Programme structure: Comparative Literatures and Cultures (MA) - what's running in 2025/26

Please note: Programme and unit information may change as the relevant academic field develops. We may also make changes to the structure of programmes and assessments to improve the student experience.

Unit name Unit code Credit points Status Teaching Block
Cultural Encounters MODLM0002 20 Mandatory TB-1
Dissertation (Comparative Literatures and Cultures) MODLM0019 60 Mandatory AYEAR
Research Skills MODLM0021 20 Mandatory TB-2
Comparative Literature: Debates, Contexts, Methods MODLM0076 20 Mandatory TB-1
Students must also take three of the following optional units
Theorising Violence: Colonialism and Anticolonial Cultural Politics MODLM0074 20 Optional TB-1
Foreign Language Skills for Postgraduate Students (Beginners and Intermediate) MODLM0030 20 Optional TB-4
Foreign Language Skills for Postgraduate Students (Advanced) MODLM0031 20 Optional TB-4
Translation and International Film Distribution MODLM0040 20 Optional TB-2
Supervised Individual Study MODLM0049 20 Optional TB-1,TB-2
Contemporary Global Chinese Literature and Visual Arts MODLM0050 20 Optional TB-1
Confronting the Modern in World Literature MODLM0073 20 Optional TB-2
The Rise of the Novel in 19th-Century MODLM2035 20 Optional TB-1
Theories of Visual Culture: Comparisons across Time, Space, and Media MODLM0075 20 Optional TB-1
Queer Lives MODLM0070 20 Optional TB-2
Anthropology of Disability and Difference ARCHM0083 20 Optional TB-2
Cultural Heritage of the Built Environment ARCHM0084 20 Optional TB-1
Victorian Literature and Place ENGLM0034 20 Optional TB-2
Renaissance Literature: Texts and Contexts ENGLM0037 20 Optional TB-1
The Gothic ENGLM0040 20 Optional TB-2
Literature and the Environment: Diverse Perspectives ENGLM0066 20 Optional TB-1
Writing in the Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Uranium ENGLM0067 20 Optional TB-2
Romantic Poetry and Poetics ENGLM3009 20 Optional TB-1
Hamlet: Text and Interpretation ENGLM3012 20 Optional TB-2
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Award requirements

The pass mark set by the University for any level 7 unit is 50 out of 100.

For detailed rules on the award of credit, reassessment and award of a qualification please see the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes and the relevant faculty handbook.

Degree classifications:

A classification will be awarded in the following qualifications:

  • Taught postgraduate Masters degree, including a Master of Research (MRes)
  • Postgraduate Diplomas and Certificates where these are specifically named entry-level qualifications
  • Exit awards of Postgraduate Diplomas and Certificates in designated programmes (as described in the programme specification) where students choose to withdraw from the intended programme but otherwise achieve the necessary credit points for the exit award.

A classification is not awarded for exit awards where students are required to withdraw from the programme on academic grounds.

The overall final programme mark is calculated as the average of all unit marks in the programme, weighted by credit point value.

The classification of the award in relation to the final programme mark is as follows:

  • Distinction = final programme mark of 70+
  • Merit = final programme mark of 60-69
  • Pass = final programme mark of 50-59
  • Fail = final programme mark of 49 or less

* The MA in Law has separate regulations for awarding distinction and merit.

Diploma/certificate stages:

To be awarded a postgraduate diploma, students must have successfully completed 120 credit points, of which 100 must be at level 7.

To be awarded a postgraduate certificate, students must have successfully completed 60 credit points, of which 40 must be at level 7.

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