English Literature and Culture
Entry requirements
Our standard postgraduate entry requirement is a second-class honours degree (2:2 or above) from a UK university, or an equivalent international qualification. Your first degree does not have to be in English literature.
Applications are reviewed on their individual merits and your professional qualifications and/or relevant work experience will be taken into consideration positively. We actively support and encourage applications from mature learners.
Months of entry
October
Course content
This MA English Literature and Culture gives you the chance to study the literature, culture and theory of modernity from the nineteenth century to the present day, so that you are exposed to a rich background of cultural study on this period. You will encounter a compelling assortment of texts, objects and images, and engage with a wide range of contexts, themes and ideas on a degree course taught by world-leading academic researchers.
Why choose this course?
- You will be taught by active researchers in the literatures and cultures of the Romantic, Victorian, modern and contemporary periods who bring their different specialisms, ideas and insights to this course.
- It is ideal if you want to pursue your passion in this subject area, advance your career in the cultural industries, or more generally improve your writing and research skills.
- It offers you a flexible and diverse learning environment, with students from different backgrounds and stages of their careers, and the chance to study the course online, on campus or via a mixture of both.
- It benefits from guest lectures from visiting writers and critics, and a close connection with Birkbeck's research centres and institutes that are particularly productive in this area.
What you will learn
This course introduces you to some of the most significant debates, ideas and events that have shaped the concept of modernity from 1800 to the present. It addresses a range of themes including: the impact of the industrial revolution, debates about the changing role of women, the rise and fall of colonialism across a long arc of history, concepts of the Anthropocene, trauma theory, postmodernism and posthumanism.
You will explore how we read, interpret and interrogate our concept of what it means to be ‘modern’ working with literature and many other cultural forms including painting, book illustration, film and other visual media, critical theory, philosophy and digital materials. You will take a research skills module designed to advance these skills to postgraduate level. You will also be able to shape your degree to your interests by choosing option modules on a stimulating range of themes that varies from year to year.
How you will learn
This MA English Literature and Culture offers you a supportive and flexible learning environment. You can choose to study this course full- or part-time, and on campus or online. It has an evening timetable with classes taking place in the evening.
You will be taught via a combination of lectures and seminars. Lectures provide you with an overview and starting point for your deeper exploration of the subject. Seminars give you the chance to explore a specific aspect of the subject and discuss ideas with fellow students. You will also receive one-to-one supervision for your dissertation, which is supported by a dedicated dissertation skills course that runs in the summer term.
This course is part of our new Birkbeck Flexible Master’s UK, which gives you the choice of how you want to study - on campus, online or via flexible learning, which combines both.
- Birkbeck was ranked 2nd in the UK for its English Language and Literature research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework. Read our blog to keep up to date with our research activities.
- We are at the heart of literary London, in Bloomsbury, WC1. We are also at the geographical centre of London’s research library complex, a short distance from the British Library, Senate House Library and the Institute of Historical Research. Senate House Library has an outstanding collection of literary periodicals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, while the nearby University College London Library also has an important James Joyce archive. The Poetry Library at London’s South Bank Centre is rich in twentieth-century poetry.
- Birkbeck is active in the arena of literature and culture. We host the internationally acclaimed Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies, which hosts 19: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century, our free-to-read, open-access online journal. Birkbeck specialists in contemporary literature, poetry and creative writing also run the The Centre for New Writing, which regularly features visiting poets, writers and publishing professionals. Birkbeck cinema is home to the Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image and there are opportunities to join a number of graduate seminars and reading groups including activities associated with the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities.
- We offer a number of bursaries for postgraduate students.
Our graduates are trained to be effective researchers with good communication skills and an ability to sift and critically assess a wide range of textual and other cultural materials. On graduating successfully from this MA English Literature and Culture you will have gained an array of important transferable skills, including:
- postgraduate-level training in writing research-based essays and longer-form work
- an advanced critical ability to examine cultural objects in their formal, historical and theoretical contexts
- the ability to effectively use world-leading research libraries and archives.
You will find graduates of this MA following career paths in:
- journalism
- professional writing
- arts administration or research
- civil service
- law and business professions
- publishing roles
- teaching in schools or as lecturers in further and higher education
- museum and cultural heritage work
- curation.
A number of our Master's students also go on to study at PhD level, and we will provide you with structured support and guidance if you wish to pursue this path.
We offer a comprehensive careers service - Careers and Enterprise - your career partner during your time at Birkbeck and beyond. At every stage of your career journey, we empower you to take ownership of your future, helping you to make the connection between your experience, education and future ambitions.
Information for international students
If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, our usual requirement is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 6.5, with not less than 6.0 in each of the sub-tests.
If you don't meet the minimum IELTS requirement, we offer pre-sessional English courses and foundation programmes to help you improve your English language skills and get your place at Birkbeck.
Qualification, course duration and attendance options
- MA
- part time24 months
- Campus-based learningis available for this qualification
- Distance learningis available for this qualification
- Online learningis available for this qualification
- full time12 months
- Campus-based learningis available for this qualification
- Distance learningis available for this qualification
- Online learningis available for this qualification
Course contact details
- Name
- Student Advice Service
- studentadvice@bbk.ac.uk
- Phone
- +44 (0)20 3907 0700