Romantic Studies (MA/ PgDip/ PgCert) - 2012/2013 entry

This interdisciplinary programme takes a material approach to Romantic culture, recuperating the rich range of cultural phenomena that shaped Romantic literature, and going against the Romantic notion of a solitary and desembodied reading experience. 

The period 1750–1850 marked the rise of the museum, the gallery and the zoo, the development of consumer culture, the development of retail outlets, and more publicised forms of collecting. In the core module Romantic Objects, you will work on stuffed birds, exotic artefacts from colonial travel, locks of hair, death masks, monuments, souvenirs in Romantic period museums, environments and displays. The core module Romantic Feelings gives you a strong grounding in literature of the period, enabling you to think about history through the forms in which it 'came home' to the reader and viewer, drawing on Romantic notions of spectatorship, sympathy and emotion 'recollected in tranquillity'. 

Through collaboration with specialists in the Department of European Cultures and Languages, this programme offers you the opportunities to think about the local, national, transnational and global circuits of Romantic culture.

• Interdisciplinary programme taught by specialists in English and European literatures, art history, museum and cultural studies.
• Situate the literary in a range of wider cultural phenomena.
• Focus on material culture with strong links to museums, galleries and other archives.
• Practical experience, including web publishing, editorial and curatorial work.
• An excellent preparation for a career in higher education or in the museum and cultural industry.
• Find out what our students say about our courses.
• Read our programme handbook 2011–2012.

Take two core modules and two option modules:

Core modules

• Romantic Objects: offers new ways of thinking about Romantic culture through its objects, displays, institutions, and a range of methodological approaches to unlock the stories of objects and texts in Romantic archives
• Romantic Feelings: provides a strong grounding in Romantic literature, focusing on the materiality of perception and the role of the senses in the production of culture and subjectivity. Each class works on a a particular feeling through a range of literary genres and other modes of expression.

Option modules change from year to year, but currently include

• Cultures of Sensibility (taught by specialists in French, German, and English literature)
• The Uncanny (taught by specialists in English and German)
• The Book Unbound
• Colonialism and Modernity
• The Scientific Imagination.

Most texts will be available in the Birkbeck Library or you can download them from the course’s virtual learning environment. Situated in Central London, the College is close to major museums, libraries and other archives that will be invaluable to your research.

Find out more about our range of world-class research resources.

If you are interested in further research, we offer a PhD/MPhil in English.

Graduates go on to editorial or curatorial work in association with museums, libraries and other relevant institutions, as well as careers in writing and journalism, editing, publishing, education or further academic study