Reading in Practice MA at University of Liverpool

If literature takes life as its subject-matter, what practical relation do books have to the lives of those who read them? What help does reading really offer to people? 

The Reading in Practice Masters degree, run by the Centre for Research into Reading, Information and Linguistic Systems (CRILS) at University of Liverpool, is concerned with the wider and deeper ways in which creative literature ‘finds’ people, emotionally and imaginatively, by offering living models and visions of human troubles and human possibilities. The first Masters degree of its kind in the country, it invites open-minded investigation into the role of reading in relation to health - in the broadest sense of that word.

Books of all kinds and from all periods will be used to develop the ability, the confidence and the enthusiasm to use all literature as a form of personal time-travel and meditation. The course also offers the opportunity to recreate this experience for other people through introduction to outreach work, reader development and working with reading groups through The Reader Organisation.

The course is not meant to be narrowly or conventionally academic - instead, it is for people who want to use reading to explore meaning in life, to enable them to think their thoughts better and find new ones, with excitement and imagination. A  first degree in literature is not needed:  a wide range of lively, serious committed readers from diverse educational backgrounds are sought and candidates will be considered on an individual basis.

What students say:

We were encouraged to believe in our own response – in its validity, but also in its leading to something deeper.  Not to be satisfied with surface, but to give time and patience to the small things, the difficult things : ‘Difficulty will yield to attention’ according to one tutor, and that’s something I shall not forget.

I feel that through my reading and writing on the MA I have consolidated some of the thoughts and feelings that have been floating in my head for years, finding the words to understand them. 

It's like it's the only real education I've ever had.

Applications are open now for the next entry, which is in September 2013. Fees in 2012 are currently £1,148 per annum:  please note that it is expected that fee-rises will be restricted to 5-10% over the next two years.

For more information about the course, please contact Professor Philip Davis on p.m.davis@liverpool.ac.uk,call 0151 794 2715 or see the CRILS page of the University of Liverpool website. You can also apply for the course online on the University of Liverpool Postgraduate Courses page.