MA Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture Programme Specification 2023-24

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1	ACADEMIC QUALITY TEAM
2	Programme Specifications 2023-24
3	Revised February 2023
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6	Programme Title			MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture.
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8	This document applies to students who commenced the programme(s) in:			2023		Award type			MA
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10	What level is this qualification?			Level 7		Length of programme			1 year (or two years)
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12	Mode of study (Full / Part Time)			Full-time (or part-time)
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14	Will the programme use standard University semester dates?			Yes		For York Online programmes, will standard dates for such programmes be used?			Semester 1 - 18/09/2023 to 02/02/2024 Semester 2 - 05/02/2024 to 17/09/2024
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16	Awarding institution			University of York		Board of Studies for the programme			MA English
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18	Lead department			English and Related Literature		Other contributing departments			Students can choose modules from: Archeology Centre of Women's Studies Centre of Medieval Studies History History of Art Sociology Politics, as well as the School of Arts and Creative Technologies
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20	Language of study and assessment			English		Language(s) of assessment			English
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22	Is this a campus-based or online programme?			Campus-based
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24	Partner organisations
25	If there are any partner organisations involved in the delivery of the programme, please outline the nature of their involvement. You may wish to refer to the Policy on Collaborative Provision
26	N/A
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28	Reference points
29	Please state relevant reference points consulted in the design of this programme (for example, relevant documentation setting out PSRB requirements; the University's Frameworks for Programme Design (UG or PGT); QAA Subject Benchmark Statements; QAA Qualifications and Credit Frameworks).
30	Subject Benchmark English; UoY Framework for Programme Design (PGT)
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32	Credit Transfer and Recognition of Prior Learning
33	Will this programme involve any exemptions from the University Policy and Procedures on Credit Transfer and the Recognition of Prior Learning? If so, please specify and give a rationale
34	No
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36	Exceptions to Regulations
37	Please detail any exceptions to University Award Regulations and Frameworks that need to be approved (or are already approved) for this programme. This should include any that have been approved for related programmes and should be extended to this programme.
38	N/A
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40	Internal Transfers
41	Please use the boxes below to specify if transfers into / out of the programme from / to other programmes within the University are possible by indicating yes or no and listing any restrictions. These boxes can also be used to highlight any common transfer routes which it would be useful for students to know.
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43		Transfers in:	Students can apply to transfer from other MA programmes, on the condition that they meet the application criteria required to gain entry to the programme, and that they take, or have taken, the core module in the First Semester.			Transfers out:	Yes, students may transfer in to or out of the programme in accordance with University Regulations. Transfers will be dependent upon student numbers and available places.
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46	Statement of Purpose
47	Please briefly outline the overall aims of the programme. This should clarify to a prospective student why they should choose this programme, what it will provide to them and what benefits they will gain from completing it.
48	The MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture offers you an intensive and exciting survey of the literary culture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The core module, Reading Modernity, introduces you to key authors, texts, ideas and critical methods from the period, while an array of option modules enable you to construct a distinct, individually tailored programme of study throughout the year. Core and option modules are each assessed by a research essay, and your developing skills as a researcher are then brought to bear on a substantial dissertation in the field. In all these tasks you are taught and supervised by world-leading scholars, working in one of the largest research centres in modern English in the UK. The MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture represents an equally suitable foundation for students who wish to pursue doctoral research in modern literature, those aspiring to careers in related areas like teaching, publishing, arts management, journalism, marketing and public administration, and those with a passion for English literature but no clear career direction as yet. The programme’s graduate training module, Postgraduate Life in Practice, is designed with the needs of all these kinds of student in mind, and aims to foster both subject-specific and transferable skills. Throughout the year the MA programme is supported by a rich schedule of seminars, conferences, and reading groups in modern literature and culture, and as a postgraduate student you will play an important role in the wider research culture of the English Department and the Centre for Modern Studies. Postgraduate life is channelled through the Humanities Research Centre, a vibrant interdisciplinary hub that enables close social and intellectual bonds to form over the course of your time at York.
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57	If there are additional awards associated with the programme upon which students can register, please specify the Statement of Purpose for that programme. This will be most relevant for PGT programmes with exit awards that are also available as entry points. Use additional rows to include more than one additional award. Do not include years in industry / abroad (for which there are separate boxes).
58	Exit Award Title			Is the exit award also available as an entry point?	Outcomes: what will the student be able to do on exit with this award?			Specify the module diet that the student will need to complete to obtain this exit award
59	MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture			Yes - an entry award	N/A			180 credits
60	Postgraduate Diploma in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture			No - not an entry award	The PG Diploma in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture offers a postgraduate qualification that can be completed in less time than the MA and involves the writing of a 6-7,000-word long essay rather than a 14-16,000-word dissertation. Students must obtain 120 credits in order to receive the diploma. 100 credits are gained for the five taught modules (this includes 20 credits for PLP), and the diploma long essay carries 20 credits. Successfully completing these requirements will mean that students gaining a Diploma will have engaged in learning towards all seven PLOs, and will have been assessed on six of those PLOs (excluding PLO6).			120 credits - 100 credits are gained for the five taught modules (this includes 20 credits for PLP), and the diploma long essay carries 20 credits.
61	Postgraduate Cetificate in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture			No - not an entry award	The PG Certificate in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture offers recognition for their work and achievements to students who have completed taught elements of the degree, without them having to complete a dissertation project or a long essay. Students must obtain 60 credits in order to receive a certificate. Students will thus have completed at least three modules: the core module plus 2 option modules and assessment requirements for each of those modules. They will have passed at least 40 credits outright and received at least a compensatory pass in another 20 credits. Students achieving a certificate will have engaged with Postgraduate Life in Practice but will not have completed the module, so no credits will be awarded to this provision. In this manner, students will have studied in accordance with the PLOs that are mapped via the core module and option module entries on the Masters Programme Map. They will have engaged in learning towards all seven PLOs, and will have been assessed on the first five PLOs.			60 credits - students will have passed at least 40 credits outright and received at least a compensatory pass in another 20 credits.
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63	Programme Learning Outcomes
64	What are the programme learning outcomes (PLOs) for the programme? (Normally a minimum of 6, maximum of 8). Taken together, these outcomes should capture the distinctive features of the programme and represent the outcomes that students progressively develop in the programme and achieve at graduation. PLOs should be worded to follow the stem 'Graduates will be able to...'
65	1	Analyse significant literary and cultural texts from the modern period closely and critically, interpreting them with reference to the social, political, economic and/or aesthetic contexts in which they were produced, reproduced, and received.
66	2	Evaluate and contribute to scholarly debates around literary modernism, and around the legacies of modernism in twentieth-century and contemporary literature and culture.
67	3	Deploy knowledge of specialist fields within the broader remit of modern literature and culture – for example American fiction, narrative theory, political theatre, poetry and poetics, Cold War culture, world-systems theory – in order to ask and answer innovative questions regarding the origins, contexts, and underlying conditions of the modern world.
68	4	Initiate, conduct, and take responsibility for independent research, drawing on skills honed by graduate-level research training, research-led teaching, and the completion of a substantial dissertation project.
69	5	Communicate sophisticated written arguments in a clear, accurate and persuasive fashion, synthesising evidence from multiple sources so as to convey information creatively and convincingly.
70	6	Engage in verbal discussion of complex textual material, demonstrating versatility, rigour, and confidence in the reception, appreciation, and articulation of high-level ideas and perspectives.
71	7	Direct their own development, bringing new knowledge and skills to bear upon a range of contexts including (but not limited to) doctoral study in modern English literature and related fields.
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73	Diverse entry routes
74	Detail how you would support students from diverse entry routes to transition into the programme. For example, disciplinary knowledge and conventions of the discipline, language skills, academic and writing skills, lab skills, academic integrity.
75	While the expectation is that the large majority of students taking this MA programme will have completed a BA in English (or a BA with English as one of its elements), the programme is designed to help students from other entry routes to transition successfully into postgraduate life as an English student. This transition is mainly addressed through two elements of the programme. The core module introduces students in its opening week to debates about modernity and modernism through a series of key critical texts. The remainder of the module addresses many of the most important writers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, ensuring that students get a solid grounding in the period as a springboard to their research across the programme. The training module, Postgraduate Life in Practice (PLP), begins in its opening weeks with a series of lectures devoted to research skills and to graduate-level writing, making sure students new to the discipline gain a grounding in its key elements. These elements include library orientation, research through digital platforms, bibliographical skills, academic integrity, and writing and argumentation. The opening weeks lead up to a “draft swap” workshop on the student’s writing, allowing questions to be raised and addressed at an early stage, followed by an essay the following week. Submission of this essay is a summative task for the module, but the essay is not given a mark so that students can use it as a lower-stakes stepping stone to research and writing for the assessed essays in their core and option modules. Students receive written feedback on the essay from their supervisor, and can discuss it further with the supervisor in advance of submitting their first essays. This core focus on writing and research skills at the beginning of their graduate training is intended to help all students to transition to M-level work, but will be particularly valuable for students transitioning from diverse entry routes. This includes mature students returning to full- or part-time study, whose particular needs will be addressed by matching them with a carefully chosen supervisor.
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84	Inclusion
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86	Please confirm by ticking the box on the right that the design, content and delivery of the programme will support students from all backgrounds to succeed. This refers to the University's duties under the Equality Act 2010. You may wish to refer to the optional Inclusive Learning self-assessment tools to support reflection on this issue.
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88	Employability
89	Please give a brief overview - no more than 5 sentences - of how the programmes helps develop students' employability. Your Faculty Employability Manager can help reflection on this issue. This statement will be used by Marketing as the basis for external content with respect to employability.
90	Students gain advanced academic and scholarly skills via the MA and will develop strong and versatile modes of thinking, researching, writing and presenting information, including through Postgraduate Life in Practice. They will be able to communicate in ways that are discipline and audience specific, and manage data, evidence and argument. Students gain opportunities to study in areas in which they feel they require additional and/or more advanced training, thereby gaining new intellectual impetus in new areas of thinking and also being able to build on their existing skills and training in new and more advanced ways. Students will select their modules, and thereby their own sense of intellectual focus and/or breadth, in accordance with their own intellectual and potentially professional (or future-oriented) needs. They will practice self-directed study across the programme and particularly in the dissertation, making them well equipped for future independent work. In addition to these provisions, students may choose to develop dissertation projects that are more explicitly directed towards a particular career path or one that explores a non-university institution, place, or employment practice. Finally, students are able to engage with the wide training programme offered by English, which includes employability-linked sessions and opportunities for skills acquisition.
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99	[For Undergraduate and Integrated Masters Programmes Only]
100	Are you offering any variations of this programme, such as additional years abroad or industry?