MA in Early Modern English Literature: Text & Transmission
Taught with the British Library
This MA programme offers unique research and training opportunities to students who are planning to do a PhD or to students wishing to work in publishing, teaching, or as curators and research fellows in libraries and art galleries. Students on this programme get to work with the most rare and treasured manuscripts and early printed editions of literary manuscripts dating back to the Renaissance, including Shakespeare.
Internships at the British Library, at Lambeth Palace Library, and in the Special Collections at the Maughan Library, King's College London, give students a chance to work alongside curators who are world-leading experts in their fields and to gain unique working experience in a highly stimulating professional environment.
More generally, this MA programme encourages the study of early modern literary texts not only in light of recent critical approaches but also as material artifacts. Students on this programme learn how to read Elizabethan handwriting (secretary hand), how to search collections for unique and neglected literary texts from the period, and how to reconstruct and understand the contexts within which these texts were first produced, read or performed. Another key feature of this programme is the attention paid to the transmission and legacy of key works, with particular emphasis on the afterlife of Shakespeare.
You can listen to a current student describing her experience of the MA.
What we offer:
- a long tradition of excellence in Shakespeare and early modern literary studies at King’s
- unparalleled access to the collections and world-leading expertise in early printed books and manuscripts at the British Library
- a unique focus on the production, transmission and afterlife of key literary texts, including Shakespeare
- internships at the British Library for students on this MA programme
Contacts for further information
Please explore the menu on the left for detailed information about this programme, including the programme structure and entrance requirements.
General Enquiries: artshums-graduateadmissions@kcl.ac.uk
Programme Convenor: Dr Sonia Massai