Study at Cardiff | Postgraduate

Critical and Cultural Theory (MA)

Course Aims

The MA in Critical and Cultural Theory engages with interdisciplinary approaches to the study and critique of culture and society. Employing the most ground breaking and influential theorists of the present (e.g., Badiou, Deleuze, Derrida, Foucault, Irigaray, Kristeva, Lacan, Žižek and recent Feminist, Queer and Postcolonial theorists), the MA explores approaches to a range of issues and problems concerning power, identity and discourse in contemporary and historical contexts. The MA in CCCT raises ethical, political and theoretical questions in relation to culture, cultural memory, gender and sexuality, race, history, subjectivity, nation, popular culture and everyday life.

The aim of the MA is to offer knowledge and expertise to prepare you for PhD study and for work in education and the creative industries. In general, we recommend that students take the one-year taught MA before going on to a PhD.

Course Description

The MA in Critical and Cultural Theory provides both a rewarding MA and an ideal basis for students wishing to undertake research leading to the degree of PhD. Where appropriate, it is also open to first year PhD students, who attend the first two terms of the MA course, and submit the assessed essays, before proceeding to full-time work on the thesis. These essays take account of the material taught in the course, but may also constitute draft sections of the doctoral project.

The Master's Degree is one year full-time. In each semester students take one core and one optional course. They go on to write a dissertation over the summer.

Assessment

The MA is assessed on the basis of four essays of 4,000 words each (one for each course) and a dissertation of approximately 15,000 words on a topic chosen in consultation with a supervisor. There are no unseen written examinations.

Modules

In part one (the taught part) the core modules are: Critical and Cultural Theory I and Critical and Cultural Theory II.

Optional modules in part one cover the following areas:

• Cultural Politics of Gender and Race
• Postcolonial/Global
• Derridean Thought
• Gothic and Gender
• Poststructuralist Theory and the Critique of Modernity

All options are subject to staff availability. In addition, students attend classes on research methods, bibliography and presentation. There are opportunities to present a paper at a regular Graduate Seminar and at occasional weekend Graduate conferences. Students are invited to attend a regular staff-student Research Seminar.

For more information on the MA and to access module descriptions please visit the school website.

Skills Acquired

After completing the taught part of the MA students will be familiar with some of the key approaches to questions of subjectivity, discourse, power and the virtual. They will have acquired critical understanding of these theories and how they might be employed in analytic work in critical and cultural theory.

Career Prospects

Student who have completed the MA have found work in education, university administration, arts administration and the creative industries. Many of the students on the MA go on to study for a PhD in Critical and Cultural Theory.

Entry Requirements

Suitable for graduates in Humanities and Social Sciences. A First or Upper Second class UK honours degree, or equivalent is required.

Applicants whose first language is not English are normally expected to have a minimum IELTS score of 7 overall.

Note: International students pursuing part-time programmes of study are not eligible for Tier 4 (General Student) visas and must have alternative leave to remain in the UK if they intend to study at the University in person.

Please note when applying that in addition to a completed application form, we also require two academic references, copies of your degree certificate and a transcript of marks and evidence of English Language skills. We also require two recent essays on any literary topics, each around 1,600 – 2,000 words in English (undergraduate essays are welcome).

Next intake: October each year

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