MA in Children's and Young Adult Literature
Introduction
The study of children’s literature at the School of English, Dublin City University, has its origins in the long tradition of scholarship in the discipline associated with two of the university’s incorporating colleges: the former Church of Ireland College of Education offered the first postgraduate qualification (a diploma) in children’s literature, in Ireland, in 1992; the former Department of English, at St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, offered the first taught master’s programme in the discipline, in Ireland, in 1997.
Since September 2017, students at the School of English, DCU, are able to study for the degree of Masters of Arts in Children’s and Young Adult Literature (the only named postgraduate degree in Ireland concentrating on YA literature), which marks an exciting departure for both the discipline and the new school.
From September 2021, the School is delighted to announce the Masters of Arts in Children’s and Young Adult Literature degree programme will now also be offered as full-time option.
The MA programme benefits enormously from the participation of national and international experts in the discipline, as well as from the enthusiastic commitment of its students.
Why Choose the MA in Children’s and Young Adult Literature at DCU?
- The School of English is proud of its ground-breaking history in initiating the academic study of children’s literature as a postgraduate discipline in Ireland.
- Members of the lecturing staff are experts in their fields, publishing and researching widely in the discipline, and co-founding national organisations (such as the Irish Society for the Study of Children’s Literature).
- The programme offers students the opportunity to study children’s and young adult literature in a supportive environment; small class sizes ensure that everyone has a voice, and typically promote a close and mutually supportive relationship between students; lectures and seminars are lively and varied, and promote an interactive and participative environment.
- The wide range of modules on the programme ensures that students get the best opportunity to study their particular interests.
- The programme is supported by the activities of the Centre for Research in Children’s and Young Adult Literature, including talks by world-renowned specialists in the discipline, such as Prof Emeritus Peter Hunt (Cardiff), Prof Emerita Maria Tatar (Harvard), Prof Karen Coats (Cambridge), Dr Marah Gubar (MIT) and Dr Lucy Pearson (Newcastle).
- Students of the programme have access to the special collections of children’s literature held at O’Reilly Library (DCU Glasnevin Campus).
Why Do This Programme?
Students on this programme often express a long-standing fascination with children’s and/or young adult literature, and enrol for a variety of reasons. Some students, for example, undertake the programme purely to find an outlet for their love of children’s and young adult literature, while others do so because they see it as a pathway to career development. Our graduates have used the programme as a means of furthering their ambitions as writers, while others have gone on to doctoral study. The programme facilitates these several motivations/aims, offering students a wide-ranging course of study in the history and development of children’s and young adult literature from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century, and introducing them to critical areas of research.
Part-time students read widely during the course of their first year, when the programme considers a range of topics, including the art and politics of children’s literature; form and genre; and the ever-evolving perceptions of what is deemed ‘suitable’ reading for children and young adults.
In their second year, part-time students concentrate on a specific area of research and, with guided supervision, write their dissertations.
Full-time students complete all elements of the degree programme in one year.
Programme Aims and Objectives
The MA in Children’s and Young Adult Literature degree programme aims to
- illuminate children’s and young adult literature, and demonstrate its literary and cultural significance;
- deepen students’ appreciation of children’s and young adult literature, and enable them to engage with such literature on both a critical and an imaginative level;
- develop students’ practical skills, so as to enable them to approach reading, writing and research with greater confidence;
- encourage students to recognise the transferrable nature of the skills that they develop during the course of this programme.
Programme Structure and Content
From 2021, the MA in Children’s and Young Adult Literature degree programme will be offered both as a full-time option and as a part-time over two years.
Typically, for part-time students, the programme is taught on two evenings per week in Year One (usually Tuesdays and Thursdays from 16.00 to 18.00).
In Year Two, formal lectures only take place one day a week in both semesters; in Year Two students also meet occasionally with their dissertation supervisors, at mutually convenient times, to complete a minor dissertation of circa. 12,000 words.
To meet the requirements of the Masters in Children’s and Young Adult Literature degree programme, students must take six taught modules, which are assessed by means of essays, and produce a minor thesis of circa. 12,000 words.
Modules are subject to review and amendment. The modules below are provided for the purposes of illustration only to give part-time students a sense of how the programme is usually structured (full-time students take all modules in one academic year):
Year 1:
- Histories and Contexts
- Theories, Critics, Research Methods
- Picturebooks and Film
- International Children’s Literature
Year 2:
- Colonial, Adventure and School Stories
- Fantasy and Poetry
- Dissertation (which includes supervisory sessions with a research supervisor; research and writing seminars; and, student presentations)
View the current course structure
What former students say
"As a teacher, my professional practice revolved around children's literature; therefore, I was keen to find a masters which challenged me; a masters which celebrated creative and critical thought - a masters which offered that 'something different'. The content of the M.A. changed and challenged my thinking as a reader and as an educator. From writing and lecturing to doctoral studies, this M.A. has scaffolded many exciting changes and paths, both personally and professionally. This is a course which can open doors - doors into new ways of thinking about literature and doors into many professional possibilities. If you are passionate about children's literature and want to learn from leading experts in this field, then this is the course for you." Clara Maria Fiorentini
Potential Careers
Some of our graduates have used the programme as a springboard into doctoral study and academia, while others have used the knowledge and skills acquired on the programme to inform their work as journalists, judges, lecturers, editors, publishers, researchers and writers.
This programme has been of particular use to teachers of English at both primary and secondary levels, as a means of career development. It has also served the same purpose for school librarians and for librarians working in public libraries.
Graduates of the programme have also served as president of IBBY Ireland (the Irish section of the international non-profit organisation, which aims to bring children and books together); acted as adjudicators for, and chairs of, Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year Awards; and, published children’s literature.
Requirements
• This programme is open to applicants with an honours primary degree, minimum H2.1 (Level 8 NFQ) in a related subject. Applicants with an honours degree who do not meet the minimum entry of a H2.1 but can show substantial and demonstrable experience related to children's and/or young adult literature may be considered for a place on the programme.
• As part of the selection process you may also be required to attend for interview, and you may also be asked to submit a personal statement (maximum 750 words), outlining why you wish to study for a master's degree in Children's and Young Adult Literature
International Applications
• International applicants are expected to have educational qualifications of a standard equivalent to those outlined above. In addition, where such applicants are non-native speakers of the English language, they must satisfy the university of their competency in the English language.