MA in Literary Studies

The rise of the new sciences in seventeenth-century England led to the decline of several significant religious, political, and philosophical traditions. From the erasure of Aristotelian physics, through the radicalization of English Protestantism, to the strengthening of constitutional monarchy - England underwent intellectual upheavals at an unprecedented pace. This seminar examines the ways in which competing forms of science and tradition found expression in the writings of contemporary authors such as Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, and Alexander Pope. It is based on selections from the works of scientists and philosophers of the period, including John Locke, George Berkeley, Thomas Hobbes, Giambattista Vico, and others.

The court explores the tradition of war writing from its ancient sources to the present day, with an emphasis on the influence of classical war poetry on modern and contemporary works. The course also focuses on the ways in which war writing has shaped American and English cultures, and on how literary works themselves bear the marks of wartime violence. Writers discussed in the course include, Kurt Vonnegut, Homer, David Jones, Virginia Woolf, Tim O’Brien, H.D., and others.

This course explores African literature in English from the past century from West, East, South, and North Africa, surveying the diverse genres and using them to consider both shared features and differences among African nations, while examining the historical, social, and political contexts of each region. Drawing on literary methods such as close reading, the course examines how fiction can serve as a critical mode of engaging with history, and how literary tools can be applied to analyzing the world around us.

What does an archive do? Who controls it? How is it used in the study of literature? This course explores these and related questions. it is based on critical and literary texts, as well as theoretical and practical works, in order to ask which stories the archive tells, preserves, and conceals. The course involves work with digital archives that support literary research and create opportunities for direct, personal engagement with the archive.

This course, which highlights the enduring cultural significance of Jane Austen, offers a comprehensive study of four of her completed works, situating them both in their original historical context and in contemporary culture. The course also moves beyond a survey of Austen’s works and discusses the complex and evolving interpretations of her literary legacy through the lens of the social, political, and literary landscape of the early nineteenth century. 

Unlike standard lecture courses with a fixed syllabus for the whole class, this course involves close coordination with a supervisor or faculty member, regular meetings, progress reports, and reading or research tasks tailored to a student’s chosen topic. Emphasis is placed on participation in research, data collection and analysis, or the development of an independent research project.