Course summary
Explore literature’s relationship with place and environment at an ancient university, home to a collection of literary treasures spanning over 500 years. Delivered by experts in English literary studies, the programme provides you with practical and theoretical knowledge drawn from a wide range of critical and interdisciplinary perspectives. Through core and optional courses, we will address the ways literature reacts to and depicts environmental and ecological crises, the intersections between heritage, memory, literature, and location, and questions of cosmopolitanism, travel, and home across diverse time periods and genres. Discover how aspects of place and environment are shaped and expressed in literature across a spectrum of literary periods and styles. You will examine the way literature conveys the ideology of place, covering a selection of relevant issues including environmental crises; the intersection between heritage, memory and location; and questions of cosmopolitanism, travel, and home. The programme intends to broaden your academic knowledge of English Literature with the option to focus on specific literary movements to pursue your own interests. There are fantastic opportunities to work with scholars who have significant international research profiles in an exciting and developing area of literary studies. Research training involves the acquisition of practical skills and specialised knowledge and understanding of literary periods and critical issues that will be directly relevant to each candidate's proposed field of research. The programme will take advantage of the unique setting of the University of Aberdeen and enable students to explore the connection between literature, landscape and built environment through course-work and field trips. Students can take this degree as a stand-alone one-year or two-year part-time Masters degree or as a first step towards an MPhil or PhD (subject to admission to a further degree programme either at Aberdeen or elsewhere). Students who start in January should be aware that they will complete the dissertation in the middle of the programme, over the summer between their two semesters of coursework.
Modules
Courses include training in theory and methods of research, plus a large variety of options covering both different periods and genres. Availability of options courses may vary from year to year.
Assessment method
Assessment methods vary by individual course and include essays, reports, presentations, written exercises and written and oral examinations. The MLitt also requires a 15,000 word dissertation, while the diploma consists of coursework alone. Courses are assessed through essays, presentations, group and project work. The variety of assessment in the programme ensures that students apply theory to practice and become expert communicators and team players.
How to apply
International applicants
When you are thinking about studying overseas, it is important that you understand all the costs involved and budget accordingly. It is essential to budget for your studies prior to leaving your home country and to arrange all your funding for BOTH your tuition fees and your living costs. In addition, it is important to check all immigration requirements regularly and before travelling, as they can change. Students without the necessary visa will be refused entry to the UK. You should allow plenty of time to organise your visa and ensure you are aware of all your responsibilities under the terms and conditions of your visa. Please note that the advice provided via the University is the Student Visa category of the UK's Points Based Immigration Scheme. For further information, please visit the United Kingdom Visas and Immigration (UKVI) website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration.
Entry requirements
A 2.1 Honours degree or the equivalent in English Literature or a relevant cognate discipline in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
English language requirements
| Test | Grade | Additional details |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic) | 6.5 | Overall - 6.5 with: Listening - 5.5 or above; Reading - 6.0 or above; Speaking - 5.5 or above; Writing - 6.0 or above. IELTS Indicator or IELTS General Training are not accepted. |
| TOEFL (iBT) | 90 | TOEFL iBT and TOEFL iBT Home Edition: Overall - 90 with: Listening - 17 or above; Reading - 21 or above; Speaking - 20 or above; Writing - 21 or above. DI code is 0818 |
| PTE Academic | 62 | Overall - 62 with: Listening - 59 or above; Reading - 59 or above; Speaking - 59 or above; Writing - 59 or above. Online test is not accepted. |
| Institution's Own Test | Academic English Pre-sessional Programme (PSE) - Pass (valid for 1 year). Academic English Preparation Programme undertaken at other UK HEI - accredited by BALEAP and within 1 year of start of course. | |
| Cambridge English Advanced | C | Overall - 176 with: Listening - 162 or above; Reading - 162 or above; Speaking - 162 or above; Writing - 169 or above. |
To study for a postgraduate degree at the University of Aberdeen it is essential that you can speak, understand, read, and write academic English fluently. These skills will allow you to understand lectures, produce high standards of written work, and perform well in examinations. We can assess your English language proficiency through a variety of means: through your nationality, through the qualifications you gained in high school, through the degree you undertook or are undertaking at university, or through a recognised English language test. Postgraduate Higher requirements are used by the Schools of Business; Divinity, History and Philosophy; Education; Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture; Law; and Social Sciences. The MSc in Oil and Gas Enterprise Management and the MSc in Integrated Petroleum Geoscience also make use of the Postgraduate Higher requirements. Please note certification must be within the two years prior to commencement of your degree programme, unless otherwise stated.
Please use the checklist at the following webpage to determine how you can meet our English language requirements:
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/international/requirements-pg-266.php
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
| Republic of Ireland | £11077 | Year 1 |
| EU | £23800 | Year 1 |
| England | £11077 | Year 1 |
| Northern Ireland | £11077 | Year 1 |
| Scotland | £11077 | Year 1 |
| Wales | £11077 | Year 1 |
| Channel Islands | £23800 | Year 1 |
| International | £23800 | Year 1 |
Additional fee information
Tuition fees given are at the full-time rate. The part-time fee rate for taught postgraduate programmes is 50% of the relevant full-time fee rate.
Sponsorship information
Eligible self-funded international Masters students will receive the Aberdeen Global Scholarship. Visit our Funding Database to find out more and see our full range of scholarships: www.abdn.ac.uk/study/funding/. The University of Aberdeen provides an Alumni Discount Scheme: The University of Aberdeen is very pleased to offer a 20% discount on postgraduate tuition fees for all alumni who have graduated with a degree from the University of Aberdeen.
Provider information
University of Aberdeen
Directorate of External Relations
King's College
Aberdeen
AB24 3FX