# MAModern and Contemporary Literature and Culture
**Source**: https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/courses/ma-modern-contemporary-literature-culture/
**Parent**: https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/courses/all?mode=taught
# MA Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture
Explore key issues central to modernity through literature.
Year of entry: 2026 (September)
1. [Overview](#overview)
2. [Course content](#course-content)
3. [Fees and funding](#fees)
4. [Teaching and assessment](#teaching-assessment)
5. [Careers](#careers)
6. [Entry requirements](#entry)
Start date
September 2026\
[View semester dates](https://www.york.ac.uk/about/semester-dates/)
Length
1 year full-time,\
2 years part-time
School/department
[Department of English and Related Literature](https://www.york.ac.uk/english/)
[Apply for this course](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/courses/apply?course=DPMENGSMCL1)
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The MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture offers you an intensive and exciting survey of the literary culture of the 20th and 21st centuries.
You’ll be introduced to key authors, texts, ideas and critical methods from the period, and construct a distinct, individually chosen programme of study from a wide range of options. You’ll develop your research skills and apply these to a substantial piece of independent research.
Taught and supervised by world-leading scholars in one of the UK’s largest research centres in modern English, you’ll gain a foundation for doctoral research in modern literature. You'll also gain transferable skills for related careers in teaching, publishing, arts management and journalism.
You’ll engage with the wider research culture of the [Department of English and Related Literature](https://www.york.ac.uk/english/research/) and the [Centre for Modern Studies](https://www.york.ac.uk/modernstudies/). There will be a diverse schedule of seminars, conferences and reading groups for you to attend.
<https://youtu.be/9O0GBmoNsTA>
> I've studied everything from Flaubert to Margaret Atwood and have learned so much, not only about the literary texts at hand but also about all kinds of contemporary debates. The Department has specialists in so many niche areas of literature that there's always someone on hand to discuss ideas with.
Alex, MA Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture
[World-leading research](https://www.york.ac.uk/research/performance/ref-2021-results/)
A top ten research department according to the Times Higher Education’s ranking of the latest REF results (2021).
[32nd in the world](https://www.york.ac.uk/english/about/news/2025/qs-world-rankings-2025/)
for English language and literature in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2025
[Vibrant facilities](https://www.york.ac.uk/about/departments/arts-humanities/facilities/)
As well as your department's facilities, you'll have access to the Grade II listed Heslington Hall, a hub with space for events and collaboration.
## Course content
You'll study the development of ‘modernity’ in association with particular genres and writers, and assess the importance of political movements and new identities to modern writing. You'll investigate the cultural meanings and associations of important developments in literary technique in the 20th century. You'll develop an understanding of the interplay of modern writing with a range of cultural issues, and learn some of the ways in which modern historical and technological development affected notions of writing.
You'll study modules from a range of options offered by the Department of English and Related Literature and other arts and humanities departments. You'll also hone your research skills with dedicated training, and complete a research dissertation. You'll study 180 credits in total.
- [Modules](#modules)
- [Dissertation](#dissertation)
### Modules
You'll address some of the major literary trends and cultural debates of modern and contemporary times. You'll consider the different ways that ‘modernity’ has been understood, focussing on the multiple art-forms and theories of art that this understanding yielded. You'll examine a broad swathe of writers, genres and intellectual disciplines. Typical subtopics include modernist difficulty, utopian fiction, confessional poetry, race and modernity, and neoliberalism. Typical authors studied include James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, T S Eliot, Marianne Moore, Gertrude Stein, Aldous Huxley, Samuel Beckett, Ralph Ellison, John Berryman, Paul Muldoon, and Zadie Smith. On the Postgraduate Life in Practice module, you'll learn valuable skills in research, writing, reflection, presentation, publishing and career development.
#### Core modules
- **[Reading Modernity](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/studying/manage/programmes/module-catalogue/module/ENG00030M/latest "Root » University Website » English and Related Literature » Postgraduate study » MAs in English Literature (taught) » Modules 2018/9")**
- [**Postgraduate Life in Practice**](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/studying/manage/programmes/module-catalogue/module/ENG00152M/latest)
#### Option modules
You will also study three option modules. Examples can be found below. Some option module combinations may not be possible. The options available to you will be confirmed after you begin your course.
- [**“They’ve Gotta Have Us”: African American Film and Literature after 1960**](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/studying/manage/programmes/module-catalogue/module/ENG00124M/latest)
- [**Literature and Activism**](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/studying/manage/programmes/module-catalogue/module/ENG00129M/latest)
- [**The Sickness of Style**](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/studying/manage/programmes/module-catalogue/module/ENG00138M/latest)
- **[Auteures: Gender, Power, and Authorship in Film and Literature](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/studying/manage/programmes/module-catalogue/module/ENG00139M/latest)**
- [**The Translation of the World: Reading the Global Nineteenth Century**](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/studying/manage/programmes/module-catalogue/module/ENG00128M/latest)
- [**Bad Feelings: Negative Affect in Contemporary Literature**](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/studying/manage/programmes/module-catalogue/module/ENG00117M/latest)
Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff, and in line with Department/School academic planning.
### Dissertation
- **[Dissertation](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/studying/manage/programmes/module-catalogue/module/ENG00119M/latest)**
Your **dissertation** offers you the chance to examine a topic in depth and to develop your research skills. You'll work on a 12,000-14,000-word dissertation with regular supervision from a member of staff. You'll submit your dissertation at the end of your course.
Recent dissertation topics include:
- 'Mad Men' and Masculinity
- Coping through Comics: Junot Diaz's Pop Culture Pain
- Oral Poetry in the Digital Age
- The Individual and Loneliness in the Fiction of Joshua Ferris
- German Interwar Women's Writing
- Revelations in the Work by T S Eliot and Jules Laforgue
- The Artist in the Fiction of Anthony Burgess
### Learning outcomes
Every course at York is built on a distinctive set of learning outcomes. These will give you a clear understanding of what you will be able to accomplish at the end of the course and help you explain what you can offer employers. Our academics identify the knowledge, skills, and experiences you'll need upon graduation and then design the course to get you there.
Learning outcomes for this course
- Analyse significant literary and cultural texts from the modern period closely and critically, interpreting them with reference to the social, political, economic and/or aesthetic contexts in which they were produced, reproduced, and received.
- Evaluate and contribute to scholarly debates around literary modernism, and around the legacies of modernism in twentieth-century and contemporary literature and culture.
- Deploy knowledge of specialist fields within the broader remit of modern literature and culture – for example American fiction, narrative theory, political theatre, poetry and poetics, Cold War culture, world-systems theory – in order to ask and answer innovative questions regarding the origins, contexts, and underlying conditions of the modern world.
- Initiate, conduct, and take responsibility for independent research, drawing on skills honed by graduate-level research training, research-led teaching, and the completion of a substantial dissertation project.
- Communicate sophisticated written arguments in a clear, accurate and persuasive fashion, synthesising evidence from multiple sources so as to convey information creatively and convincingly.
- Engage in verbal discussion of complex textual material, demonstrating versatility, rigour, and confidence in the reception, appreciation, and articulation of high-level ideas and perspectives.
- Direct their own development, bringing new knowledge and skills to bear upon a range of contexts including (but not limited to) doctoral study in modern English literature and related fields.
> The courses I have taken in my MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture have all been thought-provoking, but very importantly, pertinent to my research interests and philosophical concerns.
Kirby, MA Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture
## Fees and funding
### Annual tuition fees for 2026/27
| Study mode | UK (home) | International and EU |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Full-time (1 year) | £12,000 | £26,900 |
| Part-time (2 years) This is the year 1 fee. Fees for future years are subject to confirmation. | £6,000 | £13,450 |
Students on a Student Visa are not currently permitted to study part-time at York.
**For courses which are longer than one year**, the tuition fees quoted are for the first year of study.
- UK (home) fees may increase in subsequent years (up to a maximum of 2%).
- International fees may increase in subsequent years in line with the prevailing Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate (up to a maximum of 10%).
### Fees information
**UK (home) or international fees?** The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. [Check your fee status](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/fees/status/).
Find out more information about tuition fees and how to pay them.
- [Postgraduate taught fees and expenses](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/fees/)
### Additional costs
You'll need copies of the texts set for each module. Where possible, we will provide digital access. We'll let you know which texts and editions you'll need to buy (whether new or second-hand) before the start of each semester.
### Funding information
Discover your funding options to help with tuition fees and living costs.
We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2026/27 throughout the year.
If you've successfully completed an undergraduate degree at York you could be eligible for a [10% Masters fee discount](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/funding/alumni-discount/).
#### Funding opportunities
- [UK government Masters loans](https://www.gov.uk/masters-loan)
- [Funding for UK students](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/funding/uk/)
- [Funding for international students](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/funding/international/)
#### Chevening Scholarships
We are pleased to work with Chevening Scholars to offer funding for our Masters programmes. [Chevening Scholarships](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/funding/international/chevening-scholarship/) provide one year of fully-funded postgraduate study in the UK for international (including EU) students. The scholarships are open to early and mid-career professionals who have the potential to become future leaders.
#### Department scholarship information
- Further information about [funding for English](https://www.york.ac.uk/english/study/masters/funding/).
### Living costs
You can use our [living costs guide](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/fees-funding/living-costs/) to help plan your budget. It covers additional costs that are not included in your tuition fee such as expenses for accommodation and study materials.
## Teaching and assessment
You’ll work with world‐leading academics who’ll challenge you to think independently and excel in all that you do. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities, and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace.
### Teaching format
You'll normally attend two 2-hour seminars each week. If you are a part-time student, you'll attend one 2-hour seminar a week.
Seminar groups consist of fewer than 16 students in most modules, though some core modules may involve a larger number of students. You'll complete essential reading for each seminar, and we encourage you to read more widely around the topic.
You'll attend a series of training lectures and workshops, designed to address presenting your work, writing at MA level, transferable skills, and career development.
Over the course of the year, you'll have the opportunity to attend research seminars and conferences hosted by the Department. You can also attend events organised through the [Humanities Research Centre](https://www.york.ac.uk/hrc/), a stimulating community unique to York.
### Facilities
You can make use of our dedicated study spaces, including the F.R. Leavis Room and the Writing lab, to work, collaborate and socialise in.
York's library contains a rich variety of resources available to you. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Poetry Society collection
- Music and audiovisual collections
- Humanities Research collections
The city of York also boasts rich, scholarly resources in a student-friendly and contemporary environment. You can immerse yourself in a range of public libraries and archives around the city and region.
[Explore more facilities](https://www.york.ac.uk/english/about/facilities/)
### Teaching location
You will be based in the [Department of English and Related Literature](https://www.york.ac.uk/map/#department-of-english-and-related-literature) on Campus West. Most of your contact hours will be in locations nearby on Campus West.
### About our campus
Our beautiful green campus offers a student-friendly setting in which to live and study, within easy reach of the action in the city centre. It's [easy to get around campus](https://www.york.ac.uk/about/transport-maps-parking/) - everything is within walking or pedalling distance, or you can always use the fast and frequent bus service.
### Assessment and feedback
You'll submit an essay for each module of approximately 3,500-4,000 words. The Postgraduate Life in Practice module will be assessed on the completion of a series of tasks connected to your core work for the MA. Your final assessment is a dissertation of 12,000-14,000 words.
> The warmth with which I was received into the York community clinched the deal - after a long and difficult search, I was delighted that my final decision was so easily made.
Judith, MA Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture
## Careers and skills
Our postgraduates go into a wide variety of industries, from arts administration to law. Many of [our alumni](https://www.york.ac.uk/english/alumni/) have also gone on to become successful novelists, poets and playwrights.
### Career opportunities
- account executive at a publishing company
- English teacher
- publishing editor
- market researcher
- website editor
- PR executive
### Transferable skills
- developing your creativity
- improving your ability to filter and analyse complex information
- intellectual independence and independent working
- time management and people skills
- communicating your research
- methodological skills
### [Careers and employability](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/careers/)
Turn ambition into achievement with our expert guidance and connections. From your first day here to life after graduation, we'll help you find your career advantage.
## Entry requirements
| Qualification | Typical offer |
| --- | --- |
| Undergraduate degree | 2:2 or equivalent. We will consider applications from students with lower qualifications, particularly if you have high marks in relevant modules or appropriate professional experience. |
| Other international qualifications | [Equivalent qualifications from your country](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/international/your-country/) |
### Additional requirements
You will need to submit examples of written work with your application. Please see our [guidance on submitting written work](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/apply/documents/written-work/).
### English language
If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:
| Qualification | Minimum requirement |
| --- | --- |
| IELTS (Academic and Indicator) | 6.5, minimum 6.0 in each component |
| Cambridge CEFR | B2 First: 176, with 169 in each component |
| Oxford ELLT | 7, minimum of 6 in each component |
| Oxford Test of English Advanced | 136, minimum 126 in each component |
| Duolingo | 120, minimum 105 in all other components |
| LanguageCert SELT | B2 with 33/50 in each component |
| LanguageCert Academic | 70 with a minimum of 65 in each component |
| Kaplan Test of English Language | 478-509, with 444-477 in all other components |
| Skills for English | B2: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component |
| PTE Academic | 61, minimum 55 in each component |
| TOEFL | 87, minimum of 21 in each component |
| Trinity ISE III | Merit in all requirements |
For more information see our [postgraduate English language requirements](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/apply/international/english/).
#### If you haven't met our English language requirements
You may be eligible for one of our [pre-sessional English language courses](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/international/applying/international-pathway-college/pre-sessionals/). These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.
The length of course you need to take depends on your current English language test scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.
After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via [You@York](https://www.york.ac.uk/you-at-york/).
### Applying
You can apply and send all your documentation online. You don’t need to complete your application all at once: you can start it, save it and finish it later.
- [How to apply](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/apply/)
[Apply for this course](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/courses/apply?course=DPMENGSMCL1)
## Next steps
### Contact us
Get in touch if you have any questions
#### Jane Nay, Postgraduate Administrator
[english-enquiries@york.ac.uk](mailto:english-enquiries@york.ac.uk)
### Department
[Department of English and Related Literature](https://www.york.ac.uk/english/)
### Related courses
Find out more about all of our [English MA courses](https://www.york.ac.uk/english/postgraduate/taught-ma/).
- [MA Film and Literature](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/courses/ma-film-literature/)
- [MA English Literary Studies](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/courses/ma-english-literary-studies/)
- [MA Queer Studies](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/courses/ma-queer-studies/)
- [MA Creative Writing](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/courses/ma-creative-writing/)
- [MA English Literature (by research)](https://www.york.ac.uk/english/study/masters/ma-english-by-research/)
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### [Accommodation](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/accommodation/postgraduate/)
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### [Meet us](https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/meet-us/)
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