MA English Literature
This programme is subject to validation.
This programme combines the internationally recognised research and teaching strengths of the School of English and Languages, with provisions across the range of literary periods from the Medieval to the contemporary.
The programme is designed to equip you with a critical understanding of English literary studies and respond to significant questions. How have ideas about literature and literary value changed over time? What effects do innovations in printing and publishing have on writing? To what extent do political and social factors condition and define authorial identities and practices?
The MA in English Literature invites students to reflect on such questions and to consider the relationship between literatures from a variety of historical periods, regions, contexts and theoretical paradigms. The programme will be ideal both for those who intend to pursue doctoral research and for those who wish to achieve a broad overview of Anglophone literary culture.
Entry standards
Entry is open to applicants with a UK First or Upper Second class honours degree or equivalent in English literature or a related subject.
English language requirements
Non-native speakers of English without a first degree in English will normally be required to have IELTS 6.5 or above with 7.0 or more in writing (or equivalent).
Please note that the University of Surrey offers English language programmes and is also an IELTS Test Centre.
MA English Literature - structure and modules
Module Titles
Compulsory Modules
- Research Skills
- Literary Scholarship and Creativity
- English Literature Dissertation (15, 000 words)
Optional Modules
Students have an opportunity to choose from a range of optional modules offered by the Department of English and other programmes in the School of English and Languages.
Particular strengths in Surrey’s English programme include: 19th-Century Literature and Culture, Transnational and World Literatures in English, Postcolonial Studies, Travel Writing, Creative Writing, as well as theories of gender and sexuality.
Students would normally be offered modules suited to these areas of strength. But modules such as Advanced Studies in 19th-Century Literature and Culture, Advanced Studies, 20th- and 21st-Century Literature and Culture might be combined with Special Author tutorials or Open Essays (in which a student chooses a specific topic and is guided by an expert in the field).
Where appropriate, students will also have the option of choosing mudules offered in the MA in Creative Writing and other MA programmes in the School.
The MA in English Literature provides both structure and flexibility, combining specially designed core modules with the opportunity to select further options from across the range of MA subjects and topics in the Department of English.
The core modules – Research Skills, and Literary Scholarship and Creativity – both consider how texts have been produced, disseminated, and received throughout history, as well as examining how this kind of historical enquiry might influence our own textual interpretations.
Students will then have an opportunity to choose from a range of optional modules that focus on specific periods, theoretical paradigms or individual authors.
MA English Literature - entry standards
Entry standards
Entry is open to applicants with a UK First or Upper Second class honours degree or equivalent in English literature or a related subject.
English language requirements
Non-native speakers of English without a first degree in English will normally be required to have IELTS 6.5 or above with 7.0 or more in writing (or equivalent).
Please note that the University of Surrey offers English language programmes and is also an IELTS Test Centre.
Start date
September
Programme Director
MA English Literature - fees and funding
Fees
MA English Literature (full-time)
UK/EU - £5,740
Overseas - £12,705
MA English Literature (part-time)
UK/EU - £2,870
Overseas - £6,355
MA English Literature - professional context
MA English Literature - teaching
Teaching
Provision is in small group seminars and/or one-on-one tutorials and supervisions.
MA English Literature - learning
Assessment
With the exception of the dissertation proposal and the dissertation itself, the 15-credit modules will normally be assessed by a 3000 word essay.
MA English Literature - graduate profile
MA English Literature - more
MA English Literature - apply
You can apply for this programme online using the link(s) below. We recommend making an application as soon as you can, even if you do not have all the necessary supporting information ready at that time.
As part of the application process, you will be asked to enter a username and password. If you've used our application system before, please enter your details or click the forgotten password link.
If you are a new user, you will need to create a username and password by clicking the New User button.
Start date
September
Programme length
12 months full-time
24 months part-time
Programme Director
For general enquiries
T: 0800 980 3200 or
+44 (0)1483 681681
E: pg-enquiries@surrey.ac.uk
For admissions enquiries
T: +44 (0)1483 689198
E: j.guennewich@surrey.ac.uk
Find out more
Department of English