This MA by Research in English provides an excellent opportunity for you to obtain a Master’s qualification focused on a research project of particular interest to you. You'll benefit from all of the facilities, training, research seminars and support at Oxford Brookes University.

The School of Education, Humanities and Languages at Oxford Brookes offers research expertise from the early modern period up to the present day. Our work encompasses a wide range of interests, from literature (including Drama and American Literature), through visual culture, to critical theory and politics. The Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre hosted by the School of Education, Humanities and Languages is also a source of academic expertise and research.



Research expertise

Our school comprises two centres and several clusters which support the work of researchers and doctoral students. We encourage wide participation through partnerships and our busy programme of conferences, public events and lectures.

We strongly recommend that prior to submitting a full application you identify and make contact directly with a potential Director of Studies. Please look at our research group pages and individual staff profiles to help you identify the appropriate member of staff and to find out whether your proposed research focus is one that we can supervise.

Additional details

The main research areas relevant to this degree are:

 Poetry and Poetics
 Ecology and Ecocriticism
 Medicine, Science, Technology and Literature
 Comparative Literature
 Communities
 Postcolonialism
 Modernism
 Early Modern Drama
 The Contemporary Novel
 Textual Scholarship and Editorial Practice
 Theatre practice and Performance-as-Research
 Creative Writing
 Cognitive Poetics
 Witchcraft and the Supernatural
 Life Writing
 Utopia and Utopianism

Learning and assessment

The MA by Research in English builds on the School’s expertise to give you a unique and clearly focused programme of study. You will have the opportunity to develop a high level of subject knowledge, together with the ability to develop and undertake independent research in your own particular area of interest.

The programme will be attractive to applicants seeking to pursue intellectual interests beyond first degree level for further personal or professional development. The MA route is also designed to prepare you to undertake further research at MPhil or PhD level.

At the heart of the MA by Research is the close working relationship between candidate and supervisor. While the final thesis must be the candidate’s independent work, it is the supervisor who offers advice on refining the topic (if necessary), on primary sources, on secondary reading, on research techniques and on writing the final thesis. Supervisors and candidates meet frequently throughout the year, and not less than twice a term.

Learning and teaching

You will also receive training in research methods and skills appropriate to the stage they have reached and the nature of their work. This includes:
 guidance on planning and writing your thesis
 using bibliographic and archival resources (both electronic and printed)
 handling research data
 making conference presentations
 preparing and submitting material for publication.