About This Programme
The Master of Philosophy in Literature-in-English is a two-year regular-mode graduate programme of the Department of English, Faculty of Arts. It creates flexible learning opportunities that equip students with a broad knowledge base in Literary Studies while leaving room for specialisation and innovation, and it aligns the postgraduate levels (MA, MPhil, PhD) so that the School of Graduate Studies Step-Up, Step-Down policy can be applied in practice.
The first year is taught and carries fifteen (15) credits a semester: three core courses plus at least two electives in each. The first-semester core is Research Methods, The Novel in Africa, and Studies in Literature and Society; the second-semester core is Modern African Poetry, Data Analysis, and Teaching and Learning Literature. The electives range across literary stylistics, oral African literature, critical approaches to literature, individual English writers, special authors in African literature, literature and film, Caribbean literature, literary perspectives on autobiography, feminist theory, postcolonial studies, literature and globalisation, contemporary Ghanaian literature, humour and literature, literature and memory, and drama and theatre in Africa.
The second year is the research year, made up of Graduate Research Seminar I and II and a twelve-credit Thesis carried in both semesters. Students who successfully complete the first year with at least a CGPA of 2.0 qualify for an MA and may apply for it; only students with a CGPA of 2.5 or better qualify to progress to the second year to write a thesis; and students who obtain a CGPA of 3.5 or better in the course work, with not more than one grade C+ and B+ or better in Research Methods, may apply to step up to the PhD programme.
Since 2020 the Department has combined online resources with face-to-face interaction in delivering content, and continues to integrate videoconferencing, learning management systems and social media into its modes of delivery.
Programme Aim
Aim(s)
To produce highly motivated and globally competitive graduates with knowledge and skills to conduct useful research on literary productions and their socio-cultural, political, ideological and economic contexts, as well as to teach Literature-in-English in higher education for the benefit of the educational and social development of Ghana, the West African sub-region and the world.
