humanism and the implications of its distinctive interest in rhetoric for sixteenth- and seventeenth-century culture.
  • Renaissance Popular Culture. Complementing Learned Culture: Rhetoric, Politics and Identity’s focus on elite, learned contexts, this module looks at the popular culture of the period: popular festivity, clowning, jestbooks, ballads, romances and grotesquerie.
  • Shakespeare and Textual Culture. This module considers the material contexts of Renaissance literary production. Topics covered include: manuscript, print, speech, and the editing of Renaissance texts
  • The Continental Renaissance. This module deals with the relationship between English and European writing of the period; all foreign language texts will be taught in translation. 

Students are asked to take at least 3 of these core modules. 

At least 20 credits are always left free for optional modules: either a Special Topic, a core module from a different English MLitt, or a module outwith English altogether.

The Special Topic gives students the opportunity to develop as researchers within a specific area of study. These modules combine student’s individual interests with staff research expertise. Examples of recent specialist modules include: 

  • Reading Bodies and Minds in Early Modern England
  • Marvell and Print Culture
  • Renaissance Translation Theory
  • Renaissance Aesthetics

Dissertation

The MLitt concludes with the writing of a 15,000-word dissertation. 

Contact

School of English
University of St Andrews
Castle House
The Scores
St Andrews
KY16 9AL

Phone: +44 (0)1334 46 2668
Email: pgeng@st-andrews.ac.uk

School of English website

Academic staff

The staff teaching on the programme will vary in any one year, but will always include some of the following:

Why St Andrews?

You will be part of a welcoming and lively academic community. St Andrews is a consortium member of the Folger Shakespeare Library Institute in Washington DC. It also pays host to a number of research groups relevant to students with interests in the English Renaissance:

  • Renaissance and Early Modern Network (REMNET)
  • Centre for Mediaeval and Early Modern Law and Literature (CMEMLL)
  • St Andrews Reformation Studies Institute.

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.

Student testimonials

"I absolutely loved studying at St Andrews. The MLitt in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literary Culture gave me a wide-ranging knowledge of early modern literature while providing me with the flexibility to delve into my own research interests. The School of English community was as welcoming as intellectually stimulating, with professors who were not only experts in their fields but also dedicated teachers. I graduated feeling prepared and excited to continue on to a PhD."

Sarah Rice – 2014

"Studying the Renaissance MLitt at St Andrews has been an incredibly rewarding year. The quality of teaching is amazing and the breadth and depth of texts studied means that I left the course with a far greater knowledge and appreciation of the literature and culture of the period. Moreover, the School’s encouragement of super-curricular activities, such as conferences, also gives an invaluable insight into the world of academia and further postgraduate research."

Peter Sutton – 2014

"Being part of a small group on my MLitt course provided both invaluable support and intellectual stimulation; an excellent context for learning."

Naomi Tyrie – 2014

"While studying on the MLitt at St Andrews I was given the time and opportunity to work with some of the most exciting scholars in my field. Throughout my degree, the research opportunities and pedagogical guidance I received exceeded all my expectations. As a student who has completed both an MA and MLitt at St Andrews, I can say confidently that both undergraduate and masters level have had an inestimable effect on my abilities as an aspiring scholar. I would not be who I am without the education St Andrews provided me."

David Swensen – 2013