ObjectivesThis course enables well-qualified candidates to pursue postgraduate work in any area of Modern Languages and Critical Theory in which the School is able to offer specialist supervision. The MA in Modern Languages and Critical Theory draws upon the extraordinarily wide range of research expertise in the four language departments of the School in conjunction with the Department of Critical Theory and Cultural Studies. It offers you the opportunity to combine the structured framework of a taught MA with the individually-tailored, project-orientated focus of an MA by Research, and will also allow you to work across the cultural area of two languages if you so wish. This course will appeal to you if you want to pursue Modern Language studies in a sophisticated theoretical context. Although it is free-standing, it provides excellent preparation for further research by giving a background in theoretical issues and cultural applications, and through practice in independent supervised research leading to the production of a dissertation.
Academic titleMA Modern Languages and Critical Theory
Course descriptionKey facts
The School of Modern Languages and Cultures has an outstanding research record: in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise it achieved the following results: French and Francophone Studies – 5A, German – 5*A, Hispanic Studies and Latin American Studies – 5*A, Russian and Slavonic Studies – 5A.
You will receive appropriate generic and subject-specific skills training throughout your studies through the University’s Graduate School.
The Department of Critical Theory and Cultural Studies is one of the largest postgraduate operations within the Arts Faculty, with a population of 40 students in any one year, and providing a vibrant intellectual environment in an organised and informal way
Modern Languages and Critical Theory (MA)
Duration: 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
Course Content
The core Critical Theory and Cultural Studies modules offer an overview of theoretical and methodological approaches to the humanities in general, as well as incorporating contemporary European theoretical material of particular interest to Modern Linguists.
The optional modules in Modern Languages and Critical Theory and the dissertation will enable you to apply your theoretical skills and insights in specific foreign-language cultural contexts.
Please note that all module details are subject to change.
Course Structure
The MA in Modern Languages and Critical Theory may be followed full-time over 1 year or part-time over 2 years.
There are two routes through this course. You may take either:
one Critical Theory 30-credit MA module and one Modern Language 30-credit MA module in both Semester I and Semester II
or
two Critical Theory 30-credit MA modules in Semester I and two Modern Language 30-credit MA modules in Semester II.
Plus one 60-credit dissertation of 15,000 words combining your interests in Modern Languages and Critical Theory.
The Department of Critical Theory and Cultural Studies offers a range of taught-course 30-credit MA modules.
In the Departments of Hispanic and Latin American Studies, and Russian and Slavonic Studies, the two 30-credit MA modules in Modern Languages are replaced by programmes of directed reading in fields agreed by the student, the programme convener and the supervisor.
There are 30-credit taught-course Modern Languages MA modules available from MA programmes in the Department of French and Francophone Studies and the Department of German Studies, both of which also offer directed reading modules.
All 30-credit modules are examined by an essay of 5,000 words.
The Modern Languages component can be drawn from either one language area or from two, giving this course a potential comparative element.
The precise configuration of modules you choose will depend on your qualifications in the specific modern languages and the way in which you opt to balance out the critical theory and modern language modules.
In all cases, the course convener will provide you with detailed guidance when you make your module choices