zz Victorian Literature example

Programme structure

The programme is made up of three components.

  • Core courses: taught over two ten-week teaching periods, from October to December and January to March.
  • Topic courses: also taught in ten-week blocks. Full-time students usually study one topic course in each semester.
  • A dissertation: written during the final phase of the course, from April to September.

Core courses

Our core courses introduce you to the different types of writing that developed across the Victorian period, and then encourage you to see how these engage with various ‘historical flashpoints’, such as changes in property law, sexual behaviour, or Imperial distress, such as the Indian Mutiny.

Assessment: For each core course, you will give an oral presentation, submit a mid-term exercise, and write an essay on a topic of your choice.

Topic courses, 2010-11

You may also take relevant courses from other taught Masters in the School of Critical Studies, including:

Assessment: topic courses will usually also require you to give an oral presentation, submit a mid-term exercise and write an essay on a topic of your choice across the semester (of 3000-3500 words each).

Dissertation

The dissertation is your opportunity to explore your own specialist interest in Victorian literature and to demonstrate the research and writing skills you have developed during the course. With the advice of your supervisor you will develop a topic, undertake primary and secondary research, and write a 15,000 word dissertation which you will submit in September.

Teaching methods

Teaching will be by a combination of 90-minute seminars for the core and topic courses, 45-minute supervisions for the dissertation and 30-minute feedback sessions to discuss coursework. Students will also participate in the Research Training Methods course run by the School of Critical Studies. You will also be given the opportunity to attend relevant lectures in the undergraduate programme, particularly where your first degree has not given you a wide background in Victorian literature. There may be occasional workshops on humanities computing in the STELLA laboratory.

The teaching sessions will be designed throughout to maximise student involvement, and there will be a range of opportunities for informal contact among staff and students outside teaching hours.