Course summary

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2024). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas. The course consists of four main components spread over three academic terms, through which you have the opportunity to pursue interests within your chosen MSt strand, as well as across period boundaries. In the first two terms, you will take a core course (A) and a course in book history and theories of text (B), both tailored to your MSt. You will also choose two courses from a wide range of options (C). Under the guidance of a specialist supervisor you will also research and write a dissertation, which is submitted in the final term. You will also have the opportunity to hear lectures and papers by leading writers, critics, and theorists from inside and outside the University. You are encouraged to participate in the many research seminars and reading groups that run throughout term time, many of which are coordinated by graduate students themselves. There is an active and lively graduate organisation funded by the faculty, English Graduates at Oxford (EGO), that organises study skills, training and career development seminars, as well as social events and conferences. A. Core course: The Colonial, the Postcolonial, the World – Literature, Contexts and Approaches This is the core course and is compulsory for all students. It is taught in weekly classes in the first term. Classes on literature, contexts and approaches introduce representative key texts and current debates on the literature and cultural history of the period. There is no formal assessment for the A Course, but written work and/or oral presentations may be required. B. Core course: Bibliography, Theories of Text, History of the Book, Manuscript Studies This is a compulsory, assessed course, taught via a range of lectures and seminars in the first two terms. It introduces students to the methodology and theory of bibliography, manuscript studies, textual scholarship and book history. C. Special options Students take two special option courses, one in the first term and one in the second term. Options change from year to year, depending on the availability of faculty members and on their current teaching and research interests. The courses are taught in weekly, small group seminars. You are not constrained to follow option courses in the designated period and, indeed, option courses often traverse the boundaries of the broad periods and subject groups. Recent C course options for this strand have included ‘Humanitarian Fictions’, ‘Literatures of Empire and Nation 1880-1935’, ‘Energising World Literatures’ and ‘Literature and the Global Contemporary’. D. Dissertation You will write a 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. Students will have the opportunity to present their dissertation ideas at a one-day conference that they organise, usually at the start of Trinity term.