English at St Andrews
The study of English at the University of St Andrews has a long and distinguished history that is sustained in the scholarly, critical, and creative dynamism of today's School of English. By the mid-eighteenth century St Andrews was one of the first universities in the world to teach English literature. Several of the great medieval Scottish poets, including William Dunbar and Gavin Douglas, studied literary texts in Latin at St Andrews; by the 1700s, however, the university was pioneering the study of modern literature in the English language. St Andrews students were among those who took the new subject to America, India and elsewhere - long before its emergence as part of the curriculum of English universities. Later in the university's evolution, the great Romanticist William Knight helped pioneer a system of women's university education which extended from St Andrews to Cairo, Cape Town, and other centres around the globe.
In the present day, the School enjoys an international reputation as a centre for both academic research and literary creativity. In the 2008 RAE, the School had 70% of its research and writing rated as 'world-leading' or 'internationally excellent', ranking it at eighth in the UK. There are now more that twenty-five permanent members of staff, most of them full-time appointments, and many other Teaching Fellows, Honorary Lecturers, and Honorary Professors. There are around seven hundred undergraduates, all taught in small groups in the first two years. Our postgraduates number around ninety, and enjoy their own dedicated postgraduate facility. Strong emphasis is placed on lively teaching that stems from original inquiry and published work, and a high proportion of colleagues in the School are leaders in their respective academic fields. The School is a vibrant community of researchers and writers, dedicated to fostering the synergy between creative and critical literary engagement.
The four-year Honours undergraduate degree allows students to study a wide variety of literary works at levels 1000 and 2000, so that by the Honours years (three and four) students may make an informed choice from the great variety of modules available, and pursue deeper and more specialized study. Teaching is by lectures, seminars, and tutorials. Single Honours students are required to take at least one module from each of the medieval, early modern, and eighteenth/nineteenth-century periods; they also write a dissertation in their final year. The School also contributes significantly to the University's evening degree programme, and has a wide range of North American, Australian and European exchange partners, which offer study abroad opportunities.
Though the majority of work takes the form of essays, there are also opportunities for other kinds of assessed work including oral presentations, electronic projects, and creative writing portfolios. The full structure of the degree is explained in the Course Catalogue, and a short summary of its aims provided in the Student Handbook.
The School enjoys a flourishing postgraduate life. At postgraduate level, in addition to research degrees, the School offers a range of taught MLitt degrees in fields including Creative Writing (the first such programme to be established in Scotland), English Studies, Mediaeval English, Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture, Romantic/Victorian Literature, Shakespeare and Renaissance Literary Culture, and Women, Writing and Gender. Research postgraduates may act as research assistants, and postgraduates in their second year may be invited to work as Teaching Assistants. A number of important academic and literary journals have editorial bases in the School, and there are regular seminars given by visiting speakers and writers of international standing. Creative writers on the permanent staff include John Burnside, Robert Crawford, Meaghan Delahunt, Lesley Glaister, Don Paterson, Jacob Polley and Susan Sellers, while Michael Alexander, Douglas Dunn, Kay Redfield Jamison, Paul Muldoon, and Marina Warner have visited as Honorary Professors.
The School's richest inheritance, however, is its collegiality: we pride ourselves on our friendliness, and on our common enthusiasm for great literature.
