MA Scottish Literature/Theatre Studies

About this course

Scottish literature is one of the richest and most distinctive national traditions in the world, spanning medieval Scots poetry, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Romantic period, and a remarkable twentieth-century flowering that continues today. Theatre studies, meanwhile, examines performance as a cultural practice, from classical drama through to contemporary experimental work, exploring how theatrical conventions develop, how texts relate to staging, and how performance communicates meaning to audiences. Studied together, these two disciplines share a concern with voice, storytelling, and the relationship between creative work and its social context. At the University of Glasgow, which hosts the only academic unit in the UK exclusively dedicated to the teaching of and research into Scottish literature, you will encounter both fields at their scholarly best. The department is home to the Centre for Robert Burns Studies, which is producing a major new scholarly edition of Scotland's national poet, and you will study within an environment shaped by active research into Scottish writing at every period. The joint degree is taken part-time, and includes a year abroad, allowing you to experience literary and theatrical cultures from an international vantage point. You will read widely across Scottish writing in Scots, Gaelic, and English, engage with critical and theoretical frameworks for understanding literature and performance, and develop skills in close analysis, research, and written argument. The intellectual habits formed by studying literature and theatre together, including sensitivity to language, the ability to interpret complex texts, and an understanding of how creative work functions within culture, transfer well to many fields. Graduates pursue careers in arts administration, publishing, teaching, journalism, broadcasting, cultural policy, and the heritage sector. Theatre studies opens routes into stage management, dramaturgy, and performance research. Further study at postgraduate level is a natural step for those wishing to specialise further in Scottish writing, performance theory, or related fields.

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