StudyQA — Master: Gothic Imagination

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Contemporary culture is characterised by nothing if not a reawakened interest in Gothic, the aesthetic discourse of horror and terror which flourished following the publication of Walpoles The Castle of Otranto in 1764.

The MLitt The Gothic Imagination offers an intensive historical, critical and theoretical investigation of this curious cultural phenomenon, from the rise of Gothic in the aesthetic and political discourses of the eighteenth century through to a range of contemporary Gothic manifestations in both literature and film.

Course objectives
This course provides you with opportunities to explore the full range of Gothic writing, from its beginnings in the 18th century to the present day.

The focus is on work from Ann Radcliffe and Mary Shelley, through Victorian and late 19th-century writers (Dickens, Stevenson, Wilde, Stoker) to the Edwardian heyday of the ghost story, and on to the various modern and post-modern examples of the Gothic in writers such as Iain Banks, Angela Carter and Stephen King.

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
A MLitt is acknowledged by potential employers as providing important skills, such as motivation, problem-solving, analytical ability and the ability to meet deadlines. Although this is not a specifically vocational degree, it offers a number of important transferable skills, such as the ability to write clearly and effectively, and to argue accurately and persuasively. Thus, in addition to gaining an invaluable set of subject-specific skills and knowledges, the broader, transferrable skills learned in the course of your MLitt will prove to be invaluable on the job-recruitment market after graduation.

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 accordingly. Our criteria for assessment also require students to be able to synthesise conclusions, to assimilate existing research and to construct and defend an argument clearly and cogently.

Throughout their course, our students are also trained to use library and bibliographic resources effectively and appropriately, to reference accurately, and to present their work to the highest professional standards. All of these skills are essential to many kinds of work, which is why so many employers recognise the value of a MLitt.

In a recent report, graduates of English were as likely to be in professional or managerial jobs three to three- and-a-half-years after graduation as graduates in other, more vocational subjects (including science and the social sciences). Almost fifty percent of English graduates pursue further education within three years of graduating from their undergraduate degree, and often as a route to a professional career, such as teaching or the law.

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

The School is 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. The University Drama Society is very active, too, producing about seven plays a year, including performances at the Edinburgh Festival.

The teaching year at Stirling is divided into two semesters, which run from mid-September to late December, and from mid-February to the end of May. Both full-time and part-time students take a Gothic core module over two semesters. For part-time students this is in year one. Semester 1 will be devoted to the late 18th- and 19th-century Gothic, the second, to 20th-century Gothic; sessions on theory will be interlaced with specific readings.

In parallel with the core module, two optional modules allow you to develop a more specialised knowledge. You will take one of these modules each semester.

If you are on the part-time course you will take the two optional modules in year two. These modules vary depending on teaching staff, but in the past have included the following:

* American Gothic: An examination of the emergence and development of Gothic in 19th-century American fiction with particular attention to the ways in which these texts transform the optimistic narratives of the new American republic
* Gothic in Contemporary Film: An analysis of the ways in which Gothic tropes have been appropriated and reworked in a selection of contemporary films
* The Female Gothic: A study of selected contemporary texts as reworkings of the female Gothic tradition of Ann Radcliffe
* Transmutations of the Vampire: An investigation into the cultural significance of the vampire over the past 50 years

The term Gothic is itself highly contested. Accordingly, theories relevant to the Gothic, such as Freud on the uncanny, Todorov on the fantastic and Kristeva on abjection will be examined.

Arts Research Training

Our innovative training for graduates enables students to build up a portfolio of skills that prepare them for academic and professional life. All graduate students will work with their supervisors to select whats right for them from a menu of activities. Each student will build up a portfolio of skills every year. On a taught postgraduate degree, you may be given specific guidance on what activities you need to undertake
for those qualifications.

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 English Studies. 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.

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 Programme 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.