MA English & Literary Media

Delivery:
Full time according to Funding Council definitions, Part-Time

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MA English & Literary Media is a contemporary, modern English degree that emphasises the way that media and digital technology influence how we understand and engage with literature, literary texts and narrative. As a graduate of this course, you’ll be well equipped with the knowledge to enter a range of employment areas such as publishing, digital marketing, features, copywriting, brand management and book production.

This unique course de-privileges the idea of the printed text and considers it alongside the kinds of narrative that exist in other media, exploring how developments in media and technology offer interactive forms of storytelling for authors and communication practitioners.

Learn to critically evaluate a variety of texts drawn from film, television, the internet, literature and popular culture, and to relate those texts to the wider fields of which they are a part
Consider the ways in which both contemporary and historical literary texts have been adapted for different mediums and how paratext and extra-textual materials contribute to audience expectations and experiences
Explore definitions of free speech, freedom of expression, censorship and public interest in the context of public cultural controversies
Develop the skills to think rigorously, critically, analytically and imaginatively, applying knowledge to practical situations
Enhance your career prospects by undertaking an optional minimum 4-week professional placement
Learn from leading national and international scholars in the fields of modern and contemporary literature, media studies, cultural studies and new media writing
Enter BU's annual international creative writing competitions: The Fresher Writing Prize for emerging voices in fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction, and the New Media Writing Prize for stories that integrate a variety of formats, platforms and digital media.

See Course details for information including how this course will be delivered safely if you’re starting in January 2021 in response Covid-19.

Image description — Students in a seminar

Next start date:

January 2021, September 2021, January 2022, September 2022

Location:

Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus

Duration:

1 year full-time, with or without optional placement. 16 months or 20 months part-time with optional placement September start. 16 months or 20 months full-time with optional placement. 28 months part-time with or without optional placement January start

Entry requirements:

A Bachelors Honours degree with 2:2 in any subject, or equivalent

International entry requirements:

If English is not your first language you'll needIELTS (Academic) 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in writing and 5.5 in speaking, listening and reading. For more information see our full entry requirements.

Course details

On this course you will be taught by a range of staff with relevant expertise and knowledge appropriate to the content of the unit. This will include senior academic staff, qualified professional practitioners, demonstrators, technicians and research students. You will also benefit from regular guest lectures from industry.

The following units will be studied over three semesters for the one year full-time option, or over four semesters spread over two years for the part-time option.

Download the programme specification (pdf 348kb)

January 2021 – course information

During your first semester (January to June), your course will be delivered online using interactive platforms that will replicate the experience of being in a lecture theatre or seminar room. You’ll have opportunities to interact with your lecturer and fellow students just as you would have done in any other year.

We’ve been delivering lectures and sessions online for some time now, and have designed virtual sessions that will be interactive, making full use of technology to enhance the experience for everyone.

We will work to include more face-to-face delivery as soon as local and national guidance and appropriate risk assessments make it possible.

You will be able to use the Library, the Student Centre, Open Access Centre and social learning spaces, subject to physical distancing measures to undertake group and other work.

There will be no other changes to the content of your course as a result of Covid-19; we will deliver all of the units we have previously promised we would, and we are not making any changes to the individual learning outcomes on your course.

You can view our Coronavirus FAQs for the latest information from BU.

This is the latest information, updated on 24 November 2020. We will update this page when more information is available, and we can confirm any additional on-campus activity.

Core units

Narrating Identities: Self, Text & the World: This unit aims to provide you with a sophisticated knowledge and understanding of cultural and critical influences on a range of texts and literary media, exploring how literary, philosophical, and aesthetic movements have been used to define, construct and represent the self across the 20th and 21st centuries.
Markets & Audiences: A sociological approach to studying the cultural industries and their audiences, exploring marketing and promotion of cultural texts. You'll consider how para texts and extra textual materials contribute to audience expectations and experiences, and how they reflect cultural and political differences.
Interactive Storytelling: Investigate and understand the art of storytelling in digital-interactive media. Starting with a brief pre-history, this unit will come to grips with contemporary traits thrown up at the intersection between digitalisation and interactivity. There will be a rigorous scholarly framework for your existing digital literacy and you'll have space to reflect on and improve your competence with interactive digital media.
Publishing Cultures and Materialities: From the eras of Cuneiform to Kindle, you'll study public writing as material objects, which have an economy, history and culture. Publishing as we’ve known it stems from a specific iteration of those conditions and is now shifting into the online new. To take advantage of the opportunities and challenges this development affords, you'll therefore look at fiction from this material sociological perspective.
Culture & Controversy: You'll explore definitions of free speech, freedom of expression, censorship and public interest in the context of public cultural controversies. For example, D.H Lawrence’s 'Lady Chatterley’s Lover' might be studied as a literary text, whilst you'll also study the historical context of attempts to censor and suppress the novel and debates over that suppression in the print and broadcast media.
Mediating the Nation: The relationship between cultural production and a series of changing historical and political contexts in contemporary Britain. More specifically, you'll consider cultural constructions of Britain, Britons and Britishness. By analysing a range of literary and cultural forms, you'll explore how these things have been constructed and legitimised through culture historically. This unit will also look at how two historical developments have had a significant impact on how British ness has been culturally constructed: the transition away from imperialism and political devolution across the United Kingdom.
Dissertation (academic) OR Major Project (creative): An opportunity to develop and show your critical, analytical and research skills by completing a significant piece of academic or creative work. You'll finish your studies and work with a degree of independence not previously experienced in your coursework, focusing on topics that interest you the most. You'll hone your strengths and establish curiosity to take with you into future careers.

Programme specification

Programme specifications provide definitive records of the University's taught degrees in line with Quality Assurance Agency requirements. Every taught course leading to a BU Award has a programme specification which describes its aims, structure, content and learning outcomes, plus the teaching, learning and assessment methods used.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the programme specification, the information is liable to change to take advantage of exciting new approaches to teaching and learning as well as developments in industry. If you have been unable to locate the programme specification for the course you are interested in, it will be available as soon as the latest version is ready. Alternatively please contact us for assistance.

Your application

How and when to apply

There is no application deadline for this course. However, if you will need a visa to come to the UK to study, think carefully about the length of time it will take for your visa application to be processed and make sure your visa will be ready in time for the beginning of your course.

Click the green ‘Apply now’ button to submit your application free of charge online through myHub, our application portal. You will create your own myHub account so that you can track the progress of your application. Don’t forget to save your application as you go; you can return to it at as many times as you want before you submit it. For more information visit our How to apply section.

Entry requirements

General entry requirements

The normal requirements for embarking upon a postgraduate taught degree are:

A Bachelors Honours degree with 2:2 or equivalent in any subject.

If you lack the formal academic qualifications needed to enter a postgraduate or post-experience degree, there are several alternative routes to follow. Some of these are based on experience. Contact the Future Students Enquiry Team for more information.

International entry requirements

You can find details of the international qualifications we accept, and what level of study they apply to, on our entry requirements for non-UK students' page.

Please see below some examples of the qualifications for entry:

China: 学士学位 (Bachelor degree) with a minimum of 65% overall.
Nigeria: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution in Nigeria.
Thailand: Thai Bachelor's (Honours) degree from a recognised higher education institution.
Vietnam: Bachelor's degree/Bang tot nghiep dai hoc with an average score of at least 7.0, or a Master’s degree/Thac si.
Turkey: Bachelor’s Degree (Lisans Diplomasi -four years) to be considered for a postgraduate course at BU.

All applications will be subject to a minimum grade and your degree may need to be in a relevant subject area.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language, you will need to provide evidence that you understand English to a satisfactory level. English language requirements for this course are normally:

IELTS (Academic) 7.0 with minimum 6.5 in writing and 5.5 in speaking, listening and reading, or equivalent.

View further information about our English language requirements.

Bournemouth University International College offers a number of pre-sessional English and preparatory programmes to prepare international students for postgraduate study at BU. Admission to the degree is guaranteed on successful completion of your course to the required level.

Careers

This course enables students to combine the skills of literary analysis developed during an undergraduate degree with a series of new theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of English in a range of different media.

All information shown has been taken from Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) or BU institutional data unless otherwise stated.

Potential job roles

Industries worked in

Further study

Costs and fees

You can find full information about the deposits required and how to pay your fees in our postgraduate fees and funding section, including details of the Postgraduate Loan (subject to fee status).

All fees are quoted in pounds sterling and are per annum. Fees quoted are for tuition only unless stated otherwise. Your tuition fees will be the same for each year of your course.

Find out more about living expenses for postgraduate students

No hidden extras

What’s included in your tuition fee?

Your tuition fee covers expenses associated with your course including tuition materials, access to facilities, mandatory field trips and the following:

Materials for laboratory and field-based teaching activity
Support for finding placements (UK or abroad) and fieldwork, and non-financial support whilst on placement
A range of student services – advisors, help desks, counsellors, placement support and careers service
The Library – access to a wide range of electronic resources (databases, e-journals and e-books), print and multimedia collections, subject librarians and study spaces
Access to Brightspace, our virtual learning environment, which offers a responsive and personalised learning experience with powerful learning analytics capabilities, integrated social media and advanced video features.
IT labs (some open 24/7), wireless network, AV equipment to borrow
Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) scheme
Disability and additional learning support
The BU Language Centre to help you develop/improve foreign or English language skills
24 hours a day, 365 days a year security team.

Costs of living and other expenses you need to consider

Additional costs

We are committed to offering you value for money and ensuring there are no hidden costs while you are studying with us, therefore we have listed below any additional costs you may incur that are not covered by your tuition fee:

Laptops, tablets and mobile devices
Accommodation and living costs. Our accommodation price guide can be found on our website.
Travel costs, outdoor wear and footwear for optional field trips (where applicable)
Text books, general stationery and other supplies. Our award-winning library is stocked with a large range of text books and online resources, free of charge. The Students’ Union shops stock a wide range of stationery supplies on both campuses
Travel costs to and from your placement (both in the UK and overseas). Information about funding your placement year can be found on our website.
SportBU membership.

Repeat units

Deposits

January 2021 entry

International (non-EU) students need to pay a non-refundable £2,000 deposit to secure their place on a postgraduate course. You will need to pay your deposit by the date stated in your offer letter. The remainder of your fee will be payable on registration/enrolment. There are two exceptions to the non-refundable rule on the deposit:

You fail to meet the academic or English requirements of your offer
You are refused a visa to enter the UK, provided the reason for the refusal is not a fraudulent application.

September 2021 and January 2022 entry

International (not Rep. of Ireland) students need to pay a non-refundable £3,000 deposit to secure their place on a postgraduate course. You will need to pay your deposit by the date stated in your offer letter. The remainder of your fee will be payable on registration/enrolment. There are two exceptions to the non-refundable rule on the deposit:

You fail to meet the academic or English requirements of your offer
You are refused a visa to enter the UK, provided the reason for the refusal is not a fraudulent application.

Financial help available from BU

Our staff

On this course you will be taught by staff with relevant expertise and knowledge appropriate to the content of the unit. This could include senior academic staff, qualified professional practitioners and research students, many of whom are actively engaged in research and/or professional practice which is integrated into the teaching of this course. Please note that teaching staff can change.

Dr Julia Round – Programme Leader

Dr Julia Round is a Principal Lecturer in the Faculty of Media and Communication, where she teaches units on ‘Crime and Terror’ (BA English), ‘Children’s Literature’ (BA English), and ‘Culture and Controversy’ (MA English & Literary Media). Her research focuses on Gothic, comics and children’s literature.

She edits the academic journal Studies in Comics and organises the annual International Graphic Novel and Comics Conference (now in its ninth year). She is a leading figure in British comics studies and received the 2015 Inge Award for Comics Scholarship for her research on The Walking Dead.

Her academic books include Gothic in Comics and Graphic Novels: A Critical Approach (McFarland, 2014), the co-edited collection Real Lives Celebrity Stories (Bloomsbury, 2014), and Misty and Gothic for Girls in British Comics (University Press of Mississippi, 2018).

She published her first short comic, ‘Doll Parts’, in the anthology Wilma: Whatever Happened to Girls’ Comics? (Inkpot, 2017). You can find out more about her work and contact her directly at www.juliaround.com – she is always happy to talk!

View Dr Julia Round’s staff profile

Dr Simon Frost – Lecturer

Simon Frost is Principal Lecturer in English and CEMP Fellow; Senior Commissioning Editor for Oxford University Press ORE (Oxford Research Encyclopedia); and he is Director of Transnational Affairs and Executive Board member of the leading society in the field, the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP www.sharpweb.org).

He is the author of Business of a Novel: Economics, Aesthetics and the case of Middlemarch (Pickering and Chatto 2012), of many articles on the material text, including “Economising in Public”, in Book History, 17 (Johns Hopkins 2014), and is co-editor of Moveable Type, Mobile Nations: Interactions in Transnational Book History (Museum Tusculanums Forlag, 2010).

He is currently working on the project Private Gains and Retailed Literature, working with a professional retailing chain and using empirical research to create a theory of a political economy of reading.

View Dr Simon Frost’s staff profile

Dr Sam Goodman – Lecturer

Dr Sam Goodman is Senior Lecturer in English & Communication, he teaches on units including Media & Trauma (BA English), Space, Place & Environment (BA English) and Narrating Identities (MA English & Literary Media).

His research interests focus on formations of Britishness across diverse forms of culture, from literary texts to video games and beyond. He is the author of British Spy Fiction & the End of Empire (2015), and co-editor of Medicine, Health & the Arts: Approaches to Medical Humanities (2014), both published with Routledge, and was a BBC/Arts and Humanities Research Council New Generation Thinker for 2015-16, and continues to make programmes with the BBC.

He is currently pursuing a project on alcohol and colonial British India funded by the Wellcome Trust, and documents his research on the blog: imperialmeasuresblog.wordpress.com.

View Dr Sam Goodman’s staff profile

Dr Hywel Dix – Principal Academic in English

Dr Hywel Dix is Principal Lecturer in English and Communication at Bournemouth University. He was formerly Raymond Williams Research Fellow at the University of Glamorgan, leading to the publication of After Raymond Williams: Cultural Materialism and the Break-Up of Britain (Second Edition, 2013).

He has published extensively on the relationship between literature, culture and political change in contemporary Britain, most notably in the monograph Postmodern Fiction and the Break-Up of Britain (Continuum, 2010). His wider research interests include modern and contemporary literature, postmodernism, critical cultural theory and autofiction.

His monograph about literary careers entitled The Late-Career Novelist was published by Bloomsbury in 2017 and an edited collection of essays on Autofiction in English is due out with Palgrave in 2018.

View Dr Hywel Dix’s staff profile

Dr James Pope – Principal Academic in English and Communication

Dr James Pope has a continuing interest in fiction across the media, particularly looking at how new-media may be changing narrative forms and reading and writing practices.

He has specific research interests in interactive fiction, the teaching of creative writing in digital media environments, and children’s literature. As well as several publications around interactive fiction, and children’s literature, James has also published six novels for children and teenagers, including Spin The Bottle (Penguin), which was listed as one of the best teenage novels of 1998 by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups.

He created the dedicated software platform for online interactive storytelling, Genarrator, www.genarrator.org. He is also co-founder and organiser of the annual New-Media Writing Prize, now in its eighth year, which celebrates and promotes interactive narrative around the world. Currently he is working on community-based new-media storytelling projects, and a VR narrative project with digital artists Judi Alston and Andy Campbell.

View Dr James Pope’s staff profile

Professor Bronwen Thomas – Professor of English and New Media

Bronwen Thomas is Professor of English and New Media and Director of the Centre for the Study of Journalism, Culture and Community. Bronwen’s research focuses on how technologies developed in the digital era have impacted on both writing and reading.

She has gained funding from the AHRC for three projects on digital reading, the latest of which is called Reading on Screen. Bronwen has published widely on new media narratives, fanfiction, online reading communities and fictional dialogue. She is currently writing a book on Literature and Social Media.

On MALM Bronwen teaches the semester 1 unit Markets and Audiences that examines the promotion and reception of ‘texts’ across a range of media.

View Professor Bronwen Thomas’ staff profile

Dr Yugin Teo – Lecturer (Academic) in English & Communication

Dr Yugin Teo is Lecturer in English and Communication at Bournemouth University. He has previously taught literature and film at the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex where he completed his doctorate.

His research on the representation of memory in literature and film has been published in the journals Critique, Medical Humanities and Science Fiction Film and Television. His monograph Kazuo Ishiguro and Memory was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2014.

View Dr Yugin Teo’s staff profile

Course changes

Changes for 2020 entry

Date	Changes to this course
30/06/2020	Where the change was made: Course Change: Culture & Materialities unit replaced by Publishing Cultures & Materialities unit. Narrating Identities unit replaced by Narrating Identities: Self, Text & the World unit.

Changes in 2019

Date	Changes to this course
12/04/2019	Where the change was made: Course title Change: Course title changed to MA English & Literary Media Previous title: MA Literary Media

Changes in 2018

Date	Changes to this course
29/01/2018	Where the change was made: Selection Criteria Change: Applicants will receive a decision on their application based on the information submitted in the application form. For more information, take a look at our post graduate how to apply pages. Previous text: Applicants will usually receive a decision on their application based on the information submitted in the application form. However, some applicants may be invited for interview to discuss their application further. Applicants may be interviewed in person, via telephone or Skype. For more information, take a look at our post graduate how to apply pages.

Date

Changes to this course

29/01/2018

Where the change was made: Selection Criteria

Change: Applicants will receive a decision on their application based on the information submitted in the application form. For more information, take a look at our post graduate how to apply pages.
Previous text: Applicants will usually receive a decision on their application based on the information submitted in the application form. However, some applicants may be invited for interview to discuss their application further.

Applicants may be interviewed in person, via telephone or Skype. For more information, take a look at our post graduate how to apply pages.

What our students say

Jaime Gorman

The faculty of my programme are both dedicated and inspiring. They work hard to convey their knowledge and skills and expect the same dedication from us to absorb it.

Hear from our staff

Dr Hywel Dix

We developed this MA as our students wanted to be able to carry on their studies and follow the distinctive approach we take to studying English here.

Statistics shown throughout this page are taken from Unistats and BU institutional data unless otherwise stated.