MA English Literature: Modern and Contemporary Literature

Overview

Your postgraduate studies on the Modern and Contemporary Literature MA pathway will be shaped and informed by leading international researchers in the literature and culture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Our research and teaching focuses on some of the most critical and pressing issues of our time, including contemporary racism as a legacy of transatlantic slavery in neo-slave narratives, surrealist depictions of climate change, global feminisms, the precarity of whiteness in American novels and the crisis of postmodernity in contemporary writing. Tutors contributing to the pathway include New Generation Thinkers, award-winning writers and critics and members of the Global Literatures Research Group.

Regular visits by a range of international writers and poets, in association with the Centre for New and International Writing, will enhance your study. In the past we have welcomed writers including George Saunders, Neil Gaiman, Nuar Alsadir and Jay Bernard. The pathway integrates teaching with Liverpool’s host of world-class cultural institutions and venues, such as the Everyman Theatre, the International Slavery Museum, Tate Liverpool and the Liverpool Biennial.

Career prospects

The independence of study, clarity of expression and management of time demanded by all our taught programmes equip the successful graduate with the skills and knowledge base required for further academic study and research in English and other areas.

Many graduates also choose to enter careers such as teaching, publishing and journalism, or to work in the business sector, often in human resources, administration, marketing or sales.

Successful alumni have gone on to teach English at elementary, secondary and tertiary levels in schools around the globe. A significant number of MA graduates have also continued their studies to PhD level.