StudyQA — Master: Modern Scottish Writing

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More than a decade after devolution, Scotlands national status is both dangled before us and tantalisingly withheld (Don Paterson).

The Stirling Masters course views Scottish literature in the light of this ambiguity, from a perspective shaped by critical theory as well as traditional literary history. Our focus is the unusually strong role played by literature in sustaining the reality and difference of Scottish culture over the past three centuries not forgetting the role of novelists and poets in integrating Scottish identity into the project of Britishness. As debate intensifies over Scotlands political status, the time is ripe to examine the role of writing in shaping the image and reality of the nation.

Course objectives
This course explores modern Scottish literature in relation to the ambivalent condition of Scottish history and identity.

We focus on writing from Robert Burns, Walter Scott and James Hogg, through Victorian and late 19th-century writers (Galt, Buchan, Stevenson) to the modernist experiments of Hugh MacDiarmid and his followers, and on to provocative 20th-century experiments in language, textuality and historical re-telling (Welsh, Galloway, Kelman, Spark, Gray, Saadi, Robertson).

No previous experience in studying Scottish literature is required. Leading Scottish writers and critics feature prominently in assigned reading, as do theorists of cultural modernity.

Career opportunities
Completing a Masters degree as a prelude to further academic research is an increasingly common pattern of study for young scholars, and is a route encouraged by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Advanced education in the Arts, the practical experience of research and the production of a dissertation are significant transferable skills for many careers in business and the professions.

Skills you can develop through this course
An English degree is acknowledged by potential employers as providing important skills, such as motivation, intelligence, and the ability to meet deadlines. Although English is not a specifically vocational degree it offers a number of important transferable skills, such as the ability to write clearly, effectively, accurately and persuasively.

Seminar discussion and oral presentations (required by many of our modules) help to develop your spoken communication skills. The critical and reflexive study of a variety of texts (literary and non-literary) teaches you how to analyse and interpret complex information and to apply abstract concepts and theories. Our criteria for assessment also requires students to be able to synthesise conclusions, to assimilate existing research and to construct and defend an argument clearly and cogently.

Throughout their degrees, our students are also trained to use library and bibliographic resources effectively and appropriately, to reference accurately, and to present their work professionally. All of these skills are essential to many kinds of work, which is why so many employers recognise the value of an English Degree.

In a recent report, graduates of English were as likely (if not more) to be in professional or managerial jobs three to three and a half years after graduation than graduates in other subjects (including science and social science subjects). Almost fifty percent of English graduates pursue further education within three years of graduating from their undergraduate degree, often as a route to a professional career, such as teaching or law.

Chances to expand your horizons
During the semester the department runs a number of lively literary seminars for students and staff alike, in which writers, staff members, postgraduate students and distinguished visiting scholars give papers on their work and special interests.

We are fortunate in that the MacRobert Arts Centre is at the centre of the University, presenting a widely varied programme of film, drama and music throughout the year. Small magazines are published on campus and the Literary Society organizes visits from distinguished creative writers each year, along with theatre trips to Glasgow and Edinburgh. Finally, the University Drama Society is very active, producing about seven plays a year, including performances at the Edinburgh Festival.

The Autumn core module provides a thematic and historical overview (doubling as a survey course in modern Scottish literature); the Spring core module explores Scottish Romantic and Modernist writing in relation to specific themes of authenticity, representation and democracy. Option modules allow students to pursue deeper knowledge of specific texts and issues. Full-time students take one option in each semester; part-time students take options in the second year of their course.

It is now possible to study Modern Scottish Writing jointly with Creative Writing; students on this pathway do critical modules in Modern Scottish Writing alongside Creative Writing workshops.

Delivery and assessment
Dissertation

The most significant piece of work on the course will be a dissertation of 15,000 words, written during the summer, on a subject of your choosing in consultation with a member of teaching staff. You may choose to develop work initiated on one of the modules you have studied. Those who do not embark on the dissertation may be awarded a Diploma. The work of the best students completing the course may be deemed worthy of an MLitt with Distinction.

Module titles
Option modules include:

* Enlightenment Scotland and the Historical Novel: An examination of the invention and development of the historical novel in Scotland, and the powerful influence of this genre in the structuring of cultural memory.
* Language and Scottish Poetry: An exploration of a series of paradoxes surrounding orality, tradition and cultural identity in modern Scottish poetry.
* Writing Difference: Scottish Women Writers and Tradition: A study of the place and function of womens writing in the formation of a national canon.
* Scottish Gothic: Focuses on the contribution of Scottish writing to the emergence of the Gothic as a counter-discourse within Enlightenment modernity.
* Writing Home: Scottish Landscape and Narrative: Explores questions of home, territory and place in modern Scottish writing by examining literary representations and productions of distinctive cultural and national geographies.
* Comparative Approaches to Vernacular Texts: An exploration of vernacular, non-standard and foreign English writing in relation to Scottish, American, and post-colonial cultures.

Students studying Modern Scottish Writing jointly with Creative Writing do option modules in Creative Writing.

An upper second class or better single or combined Honours degree in a relevant subject or subjects from a UK university or an equivalent qualification.Applicants with other qualifications or other appropriate experience may be admitted on the recommendation of the Course Director.English language requirementsIf English is not your first language, you must provide evidence of your proficiency such as a minimum IELTS score of 6 (minimum 5.5 in each skill), or TOEFL: Listening 21, Reading 22, Speaking 23, Writing 21. English Language Requirements IELTS band: 6 IMPORTANT NOTE: Since April 2014 the ETS tests (including TOEFL and TOEIC) are no longer accepted for Tier 4 visa applications to the United Kingdom. The university might still accept these tests to admit you to the university, but if you require a Tier 4 visa to enter the UK and begin your degree programme, these tests will not be sufficient to obtain your Visa. The IELTS test is most widely accepted by universities and is also accepted for Tier 4 visas to the UK- learn more.