MPhil/DPhil in Biography by Research (part-time)

5.0
3 reviews
  • The teaching at Buckingham is innovative and nice. Professors are so helpful and nice. It is easy and nice to form relations with the tutors. It has been great.
    |
  • Its a great place to study but you will struggle to find entertainment here.
    |
  • I would love to tell you that I love being here and would recommend to others as well. All I would suggeat is that do make a balance between work and fun for both are necessary for healthy experience. There are great events,societies and clubs to join and enjoy your days here.
    |

Postgraduate

In Buckingham

Price on request

Description

  • Type

    Postgraduate

  • Location

    Buckingham

  • Start date

    Different dates available

The cutting-edge Taught MA in Biography was founded in 1996, remains unique to Buckingham and is consistently rated ‘excellent’ by external examiners and inspectors. Since then, in response to student demand, the available options have been extended to include postgraduate research degrees at three levels: MA by Research, MPhil or DPhil level. Study can be on either a full-time or a part-time basis.Course structure

Facilities

Location

Start date

Buckingham (Buckinghamshire)
See map
Hunter Street, MK18 1EG

Start date

Different dates availableEnrolment now open

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Reviews

5.0
excellent
  • The teaching at Buckingham is innovative and nice. Professors are so helpful and nice. It is easy and nice to form relations with the tutors. It has been great.
    |
  • Its a great place to study but you will struggle to find entertainment here.
    |
  • I would love to tell you that I love being here and would recommend to others as well. All I would suggeat is that do make a balance between work and fun for both are necessary for healthy experience. There are great events,societies and clubs to join and enjoy your days here.
    |
100%
4.7
excellent

Course rating

Recommended

Centre rating

Student

5.0
22/04/2019
About the course: The teaching at Buckingham is innovative and nice. Professors are so helpful and nice. It is easy and nice to form relations with the tutors. It has been great.
Would you recommend this course?: Yes

Student Reviewer

5.0
06/03/2019
About the course: Its a great place to study but you will struggle to find entertainment here.
Would you recommend this course?: Yes

Student Reviewer

5.0
03/03/2019
About the course: I would love to tell you that I love being here and would recommend to others as well. All I would suggeat is that do make a balance between work and fun for both are necessary for healthy experience. There are great events,societies and clubs to join and enjoy your days here.
Would you recommend this course?: Yes
*All reviews collected by Emagister & iAgora have been verified

This centre's achievements

2019

All courses are up to date

The average rating is higher than 3.7

More than 50 reviews in the last 12 months

This centre has featured on Emagister for 14 years

Subjects

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Course programme

For their first year of study students on all these courses attend the same weekly seminars as students taking the Taught MA in Biography. These provide the critical awareness of the subject which is an essential prerequisite for dissertation work and they are one of the most distinctive and valuable elements of the MA. They take place as follows:
  • Autobiography (September to December)
  • Special Paper in Biography (January to June)
  • Research Methods (January to June)
  • The modules on Biography and Autobiography are designed to combine the study of classic biographies and memoirs with contemporary writing. In addition, the Research Methods module provides an invaluable and innovative training, especially devised for biographers.Guest seminars on the course are led by leading biographers, critics, publishers and agents. Teachers and speakers on the course have included Andrew Motion, Kathryn Hughes, Frances Wilson, Frances Spalding, Jeremy Lewis, Rupert Shortt, Caroline Dawnay, Andrew Lownie and Miranda Seymour.Research students are expected to produce, as a valuable preliminary to their own research project, written coursework for the Research Methods module (an annotated bibliography and a short biography, with supporting material, produced according to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography format), and one other piece of written work, but the full amount of termly written work required for the taught course is not compulsory. During the early part of the course, research students refine their research proposal under the individual supervision of the course director for eventual discussion with the Research Officer. Once the research proposal has been accepted students concentrate on individual research and the preparation of a dissertation, under the supervision of the course director.Programme directorProfessor Jane Ridley founded the Buckingham Biography MA in 1996. She is an Oxford-trained historian and biographer, and her publications include "The Young Disraeli" (1995); "The Architect and his Wife: A Life of Edwin Lutyens" (2002), which won the Duff Cooper Prize; and "Bertie: A Life of Edward VII" (2012), for which she was awarded a research fellowship by the Leverhulme Trust. She has contributed widely to the "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", and she is a regular reviewer for publications such as the "Spectator", the "Literary Review" and the "Times Literary Supplement".Watch a lecture by Professor Ridley on “The Thrills and Spills of Writing Biography”, given to the Swan and Pen Literary Society in June 2013.LocationTeaching takes place at the University’s London premises:
    51 Gower Street
    Bloomsbury
    London
    WC1E 6HJRecent news

    24 January 2017 Book based on Biography MA dissertation appears in The Mail on Sunday

    The Mail on Sunday on 22 January 2017 published a 2-page article by Claudia Joseph: “The not so shy Lady Di: An aristocratic beauty trapped in a loveless marriage whose scandalous affair gripped the nation.” Click here to read the … Read more >

    6 October 2015 Biography students shortlisted for prize

    Two Biography DPhil students have been short-listed for a prestigious literary prize. The Biographers’ Club awards the annual Tony Lothian Prize of £2,000 for the best proposal for a biography by an unpublished author. Five submissions were shortlisted. Two of … Read more >

    29 June 2015 Publication of the week: Professor Jane Ridley

    Ridley, J., Victoria (Penguin Monarchs): Queen, Matriarch, Empress (London: Allen Lane, 2015). 160 pp. ISBN: 978-0-14-197718-8. This book is part of the Penguin Monarchs series which provides short, fresh, expert accounts of England’s rulers. Queen Victoria inherited the throne at … Read more >

    TimescaleThe normal periods of study for achieving these research degrees are as follows:
  • MA Res – 1 year full-time or 2 years part-time
  • MPhil – 2 years full-time or 4 years part-time
  • DPhil – 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time
  • Administrative arrangementsA system of preliminary registration for all research degrees is in operation to allow students to prepare a formal proposal during the early part of their course. Admission to research degrees is normally on a provisional basis while the candidate, with the help of the supervisor, refines the proposal for the research, including developing a work plan and identifying the requirements for support and resources and how these will be met. Students for the MA degree in Biography by Research are registered initially for the taught MA until the research proposal has been accepted. Postgraduate students wishing to register for the DPhil programme in Biography must first register for the MPhil and seek conversion at a later stage. Registration is upgraded to DPhil, normally between 12 and 18 months from first registration, once the student has demonstrated through the submission of draft written work that he or she has the ability to conduct research at the advanced level required for the award of the degree. All research students must also subject their work to an annual progress review.Changing the level of the research degree after the start of the course, although not impossible, can produce complications. Prospective students uncertain about the level or length of course best suited to them are strongly advised to discuss this with the course director before applying.

    MPhil/DPhil in Biography by Research (part-time)

    Price on request