The MSt programme consists of four main components. In the first two terms, you will take a core course (A), in which specialists in Early Modern literature from across the English Faculty will introduce you to key concepts and debates within the period 1550-1700. You will also take a second core course (B), in book history and the materiality of the text, which will allow you to engage closely with the unparalleled collections of the Bodleian Libraries. You will additionally choose two courses from a wide range of thematic options (C courses), which might focus on a given author in depth, or explore a broader theme. Finally, under the guidance of a specialist supervisor you will also research and write a dissertation on a topic of your choosing, which is submitted in the final term.
A. Core course: Critical Questions in Early Modern Literature
This is the core course for this MSt, and introduces students to key texts and current debates on the literature and cultural history of the period. It is intended both to help students find their feet as they begin advanced literary study, and to allow them to sample discussions taking place at the cutting edge of the field. It is formally non-assessed but compulsory.
Each seminar of this course is led by a different scholar with expertise in the area being discussed, ensuring your exposure to a wide range of texts and approaches. Recent sessions include: ‘Meddling with Allegory’, ‘Travel, Race, Power’, and ‘The Female Signature’.
B. Core course: Bibliography, Theories of Text, History of the Book, Manuscript Studies
On this course you will explore the materiality of texts: drawing on the unparalleled early modern holdings of the Bodleian Library, you will consider the production, circulation and reception of texts as physical objects. This means examining, among other things, the ways in which manuscripts moved between scribes and readers; annotated books and the history of reading; palaeography; editing and ideology; and the roles of publishers and printers in the period. Seminars will offer a blend of critical reflection alongside first-hand access to rare print and manuscript materials.
Alongside its rich holdings of printed books, the Bodleian Library contains large collections of manuscript prose and poetry which have yet to be fully charted, as well as many hybrid books that combine both print and manuscript in diverse ways. Its resources include collections in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, as well as autograph manuscripts by John Donne, John Milton and Elizabeth I. The Centre for the Study of the Book also offers MSt students a hands-on understanding of the material, intellectual and social history of Early Modern print and manuscript culture, while the Bibliography Room offers students the chance to learn how to set type and to print by hand.
Recent student work has included an edition of early modern letters (never before edited); an account of post-Reformation collecting and library-building; and a study of recently discovered women’s manuscripts. The course is taught via seminars and tutorials in each of the first two terms. It forms an integral part of the skills with which the MSt equips its students, and it is compulsory and assessed.
C. Special options
The special option courses present an excellent opportunity for you to develop and pursue your research interests. Each year the special options that are offered reflect the diversity of interest and approach within the English Faculty itself, and will encompass various methodologies and degrees of focus. Recent and future options include: ‘Slow Reading Spenser’, ‘Early Modern Life Writing’, ‘Of Essays: Origins and Afterlives’ and ‘Twelfth Night’.
You are not constrained to follow option courses within the designated period and, indeed, option courses often traverse the boundaries of the broad periods. The courses are taught in weekly, small group seminars.
D. Dissertation
You will write a 10,000- to 11,000-word dissertation on a subject of your choice, but related to the work you have been doing over the year. You will be assigned to a member of academic staff who will act as your supervisor, and will have the opportunity to work closely with them over an extended period of time while developing your work. Like all of the teaching for the MSt, the dissertation supervision is intended to help students develop both their skills as researchers, and their fluency as writers.
