MSt is only on Oxford thing, isn't it? A master's degree from Oxford has not to my knowledge ever hurt anyone, especially if that's where you want to do your PhD.
Oxbridge in general prefer research degrees (MPhil) to taught degrees (MA) in their PhD students. They're not too different other than that. I did an MA in Wales and loved it--and I know what you mean about linguistics vs literature as I've had to learn a few languages and get a grounding in linguistics! They're both quite challenging; it may help to talk to the dept ahead of time as most will let you audit classes as a research student. A taught MA isn't just classes (though if you don't do well enough on that part to go onto the diss, you can get a diploma instead); it's generally 2 terms of classes followed by a dissertation of varying length depending on your university and department.
I did a taught MA and went on to a PhD in the same university and it's been grand; don't stress too much except about the funding. ;) I have a friend doing linguistics at Cambridge atm and it's HARD, just so you know!
Ooooh where did/do you study in Wales? I really want to apply to Cardiff but their department appears to be more focused on applied linguistics (and maybe brain?) and not so much historical/English linguistics :( Do you mind if I ask what you're studying?
AAAh that's so cool! I'm hoping to focus my degree partly on Welsh/Old Welsh/Old English type things. In any case I'm hoping to teach myself modern Welsh during my gap year - we'll see how that goes! I took an Arthur of the English course last term and it was rad - we talked a lot about the Welsh stories.
Ooh, interesting! It's the Welsh Arthur that my PhD deals with. Anyway the best departments in the UK (probably the world, since there isn't realy much call for it off this island) for Welsh are Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff, which is not to say that Cambridge's ASNAC dept and Oxford's Jesus College aren't brilliant. You'll definitely learn the linguistics there but there's less chance to learn modern Welsh so you'd have to do that separately (there are summer courses here that are worth taking though). And if you're doing OE, obviously they are both awesome for that.
To be perfectly honest, what I really want to study is the History of English. As a subject, however, it seems to get tucked into different departments depending on the school. Oxford actually has an English Language program that is essentially a History of English M.St. which is how this whole question came about. A lot of schools seem to have English Language and Linguistics departments that would allow me to focus on the history of English for some credits and for the dissertation. I'm trying to avoid having to take a full literature or full linguistics degree to study what I want but it sometimes seems unavoidable.
Welsh would just be in there a) because I love it and I love Wales and b) because I I'm interested in both Old English and the Celtic languages that preceded it. Did you learn to read Welsh for your degree?
Well, you have some freedom in what you do--there doesn't have to be a course that is Exactly The Very Thing You Want to Do, because if there were, there would not be any need to research it further!
I did learn Welsh, yes. (Old, middle and modern--ouch!) I did Old English back in undergrad, and the history of the language is fascinating, I can see why you want to do it!
Hahaha very good point! I hadn't thought about it that way but you're so right. It seems like the field I'm interested in shifts around. When my prof did her degree 30 years ago, it was in the English department. Now, however, these programs are mostly in the linguistics department, or some kind of mixed program with a linguistic focus. I guess that's trending in academia for you, eh?
What was your taught Master's course in, out of curiosity? Was it Medieval studies or Welsh History or Welsh Literature or something like that? I'm always curious to see what departments cool research comes out of.
Oxbridge in general prefer research degrees (MPhil) to taught degrees (MA) in their PhD students. They're not too different other than that. I did an MA in Wales and loved it--and I know what you mean about linguistics vs literature as I've had to learn a few languages and get a grounding in linguistics! They're both quite challenging; it may help to talk to the dept ahead of time as most will let you audit classes as a research student. A taught MA isn't just classes (though if you don't do well enough on that part to go onto the diss, you can get a diploma instead); it's generally 2 terms of classes followed by a dissertation of varying length depending on your university and department.
I did a taught MA and went on to a PhD in the same university and it's been grand; don't stress too much except about the funding. ;) I have a friend doing linguistics at Cambridge atm and it's HARD, just so you know!
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Welsh would just be in there a) because I love it and I love Wales and b) because I I'm interested in both Old English and the Celtic languages that preceded it. Did you learn to read Welsh for your degree?
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I did learn Welsh, yes. (Old, middle and modern--ouch!) I did Old English back in undergrad, and the history of the language is fascinating, I can see why you want to do it!
Reply
What was your taught Master's course in, out of curiosity? Was it Medieval studies or Welsh History or Welsh Literature or something like that? I'm always curious to see what departments cool research comes out of.
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