The University is preparing to launch a one-of-a-kind MA exploring the life, writing and cultural context of acclaimed novelist Jane Austen.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Austen is one of the most influential and celebrated writers of all time. Researchers at Southampton have led a number of projects exploring the life of this global literary icon, investigating possible sources of inspiration for her now treasured works of fiction and contributing to our understanding of her life, influences, and her remarkable reception since her death.

It is this world-leading expertise that will be the basis of the brand new Jane Austen MA, which is due to be launched later this year. This exciting new programme – the only one of its kind in the world –  has been designed to provide students with the chance to study Jane Austen’s work, culture and reception. The degree will use both theoretical and practical approaches, exploring academic and heritage responses to Austen to give students unique insights into Austen’s life and work.

The University of Southampton is ideally placed to present this unique course. Jane Austen lived in the city from 1807-1809, and also spent time there briefly as a schoolchild. She was born nearby in Steventon, died in Winchester and is buried in Winchester Cathedral. Indeed, Austen lived in Hampshire for most of her 41 years.

Additionally, students will have the chance to work with museums and other organisations who promote and support the study of Jane Austen, and examine the use of her renown by the heritage industry. The course will include visits to Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton, the writer’s former home, and the University’s close links with Chawton House, the Elizabethan manor house belonging to her brother, provide the perfect opportunity for students to follow in the footsteps of this literary heroine.

Our students will benefit from direct access to books that belonged to Jane Austen’s family, and will have the opportunity to contribute to exhibitions and programmes.

The Jane Austen MA is just one example of any number of new courses launched each year at Southampton, but the University’s expertise in the study of Jane Austen is expected to make the programme particularly popular.

Dr Gillian Dow, Senior Lecturer in English, has already pooled her knowledge with Chawton House Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Kim Simpson to create the Jane Austen MOOC, a free online course on Future Learn, which provides the perfect introduction to the MA.

Other experts who have helped shape the MA include Rebecca Smith, Teaching Fellow in English and descendent of Jane’s brother Francis Austen, renowned Austen scholar Professor Emma Clery, and experts in the eighteenth century and Romantic periods, Professor Stephen Bygrave and Dr Stephen Bending, Senior Lecturer in English.

Gillian says:

This exciting new course will enable students to immerse themselves in Austen’s fiction via close readings of her work and letters, as well as the writings of her contemporaries. From her contemporary reception and legacy in the 20th and 21st centuries, to her use by the heritage and film industries, we hope that this course will attract those who want to learn more not only about Austen herself, but about the literary marketplace she was a part of over 200 years ago.”