English - Literary Studies

Overview
To provide students with the opportunity to develop an in-depth knowledge and understanding of English Literary Studies, enabling students to pursue specialised fields of study (via guided pathways in specialist areas) or to choose a flexible arrangement of topics which bypass traditional period or national boundaries.

Course Structure
Students may enrol on a full-time or part-time basis. Full-time students take three modules per semester. Part-time students typically take one or two modules per semester.

Introduction
The PgDip in English Literary Studies offers a flexible system in which students can choose either specific topics to create a focused programme of study or widely diverse areas of literary study, according to their own preferences.

The School's literary studies staff comprise the largest group within the School of Arts, English and Languages and are thus able to teach a broad range of material: modules span the earliest writings in English (studied in their own historical and cultural contexts but also in relation to new digital cultures), to contemporary American literature and culture in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries (incorporating literature and other aspects of culture, such as television and graphic arts). Other strengths of the School's expertise include Renaissance literature (particularly women's writing, the history of the child, and Shakespeare and World Cinema), eighteenth-century literature (women's writing, slavery and abolition, and Indian literatures in English) and nineteenth and twentieth-century literature (with specialisms including the fiction of Dickens, the fin de siècle and modernism).

All students on the programme take a subject-specific Literary Research Methods module that addresses the issues, challenges and research questions raised by advanced study in the subject. Students also select from a wide range of optional modules, permitting either specialism or diversity in the choice of study, from the earliest writings in English to the contemporary. Most modules are on offer annually, but there can be variation year to year subject to staff availability.

Learning and Teaching
Learning opportunities associated with this course are outlined below:
Additional Teaching Information
• Mondays-Fridays. May also include study-skill days and field-trips to archives.
• Teaching Times
• Morning/Afternoon

English - Literary Studies Highlights
Internationally Renowned Experts
• You will be taught by staff with interests that range across the English subject area and who have research profiles of international standing.

Student Experience
• The MA in English Literary Studies offers a number of special features. Some modules engage with art and culture through field work, while other modules use connections to the History subject area and to the archives in Armagh, Belfast and Trinity College Dublin.

Modules
• Literary Research Methods
• Contemporary Literature in Crisis
• Debating Modernity in Contemporary Indian Literature
• Dickens in Context
• Magic and Science in Medieval Writings
• Narratives of Atlantic Slavery
• Shakespearean Childhoods
• Trauma and Memory
• African Fiction: Race, Rites and Religion
• Decadence and the Birth of Modernism
• Fictions of Female Community 1660-2007
• Popular Fiction at the Fin de Siècle
• Shakespeare and Asia
• A Space for Radical Openness? Writing the Margins in Twentieth-Century British and Irish Literature
• Irish Women's Writing
• Adaptation: Texts, Screens, Culture
• Special Topic Irish Writing
• Irish Poetry
• America's Aftermaths
• Incorrigibly Plural
• Discourses of Crime and Deviance
• Migrating Identities

Graduate
Normally a 2.1 Honours degree or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University in English, or joint or combined Honours with English as a major subject.

Applications may be considered from those who hold a 2.1 Honours degree or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University in a subject other than English (e.g. Classics, Law) if previous expertise in textual analysis or cultural history can be demonstrated. The University's Recognition of Prior Learning Policy provides guidance on the assessment of experiential learning (RPEL). Please visit http://go.qub.ac.uk/RPLpolicy for more information.

All applicants are required to submit a piece of written work which may be assessed to determine if an offer of admission can be made.

International Students
For information on international qualification equivalents, please check the specific information for your country.

English Language Requirements
Evidence of an IELTS* score of 6.5, with not less than 5.5 in any component, or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University is required. *Taken within the last 2 years.

International students wishing to apply to Queen's University Belfast (and for whom English is not their first language), must be able to demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to benefit fully from their course of study or research. Non-EEA nationals must also satisfy UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) immigration requirements for English language for visa purposes.

For more information on English Language requirements for EEA and non-EEA nationals see: www.qub.ac.uk/EnglishLanguageReqs.

If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this degree programme, INTO Queen's University Belfast offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for admission to this degree.

• Academic English: an intensive English language and study skills course for successful university study at degree level

• Pre-sessional English: a short intensive academic English course for students starting a degree programme at Queen's University Belfast and who need to improve their English.

Applicants are advised to apply as early as possible and ideally no later than 11th August 2023 for courses which commence in late September. In the event that any programme receives a high number of applications, the University reserves the right to close the application portal. Notifications to this effect will appear on the Direct Application Portal against the programme application page.

How to Apply
Applications should be submitted online via the Postgraduate Applications Portal for admission to the vast majority of postgraduate programmes.

New applicants will need to register via the Portal to create an application account. If you are already a Queen's student with an active Qsis account, you can log in using your student number and Qsis password. Guidance on how to complete an application is provided within the Portal and it is possible to save application data and return to complete it at a later date, if you wish. After core details about yourself and your academic background have been provided, you can submit an application, or multiple applications, if required.

If you applied in a previous cycle through the Portal and are re-applying, you should use your previous log in details. Please review and update your personal and contact details, academic and professional qualifications before submitting a new application.

Important – please ensure that the email address you provide is correct and active, as this will be used by us to communicate the progress of your application to you.

1 year (Full Time)
2 years (Part Time)

Teaching Times
Mondays-Fridays. May also include study-skill days and field-trips to archives.

Career Prospects
Introduction
Graduates from these programmes have a good employment record. Professions including publishing, journalism, public relations, teaching, IT, library science, corporate advertising, the Civil Service, business, industry and the media all recruit from our range of graduates. Some students choose to continue their studies to PhD level on a chosen, specialised topic in one of the pathways in English Literary Studies.

Queen's postgraduates reap exceptional benefits. Unique initiatives, such as Degree Plus and Researcher Plus bolster our commitment to employability, while innovative leadership and executive programmes alongside sterling integration with business experts helps our students gain key leadership positions both nationally and internationally.

Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award for extra-curricular skills
In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.