The Higher Education Academy’s English Subject Centre commissioned a report from Sam Smith on “The Taught MA in English“. The report was commissioned in response to a great deal of debate regarding postgraduate teaching/training following the imposition of new requirements relating to the funding of doctoral students by the AHRB.
Sam’s report draws on statistical evidence and on interviews with colleagues and MA students. The report examines the varied purposes served by the taught postgraduate degree in English studies. It explores why students decide to undertake an MA, and why departments provide them. The report highlights the pressure on the MA to meet a wide variety of student needs. Anyone concerned with postgraduate provision within their English departments, or across the discipline as a whole will find it an engaging read. The report was published in 2007, and followed up with a well-attended conference at De Montfort University – The Future of the Taught MA in English.
