Postgraduate Study in the School of Arts and Humanities

With a flourishing postgraduate culture of over 250 Masters and PhD students based at our Headington campus, we offer taught Masters programmes across a wide spectrum of traditional and non-traditional routes in Arts, Modern Languages, Publishing and Humanities. Through our internationally-rated research centres in History, French and English, together with the School’s Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, students encounter a broad range of perspectives on the theory, interpretation and practice of their chosen discipline.  All our MA courses include a core module on research methods and many of our Masters students go on to pursue a PhD at Oxford Brookes. Our PhD training programme ensures excellent completion rates, as well as guidance on long-term professional development.

Innovative in its approach to interdisciplinary teaching, the School actively promotes collaborative learning within its research community, and postgraduate students are encouraged to participate in the busy programme of seminars, lectures and conferences. Our location provides access to some of the world’s best libraries and research facilities: the Bodleian library, Modern Art Oxford and the Ashmolean museum are all close by. Transport links to London are frequent and fast.

Our Location

Oxford is the perfect city in which to live and study; rich in culture and entertainment, yet small enough to feel welcoming and accessible, and just over one hour from London. The city’s two universities attract 40,000 students from around the world, making Oxford a meeting place of minds, a place where ideas begin. If you are in search of inspiration, you need look no further than the city’s beautiful historic buildings, its parks and green spaces, rivers and surrounding countryside.

Oxford is home to several museums and galleries including the world-famous Ashmolean and Modern Art Oxford. It also has three theatres and several mainstream and art-house cinemas. Music flourishes in the city and the annual Oxford Literary Festival is a highlight for bibliophiles, as are the many bookshops. Postgraduate students may, with permission, take advantage of the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, one of the world’s leading research libraries.

Headington Campus

The School of Arts and Humanities is located on our Headington Campus, just one mile from the city centre. Our History, History of Art, English and Modern Languages Departments are on the main Gipsy Lane site, together with the Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies which is based in the Buckley Building. The main library is also on this site (open seven days a week during semesters), along with a Blackwell’s bookshop, a range of cafes and coffee bars and our sports centre. Across the road on our Headington Hill site, our Department of Arts comprising Film, Music and Fine Art is housed in the Richard Hamilton Building.

There are five halls of residence close to the Headington Campus and you can apply to share hall accommodation with other postgraduate students. If you would prefer to rent private accommodation, our accommodation office can help you find the right place. Whichever option you choose, there are excellent bus services linking Headington to the city and London.

Our Courses

A range of new courses are currently in development. All of our postgraduate modules can be viewed online, many include links to staff and other School research. Our current portfolio includes:

MA Publishing

This course provides an excellent overview of every aspect of publishing, with teaching in specific skills which combine relevant theory with practice for successful employment in the publishing industry. Taught through The Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies
further Masters study available in:

• International Publishing
• Publishing and Language
• European Master in Publishing
• Digital Publishing

MA in English

Taught by 5 RAE-rated English researchers this is a coherent yet flexible programme opportunity to undertake advanced literary studies in a range of periods and genres. Specialist options are currently available in fiction, poetry, drama and language studies, further studies are available in Film. Teaching staff regularly publish monographs on a range of periods and genres in Modernist and Contemporary Literature and Poetry.

MA in Creative Writing

The MA in Creative Writing is a taught postgraduate programme of advanced study combining the development of creative writing integrated with critical analysis, self-reflective commentary, scholarly research and training in professional-level presentation.

MA in Film Studies: Popular Cinema

The MA in Popular Film at Oxford Brookes offers a film education for the twenty-first century. Students are encouraged to develop a broad portfolio of writing and research skills by combining academic and professional writing projects.  We cover the history and theory of popular cinemas in the US (classical and contemporary Hollywood), Europe, and East Asia (especially Japanese cinema), and offer modules on advanced screenwriting and film journalism.

MA History

Taught by History researchers this programme includes specialist research training, intensive modules on specific historical themes and advanced research on a dissertation topic of your choice.

Further Masters study available in History of Medicine taught through The Centre for Health, Medicine and Society: Past and Present, funded by the Wellcome Trust.

MA Interdisciplinary Arts

Taught by and aimed at artists, composers and interdisciplinary practitioners, distinctive and flexible routes include Composition and Sonic Arts and Contemporary Arts and Music supported by professional-level technologies and studios facilities.

The programmes comprise four taught postgraduate courses for visual-artists, composers and interdisciplinary practitioners:

• MA in Composition and Sonic Art
• MA in Contemporary Arts
• MA in Contemporary Arts and Music
• MA in Social Sculpture

MA Music

This degree provides you with a thorough grounding in advanced musical studies, with separate pathways available to musicologists and composers. The course combines taught modules in areas of staff expertise with the opportunity to undertake independent research in your own particular area of interest. It can, where desired, pave the way to doctoral research.

MA Modern Languages

Masters in European Business, Culture and Languages capitalises on the European Union’s development of ever-closer economic, political and social interdependence. MA by Research in French Studies is offered by the French team at Brookes who have research expertise in French and francophone cultures. This encompasses a wide range of interests, from work on literature, through visual cultures, philosophy and politics, to translation.

Further information

All courses are available as Full-Time (12 months) or Part-Time (24 months) programmes and most offer the shorter degrees of Post Graduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma.

Studentships

Both the School and the University offer, from time to time, part-time and full time fee bursaries. We will offer appropriate support to qualified candidates who wish to apply for a full or part-time AHRC studentship.

Entry Requirements

The general entry requirements for postgraduate study are:

• A good honours degree, i.e. an upper second or first, in any subject
• An internationally recognised qualification equivalent to a good British honours degree

Applicants without a first degree, but with extensive experience may also be considered and individual courses may have additional entry requirements to these, so please check Department web-pages.

Fees

These are different for most of the postgraduate courses in the School. See our Fees page for more details.
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Alumnus Discount Scheme, Oxford Brookes

Oxford Brookes is pleased to announce that it has decided to recognise the personal loyalty shown by recent graduates/alumni registering for additional postgraduate degree/s. A discount of 10% of the student's yearly tuition fee will be allowed on registration.

Eligible students include any student who has graduated from Oxford Brookes University and wishes to stay on/return for an additional degree (eg an undergraduate student who then studies for a taught master's programme, or a taught master's graduate who enrols on another taught master's or a MPhil/PhD programme).

Further information and an application form can be found on the Brookes University pages