English Literature MA

Overview

This master's in English Literature offers an intellectually challenging, innovative programme of study. It's directly informed by the outstanding research of staff in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics.

The MA moves away from period-based literary studies. Instead, it considers texts in the context of established and emerging scholarship and theory.

The School has an international reputation for high-quality research. It also has a friendly research environment. You'll join a team of leading scholars. This makes it the ideal place for postgraduate engagement with major issues in English literary studies from 1500 to the present.

Newcastle has a vibrant literary scene that will inspire you. You'll have access to:

• Literary and Philosophical Society
• Newcastle Centre for Literary Arts
• Seven Stories (the National Centre for Children's Books)

This English Literature master's has a generic route and a specialist pathway in Children’s Literature. You can choose the route best suited to your individual interests and career aspirations.

Important information

We've highlighted important information about your course. Please take note of any deadlines.

Your course and study experience - disclaimers and terms and conditions

Please rest assured we make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the programmes, services and facilities described. However, it may be necessary to make changes due to significant disruption, for example in response to Covid-19.

View our Academic experience page, which gives information about your Newcastle University study experience for the academic year 2023-24.

See our terms and conditions and student complaints information, which gives details of circumstances that may lead to changes to programmes, modules or University services.

 

What you'll learn

The emphasis of this English Literature master's is on key critical developments in literary studies, such as:

• the relation of shifting aesthetic forms to political radicalism
• the biographies of books
• how authors and texts articulate their relationship to shifting geographies of cultural power
• textual editing from manuscript to print to digital platforms
• the sexual politics of public and private life in literature
• the mind, the body and affect as sites of and for representation
• the aesthetics and politics of American and world literatures
• the history of children's literature about, by, and for Black Britons

You'll choose four 20 credit modules from a range of options (80 credits). Our optional modules are thematically structured and cover literature from the 16th to the 21st centuries.

You'll also take two 20 credit compulsory modules. These modules cover major critical issues in the subject of English Literature. They also include training in disciplinary and interdisciplinary research methodologies. This training is essential preparation for your individual research in the MA dissertation.

Modules

You will study modules on this course. A module is a unit of a course with its own approved aims and outcomes and assessment methods.

Course content changes

Module information is intended to provide an example of what you will study.

Our teaching is informed by research. Course content changes periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback.

Full details of the modules on offer will be published through the Programme Regulations and Specifications ahead of each academic year. This usually happens in May.

Optional modules availability

Some courses have optional modules. Student demand for optional modules may affect availability.

To find out more please see our terms and conditions.

English Literature MA modules

Compulsory Modules	Credits
Research Methods II	20
Research Methods (Literature)	20

Optional Modules	Credits
Dissertation: Long-Form Essay	60
Radicalisms	20
Literary Geographies	20
Poetology	20
Manuscript, Print, Digital	20
Children's Literature and Black Britain	20
Prize Culture and the Children’s Book	20
Dissertation: Online Exhibition	60

English Literature (Children's Literature pathway) MA modules

Compulsory Modules	Credits
Research Methods II	20
Research Methods (Literature)	20
Children's Literature and Black Britain	20
Prize Culture and the Children’s Book	20

Optional Modules	Credits
Dissertation: Long-Form Essay	60
Dissertation: Online Exhibition	60

Additional optional module information

The remaining 40 credits will be made up of two modules chosen from a list of modules

available in the programme handbook.

How you'll learn

Delivery and teaching methods

The course structure allows you to tailor your own programme of study. It includes:

• optional modules
• compulsory research methods modules
• a dissertation of your choice, supervised by an expert in the field

Teaching typically takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the teaching semesters.

 

Assessment methods

Depending on your modules, you'll be assessed through a combination of:

• Design or creative project
• Dissertation
• Essay
• Professional skills assessments
• Portfolio
• Reflective log
• Research proposal
• Written exercise

Student support

Your teaching and learning is also supported by Canvas. Canvas is a Virtual Learning Environment. You'll use Canvas to submit your assignments and access your:

• module handbooks
• course materials
• groups
• course announcements and notifications
• written feedback

Throughout your studies, you’ll have access to support from:

• peers
• academics
• personal tutors
• our University Student Services Team
• student representatives

You'll also be assigned an academic member of staff. They will be your personal tutor throughout your time with us. They can help with academic and personal issues.

Your future

What can you do with an English Literature degree?

Our English Literature MA provides an excellent foundation for doctoral research. It also develops skills that are valuable for a career in:

• the creative and cultural industries
• media and journalism
• education
• heritage management
• publishing

Our Careers Service

Our award-winning Careers Service is one of the largest and best in the country, and we have strong links with employers. We provide an extensive range of opportunities to all students through our ncl+ initiative.

Visit our Careers Service website

Quality and ranking

All professional accreditations are reviewed regularly by their professional body

Recognition of professional qualifications outside of the UK

From 1 January 2021 there is an update to the way professional qualifications are recognised by countries outside of the UK

Check the government’s website for more information.

Facilities

Our vibrant postgraduate research community have access to:

• a dedicated workspace
• common room
• excellent computing facilities

You'll also benefit from a range of partnerships, which offer archival materials. These include:

• Seven Stories: National Centre for Children's Books
• The Wordsworth Trust (Dove Cottage)
• Bloodaxe Books
• Northern Stage
• Live Theatre
• Tyneside Cinema

Newcastle University Library has a strong range of archival materials in Special Collections.

The library also houses the Bloodaxe archive. This is a unique collection of materials relating to one of Britain's leading poetry publishers.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees for 2024 entry (per year)

Tuition fee increases

If your studies last longer than one year, your tuition fee may increase in line with inflation.

EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals - tuition fee status

Depending on your residency history, if you’re a student from the EU, other EEA or a Swiss national, with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you’ll normally pay the ‘Home’ tuition fee rate and may be eligible for Student Finance England support.

EU students without settled or pre-settled status will normally be charged fees at the ‘International’ rate and will not be eligible for Student Finance England support.

If you are unsure of your fee status, check out the latest guidance here.

Scholarships

We support our EU and international students by providing a generous range of Vice-Chancellor's automatic and merit-based scholarships. See our searchable postgraduate funding page for more information. 

What you're paying for

Tuition fees include the costs of:

• matriculation
• registration
• tuition (or supervision)
• library access
• examination
• re-examination
• graduation

Find out more about:

• living costs
• tuition fees

Deposit

If you are an international student or a student from the EU, EEA or Switzerland and you need a visa to study in the UK, you may have to pay a deposit.

You can check this in the How to apply section.

Funding deadlines

If you're applying for funding, always check the funding application deadline. This deadline may be earlier than the application deadline for your course.

For some funding schemes, you need to have received an offer of a place on a course before you can apply for the funding.

Search for funding

Find funding available for your course

Select your country

How to apply

Using the application portal

The application portal has instructions to guide you through your application. It will tell you what documents you need and how to upload them.

You can choose to start your application, save your details and come back to complete it later.

If you’re ready, you can select Apply Online and you’ll be taken directly to the application portal.

Alternatively you can find out more about applying on our applications and offers pages.

Apply Online  

Open days and events

You'll have a number of opportunities to meet us throughout the year including:

• campus tours
• on-campus open days
• virtual open days
• webinars

Find out about how you can visit Newcastle in person and virtually

Overseas events

We regularly travel overseas to meet with students interested in studying at Newcastle University.

Visit our events calendar for the latest events

Additional information

Research and supervision

At Newcastle University we have a range of research interests within English Literature. We produce outstanding research on subjects as chronologically distinct as Chaucer and cyberpunk.

Our work has a geographical range across:

• the British Isles
• the Americas
• India
• Anglophone Africa

We research and offer supervision in all major genres, including:

• fiction
• poetry
• drama
• film

We also have world-leading expertise in many emerging forms, including:

• life writing
• children's literature
• digital media

Our aim is to combine excellence in established areas of research across a full range of periods and genres, with innovation in critical and textual scholarship. We are particularly keen to:

• investigate the contexts of literary production
• use and develop archival sources
• integrate the critical with the creative work that goes on in the School

We contribute to many research groups in the University, including the:

• Postcolonial Research Group
• Gender Research Group
• Americas Research Group
• Centre for Film and Digital Media
• Medieval and Early Modern Studies

Along with colleagues from the Universities of Durham, Northumbria and Sunderland we are also key members of the:

• Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies
• North East Forum in Eighteenth-Century and Romantic Studies