20 credits

This interdisciplinary module focuses on narrative, memory and public history. You will receive a mixture of theory and practical skills and engage with questions like: what is public history? How do we tell stories about the past?

The module casts a critical eye on what voices are privileged at the expense of others, thinking about sexualities, race and ethnicity, disability and gender. This public history class will equip you with transferable skills for careers in heritage, public engagement, creative practice and journalism.

20 credits

This module explores how narrative records and drives social change, blending critical, creative, and innovative approaches while emphasising real-world practice, employability skills, and the wider community applications of literary studies.

It explores the way class, race, gender, sexuality and disability, as well as historical processes of colonialism, displacement, and migration, shape the creation, circulation, and reception of a wide variety of literary texts, as well as how literature can shape the public response to social and political incidents.

The module will develop skills in oral communication alongside sessions about legacies of oral storytelling. The first assessment allows students to demonstrate these skills.

The final assignment will capitalise on the breadth of disciplines covered in the module, allowing students to choose from a variety of forms of coursework (for example, oral history, essay, creative non-fiction, policy brief, exhibition design, etc.) to address a chosen topic/s from the syllabus.

20 credits

This module focuses on the impact of academic research outside the walls of the University. You'll encounter cutting-edge research in a range of scholarly fields, and deepen your understanding of how knowledge is produced in the academy.

The module also introduces you to a range of practical skills, supporting you to develop expertise in engaging with a variety of publics.

You'll have the opportunity to use both audio and video technologies through, for instance, podcasting, video production, and writing for public exhibitions.

20 credits

The English & Creative Writing Research Placement class provides an opportunity to gain practical, research-based experience in an area where you can apply literary critical and/or creative writing experience and knowledge in a setting that is professionally relevant to you. The class is a one semester 20 credit class, undertaken in second semester, which equates to around 100 learning hours overall (this includes travel time to and from placement, assessment preparation, and attendance at campus supervisions). By the end of the class, you should be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between Interdisciplinary English Studies or Creative Writing and the operations of a specific organisation working in a relevant field within Scotland
2. Reflect critically on issues of language and communication, representation, and narrative within an organisation
3. Articulate the transferrable skills developed through their Masters degree to potential employers
4. Produce a piece of research to a specific brief
5. Gain experience in collaboration through working within a partner organisation
6. Gain communication skills and be able to present their research findings to a range of audiences within and outwith academia

This class will provide you with an opportunity to build your portfolio of experience and develop personal and professional skills that are relevant to gaining employment and/or further study. Please note that all placements have to be arranged during first semester, and approved by early December. Please contact Dr Eleanor Bell (eleanor.bell@strath.ac.uk) for more information.