I loved studying my bachelor’s degree here at Loughborough and wanted to come back to study my master’s.
The best part of university life here is the people: I’ve made several lifelong (fingers crossed) friends here, and the lecturers are both knowledgeable and very warm. The campus is lovely too – it can feel almost like a holiday resort, especially in summer when the sky is blue.
Of course, it also made financial sense to stay in Loughborough as I benefitted from the University’s Alumni Bursary and Excellence Scholarship, reducing my tuition fees by 30% in total.
The flexibility of the Contemporary Literature and Culture MA course has really allowed me to explore my diverse interests. This year, to name a few, I’ve written about the cultural exploitation of the Global South, the harm that AI is doing in the industry, jumped into completely different fields to do stylometry and then write creatively, and began my dissertation on animal representation in literature and news. Without a course which supported my eclecticism as Loughborough’s does, I would have felt stifled.
My dissertation supervisor, Dr Paul Jenner, has been especially helpful already, even as I am only in the early stages of writing my dissertation. He has been proactive about arranging meetings and trying to support me, helped motivate and hold me to deadlines, and has even offered to take time away from his own research to read some of the texts I am studying so that we can discuss them together in greater depth. Other lecturers have also been very supportive, open to meeting and discussing things even if they are beyond the remit of the course, such as my PhD applications or theories I might have.
Our cohort enjoyed trips to two historical sites which were relevant to our module on heritage, as well as taking a particularly interesting trip to the Booker archive where we got access to internal communications of the Booker Advisory Committee and had some insight into how one of the largest literary prizes in the world is actually run.
In my second year as an undergraduate, my friends and I founded the Loughborough Creative Writing Society, and it’s gratifying to see the society is still around and that we’ve left a positive mark on the University.
For my master’s in particular, living with my friends has been great fun. We also organised Loughborough Literary Festival as part of our course, and I won’t forget the celebration we had together after our last event.
After I graduate, I would love to go into editing or publishing, so spending a lot of time around Loughborough’s creative writing scene has helped prepare me for this. I have plenty of friends on Loughborough’s Creative Writing MA course and I enjoy giving them feedback on their work, and the BA and MA courses’ flexibility to do creative writing for assessments even while I’m on a critical course has been fantastic.
Alternatively, it would be incredible to study for a PhD and find a position in lecturing or teaching. My lecturers have helped me polish my PhD applications, provided continual encouragement, and given me great references.
If you’re thinking of studying the Contemporary Literature and Culture MA, I would say come in with an open mind, be willing to engage with different fields of literary criticism and sociology, and find the overlaps between them – make the most of the opportunity the course provides to study widely.
I would also advise you to proactively engage with the societies, sports, and research events the University offers. Not only do they provide great opportunities to try or learn something new, but because master’s cohorts can be quite small it’s important to take social opportunities and meet people outside of the course, especially if you don’t already have friends at the University.