English Literature and Philosophy Specialization
English Literature and Philosophy (Concentration)
This is a specialization within the Philosophy MA degree programme.
The specialization prepares students for critical thinking and engagement with literary texts and scholarship related to them; to intersections and problems of philosophy and literature, intellectual history and literature, and literary theory and literary history in a philosophical context. The goal of this specialization is to broaden students’ perspectives in theoretical and philosophical thought with cultural perspectives and application, especially with literary documents and contexts. By completing this specialization, students will be competent in producing complex literary and philosophical texts and analyses and engage with scholarly discourse at the intersection of these disciplines on an advanced level.
Instructors: Khôra Martel, PhD, PhD University of Chicago (GCAS), Jamie Davies (GCAS PhD Candidate), Sofia Galli (GCAS PhD Candidate), Maria Miranda, PhD, Yale University (GCAS Research Fellow), Viktoria Szilvasi (GCAS PhD researcher)
To obtain the concentration in English Literature you must:
Successfully complete 5 courses in the philosophy programme (these may be any five courses)
Successfully complete 4 of the 5 courses listed below (you may take all five)
Successfully complete either 1 elective course (in another concentration, for example, Artificial Intelligence); or 1 independent study
You thus must successfully pass 10 courses in total. When you complete the concentration you will be certified in English Literature by GCAS. You will receive a certificate in “Advanced Research in English Literature”.
Length of Degree:
You can complete the MA in one year (full-time).
Cost:
The tuition investment is €6,000
Application Deadline:
Apply at any time. We are currently accepting applications.
Credits:
90 ECTS credits with MA thesis research, writing, and defending.
Prerequisites:
BA Degree or higher
World Literature
Dante Deep Dive, or American Literary Classics (Instructor: Khôra Martel, PhD)
Students engage with a classic of World Literature over the course of four focused sessions, or, alternatively, with four distinguished works of literature from a particular region, language or culture, like American Literature, Francophone Literature, or Latin American Literature, among others. By focusing on a smaller set of texts, students learn to engage with classics on a deeper level and evaluate aesthetic theory, canons and philosophical questions like taste closely related to a set of primary texts.
Philosophy and Literature
Philosophy and Literature (Instructor: Jamie Davies, PhD Candidate)
In this broad scope module, students are exposed to reading philosophy and literature contrapuntally, reading philosophy as literature and vice versa. The module offers a more in-depth, focused view on either literature and the subject (philosophically construed), or a philosophical reading of literary texts to draw out a theory of ‘uselessness’ to literature, i.e. Bataille, Nancy, Agamben etc – read Bachmann, Gluck, Rose, Lispector alongside.
Literary Theory
Paradigms of Literary Theory (Instructor: Viktoria Szilvasi, PhD Researcher)
Students are exposed to different schools and paradigms of literary theory and scholarship, mostly from the twentieth century, with parallels and context from philosophical thought and scholarship. Over the course of the four sessions, topics are grouped around problems like the reader’s position (reader response theories), the text’s supremacy (or lack thereof) (hermeneutics), or New Historicism. Students are exposed to the basics of literary theory in clusters or paradigms of literary scholarship.
Intellectual History and Literature
Perspectives on Colonisation and the Baroque (Instructor: Maria Miranda, PhD)
Students will analyze different fragments from colonial chroniclers that documented the arrival of the Spanish in the New World (Christopher Colombus, Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Bartolomé de las Casas) and mestizo chroniclers that reflected on colonial violence (Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala and the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega). Alongside Anibal Quijano’s Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism, and Latin America, Tzvetan Todorov’s The Conquest of the Americas, and The Baroque Ethos by Bolivar Echevarria, the course will aim to rethink the impact of colonisation and its narrative on today’s world.
Creative and Critical Writing
Creative and Critical Writing (Instructor: Sofia Galli, PhD Candidate)
This module focuses on developing students’ skills in both critical analysis and creative expression. Students will learn to analyze literary texts critically, exploring themes, characters, and literary devices. They will also engage in creative writing exercises, experimenting with different genres, styles, and techniques. Potentially, there will be a focus on 3/4 texts in detail (bridging creative and critical, for example: see Anne Carson, Decreation)
Additional (Planned) Modules:
Queerness and Literature / Writing Queerness
Politics and Literature (potential collaboration with the MA in Politics program / GCAS Jehan)
Experimental Literature