The Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies is consistently ranked in the top five English departments in the UK. It is a major base for comparative literary studies and has established strengths in American, European, 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century literatures, in medieval and early modern studies, Romanticism, Victorian studies, gender, post-colonialism, contemporary writing, and literary and cultural theory. Our courses offer students the opportunity to learn from the best. We have a diverse and vibrant cohort of staff all of whom are worldrenowned scholars in their fields. The Department gained the highest rating for environment and esteem in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.

Research Degrees

Research Areas

The Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at Warwick is a highly regarded research department, with expertise across a broad spectrum of specialisms including: Renaissance Literature, Poetry and Poetics, the European Novel, Comparative Literature, Theatre, Postcolonial Literature, American studies, Feminist Thought, Writing in the British Isles, Global Literature, Shakespeare Studies and Romanticism. There are well established links with related departments and centres (including the Centre for Research in Philosophy, Literature and the Arts, and the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance) as well as active engagement with the Warwick Writing Programme.

Research Degrees

Standard Duration:

MAR: 1 year full-time
MPhil: 2 years full-time
PhD: 3 years full-time, 5 years part-time

Applications are welcomed from candidates wishing to pursue an MA by Research (MAR), Master of Philosophy (MPhil) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Research degrees allow for sustained individual research on a single theme or topic with supervision by a member of staff with expertise in the area of research. Postgraduates in both the taught and research degree programmes are very much embraced within the department and are welcomed here in a way similar to new staff. You will share a common room with academics in the department, and enjoy full access to dedicated computer and library facilities.

• More information on Research Degrees

Taught Master's Degrees

MA in Writing

Duration: 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
Places available: up to 20

The Warwick MA in Writing is intended for students who are already experienced as well as ambitious practising writers, whether published or not. Our main aim is to help you develop skills which you can use professionally. We don’t believe that creativity, as such, can be taught, or that it is only fulfilled in ‘the marketplace’, but we do aim to help develop technical writing skills which students will find useful, whether in full-time authorship or in related professions such as publishing, the media, or teaching.

• More information about the MA in Writing
  

MA in Pan-Romanticisms

Duration: 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
Places available: 5-10

This course is aimed at students with an interest in the period 1770-1830 who wish to explore in more detail than is possible at undergraduate level the literary migration of ideas and texts at the time, especially across western Europe. For this reason, a reading knowledge of one of French, German or Italian is desirable, although not necessary for successful completion of the course. The centrality of the dissertation and the weight given it are meant to encourage enrolment by students interested in further research study.

• More information about the MA in Pan-Romanticisms
  

MA in Translation and Transcultural Studies

Duration: 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
Places available: 5-10

This new MA focuses on the theory of translation enhanced by a strong element of literary translation and the study of literatures across cultures and languages. You will explore translation as a literary and cultural phenomenon and study how literatures cross borders through translation. It may be possible to work independently on Arabic, Bengali, French, German, Latin, Japanese, Turkish and Chinese texts and/or culture. The course encourages a wide-ranging approach to literatures, languages, and cultures.

• More information about the MA in Translation and Transcultural Studies
  

MA in English Literature

Duration: 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
Places available: 35-45

The MA in English Literature is one of the three advanced taught programmes offered by the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies. The course encourages a varied and flexible approach to MA study. You may choose to range widely in your choice of modules, studying Shakespeare alongside the literatures of North America for example; women’s writing from 1600 to the present alongside Marxism and Deconstruction; British Victorian texts alongside global literatures. There are a number of ‘pathways’ designed to help you take the fullest advantage of the range of topics and approaches.

• More information about the MA in English Literature
  

Diploma in English Literature

Duration: 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
Places available: up to 5

The Diploma is designed especially for those students who wish to read for a higher degree in English Literature, but who need further preparation before embarking upon the MA course. The Diploma acts as a ‘bridging’ course for the MA.

• More information about the Diploma in English Literature
  

Download prospectus entry

Prospectus Entry

Related Links:

English and Comparative Literary Studies Homepage

Postgraduate Research Study in English and Comparative Literary Studies

Fees and Funding:

Postgraduate Fees

Funding your study

“My time here has been challenging but also very rewarding. My supervisor is the best I could have hoped for, and the Department has offered me chances to present seminars and lectures, attend and sit on the panel of our regular Postgraduate Research series and access tailored training sessions on teaching at Higher Education level. Beyond the English Department, Warwick has a thriving intellectual and social scene featuring regular guest speakers, themed weeks and Union events - far more than any diligent postgraduate could possibly enjoy!”

Malachi McIntosh / PhD student / English and Comparative Literary Studies

“During the last ten years in the Department of English I have run the MAs in English Literature and in Pan-Romanticisms, and have acted as Director of Graduate Studies. In these roles I’ve been privileged to work with postgraduate students whose intelligence, enthusiasm, and creativity have been inspiring. In projects ranging from medieval French poetry to the most contemporary writing, and covering a spectrum of British and world literatures, our students benefit from their relationships with scholars of international standing, and we continue to grow and develop as literary critics thanks to the energetic intellectual atmosphere our students generate.”

Professor Jackie Labbe