School of Humanities

MA programmes

The MA in Creative Writing offers a range of distinct creative practices and theoretical approaches. It aims to develop professional skills in the area of Creative Writing by giving students the opportunity to implement their creative practice more broadly in professional settings. With up-to-date, relevant skills, understanding and knowledge, graduates of this MA will be prepared for employment in a variety of fields, such as working creatively with organisations, professional writing and other related professions.

The new MA in Global Film and Television is an online course, offering a range of distinct critical and theoretical approaches. You will be asked to explore the dynamic relationship between visual style and social commentary in work of film and television from around the world. As the industries of film and television become increasingly interconnected, the course considers their shared stylistic and contextual relationships.

The MA in Journalism & Media Communication aims to bridge theory and practice in a dynamic interplay; the programme works to develop a wide ranging portfolio of skill-sets. Staff teaching on the modules will be drawing synergies between various Media subjects. There will also be a focus on current media practice and the technologies of convergence exploring the impact of digital environments on the communications industries.

The MA in Modern Literary Cultures offers you the opportunity to explore culturally charged themes and critical debates across a diverse range of texts. You will be asked to consider the representation of a particular topic or concept in a range of texts across time and to ask how these representations respond to each other and to the changing political and social circumstances for the text. You will also be asked to explore how a range of texts from a short historical period respond differently to a shared set of historical circumstances. Modules ask you to engage with the major contemporary theoretical and critical issues in modern literary studies.

The MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at the University of Hertfordshire is a one year programme for graduates in English, with little or no teaching experience who want an initial preparation course in English Language Teaching at post-graduate level.

The programme gives an in-depth introduction to the teaching of English and provides a strong practical foundation for future development.

MAs by Research

The History group at the University of Hertfordshire is internationally renowned for its cutting-edge research. In REF 2014 we were rated joint 5th alongside King’s College London, and the top unit in the UK for the impact of our research (100% ‘world-leading’). The MA by Research in History offers you the structure and focus to research a historical topic in depth, supervised by experts in your field of study. You will develop your research skills through a flexible programme of generic and history-specific training workshops, combined with regular meetings with your supervision team.

Philosophy research also received excellent results with 66% of its research achieving 3 and 4 star ratings in REF 2014. The Philosophy MA by research provides a supported progression from undergraduate study to independent research. MA students learn the skills of professional philosophy by participation in the research life of the department—including fortnightly research seminars featuring visiting speakers and our conferences associated with externally funded research.The MA by Research in Philosophy combines the flexibility of a research degree with the structure and support of a taught MA. Before writing a dissertation of about 15000 words, students on this programme take two modules on Methods in Philosophy, and two philosophy discussion classes. These studies will help you to develop your research skills and focus your interests before you undertake a dissertation.

The MA by Research Linguistics and Applied Language Studies offers an independent, supported learning programme in combination with a more structured learning experience. Potential areas of study include semantics, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, cognitive linguistics, critical discourse analysis, communication and culture, and English language teaching.