COURSE CURRICULUM

The MA English Literature and American Studies program offers a diverse and flexible curriculum designed to develop advanced literary and cultural analysis skills while allowing students to tailor their studies to specific interests. Core to the program is the Dissertation, which provides an opportunity for in-depth independent research under expert supervision. Optional modules cover a wide range of topics, from American Studies, exploring theories, methods, and practice, to focused cultural and historical studies such as Radical Subcultures, Race, Gender and Power in the American South, and The AIDS Crisis in American cultural representation. Students can also engage with literary and theoretical approaches through modules like Historicising the Contemporary, Modernisms, Postcolonial Literatures, Genres and Theories, and Shakespeare: Theory and the Archive. Additionally, the Space, Place and Text module allows students to examine literature in relation to geographical and cultural contexts. The program leverages the University of Manchester’s exceptional resources, including the Special Collections at The John Rylands Library and the city’s rich cultural landscape, providing hands-on access to rare materials and archival research opportunities. Graduates gain critical, analytical, and research skills that prepare them for careers in academia, cultural institutions, publishing, or other fields where sophisticated literary and cultural expertise is valued.