MA English

at Teesside University

Course structure
Core modules
Dissertation

The dissertation marks the culmination of your master’s degree. This module enables students to gain an extensive and detailed knowledge and understanding of an independently selected topic and to present it in a 15,000-word dissertation.

Graduate Conference

Developing on the research project you started in Research Skills and Methods, you have the opportunity to present your research as a paper at a graduate conference organised and promoted by students. You develop transferrable professional skills suited to a career in academia (or elsewhere) by taking a role in a conference committee and collectively managing a group project.

New Critical Perspectives on Literature and Culture

This module examines 21st-century critical perspectives on modern and contemporary literature and culture. You study key critical and theoretical texts published since 2000 alongside literary and cultural texts from the 19th century to the present.

You develop a sophisticated understanding of contemporary criticism and theory, and its application to modern and contemporary literature and culture.

As well as engaging directly with new critical writing you develop a critical and evaluative stance on contemporary theory. You apply your insights to analysing literary and cultural texts from the Victorian period to the present.

How has criticism and theory shifted since the turn of the 21st century? And how can these fresh perspectives offer us new ways of understanding modern and contemporary literary and cultural texts?

Research Skills and Methods

As an MA English student at Teesside, you will have the opportunity to undertake a major research project. This module is the first stage in that process. You will work on a portfolio of research that adopts and evaluates discipline-specific research methods in relation to a research project that you will present on in the ‘Graduate Conference’ module and see through to completion in the ‘Dissertation’ module. An ability to articulate the decisions made in research projects is increasingly sought in research and funding proposals. This module develops this ability by examining a range of methods employed in research alongside the methodological considerations underpinning the methods in question. As part of the module, you will also be offered training in skills related to different research methods. The module will equip you with a range of skills, approaches and competences to draw on as early career researchers in the field of English studies. This module is designed in accordance with UK research councils’ training guidance.

Specialist Subject

In this module you select from a number of specialist topic areas to complete your own minor project.

Members of the programme team set readings and lead a series of seminars related to their research specialism. You select a topic area and define and develop your own assessment project in negotiation with your seminar tutor.

Entry requirements

You should normally have an undergraduate degree of 2.2 or above in English or a cognate discipline. Other relevant experience or equivalent qualifications are considered on a case-by-case basis.

If English is not your first language you also need an IELTS score of 6.5 or above overall, and at least 7 for the written component (from an exam taken within the last two years).

2022/23 entry

Fee for UK applicants
£6,100 a year

Fee for international applicants
£14,000 a year

Career opportunities

Our MA English equips you with all the skills necessary to pursue an academic career. Your research, writing and interpretation skills developed as part of MA study also enhance your employability in a range of roles and careers in an increasingly competitive graduate marketplace.