Inclusion and Special Educational Needs

This is an innovative Shakespeare Institute programme that focuses on how Shakespeare's plays work in performance. It encourages a historical approach to interpretation and styles of presentation and it promotes the value of close reading as the basis for evaluating the plays on the page, stage, and screen.

You will have the opportunity to look at different productions and adaptations of Shakespeares plays in their historical, political, and cultural contexts and to think about the performance choices actors and directors make when approaching Shakespeares texts. You can also study how the textual history of Shakespeares plays influences performance today. You can study on campus (full-time or part-time) or by distance learning (part-time only).

You will study two core modules:

* Shakespeares Theatre
* Research Skills

You will also choose four optional modules (see module information below). Each module is assessed by one 4,000 word essay with the exception of Research Skills and Creative Practice which are assessed by 23 shorter assignments (Creative Practice includes performance pieces in addition to written assessment). While completing all six taught modules will lead to a Diploma-level qualification, MA students will also complete a 15,000-word dissertation.

The flexible structure of this course allows study in a wide variety of ways, on a full- or part-time basis. Modules are available to study through a variety of routes that may include:

* Three long weekends at the Shakespeare Institute at approximately monthly intervals
* One day a week throughout a semester at the Shakespeare Institute (ten days).
* Distance-learning option via online WebCt

Full-time study is on site in Stratford-upon-Avon and part-time students can choose to study the whole programme either on site, via online distance learning or a combination of the two. You are also encouraged to visit the theatre and cinema to benefit from the excitement of Shakespeare's plays in performance.

You will study two core modules:

Shakespeare's Theatre (on-site and distance learning)
There are three components of this module. The first is a close reading of text that will lead to a consideration of the theatrical function and distinctive qualities of Shakespeare's language. The second is a study of Elizabethan and early Jacobean stages and performance; and the third is an extension of the historical perspective, including Shakespeare's medieval inheritance, that will inform inquiry into the contemporary and continuing theatrical life. Plays studied include some or all of Hamlet, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, Richard II, Titus Andronicus, Henry V, Cymbeline and The Tempest.

Research Skills (on-site and distance learning)
This module provides you with essential research skills training applicable in the fields of Shakespeare studies, with a particular emphasis on performance studies. You will actively assess the different kinds of evidence and methods used in these fields and critically evaluate the epistemological assumptions that underline them.

You will then choose four optional modules from the following:

Shakespeare's Craftsmanship (on-site and distance learning)
This module focuses on the construction of Shakespeare's plays and considers the manipulation of source material and genre, the structuring of the dramatic narrative and the use of language for dramatic function and effect. Plays studied include Romeo and Juliet, Measure for Measure, Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, and The Winter's Tale.

Shakespeare's Legacy (on-site and distance learning)
This module considers the adaptation and appropriation of Shakespeares plays, persona, and possessions from the seventeenth century to the present day. It pays special attention to how changes in theatre practice, aesthetic tastes, politics, and commercial markets have shaped the history of Shakespeares afterlife. Plays studied include some or all of King Lear, The Tempest, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Measure for Measure.

Shakespeares Text (on-site and distance learning)
The module will develop a critical awareness of the textual foundations of Shakespeare's plays. Topics covered include: the relationship between a modern edition of a play and the earliest printed texts, the nature of the printing process that first made the plays available to readers of books, the characteristics of Shakespeare's dramatic composition, the treatment of the text in the theatre (including censorship, revision and adaptation), and Shakespeare as a collaborator. Plays studied include some or all of Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, Sir Thomas More, Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, King Lear, Measure for Measure, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Timon of Athens.

History of Shakespeare in Performance (on-site and distance learning)
This module will consider trends of acting and directing Shakespeare from the Restoration to the present day, and will exploit the Stratford archives to undertake studies of individual actors and directors from the eighteenth century onwards. Subjects of study might include Colley Cibber, David Garrick, Henry Irving and Ellen Terry, Laurence Olivier, Peter Brook, John Barton and Sam Mendes. There will be opportunities to analyse and interpret primary evidence and to consider the cultural context(s) of performance. Plays studied include some or all of Richard III, Hamlet, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Shakespearience (distance learning only)
This module considers the ways in which Shakespearean language and drama bears on experience, with a view to making the experience of Shakespeare more available to contemporary Shakespeare scholarship and creative practice. It is, above all, a shared experiment in experientially alert and susceptible close reading. In a series of intensively collaborative workshops, special course blog and in seminars, it will dwell and linger in Shakespeares language and stagecraft in order to explore how its complexity produces experiential meanings, in readers, audience members and in character. Shakespearience will be about reading as process rather than product, and as such, at least potentially, experientially exciting and adventurous.

Shakespeare and Creative Practice (on-site only)
This module will provide you with experiential knowledge that will inform the way you interrogate and interpret performance evidence in a variety of media. Through a series of practical workshops and performance assignments, you will explore different systematic approaches to performing the language of Shakespeare: the first approach is rooted in the verse and text work of John Barton, Peter Hall, and Giles Block; the second approach explores the legacy of Stanislavski in the Shakespearean work of 20th/21st century practitioners in Europe and the United States; the third approach brings the devising techniques of prominent physical theatre practitioners to a creative examination of Shakespeares text.

The module is assessed by two performance assignments and a 2,000 word research paper. (Please note: because of the nature of this module it cannot be delivered via distance learning.)

History of Shakespeare Criticism (on-site only)
The course will combine a historical overview of the main developments in Shakespeare criticism from the 1590s to the present with detailed investigation of key texts, covering: the canonisation of Shakespeare; character criticism; biographical criticism; imagery and symbolist criticism; critical study of the plays as created artifacts; the relationship between criticism and performance; historicist criticism; and new critical approaches. Students will read weekly set texts for discussion in seminar, and a weekly lecture will place these texts in their historical context. You will be expected to undertake independent reading around the topics after the seminar discussion, guided by topic-specific reading lists which are circulated each week.

Plays and Poems A (on-site only)
This module encourages you to engage with most of Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories and Poems. Each class will cover a topic relating to one or more texts, using individual student input, and group discussion and analysis. This module can be studied as a standalone module or with Play and Poems B.

Plays and Poems B (on-site only)
This module encourages you to engage with most of Shakespeare's Problem Plays, Tragedies and Late Plays. Each class will cover a topic relating to one or more texts, using individual student input, and group discussion and analysis. (Plays and Poems A is the pre-requisite module for Plays and Poems B).

Social and Cultural History of Renaissance England A and B (on-site only)
These two modules will provide a broad introduction to the social and cultural history of the period, but also focus more specifically on issues relevant to Shakespeare's life and drama and the two local societies of which he had experience, Stratford upon-Avon and London. Among the principal topics will be social mobility and crises in social relations; social disorder and agrarian discontent; changing notions of honour; the impact of the Reformation and the nature of Catholicism and Puritanism; and rebellion, authority and the royal court. Please note these modules are taught in the History Department at the University of Birmingham main campus in Edgbaston. The modules can be studied individually or together.

Shakespeare, the Playwright and his Drama A and B (on-site only)
Shakespeare's life and career are examined as a case study in the position of professional playwrights in early modern England. You will examine the way the theatre for which Shakespeare was writing worked - how plays were written, how play texts were circulated and the impact censorship had upon them. You will then be able to consider the relationship between Shakespeare's plays and the issues affecting his society, and to analyse the intervention the plays made in important social debates. These two modules can be studied individually or together.

Early Modern Drama: Middleton and Jonson (on-site only)
This module will introduce and contextualise two of the most significant dramatists working in the same period as Shakespeare. Each week you will focus on a pair of plays, usually one by Jonson and one by Middleton. Seminars will focus on student presentations, usually two in each class, each of which will place one of the plays in a broader dramatic and/or cultural context, and/or engage in close analysis of key passages. Special classes will identify the plays as intersections between dramatists and theatre companies, engage with issues relating to dramatic language and technique, and explore issues of textual circulation and canon formation.

- On successful completion of the six taught modules, MA students will enrol on the dissertation:

Dissertation (on-site and distance learning)
In this module you will undertake a substantial piece of independent research. This may be based on but will extend work undertaken for previous modules in the programme. There should be some element of originality in the research and the research may make a contribution to the field of study. You will report your research in a dissertation of 15,000 words in appropriate academic English. In designing, carrying out and writing up the study, you will be supported by a supervisor.

There are two admission routes to the programme: * Those who have a 2:1 degree in an appropriate subject or the Certificate of HE in Shakespeare Studies register for the MA. * Those who do not meet these formal admission requirements register initially as Affiliate' students and then change status on the successful completion of the two core modules. English Language Requirements IELTS band: 6.5 TOEFL iBT® test: 88 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.

See the University of Birmingham Website for more details on fees and funding.

Scholarships may be available. International students can often gain funding through overseas research scholarships, Commonwealth scholarships or their home government.

Examples of scholarships:

* Aga Khan Foundation
* British Lebanese Association Scholarship Fund
* Chevening Scholarship
* Entente Cordiale Scholarship
* Francis Corder Clayton Scholarship
* Hong Kong Postgraduate Scholarship

Accreditation

Birmingham has been challenging and developing great minds for more than a century. Characterised by a tradition of innovation, research at the University has broken new ground, pushed forward the boundaries of knowledge and made an impact on peoples lives.

We continue this tradition today and have ambitions for a future that will embed our work and recognition of the Birmingham name on the international stage.

Universities are never complete. They develop as new challenges and opportunities occur. At Birmingham we innovate, we push the frontiers of understanding; we ask new research questions, we turn theory through experiment into practice because thats what great universities do.