The MA in Languages, Literatures and Cultures will take you on an intellectual journey across continents with an enthralling study of languages, literatures and cultures.
Our MA in Languages, Literatures and Cultures will draw on a vast wealth of knowledge in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Hispanic and Russian Studies to take you on an intellectual journey across continents through an enthralling study into languages, literatures and cultures and how they are transmitted, exchanged and established.
The course will nurture your interests in world literatures and comparative studies by enabling you to work on literary materials in their original language, understanding their local, regional and national contexts and exploring what happens when they become entwined with intellectual elements such as translation, philosophy and visual culture.
The course is taken full-time over one year and will consist of innovative core and optional modules from the full range of Arts & Humanities subjects.
You will also be required to complete a dissertation involving the detailed study of a particular aspect of a topic related to world literature.
The School of Modern Languages and Cultures will provide you with a stimulating environment for your study and the strongest emphasis will be on your own research which you will carry out under the supervision of a subject specialist.
The School is also home to several cutting-edge research groups and we will encourage you to become an active member of the academic community, with the important Centre for Visual Arts and Cultures and Centre for Culture and Ecology both offering innovative opportunities for engagement.
Course structure
All the MA programmes offered by the Faculty of Arts & Humanities consist of three components:
a Major Research Project to the value of at least 60 credits
Core Modules to the value of 0-90 credits, depending on the programme
Elective Modules, making up the total number of credits to 180; some of these modules will be defined as Recommended Electives for particular programmes.
For students studying the MA in Languages, Literatures and Cultures, the Dissertation (your Major Research Project) will enable you to carry out your own detailed exploration of an area of languages, literatures and cultures of particular interest to you and to produce a piece of scholarly writing that demonstrates how you are able to understand the relevant theoretical frameworks and apply them appropriately. You can choose between a 15,000-word (60-credit) or a 20,000-word (90-credit) dissertation.
You will also be required to take the following 30-credit core module:
Critical Theory and Frameworks will give you the methodologies, tools and skills required for the study of literatures and cultures and will provide you with an overview of the crucial debates that take place within cultural studies and critical theory.
Finally, you will choose either 60 or 90 credits (depending on which dissertation you have selected) of elective modules from across the Faculty of Arts & Humanities so that your total number of credits adds up to exactly 180.
The course is delivered through a mixture of seminars, workshops, lectures, group projects, research seminars and individual tutorials, supported by independent preparation and research. It consists of core modules, optional modules, and a dissertation with the core module setting out the overall intellectual framework for the course.
The optional modules will offer further specialised areas of study in related topics in which you have a particular interest.
The dissertation will require a detailed study of an aspect of a topic within world literature that, again, is of interest to you and will be of either 15,000 (60 credits) or 20,000 (90 credits) words in length.
The learning environment will be relaxed and supportive of your work and will offer you individual time with your supervisors. There will also be an emphasis on independent study.
Assessment
Assessment is thorough and ongoing and will be carried out by careful analysis of your completed work over the year and will comprise of formative class presentations, as well as summative essays on core coursework and selected modules as well as a dissertation of 15,000 words or 20,000 words in length.
Entry requirements
You will be expected to have a BA degree (upper-second class degree or equivalent) in a relevant subject, such as language (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Russian), literature or linguistics from a recognised national or international university.
Students holding a degree in a non-language-related field may be admitted provided they can demonstrate they have the required competence (C1 following the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) in one of the above mentioned languages.
You will also need to provide a personal statement of no more than 500 words. You are invited to cover the following points in your personal statement:
Why have you chosen the MA in Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Durham University?
What are your specific interests (literature, film, cultural or literary theory; maybe also potential modules you would choose)?
In which specific language(s) the School of Modern Languages and Cultures* offers are you interested?
How do your prior qualifications prepare you for this degree course? Please focus on the ones you would consider particularly pertinent.
The tuition fees for 2025/26 academic year have not yet been finalised, they will be displayed here once approved.
The tuition fees shown are for one complete academic year of full time study, are set according to the academic year of entry, and remain the same throughout the duration of the programme for that cohort (unless otherwise stated).
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