Key facts

Overview

This two-year part-time Masters Degree in Literature and Arts course offers the opportunity to study the literature and arts of three different periods of English history (ranging from the c16th to the c19th) in an interdisciplinary manner over four five day residences and two online modules. The course offers full access to the library and electronic resources of the university, a team of expert tutors, and a high level of personal and academic support.

VIDES volume of interdisciplinary essays

You will find attached to this website the first volume of the course’s own online journal called Vides. In the second year, as part of the preparation for the dissertation, each student writes a short essay around two documents or artefacts which they have chosen which comment on a particular topic but from contrasting viewpoints. The student group is divided up into a number of small committees responsible for peer reviewing and editing the journal, deciding on its house-style and designing it. This year we have essays which reflect on primary sources as diverse as opium pipes, banqueting halls, George Bernard Shaw on Wagner, eighteenth-century grottoes, chartist banners and Shakespeare’s ‘Venus and Adonis’.

To navigate around the journal, read through the introduction to identify the essays which interest you, click on ‘navigation panels’ on the top tool bar and then on ‘bookmarks’. A list of the essays will appear on the left side of the screen where you can click on which one you wish to read.

We hope you enjoy the read!

Open Afternoon

There will be an open afternoon at Kellogg College on Thursday 17 January 2013 at 2.00pm when you will be able to meet the director, administrator and members of the tutor team, and hear more about the course. There will also be an opportunity to look at the college and to walk over to see the facilities at Rewley House. If you would like to come please email mla@conted.ox.ac.uk.

For those unable to attend open events in Oxford, a virtual open event, held on Wednesday, 23 February 2011, was recorded and can be accessed online at this address: www.conted.ox.ac.uk/mlaopenday. Additionally, a transcript of questions asked by the participants of this open day are now available in pdf format: MLA Frequently Asked Questions (pdf).

The closing dates for applications are 18 January and 8 March 2013.

Description

This literature and arts course brings together the creative, intellectual and manufactured output of people in the past. It has a twofold aim – to explore the past through the lens of human creativity, and to inform our understanding of that creativity by studying the context within which it emerged. It is therefore an interdisciplinary programme which encompasses literature, art and architectural history, history, philosophy and theology. Based in Oxford, and taking full advantage of the remarkable human and cultural resources which this university has at its disposal, the literature and arts course is designed around three sequential periods of British history, from Early Modern to the early twentieth century. By studying each period through a range of disciplines, students will acquire a broad and multi-faceted picture of the past. In this framework giant achievements such as Milton’s poetry or Wren’s architecture can be understood not only as products of their times but also in so far as they stand as uniquely inspired statements, or as harbingers of future developments.

Interdisciplinary study raises challenges for a student in terms of methodologies. How do I analyse and interpret a picture when I have only ever worked with text? A poem when I have only worked with documentary sources? A building when I have only ever studied abstract ideas? How do I make viable connections between these different areas of study? An online element offered towards the beginning of the course will provide the opportunity to discover, practise and develop these skills, and to engage with current theoretical discourses concerning the way scholars relate with their source material. Similarly a more advanced on-line component in the second year will focus on interdisciplinary research skills, including trying out those skills by contributing to a small volume of papers on a subject related to the chosen dissertation topic.

Whilst focusing on British history and culture, the course will begin with an introductory unit which sets Britain in a world context and explores her cultural relationship with the rest of the world since the sixteenth century. Using the layout of the Ashmolean museum’s international collections with its emphasis on global interaction, this unit will principally be concerned with the formation of British culture through the stimuli of influences beyond Europe, from Chinese porcelain to American jazz.

The literature and arts course aims to enable students to specialise in certain disciplines and ultimately in a particular historical period, whilst structuring their learning within a strong contextual and critical framework. It aims to enable students to make the most of the university’s resources (e.g. its libraries, computer facilities, museums and historic monuments), to provide a high quality of academic and pastoral support, and to maximise the potential for learning within a peer group. It sets out to encourage a richly democratic view of cultural history in which all men’s and women’s lives play their part.

Programme details

Structure of the Literature and Arts Course

Two core courses in year one will introduce students to post-graduate research skills and methodologies and use a series of case studies to explore some of the challenges inherent in the practice of interdisciplinary study.

Students will also take two options during year one, which will allow them to begin to specialise either by period or theme.

A third option at the start of year two will enable students to gain wide-ranging insight into their chosen area of study before deciding on their dissertation topic. A final core course in cultural theory will prepare the student for the writing of the dissertation. The dissertation occupies the final two terms of year two.

Core Courses

Core courses will be both residential and delivered through an online distance learning module.

Residences: students will attend tutorials, seminars and lectures during five-day residences in October, February and late June in year one and in October of year two, plus an initial residential induction weekend, prior to the first core course. Residences will account for eighty face to face teaching hours over the two years (structured around intensive discussion in seminars), while, in addition, the distance-learning modules will be characterised by high levels of lecturer/student interaction

Distance-learning: these modules are fully supported by a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment. Students will engage in on-line group discussions with their lecturers and other members of the course using the course website and e-mail. Students will also have access to the electronic on-line resources of Oxford University's Library Services, including the Bodleian Library, and all other University libraries, including the English Faculty Library, the History Faculty Library, the Philosophy Faculty Library and the Theology Faculty Library. These modules are designed such that students need not have a sophisticated understanding of IT; materials may be provided in a variety of ways to suit the student's preference and situation.

In keeping with the Oxford ethos of tutorial instruction, individual tutorials and supervisions will be an integral part of the programme, most notably with regard to the dissertation. Individual supervision will be undertaken both face-to-face and by e-mail.

Options

Each of the options residences is structured in the same way, beginning with an historical introduction to the period and ending with a plenary discussing where connections can be made between the subjects studied through the week. The options are taught in the intervening mornings and afternoons and represent a range of disciplines, specifically Literature, History, Visual Culture and Philosophy/Theology. Each student chooses two options out of four offered. The following list indicates the subjects which were available in 2012, there may be some changes for 2013.

Dissertation

A dissertation of 10,000-11,000 words will be the focus of the final two terms of the second year.

While studying for their final option, students will meet with their dissertation supervisor, receive reading lists and establish a timetable of work for their dissertation. Students will have received general guidance with regard to the choice of a suitable dissertation topic from the Course Director. The final core course, delivered in Hilary term of the second year, is envisaged both as a graduate-level survey of relevant cultural theory, which will provide the necessary intellectual contexts for the students' chosen dissertation topics, and as an opportunity to fine-tune the students' research and writing skills in preparation for the dissertation.

The dissertation is intended to demonstrate the student's knowledge and awareness of more than one subject discipline in this final piece of assessment.

Year one

Michaelmas 2013 (October)
Induction and Matriculation 18 and 19 October
Module 1: 5 days residential 20 to 24 October
Core course number 1

Michaelmas 2013/Hilary 2014 (November/May)
Module 2: Online unit 1
Core course number 2

Hilary 2014
Module 3: 5 days residential 15 - 19 February
Option number 1

Trinity 2014
Module 4: 5 days residential 1 - 5 July
Option number 2

Year two

Michaelmas 2014
Module 5: 5 days residential 19 - 23 October
Option number 3
NB: During this residential module, students will make contact with their dissertation supervisor, receive reading lists and establish a timetable of work. Students will receive guidance with regard to the choice of a suitable dissertation topic from the Course Director.

Hilary 2015
Module 6: distance taught
Core course number 3

Trinity 2015
Individual consultations on dissertation topic and dissertation writing

Michaelmas, Hilary, Trinity 2014-15
Dissertation: 10,000 - 11,000 word essay

Selection criteria

Level and demands

Who should take the course?

The design of the Masters Degree in Literature and Arts is part-time over two years, and as such it is intended for gifted students who, due to their obligations to professional work or caring duties, would otherwise be unable to pursue higher degrees. The MSt in Literature and Arts is taught in the format of regular short residences in Oxford, together with an element of closely-monitored distance-learning.

The course is ideal for the following:

• Graduates in Humanities disciplines who have entered employment, but who wish to maintain their momentum of study progressing to a postgraduate qualification. This group will include teachers, librarians, and archivists, and others involved in humanities-related professions.
• Humanities graduates who would like to study part-time because of other responsibilities (including caring roles).
• Graduates who have reached a stage in life where they wish to pursue a new area of study, either for personal development, or to establish new career paths.

While the Masters Degree in Literature and Arts can be seen as a stand-alone qualification, it will also prepare students for doctoral work.

Apply for this course