Master of Letters
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The Master of Letters (MLitt from the Latin magister litterarum) is a postgraduate degree.
[edit] United Kingdom
The MLitt is a postgraduate degree awarded by many United Kingdom universities but its usage differs across the English and Scottish University systems.
England ...
Within the English University system the MLitt is awarded as an alternative to the Master of Philosophy research degree and is usually placed higher in the hierarchy; starting with degrees such as the Master of Arts (MA) and Master of Science (M.Sc), then Master of Philosophy, and finally Master of Letters.
Students attending English Universities rarely apply for an MLitt in the first instance, but for those who have completed two years of a Doctorate (PhD) and who do not wish to, or cannot, continue with the final year(s), there is the option to write up their completed research so far and graduate with an MLitt(R).
Scotland ...
Within the Scottish University system the MLitt is awarded either as a one year taught postgraduate degree during which students study three/four taught components, sit examinations on those components (or complete assessed coursework) and successfully submit a dissertation (generally between 15,000 - 18,000 words) or as a one year degree by research in Arts subjects having successfully submitted a dissertation of between 35,000 – 40,000 words. In Scotland the MLitt ranks equally with the Master of Arts (MA) postgraduate degree (taught or by research) as awarded by English Universities.
The MLitt is awarded within Scottish Universities on its own merit on the basis of a one year taught or research course of postgraduate study rather than as a sub-PhD compensatory alternative as in the English model.
The ancient Scottish Universities; University of Aberdeen, University of St Andrews and University of Glasgow, for example, all award one year MLitt taught postgraduate degrees. In addition the University of Aberdeen also awards a one year MLitt by research.
The University of Edinburgh normally offers the degree of M.Sc for a one year taught postgraduate degree and offers either an MLitt or Master of Philosophy over two years by research.
In all cases, the MLitt is usually awarded in Arts, Divinity, Fine Art, Humanities, or Social Sciences.
[edit] United States
The M.Litt. is awarded by only four schools in the U.S. Middlebury College in Vermont offers the degree for advanced study in writing; Drew University in New Jersey offers it as an intermediate degree in their Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) program (the only earned/non-honorary Doctor of Letters degree in the U.S.), an interdisciplinary Humanities program in scholarly writing. Mary Baldwin College in Virginia awards a unique M.Litt. degree, requiring two years of study, for in-depth research in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in Performance, which it offers as an intermediate degree in their three-year MFA program. Oxford Graduate School in Tennessee offers an M.Litt. degree. The Master of Letters (MLitt) degree is offered in Family Life Education and Organizational Leadership.
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