MA Literatur und Kultur (Online)

"Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, examinations may be replaced by an alternative form of assessment during the academic year 2021/2022. Please refer to the Programme Specification on these pages for further details."

Why choose Herts?

• Flexible : This is one of the only Literature and Culture courses available online both full and part-time.
• Teaching Excellence : Our lecturers have won many teaching awards and are active writers for leading academic publishers (see key staff section).
• Employment Prospects : Our graduates work as academics, writers/authors, publishers, agents, and researchers for organisations including Warner Brothers, and The Corner Shop PR Agency.

About the course

Our online M.A. in Literature and Culture enables you to explore innovative and diverse texts and their many different contexts – historical, social and political. Your engagement will focus on themes at the forefront of contemporary culture, including identity politics, Otherness, and the environment. Online learning offers you the benefits of flexible opportunities to hone your critical and analytical skills with plenty of support from our research-active academic staff. You’ll also gain advanced research skills and have the opportunity to pursue your own research interests via a 13,000-word dissertation on a topic of your choice.

Twenty-first-century literary scholarship challenges readers to engage with the cultural impact of globally significant issues such as sustainability, cultural difference and race relations, and inclusivity with regards to intersectional identities. The modules on this Master’s programme are specifically designed to develop students’ critical understanding of literature and related forms of cultural expression (film, music, and the visual arts) within these frameworks. Students will undertake three of the four following modules as part of their M.A. programme of study:

Our students come from a broad range of disciplines, with many attracted to our module on vampire fiction, “Reading the Vampire: Science, Sexuality and Alterity in Modern Culture” . Going beyond Gothic studies, this topic has generated national media interest and the accompanying Open Graves, Open Minds Project hosted by Herts’ Literature department is an important online research tool for our students and all those interested in Gothic studies, the fantastic and the magical in fiction and folklore.

In our ground-breaking “US Culture and #BlackLivesMatter” module you’ll engage with diverse contemporary texts ranging from novels and non-fiction to film, music, art, and television to consider the meaning of blackness and racial identity in twenty-first-century American culture. As inspired by the social justice movement against racism and violence from which it takes its name, this module foregrounds the diversity of black life, enabling students to engage with diverse cultural texts on topics such as identity, violence, politics, love, Otherness, and queerness. This innovative module has also been featured on BBC Radio 6 and The Independent.

It seems paradoxical that our complex contemporary world is characterised both by digital ‘interconnectedness’ and increasing experiences of fragmentation and isolation. One way to explore this is to scrutinise how the twentieth century ushered in an ever more urban and cosmopolitan world interconnected via networks of communication and transport as well as cultural networks of influence and exchange. Our “Networks of Modernism” module challenges more traditional versions of the modernist literary canon and considers an exciting range of early twentieth-century texts written at a time when ideas about gender, race, class and sexuality were changing rapidly. It explores a broad range of topics and tropes, from war to parties, from subways to greenwoods, from urban poverty to salon culture, from the behaviour of crowds to sexual transgression and taboo - and locations as diverse as Bloomsbury and Harlem, Dublin and Alabama. It engages with recent theoretical debates about modernist writing, including deconstructive, psychoanalytic, spatial and queer approaches.

From climate change and rising extinction rates to the preservation of the Amazon, contemporary environmental concerns proliferate on an urgent, global, scale. Such concerns underpin our module “Earth Words: Literature, Place and Environment” which traces the ways in which changing attitudes towards our environment (conceived in various ways), have been shaped, mapped, and critiqued by literary texts. A number of theoretical approaches to understanding the concepts of ‘space’, ‘place’ and ‘nature’ are explored, including the 'spatial turn' in cultural studies, and the burgeoning field of ecocriticism. Students are introduced to a diverse range of literary and cultural texts, including poetry, essays, novels, creative non-fiction and short stories, from the late eighteenth century to the present day. They are also encouraged to reflect on their own relationship to the immediate environment, and the places that have shaped their life and identity.

The interdisciplinary scope of the modules offered in this M.A. is reflected in the broad range of subjects chosen by our students for their dissertations. Recent topics have ranged from space, place and narrative in Young Adult fiction to the representation of disability in the Harry Potter novels, to fin de siècle vampire fiction. Graduates of the M.A. Literature and Culture have found it an excellent platform for further research in their chosen specialism at the PhD level, as well as an excellent grounding for a wide range of careers in the arts, education and the media.

Student experience

At the University of Hertfordshire, we want to make sure your time studying with us is as stress-free and rewarding as possible. We offer a range of support services including; student wellbeing, academic support, accommodation, and childcare to ensure that you make the most of your time at Herts and can focus on studying and having fun.

Additional information

• Sandwich placement or study abroad year: n/a
• Applications open to international and EU students: Yes

At the University of Hertfordshire, we see your potential, we hear your ambitions and we support your futures. From the moment we meet, we will set you on a path to achieving your goals. We will drive you forward, we will actively guide you every step of the way. You may not be confident or you may have questions – but we believe in you and we will help you find the answers. You may have a goal that you want to achieve – we can help focus you. You may want an experience – we can get you some. Here at Herts, there are many pathways to success, so let us empower your future, and take you all the way. This is your platform, your opportunity to succeed – so what are you waiting for?

With our online courses, you’ll have the freedom and flexibility to learn and work with an international community of students, with access to global expertise and networking opportunities, wherever you are.

These degrees follow a similar approach to our on-campus equivalents and, wherever possible, cover the same topics. They’re designed and delivered by the same lecturers, and taught and assessed in a way that's specifically designed for web-based learning and for students who need to study flexibly. We have input from forward-thinking employers, ensuring you graduate with the skills you need for a successful career.

Why study online?

Online study is perfect for those who want to improve their skills, knowledge and career prospects but can't commit to attending a university, or study full time.

At the University of Hertfordshire we develop, deliver and support all our online degrees. Unlike some universities, we don't involve third-party agencies in our online learning. From completing your application to study with us, right through your studies and up to graduation, our friendly dedicated team of tutors and staff is here to help you, every step of the way.

Our online courses have the same high academic standard as our on-campus qualifications. You will have obtained a fully accredited, university degree. We are an online university, as well as a traditional one. How you choose to study does not affect the validity of your qualification.

Our online courses have the same entry requirements, content and substantially the same learning outcomes as our on-campus programmes. They follow the same rigorous academic quality assurance procedures for development, approval, delivery and assessment. This ensures and protects the value of the award you will gain.

Study on your terms

Online distance learning gives you flexibility when it comes to studying.

All our online courses are 100% online, you choose when and where to study. All our courses can be studied part-time, which means you can fit your studies around work and life commitments.

International students can get a highly accredited UK degree without having to leave their country. At the University, we also see that interacting with other students and tutors can also be an important part of the learning process, so we combine this flexibility with some scheduled sessions and assessments at specific times.

Your course is delivered through the University's managed learning environment Canvas.

Support

There is a common misconception that you will have no University contact or support from teaching staff when you study online.

Our friendly dedicated team of tutors and staff are here to help you, every step of the way, your programme tutor is accessible throughout your online studies, and for each module, you will have a module tutor who will support you through that particular module.

There is also a team of administrators and educational technologists to assist with technical queries.

A helping hand with your career

As an online student at the University of Hertfordshire, you will have access to the dedicated Careers and Employment and Enterprise service online, supported by their outstanding job's portal, HandShake.

They are here to help you to develop your skills and make the best decisions for your future, offering assistance in:

• searching for work experience opportunities
• advice and tips on how to create the perfect CV
• applying for jobs
• undertaking further study
• starting your own business