Master's Programme in English

120 credits

Programme syllabus, HEN2M

A revised version of the programme syllabus is available.
Code
HEN2M
Finalised by
The Faculty Board of Languages, 15 March 2013
Registration number
SPRÅKFAK 2013/31
Responsible faculty
Faculty of Languages
Responsible department
Department of English

Entry requirements

A Bachelor's degree in English, equivalent to a Swedish degree of at least 180 credits (i.e. three years of full-time studies), including an essay in English of at least 8000 words. The issues treated in the essay and the method used must be relevant to the selected specialisation of the Master's Program.

Proof of skills in English to a level corresponding to English B in the Swedish secondary school. This is normally attested by means of an internationally recognised test with the following minimum scores:

  • IELTS: an overall mark of 6.5 and no section below 5.5
  • TOEFL: Paper-based: Score of 4.5 (scale 1-6) in written test and a total score of 575. Internet-based: Score of 20 (scale 0-30) in written test and a total score of 90
  • Cambridge: CAE, CPE

Aims

The programme aims to develop students competence within one of three specialisations: English language and linguistics, British literature or American literature. prepares students for graduate studies in English and for careers in for example education, publishing and translation.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the Program students will be able to

• show knowledge of one of the fields of English Language and Linguistics, English Literature, or American Literature and Culture

• show knowledge of the methods and issues of linguistic or literary studies

• actively stay abreast of developments and research in the subject area

• use keen insight to gather and process complex material of relevance to the formation of theory in the field and the chosen research question

• work with a high degree of independence to delimit, structure, and carry out a research task of relevance to the formation of theory in the field and the chosen research question

• show the capacity to compose and defend an academic degree project worth 30 academic credits (for the Swedish magister degree 15 academic credits) evincing a high degree of independence

• show the ability to critically review the work of others and to produce a critical review

• participate actively in seminar discussions by making informed contributions and by being able to lead such discussions

• independently present surveys of the current state of knowledge, the frontiers of research, and their own work.

Layout of the programme

The Program covers two years (120 academic credits) with one of three specialisations: English Language and Linguistics, English Literature, or American Literature and Culture. The respective specialisations in English Literature and American Literature and Culture consist of seven courses worth 7.5 and 15 academic credits in the first year. The specialisation in English Linguistics comprises eight courses worth 7.5 academic credits each in the first year. In all specialisations modules amounting to a total of 15 academic credits may be replaced by a degree project worth 15 academic credits in the second term. In the second year all specialisations consist of three or four elective modules worth either 7.5 or 15 academic credits. At least 22.5 academic credits' worth of these modules must be in the chosen specialisation for the Program. The 30-credit degree project in the fourth term must also be in the chosen specialisation for the Program. The content and sequencing of the modules may vary from one year to another.

Specialisation in British literature:

Term 1

• Academic Writing (7.5 credits)

• Literary Theory (7.5 credits)

• Englishness and the Making of Cultural Identity (7.5 credits)

• Perspectives on Shakespeare (7.5 credits)

Term 2

• Shocking Innovation: British and American Literature 1900-1945, (15 credits)

• "Victorian Things": Victorian literature and Material Culture (7.5 credits)*

ALTERNATIVELY

Sharing Worlds: Literature and Ethics (7.5 credits)*

• Two Cultures? Science and literature (7.5 credits)*

ALTERNATIVELY

Literature and Terrorism (7.5 credits)*

Term 3

• Postmodernism and Beyond: Narrative Turns since 1960 (15 credits)

• Literary Theory with Focus on Degree Project ( 7.5 credits)

• "Symbolic Exchange and Death": Literature on the Edge (7.5 credits)*

ALTERNATIVELY

Memory and Mourning: South African Literature in English (7.5 credits)*

ALTERNATIVELY

Practical Placement (7.5 credits)

Term 4

• Degree Project (30 credits)

Courses marked with * are offered in alternate years.

Specialisation in American literature:

Term 1

• Academic Writing (7.5 credits)

• Literary Theory (7.5 credits)

• Imagining America: Nationhood, Nationality, and Citizenship (7.5 credits)

• Reading Race: America in Black and White (7.5 credits)

Term 2

• Shocking Innovation: British and American Literature 1900-1945, (15 credits)

• Modern American Drama: Staging Difference (7.5 credits)*

ALTERNATIVELY

Private Lyrics, Public Stages: The Rhetoric of American Poetry (7.5 credits)*

• Cultural Crossings and the Collapse of Borders in Recent American Literature (7.5 credits)*

ALTERNATIVELY

Remapping America: American Literature in the World (7.5 credits)*

Term 3

• Postmodernism and Beyond: Narrative Turns since 1960 (15 credits)

• Literary Theory with Focus on Degree Project (7.5 credits)

• Visual Interventions in American Literature (7.5 credits)*

ALTERNATIVELY

Graphic Novels: A Critical Introduction (7.5 credits)*

ALTERNATIVELY

Practical Placement (7.5 credits)

Term 4

• Degree Project (30 credits)

Courses marked with * are offered in alternate years.

Specialisation in the English language:

Term 1

• Early Modern English (7.5 credits)

• Corpus-Based investigations of Grammar (7.5 credits)

• Language and Society (7.5 credits)

• Academic Writing (7.5 credits)

Term 2

• Second Language Acquisition (7.5 credits)

• World Englishes (7.5 credits)

• Advanced Linguistic Analysis: Focus on Syntax (7.5 credits)

• Elective module consisting either of a course in English literature or American Literature and Culture or of one of the pan-faculty courses offered by the Faculty of Languages, worth 7.5 academic credits. See course offerings for these two specialisations of pan-faculty course offerings for the relevant term.

Term 3

• American Social Dialects (7.5 credits)

• Teaching English as a Foreign Language (7.5 credits)

• Old and Middle English (7.5 credits)

• Elective module consisting either of a course in English literature or American Literature and Culture or of one of the pan-faculty courses offered by the Faculty of Languages, worth 7.5 academic credits. See course offerings for these two specialisations of pan-faculty course offerings for the relevant term.

ALTERNATIVELY

Practical Placement (7.5 credits)

Term 4

• Degree Project (30 credits)

Instruction

Instruction, class discussions, and examinations are in English. All teaching materials are in English. The programme comprises four terms of full-time study.

Degree

The one-year Masters Degree (magisterexamen) in English is obtained after completion of course requirements worth a total of 60 academic credits at the advanced level (year one of the programme), including a degree project worth 15 academic credits.

The two-year Masters Degree in English is obtained after completion of course requirements worth a total of 120 academic credits, including a degree project worth 30 academic credits.

Other directives

For the two specialisations in literature, students must have completed 75 of 90 credits before they are accepted to the final course Degree Project (30 credits).

The Program prepares students for careers that require solid knowledge and skills as well as academic training in the subject of English, such as positions in higher education, schools, museums, archives, libraries, publishing companies, governmental authorities, government ministries, tourism, media (journalism, translation, for instance), the EU (interpretation).

Transitional provisions

For transitional regulations prompted by changes in the curriculum, please contact the student adviser.

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