Literatures of Engagement

The Literatures of Engagement program fromMaynooth University addresses this sense of crisis by recognising the significant role that literature and the critical discourses associated with the study of literature, have in both reproducing and analysing cultural values and ideologies, but also in articulating responses and resistance to those.

The Literatures of Engagement program from Maynooth University is underpinned by a conviction that any critique of contemporary culture must be rooted in an informed understanding of historical currents shaping the present.

Why choose this program?

• Students will benefit from the instruction of committed and energetic scholars working at the forefront of their fields, with research specialisms which include Irish Studies, American, African and comparative literature, Renaissance Studies, and digital humanities. Their work addresses questions of: ecology; economy; diversity; gender, sexuality and race relations; borders; citizenship; terrorism; sovereignty; imperialism; migration and refugees.

• These questions are addressed using an intersectional model, drawing on key currents in literary and cultural theory: postcolonialism, feminism and gender studies, Marxism and ecocriticism. Through their choice of elective modules and a dissertation topic, students will have the opportunity to pursue their specific research interests.

Career Options

For the majority of students it will allow them to acquire valuable research, analytical and critical skills. These skills can then underpin their subsequent careers in various fields, such as: education; public administration; journalism/media; arts policy and administration; editing and publishing; law.

However, these types of analytical skills are essential for almost any modern workplace: assessing a mass of information and extracting the essential from the non-essential; assessing an argument; distinguishing facts from persuasive rhetoric; the necessity for clear and effective communication – especially being able to write concisely, compellingly and elegantly.

Courses include:

• Engaging Literature

• Literatures of Engagement

• Literature of Post-Good Friday Agreement Northern Ireland

• Life Narratives and Human Rights

• Dissertation