Masters Degrees in Caribbean Literature, United Kingdom

Our Centre’s aim is to stimulate teaching and research on the Caribbean, helping you to develop your awareness of the region and of its historically interdependent linkages with Britain and the world. We encourage the study of the Caribbean in an Atlantic context, emphasising African, North and South American, Asian and European influences from a comparative, cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspective.

The Centre is an umbrella unit of academics drawn from different departments. If you are writing Caribbean dissertations supervised by these academics, you may be registered at the Centre or in the departments of the respective academics.

Research Areas

Current areas of research expertise are: Slavery and empire in the 18th and 19th centuries; Caribbean maritime worlds and networks; white identities; Caribbean writing in French and Spanish; postcolonial Caribbean texts; pre-1900 English Caribbean literatures; women's writing and feminist theory; disaster law and culture; slavery and law; the Haitian Revolution; postcolonial studies, world literature, literary and cultural theory; gender and slavery; enslaved runaways and maroons. Students will be supervised by faculty members with expertise in these areas.

Regular term-time seminars in Caribbean Studies and Comparative Caribbean Literatures are run within the Faculty of Arts, and form a compulsory element of our research degrees.

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Staff supervise research in the following areas: African literature in English and in translation, Caribbean literature, African-American and Native American literatures, Australian literature, New Zealand and South Pacific literature since 1800, Indian and South-East Asian literature in English and in translation, middle-eastern literature and mediterranean literature, postcolonial women writers, theory, and travel writing.

Visit the website https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/236/postcolonial-studies

About the School of English

The School of English has a strong international reputation and global perspective, apparent both in the background of its staff and in the diversity of our teaching and research interests.

Our expertise ranges from the medieval to the postmodern, including British, American and Irish literature, postcolonial writing, 18th-century studies, Shakespeare, early modern literature and culture, Victorian studies, modern poetry, critical theory and cultural history. The international standing of the School ensures that we have a lively, confident research culture, sustained by a vibrant, ambitious intellectual community. We also count a number of distinguished creative writers among our staff, and we actively explore crossovers between critical and creative writing in all our areas of teaching and research.

The Research Excellence Framework 2014 has produced very strong results for the School of English at Kent. With 74% of our work graded as world-leading or internationally excellent, the School is ranked 10th out of 89 English departments in terms of Research Intensity (Times Higher Education). The School also received an outstanding assessment of the quality of its research environment and public impact work.

Course structure

As a research student, you meet regularly with your supervisor, and have the opportunity to take part in informal reading groups and research seminars to which students, staff and visiting speakers contribute papers. You also benefit from a series of research skills seminars that run in the spring term, which gives you a chance to share the research expertise of staff and postdoctoral members of the department.

As a basis for advanced research, you must take the School and Faculty research methods programmes.

Study support

- Postgraduate resources

The Templeman Library is well stocked with excellent research resources, as are Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Library. There are a number of special collections: the John Crow Collection of Elizabethan and other early printed texts; the Reading/Raynor Collection of theatre history (over 7,000 texts or manuscripts); ECCO (Eighteenth-Century Collections Online); the Melville manuscripts relating to popular culture in the 19th and early 20th centuries; the Pettingell Collection (over 7,500 items) of 19th-century drama; the Eliot Collection; children’s literature; and popular literature. A gift from Mrs Valerie Eliot has increased the Library’s already extensive holdings in modern poetry. The British Library in London is also within easy reach.

Besides the Templeman Library, School resources include photocopying, fax and telephone access, support for attending and organising conferences, and a dedicated postgraduate study space equipped with computer terminals and a printer.

- Conferences and seminars

Our research centres organise many international conferences, symposia and workshops. The School also plays a pivotal role in the Kent Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, of which all graduates are associate members. The Institute hosts interdisciplinary conferences, colloquia, and other events, and establishes international links for all Kent graduates through its network with other advanced institutes worldwide.

School of English postgraduate students are encouraged to organise and participate in a conference which takes place in the summer term. This provides students with the invaluable experience of presenting their work to their peers.

The School runs several series of seminars, lectures and readings throughout the academic year. Our weekly research seminars are organised collaboratively by staff and graduates in the School. Speakers range from our own postgraduate students, to members of staff, to distinguished lecturers who are at the forefront of contemporary research nationally and internationally.

The Centre for Creative Writing hosts a very popular and successful weekly reading series; guests have included poets Katherine Pierpoint, Tony Lopez, Christopher Reid and George Szirtes, and novelists Abdulrazak Gurnah, Ali Smith, Marina Warner and Will Self.

The University of Kent is now in partnership with the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA). Benefits from this affiliation include free membership for incoming students; embedded seminar opportunities at the ICA and a small number of internships for our students. The School of English also runs an interdisciplinary MA programme in the Contemporary which offers students an internship at the Institute of Contemporary Arts.

- Dynamic publishing culture

Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. They also edit several periodicals including: Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities; The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature: 600-1500; The Dickensian; Literature Compass; Oxford Literary Review; Theatre Notebook and Wasafiri.

- Researcher Development Programme

Kent's Graduate School co-ordinates the Researcher Development Programme (http://www.kent.ac.uk/graduateschool/skills/programmes/tstindex.html) for research students, which includes workshops focused on research, specialist and transferable skills. The programme is mapped to the national Researcher Development Framework and covers a diverse range of topics, including subjectspecific research skills, research management, personal effectiveness, communication skills, networking and teamworking, and career management skills.

Careers

Many career paths can benefit from the writing and analytical skills that you develop as a postgraduate student in the School of English. Our students have gone on to work in academia, journalism, broadcasting and media, publishing, writing and teaching; as well as more general areas such as banking, marketing analysis and project management.

Find out how to apply here - https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply/

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This exciting, intellectually rigorous programme gives you the opportunity to develop the study of literature from a variety of perspectives through a number of flexible pathways - http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-literary-studies/

The pathways you can take are:

Pathway in American Literature & Culture
Pathway in Comparative Literature & Criticism
Pathway in Literature of the Caribbean & its Diasporas
Pathway in Modern Literary Theory
Pathway in Modern Literature
Pathway in Romantic & Victorian Literature & Culture
Pathway in Shakespeare: Early & Modern
These enable you to combine theoretical angles with the close reading of a wide range of texts, from different media (literary, filmic, visual), periods, and cultural, geographic and linguistic backgrounds – though all texts will be studied in English, in English translation, or with English subtitles.

Assessment

Extended course essays; dissertation of 15,000 words.

Skills

You'll develop transferable skills, including:

enhanced communication and discussion skills in written and oral contexts
the ability to analyse and evaluate different textual materials
the ability to organise information; the ability to assimilate and evaluate competing arguments

Careers

Graduates of this programme have gone on to pursue careers in:

publishing
journalism
public relations
teaching
advertising
the civil service
business
industry
the media

Funding

Please visit http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/fees-funding/ for details.

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Explore your passion for contemporary literature and the way it can be used to understand our society. You will examine current developments and critical issues in the past 30 years of literature on a course that provides an international and cross-cultural outlook.

Whether your interests lie in the world of the postcolonial or you have a fascination with women's writing, this challenging course will allow you to study recent volumes of poetry, research cultures and explore novels and films relating to current debates. You will use key theoretical models and concepts to gain a greater understanding of how we study literature and the motivations and historical events that have driven the authors you choose to read.

Taught by a team with an international reputation for their research in diverse areas, ranging from Caribbean culture, history and literature to cultural representations of the 2007-08 credit crunch across literature, stage and screen, this course will expose you to new ideas and encourage you to question them.

Check out our twitter feed @BeckettEnglish for up-to-date information on staff and student events, short courses and fun happenings around the school.

- Research Excellence Framework 2014: 38% of our research was judged to be world leading or internationally excellent in the Communication, Culture and Media Studies, Library and Information Management unit.

Visit the website http://courses.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/englishcontemp_ma

Mature Applicants

Our University welcomes applications from mature applicants who demonstrate academic potential. We usually require some evidence of recent academic study, for example completion of an access course, however recent relevant work experience may also be considered. Please note that for some of our professional courses all applicants will need to meet the specified entry criteria and in these cases work experience cannot be considered in lieu.

If you wish to apply through this route you should refer to our University Recognition of Prior Learning policy that is available on our website (http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/studenthub/recognition-of-prior-learning.htm).

Please note that all applicants to our University are required to meet our standard English language requirement of GCSE grade C or equivalent, variations to this will be listed on the individual course entry requirements.

Course Benefits

You'll learn how to use a range of cutting-edge theoretical approaches to texts, while you will be able to draw upon the course team's research and teaching strengths in contemporary women's writing, postcolonialism and popular fiction.

You will acquire a well-informed, critical understanding of current developments, questions and critical issues in the field of contemporary literatures and develop the transferable skills needed to undertake independent research into contemporary literatures and associated criticism and theory.

Core Modules

Researching Cultures
Is an interdisciplinary research methods module, taught with students on other Masters programmes. It prepares students for their dissertation, and equips them with research skills and strategies necessary if they intend to progress to PhD.

Doris Lessing: Narrating Nation & Identity
Explore a selection of the extensive body of work produced during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries by the Nobel Prize-winning writer, Doris Lessing.

Contemporary Genre: (Re)Presenting the 21st Century
Examine contemporary genres with an emphasis on their innovations and socio-cultural developments.

Haunting the Contemporary: the Ghost Story in 20th & 21st Century Fiction
Discover the contemporary field of haunted narratives and consider them in relation to a variety of theoretical approaches, primarily the work of Jacques Derrida.

Post-Structuralist Theory: Foucault & Derrida
Develop a deeper awareness and more sophisticated understanding of two theorists who have been of fundamental importance to debates in literary studies in the twentieth century: Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida.

Neoliberal Fictions
You will focus on the 1990s and 2000s - including the US-led globalisation project, the spread of global markets, the dotcom crash, 9/11 attacks on America and the bursting of the housing bubble.

Dissertation
Presents the opportunity for students to synthesize the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the course and to write a substantial piece of supervised research, in the guise of a 15,000-word masters dissertation.

With the exception of Researching Cultures and Dissertation, the modules offered each year will be rotated. Other modules include:

Poetry & Poetics
Analyse volumes of recently published poetry (2009-12) and consider them alongside a range of influential contemporary statements on the genre including pieces by Martin Heidegger and Jacques Derrida.

Contemporary Gothic
Examine the relevance of the Gothic today by studying contemporary Gothic texts. You will engage not only with novels but with Gothic-influenced US TV drama, South-East Asian vampire films, and Latin American horror.

India Shining: Secularism, Globalization, & Contemporary Indian Culture
Discover the diverse and challenging selection of literary and visual texts offered by modern postcolonial India and explore the different conceptual and political approaches taken by writers and film-makers.

Journeys & Discoveries: Travel, Tourism & Exploration 1768-1996
Consider the journeys, voyages and discoveries described in a range of travel writing from 1768 through to 1996 and gain an understanding of how travel, tourism and exploration have evolved.

Translating Tricksters: Literatures of the Black Atlantic
Explore postcolonial writing in the form of short stories, novels and poetry, and unpick the ways writers use religion and folklore to define their identity and resist the legacy of western imperialism.

New Yorkshire Writing: Scholarly Practice & Research Methods
Develop the research and writing skills needed to conduct advanced research in your field as you study representations of Yorkshire and the region's position within Britain.

Other Victorians: The Neo-Victorian Contemporary Novel
You will use pastiches, rewritings and parodies of the 19th-Century novel to consider how we are 'other Victorians' and the role of the 'other' in Victorian society.

Facilities

- Library
Our libraries are two of the only university libraries in the UK open 24/7 every day of the year. However you like to study, the libraries have got you covered with group study, silent study, extensive e-learning resources and PC suites.

- Broadcasting Place
Broadcasting Place provides students with creative and contemporary learning environments, is packed with the latest technology and is a focal point for new and innovative thinking in the city.

Find out how to apply here - http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/postgraduate/how-to-apply/

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The MRes degree is a research programme with some provision for taught modules.

It is aimed at those who wish to move beyond undergraduate work and to engage in research in depth for a postgraduate thesis, but who also wish to take modules that help develop research and related skills.

The course aims to develop your critical and analytical skills in relation to current ideas in African politics, history and anthropology or African and Caribbean literature. It provides you with the opportunity to identify, investigate in depth, and write up a research topic of your own, including the use of archival, oral media and internet sources.

You take three taught modules and write a dissertation of 20,000 words in the final term on a topic of your choice.

There are two compulsory modules: Research Skills and Methods in African Studies and Advanced Perspectives on Africa. In addition you choose a third module from a wide range of topics in literature, history, politics, development and anthropology.

About the School of History and Culture

The programmes in the School of History and Cultures offer students enquiry based learning within a rich and diverse environment to stimulate debate and challenge conventional thinking.
The programmes derive from departments which are all excellently rated by the QAA both in teaching and research terms (Medieval History 5, Modern History 5 and African Studies 5*). Our staff publish widely, and we are developing and consolidating a strong, supportive research culture in the School.
We are extremely proud to announce in June 2016, that History at Birmingham was ranked the top research department in the country by the Research Excellence Framework (REF). The national REF exercise assessed research publications and the public impact of research carried out in all universities in the UK between 2008-2014. Our department had an impressive 45% of its research judged to be ‘world-leading’.

Funding and Scholarships

There are many ways to finance your postgraduate study at the University of Birmingham. To see what funding and scholarships are available, please visit: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate/funding

Open Days

Explore postgraduate study at Birmingham at our on-campus open days.
Register to attend at: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate/visit

Virtual Open Days

If you can’t make it to one of our on-campus open days, our virtual open days run regularly throughout the year. For more information, please visit: http://www.pg.bham.ac.uk

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The MA African Studies is a multidisciplinary programme focusing on contemporary Africa.

It provides you with an understanding of major social, cultural, political and economic developments in Africa and the Diaspora. It also enables you to develop your critical and analytical powers in relation to current events in Africa, as well as your ability to approach contemporary African issues from interdisciplinary standpoints.

The programme provides you with the research training necessary to undertake a broad-based, multidisciplinary study of contemporary Africa.

It enhances your ability to prepare and present to an audience material you have researched.

To achieve Diploma level, you will need to complete six taught modules. MA students will need to complete six taught modules plus a 15,000-word dissertation.

You will study two core modules:

Research Skills and Methods in African Studies
Advanced Perspectives on Africa
You will also choose four optional modules from a range offered within African Studies and Anthropology. Subject to availability, it is also possible to choose one of your options from another discipline.

About the School of History and Culture

The programmes in the School of History and Cultures offer students enquiry based learning within a rich and diverse environment to stimulate debate and challenge conventional thinking.
The programmes derive from departments which are all excellently rated by the QAA both in teaching and research terms (Medieval History 5, Modern History 5 and African Studies 5*). Our staff publish widely, and we are developing and consolidating a strong, supportive research culture in the School.
We are extremely proud to announce in June 2016, that History at Birmingham was ranked the top research department in the country by the Research Excellence Framework (REF). The national REF exercise assessed research publications and the public impact of research carried out in all universities in the UK between 2008-2014. Our department had an impressive 45% of its research judged to be ‘world-leading’.

Funding and Scholarships

There are many ways to finance your postgraduate study at the University of Birmingham. To see what funding and scholarships are available, please visit: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate/funding

Open Days

Explore postgraduate study at Birmingham at our on-campus open days.
Register to attend at: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate/visit

Virtual Open Days

If you can’t make it to one of our on-campus open days, our virtual open days run regularly throughout the year. For more information, please visit: http://www.pg.bham.ac.uk

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Our Centre’s aim is to stimulate teaching and research on the Caribbean, helping you to develop your awareness of the region and of its historically interdependent linkages with Britain and the world. We encourage the study of the Caribbean in an Atlantic context, emphasising African, North and South American, Asian and European influences from a comparative, cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspective.

The Centre is an umbrella unit of academics drawn from different departments. If you are writing Caribbean dissertations supervised by these academics, you may be registered at the Centre or in the departments of the respective academics.

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The United States remains the most powerful nation in the world, in terms of its economic, military and cultural influence. A glance around us will reveal the enduring appeal and enormous popularity of things American.

This degree will offer you an exciting as well as sophisticated programme which will encourage you to reflect critically upon the predominance of the United States over the last century or so in political, cultural, historical and literary terms and contexts. As a result, you will reflect on the unique status of American Studies as a truly inter-disciplinary subject area.

Course detail

This degree offers a tightly integrated programme with a selection of modules that will enrich your research methods and approaches in the American Studies subject-area. Whilst concentrating on the core aspects of American Studies you will be encouraged to pursue your research through avenues of related subjects (History, Literature and Film) forming a holistic, yet inter-disciplinary, approach. The modules offered emphasise a cross-fertilisation of subject areas, promoting an international perspective towards America, such as global concerns and transnational considerations, thus shifting from the original constructs of America, ‘American uniqueness’ and ‘exceptionalism’ (Brian Edwards, Globalising American Studies, 2010).

This programme is, therefore, well-suited to those students who prefer diversity to the narrower focus of a single-subject Master’s degree.

The suite of taught modules have been carefully constructed to take you on a series of journeys - from a discussion of American Studies itself as an approach, and then from the immediate localities, regions and borders of the United States, to the wider national and international settings. This will offer multi-perspective interpretations of the United States, internally, with its neighbours and with the rest of the world.

You will engage in an inter-connected sequence of debates which will lead you to a greater understanding of the complexity of the United States as a cultural construct as well as a geographical and political entity.

Format

American Studies has a historical, literary, cultural and evidence-based approach which requires wide, critical reading and intelligent synthesis of ideas and information. It requires you to construct arguments in writing. You will receive critical and constructive comments on your progress as an integral part of teaching and learning, through individual meetings with tutors, feedback on written work or specific coursework tutorials.

We place importance on presentations so, as a transferable skill, you will present seminar papers extensively throughout the course of your modules. These will be used as a basis for feedback and will then feed into your written work. These exercises will develop your critical abilities as well as widen your familiarity with, and confidence in handling, a range of sources, preparing you for the modules’ summative assessment stage, and the final dissertation.

This programme places a strong emphasis on the development of independent research and writing. The programme’s assessment strategies are designed to develop independent research skills; the ability to structure and write a sophisticated critical essay and longer academic monographs, and the opportunity to pursue your own intellectual interests within each module’s thematic scope.

How to apply

For information on how to apply, please see the following link:
https://www.yorksj.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/how-to-apply/

Other sources of funding

Information on alternative sources of funding can be found here:
https://www.yorksj.ac.uk/student-services/money/funding-my-course/postgraduate-/postgraduate-funding-/

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The MA by Research in American Studies gives you an opportunity to develop your research interests in the history, politics, literature and/or culture of the United States in a supportive environment, with the guidance of a supervisor who is an expert in their field. At CCCU, we have a small team of experienced American Studies MA by Research supervisors who are committed to supporting research students to reach their potential.

Visit the website: https://www.canterbury.ac.uk/study-here/courses/postgraduate/american-studies-by-research.aspx

Course detail

You will study your own research area under the guidance of an experienced supervisor in your field. We recommend that you contact potential supervisors when you are developing your research proposal so that we can advise you on the feasibility of your project and provide support and guidance through the application process.

Suitability

The programme is aimed at both recent graduates and returners to education who are passionate about a research area related to the United States. If you enjoyed researching and writing your undergraduate dissertation, have a desire to expand your knowledge of a US topic that has sparked your interest, or you want to pursue an established interest through a formal degree, then an MA by Research in American Studies may be for you.

Students who complete an MA by Research often go on to MPhil or PhD study in American Studies or a related discipline, such as History, Political Science, or English Literature.

Format

The emphasis of this programme is on independent research. That said, you will have regular meetings with your supervisor, and you will have the opportunity to attend sessions with the Graduate School’s Researcher Development Programme.

All supervisory teams will include access to an experienced supervisor. For information on our supervisors’ fields of interest, please see our staff profiles: https://www.canterbury.ac.uk/arts-and-humanities/school-of-humanities/american-studies/our-team.aspx

You will also be invited to attend the regular American Studies Research Seminar—a guest speaker programme—which will allow you to network with academics in the field, and hear about some of the cutting edge research taking place in American Studies both in the UK and Internationally.

Assessment

The MA by Research is awarded by dissertation.

Supervised by a panel of experienced researchers, you'll meet regularly with your first supervisor and present your work in progress to the full panel halfway through your registration period. Following advice from this Review meeting you'll complete the writing up of your 25-30,000 word dissertation.

What can I do next?

On this programme you will gain research, written communication, time-management, and independent study skills that are invaluable to a range of careers.

You could also continue to further study, such as an MPhil or PhD.

How to apply

For information on how to apply, please follow this link: https://www.canterbury.ac.uk/study-here/how-to-apply/how-to-apply.aspx

Funding

-Masters Loans-

From 2016/17 government loans of up to £10,000 are available for postgraduate Masters study. The loans will be paid directly to students by the Student Loans Company and will be subject to both personal and course eligibility criteria.

For more information available here: https://www.canterbury.ac.uk/study-here/funding-your-degree/funding-your-postgraduate-degree.aspx

-2017/18 Entry Financial Support-

Information on alternative funding sources is available here: https://www.canterbury.ac.uk/study-here/funding-your-degree/2017-18-entry-financial-support.aspx

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