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Birkbeck, University of London: Modern Literature and Culture (1900-present)

Institution Birkbeck, University of London View institution profile
Department School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication
Web http://www.bbk.ac.uk/
Telephone 0203 907 0700
Study type Taught

Summary

Our MA Modern Literature and Culture (1900-present) has been designed to offer you a set of sophisticated cultural and critical frameworks to read literature and culture, across a range of different themes, from 1900 to the present day. It gives you the opportunity to build the skills and knowledge you need to produce your own original and informed cultural critique.

This modern literature and culture degree explores literature from an exciting variety of perspectives. You will begin by focusing on literature and culture from c.1900 to 1945, examining key concepts of modernism and modernity, ranging through literary texts and a variety of different cultural forms and theories.

You will then gain knowledge and insights into literature and culture from 1945 to the present day so that you are exposed to a full background of cultural study on this period. Teachers on this course have a wide range of specialisms and they will explore with you the many critical angles through which we read, interpret and interrogate our concept of what it means to be modern and contemporary.

Highlights

  • Birkbeck was ranked 2nd in the UK for its English Language and Literature research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.

  • Birkbeck is at the geographical centre of London’s research library complex, a short distance from the British Library, Senate House Library and the Institute of Historical Research. Senate House Library has an outstanding collection of literary periodicals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, while the nearby University College London Library also has an important James Joyce archive. The Poetry Library at London’s South Bank Centre is rich in twentieth-century poetry. We are also at the heart of literary London, in Bloomsbury, WC1. You could be studying in a building that was once home to Virginia Woolf and frequented by members of the Bloomsbury Group. The building houses our own creative hub which includes the Peltz Gallery, the Gordon Square Cinema and a theatre and performance space.

  • Birkbeck hosts the internationally acclaimed Contemporary Poetics Research Centre, which regularly features visiting poetic practitioners. There will also be opportunities to join a number of graduate seminars and reading groups, and occasional discussions with practising novelists and poets. The Centre for Contemporary Literature runs a wide variety of talks and conferences.

  • We offer a number of bursaries for postgraduate students.

Careers and employability

Our graduates are trained to be effective researchers with good communication skills and an ability to critically assess a wide range of textual and other cultural materials.

You will find graduates of this MA following career paths in:

  • journalism

  • professional writing

  • arts administration or research

  • civil service

  • law and business professions

  • publishing roles

  • teaching in schools or as lecturers in further and higher education

  • museum and cultural heritage work

  • curation.

A number of our Master's students also go on to study at PhD level and we will provide you with structured support and guidance if you wish to pursue this path.

We offer a comprehensive careers service - Careers and Enterprise - your career partner during your time at Birkbeck and beyond. At every stage of your career journey, we empower you to take ownership of your future, helping you to make the connection between your experience, education and future ambitions.

MA

Birkbeck, part of the University of London, offers nearly 300 taught and research postgraduate programmes across arts and humanities, business and economics, law, science and social science. As an evening teaching specialist, Birkbeck offers its taught postgraduate courses between 6-9pm, with some courses available through distance learning. As with undergraduate courses, postgraduates can study full-time or part-time.

Home to 44 research and specialist institutes, Birkbeck is the sixth largest provider of taught postgrad courses for UK and EU students - some 44% of its 11,000-plus students are on postgrad programmes. Around 90% of its academics are active in research, and …

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