MA in Poetry Studies
The MA in Poetry Studies at DCU re-imagines the study of poetry, and has cultivated a vibrant community of scholars and students from a wide range of backgrounds. Poetry is not the remit of literary specialists alone, and we’re committed to demonstrating its radical influence across societies and cultures. The Programme is internationalist, and asks that students look at poetry as an intercultural phenomenon so that a more nuanced understanding of the relationship of poetry (and song) to ideas of national heritage might be achieved. Above all, we never lose sight of poetry as a passionate medium for expressing and exploring ourselves effectively.
Participants in this programme tend to express that they have some unfinished business with poetry and have always been alive to its potential, but haven’t had the time and space to explore it to their satisfaction. We’ll give you the space and encouragement to think of ways in which your engagement with poetry will continue to grow after you’re awarded your degree.
This degree seeks to build a strong sense of community, and graduates have continued to collaborate and communicate through publishing, broadcasting and creating. Some have used the programme as a spur for their ambitions as writers, and their achievements in the world of Irish poetry have been remarkable. Others approached their study as an opportunity for re-orientating their life-paths and careers. Others have done it because it is the complete opposite of what they are doing in their career! Some have gone on to doctoral study, some have moved happily into a poetry-immersed retirement.
If you’re looking to immerse yourself in current poetry affairs, DCU’s peer-reviewed journal POST is known internationally for its energetic commitment to poetry as a uniquely vibrant form of cultural transmission, generating possibilities for engagement between art, life and society.
Programme Structure and Content
The MA in Poetry Studies can be completed in one year on a full-time basis, or in two years on a part-time basis. Typically, the programme is taught one or two evenings per week.
To meet the requirements of the degree, you must take six taught modules in all, as well as a dissertation.
Programme Aims and Objectives
- To demystify poetry and to maximize a sense of its potential as a cultural phenomenon.
- To offer high calibre academic training, giving participants’ expressive confidence as critical thinkers and sharpening their interpretative faculties.
- To give participants a critical understanding of the range of ways in which poetry can be brought into critical play, stressing interdisciplinary approaches as well as the uniquely literary.
- To enhance the practical skills of participants in the areas of research, and encourage the creation of unique projects.
- To evolve participants’ understanding of poetry, as well as deepen the pleasure they might find in it.
View the current course structure
Why Choose DCU?
- Small class sizes where everyone has a voice
- Diverse student body
- Interactive, participatory teaching style with wide scope and range of modules
- High quality academic staff with real expertise and a thorough sense of commitment
Programme Chairperson: Dr. Michael Hinds
Tel: +353 (0)1 700 6034
Email: michael.hinds@dcu.ie
(Testimonial)
"The faculty is profoundly knowledgeable while yet remaining fleet and spontaneous. Lectures are both fun and challenging…I heard recitations so vital and characteristic as to remain vividly in memory…Encountering the faculty has been a great and lasting pleasure, and even more than I've learned, I've been gifted with a new motivation to learn, which is the most you can ask of any education."
Ian Gray, International Student, MA in Poetry Studies Graduate
This programme has been of particular use to teachers of English at second-level as a means of career development, and it has also acted as a springboard into doctoral study and academia. Students and graduates also work in law, financial services, administration and IT. For them, a qualification from the programme is a distinctive thing to have on a CV, something that makes potential employers and interviewers take notice. Graduates have also gone on to work in adult education and communications.
Potential Careers
Literary Editor
Publisher
Journalist
Writer/Poet
Librarian
Educator
Requirements
This Course is not accepting applicants for entry 2019-2020