Explore our Critical and Cultural Theory taught Master's degree.

P-Q3PD

MA

1 year full-time;
2 years part-time

2 October 2023

English and Comparative Literary Studies

University of Warwick

On Critical and Cultural Theory MA, you will grapple with the ideas and perspectives of great critical thinkers. Warwick's English and Comparative Literary Studies Department, ranked in the top 10 for research environment in the 2021 REF, will give you the analytical tools to understand, theorise and critique the literary and cultural artefacts of the modern world.

The MA in Critical and Cultural Theory will equip you with the analytical tools and concepts to respond to, understand, theorise, and critique the literary and cultural artefacts of the modern world. In the dedicated core module, you will immerse yourself in fundamental theoretical questions through individual reading and collective discussion.

You can also choose from a wide range of modules that span a variety of critical perspectives and approaches to literary studies, and grapple with the ideas of some of the great critical thinkers. You will also write a dissertation on an (approved) topic of your choice with a specialised supervisor.

The MA in Critical and Cultural Theory comprises a Research Methods module, the core module, Critical Theory Today, three further optional modules, and a Dissertation of 16,000 words. You can take one of your three optional modules from outside of the department, including from the Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning.

Seminars consist of 5 to 12 students.

Contact hours comprise 4 hours of seminars a week, 2 office hours per member of staff, weekly reading groups and research seminars, and one-to-one Dissertation supervision in terms 2 and 3.

All essays are marked by two members of staff. The standard length for essays for modules on this course is 6,000 words; the Dissertation is 16,000 words. Marks are given out of 100.

For more information, please visit the Critical and Cultural Theory web page on the English website.

Reading lists

Most departments have reading lists available through Warwick Library. If you would like to view reading lists for the current cohort of students you can visit our Warwick Library web page.

Your timetable

Your personalised timetable will be complete when you are registered for all modules, compulsory and optional, and you have been allocated to your lectures, seminars and other small group classes. Your compulsory modules will be registered for you and you will be able to choose your optional modules when you join us.

65% in an undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in a related subject.

Applicants may be required to provide a writing sample to demonstrate suitability for the course.

• Band C
• IELTS overall score of 7.5, minimum component scores of two at 6.5/7.0 and the rest at 7.5 or above.

There are no additional entry requirements for this course.

Critical and Cultural Theory Today

Critical and Cultural Theory has never been more vibrant, nor more urgently needed, than today. Work in all areas of the Humanities has long been inextricably intertwined with critical reflection, often drawing from a multiplicity of disciplines, from philosophy and sociology to literary and visual studies.

This module, typically taught by several members of staff with diverse and complementary expertise, explores key stages in the development of critical and cultural theories, charting recent cultural and literary theory in historically and philosophically located ways. Figures explored in recent years include Byung-Chul Han, Andreas Malm, Jean Baudrillard, Mark Fisher, Theodor Adorno, Gargi Bhattacharya, Stuart Hall, Paul Gilroy, Jasbir Puar, and Gayatri Gopinath.

We explore different, often clashing, critical perspectives on culture, from textual, material, philosophical, and other perspectives. These situated, and often transnational, critical platforms, allow us to both map historical developments in the study of the Humanities. The interaction between aesthetics, culture, and societal issues remains a permanent concern throughout the module.

Dissertation

The Dissertation offers you the opportunity to pursue your own distinct research interests. You can develop any idea you’ve discovered in your modules or write on a completely new topic that has always fascinated you. Our students choose an array of topics within the broadly-conceived boundaries of ‘literary studies’, although we’ll discuss your plans with you to make sure an available member of our teaching staff can support your topic.

Students often use their MA dissertations as springboards to PhD projects and have sometimes gone on to publish parts of their work in scholarly journals.

• Feminist Literary Theory
• Theory from the Margins: Postcolonialism and the Radical Tradition
• Fundamentals of World Literature
• Modernism and Psychoanalysis
• Petrofiction: Studies in World Literature
• Queer Theory and Praxis

For more information, please visit the Critical and Cultural Theory web page on the English website.Link opens in a new window

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