Course details

Summary

Do you enjoy reading and writing? Novels, plays, short stories, poetry and creative non-fiction help shape and reflect our individual identities and collective culture. Studying literature opens up worlds and times beyond our experience. It also helps us understand - and question - our own social, natural and technological environments.

At the same time, students of English develop skills in research, interpretation, analysis, formulating an argument, and writing clearly and precisely. This skillset is useful for a huge range of occupations, such as journalism, law, communications, publications and creative writing.

This postgraduate diploma is ideal for graduates wishing to undertake advanced study in a humanities or social science specialisation. Like its sister programme, the Postgraduate Certificate in Arts, the PGDipArts is very flexible; students can choose between a number of course combinations, and it offers a convenient taught pathway to other postgraduate study opportunities.

A graduate with a Postgraduate Diploma in Arts will have an advanced level of knowledge in one discipline or area of specialisation cultivated over a full year of study or equivalent. During this time they will have developed such skills as:

• the ability to analyse and evaluate academic literature in that area
• the ability to synthesize information and communicate their findings in both oral and written form
• self-directed learning and intellectual independence.

Qualification structure and duration

A student must complete at least 120 points from taught courses, as approved by the Head of Department and the Dean of Arts.

Further study

Postgraduate Diploma in Arts graduates are well positioned to continue their studies. Subject to the approval of the Dean of Arts (and provided the courses fall within the time limits for the higher award), a student may transfer PGDipArts courses passed with a B grade or higher to:

the Bachelor of Arts with Honours

the coursework section of a master's degree (there are a number of taught master's operated by the College of Arts).

UC also offers a research-based Master of Arts and the Doctor of Philosophy.

Career opportunities

A good degree in English can take you to surprising places. The skills learned in studying English - the close reading and careful analysis of texts, the ability to write clearly and concisely, and the skill to both make and critique arguments - are essential to success not only in education, but also in a wide range of work environments.

Among our graduates are a New Zealand ambassador, a former chief political reporter for TVNZ, a political commentator for a national newspaper, a couple of prize-winning novelists (including Eleanor Catton of Man Booker fame), a prize-winning film-maker, a museum curator, a cultural event organiser for Te Papa, an art gallery manager, a theatre director, a local television presenter, a number of publishers' editors, members of parliament, and policy advisers in the Treasury, the Education Ministry and the State Services Commission.

What these people learned in their English degree impressed employers looking for people who could read, write, speak and think clearly, effectively and creatively.

Entry criteria

Candidates must have qualified for a Bachelor of Arts or an equivalent degree and satisfied the prerequisites for the subject concerned. Prerequisites vary between departments, but normally good grades in 300-level courses in that subject are required.

Other English language requirements: TOEFL PBT with a minimum score of 575 and TWE with a minimum score of 4.5; CCEL EAP Level 2 with a minimum B+ grade; CAE or CPE score of 176 with a minimum of 169 in reading, writing, listening and speaking; Pearson Test of English (Academic) - PTE with an overall score of 64 and no PTE communicative skills score below 58.