MA in Writing and Society at the Department of English, Queen Mary, University of London

MA in Writing and Society 1700-1820

Writing and Society looks closely at the interaction between literature, philosophy, politics, religion, and visual culture during the long eighteenth century. This period in British history was characterised by ongoing ideological controversies (around political, religious, and aesthetic doctrine), the emergence of innovative but unstable systems of finance and credit, and a rapid and vigorous expansion in the market for printed texts. These coincident phenomena raise new and difficult questions about the relations between writers and readers, and initiate debates about definitions of cultural value, and constructions of gender and cultural difference.

We consider texts in relation to these debates, addressing both current critical scholarship and the preoccupations of British life during the eighteenth century. Amongst the important contexts that the programme continues to examine are the sociable culture of coffee-house and tavern; political life on the street and in parliament; the vocations of women poets and polemicists; polite society and its interests in the management of emotions and the arts; the growth of empire and the challenges to national identity it created; the dimensions of philosophical and cultural enlightenment; the religious revivals and their transatlantic connections; the world-shaking crisis of the French Revolution; the dynamic aesthetic, social, and philosophical experiments of European Romanticism.

London lies at the heart of many of the programme’s concerns. Throughout the period, London was the largest, and arguably the most important metropolis in Europe – a major centre for commercial, financial, and literary activity. Writing and Society considers changes in social and cultural practices in eighteenth-century London, and examines the city’s role in the creation of new forms of sociability and identity.

Of particular importance to our study of the city is Panoramas of London, a non-assessed two-semester long London-specific modules in which we visit a range of historical sites around London as a means of reflecting on and analysing some of the key institutions of culture and society during the period.

Students take this programme for different reasons. However, many graduates of Writing and Society have gone on to win funding for doctoral study, and some are now established academics.

Course of study

You will take two non-assessed modules: Resources for Research (semester one) and Panoramas of London (semesters one and two). You will also take four modules (two per semester for full-time students, one per semester for part-time students). Details of modules on offer during the current academic year can be found in the online MA Module Directory.

The programme is assessed by means of written work. You will be required to submit a 4,000 word essay for each of the modules you take, and over the summer you will write a dissertation of 12,000-15,000 words. There is no written assessment for Introduction to Research Resources or Panoramas of London.

At the beginning of the academic year you will be assigned a personal advisor who will help you with your choice of courses and dissertation proposal, as well as any issues which may arise relating to the programme. At the end of the spring semester you will be assigned a supervisor who will provide one-to-one guidance in planning and structuring your dissertation, and will read and comment upon drafts in a series of meetings arranged in May and June. The deadline for submission of the dissertation is normally at the end of August.

You will also have the opportunity to participate in the London Eighteenth-Century Reading Group (at Queen Mary) and the Enlightenment and Romanticism Reading Group (Institute for English Studies, University of London).

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