English and American Studies at Manchester
English and American Studies hosts international quality research and teaching across both the chronological and theoretical range of the discipline, with particular strengths in:
- Gender
- Sexuality and Culture
- Critical and Cultural Theory
- Old and Middle English
- Irish and Scottish Studies
- Early Modern Studies
- American Studies
- Twentieth-Century Writing
- Creative Writing
- Postcolonial Literature and Theory
- The Long Eighteenth Century
- Romantic and Victorian literature
English and American Studies boasts specialists in all areas of both disciplines and our achievements in research were recognised by a Grade 5 in the last Research Assessment Exercise.
There are research seminars at Subject Area and School level which allow students to hear and respond to the latest work in their field. We also present the Creative Writing Reading Series, where well-known authors and poets read from and discuss their work for an audience of staff, students and members of the public. The series has already boasted appearances from a number of high-profile writers including Louis Des Bernieres, Will Self, John Banville, Hilary Mantel, Jim Crace, Sebastian Barry, Toby Litt and A.L. Kennedy.
Graduates of English and American Studies enjoy career opportunities in a wide range of professions. Traditional careers in publishing, journalism, teaching and librarianship are still followed, but our graduates increasingly go on to pursue careers in professions such as accountancy, law, banking, advertising, business management and commerce, computing, archive studies, the media, social work and the civil service. Many continue on to postgraduate study.
Many English and American postgraduates continue their research to then develop a career in academia, but overall career paths are extremely varied: the Creative Writing MA produces published novelists; other English and American postgraduates go on to careers in law, publishing, teaching, librarianship, retailing, the media, and a range of other fields.