Course Description

The study of literature is never just one thing. Modern literary culture is diverse, exciting, complex, rich, and plural. Trinity College Dublin’s School of English is proud to offer a taught master’s degree which grows out of and embraces this multiplicity, the M.Phil. in Modern and Contemporary Literary Studies. Here at Trinity, our School of English has internationally-recognized strengths in national and international Anglophone literatures, and in ‘canonical’ and ‘popular’ literary forms, and the interplay between them, and in material literary culture and book history.

The M.Phil. in Modern and Contemporary Literary Studies offers graduates in English or in related disciplines (e.g. history, art history, Irish studies) the opportunity to explore over two centuries of anglophone writing and literary history. Students will be introduced to key texts, authors, and ideas from the nineteenth century through to the contemporary moment. You will shape your own distinct programme of study in a programme that combines core modules and a wide variety of options. You will also undertake a substantial piece of independent research in the form of a dissertation. At Trinity you will join a supportive and dynamic community of students, scholars, and writers in a world-leading English department right at the heart of one of the world’s great literary cities. You will also have access to the outstanding library and archival collections of our world-famous copyright library, which could form the basis for your own fundamental research.

This M.Phil. provides an excellent platform for moving on to doctoral research, as well as offering transferable skills for a variety of future careers, including in education, the arts, publishing and the media.