Why study this course?
This course is one of five pathways available in the MLitt in English Literature. Each pathway develops well-rounded expertise in the literature of the period through a mix of core and option choice modules.
By choosing Medieval Literature you will:
- Develop the various intellectual and practical skills necessary for research in the field of medieval literature.
- Extend and deepen your knowledge of English and Scottish literature from the earliest Old English writings through to the close of the Middle Ages.
- Become a member of the St Andrews Institute of Medieval Studies, as well as join the School's own Medieval and Renaissance Research Group.
- Have access to unique manuscript materials provided by the University’s Special Collections and enjoy expert palaeography classes.
- Have the option to choose modules in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) in the International Education and Lifelong Learning Institute, to acquire English teaching skills and improve your employability.
Contact details for Programme Director, Dr Christine Rauer, are available on his profile. You can also find out about his teaching and research interests.
The other pathways available are:
- Shakespeare and Renaissance Literary Culture
- Romantic and Victorian Studies
- Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture
- Flexible Pathway
Students on any pathway may, subject to permission, take up to 30 credits from any 5000-level module from another School. Some 30-credit 3000- or 4000-level modules within English may also be open to MLitt students, for example EN3114 Reading Old English.
Course information may change. Module information and course content, teaching and assessment may change each year and after you have accepted your offer to study at the University of St Andrews. We display the most up-to-date information possible, but this could be from a previous academic year. For the latest module information, see the module catalogue.
Semester 1
In Semester 1 you will take the module Reading the Medieval Text. Consisting of weekly seminar meetings, this pathway core module is designed to provide or enhance some of the specific skills and areas of knowledge necessary for undertaking research in medieval literature.
Students will usually study:
- palaeography and codicology, using original medieval manuscript materials from the Library's Special Collections wherever practical
- medieval textual transmission and editorial theory
- approaches to digital humanities
You will also choose one 30 credit option module.
- Critical Approaches, Theories, and Research Skills: introduces students to the debates, concepts, theories, and methodologies that have shaped the study of literature across a long history, and offers students the opportunity to develop research skills essential to postgraduate study in English literature.
- Reading Old English: teaches essential skills for the study of Old English language and literature.
- The Forms of Renaissance Literature: explores key works of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature in relation to the cultural forms that shaped early modern writing.
- Romantic and Victorian Lives and Texts: examines the phases of literary and cultural production and reception, from the lives of authors and cultural figures, through the conditions of publication of their work.
- Reading the Modern: is an exploration of influential British, American and French modernists' pursuit to develop modes of representation compatible with a newly urban, industrialised and mass-oriented age.
Semester 2
In Semester 2, Medieval Literature in Context is the pathway core module.
Through weekly seminars, this module explores culturally central medieval English and Scottish texts produced from 700 to 1500 within their wider literary context, both continental and insular.
You will also choose one 30 credit option module.
- The Worlds of Renaissance Literature: investigates the relationship between Renaissance English literature and the wider world, both in terms of the influence of continental vernaculars on English writing and the transformations produced by global travel and nascent imperial expansion.
- Romantic and Victorian Literary Cultures: shows how thoroughly literature is connected to broader discursive and historical contexts globally. Literary works could make decisive and poignant contributions to particular political debates, and the literary sphere itself has its own politics.
- Contemporary Literature and Culture: exposes students to a range of contemporary authors, poets and playwrights, moving between a detailed focus on highlighted key works and a wider perspective on individual writer’s oeuvres.
- Women, Writing and Gender: examines continuity and change in women’s writing and constructions of gender across the period 1700 to the present.
- Postcolonial and World Literatures: focuses on a diverse range of texts drawn from across the globe and spanning the long-history of imperialism, from colonial encounters to contemporary global challenges in an era of world literature.
What other students say
"Postgraduate English at St Andrews is the epitome of a support network. The incredible faculty and staff take great care to not only ensure each student's success but encourage each of our academic interests beyond the classroom, making an MLitt at St Andrews one of the most fulfilling and career-preparing opportunities in academia."
- Sid – 2019
"St Andrews is a bastion of free speech and robust research. I have been academically challenged in everything from classwork, to department talks, to conversations with my brilliant peers!"
- Abby – 2019
Dissertation
The MLitt concludes with the writing of a 15,000-word dissertation.
Students identify a topic for their dissertation out of their own research interests in consultation with a member of staff.
The dissertation is researched and written following the completion of the core modules of the MLitt and is typically submitted in August.
Further study
Many graduates continue their education by enrolling in PhD programmes at St Andrews.
In addition to the MLitt, the School offers a two-year Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree option in Medieval Literature.
Teaching staff
The staff teaching on the programme will vary in any one year, but will always include some of the following: