About the Master of Linguistics and Literary Studies: English
Your choice of courses
The foundational principle of the Master of Linguistics and Literature: English is that you don’t have to make an agonising choice between what could be your two passions: language and literature. You can combine both of these fascinating fields of study in a one-year Master’s programme of 60 ECTS credits.
On the other hand, if you do have an outspoken preference, you can follow your heart in your choice of courses, provided you make sure that you have at least one linguistics and one literature course in your portfolio.
If your interest lies within the field of literary studies
You will be able to choose from a wide range of 20th and 21st century texts by authors from many corners of the English-speaking world.
Apart from established writers of Anglophone Modernism, our programme includes representatives of the alternative canon. For instance, the course on British women writers presents the evolution of feminism and gender studies in the 20th and 21st centuries and introduces the most important contemporary British women writers.
In the course on constructing age in modern literature, students familiarise themselves with latest developments in age studies and learn how those theories can be deployed to analyse age construction in a number of literary texts.
If you are fascinated by American literature, you can discover the representations of New York in 20th century literature or take a journey through contemporary American historical novels written by established and less established authors of diverse backgrounds.
By contrast, our single author seminars (on James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Wallace Stevens) offer you an opportunity to delve into the works of one particular (modernist) author.
If linguistics is your topic of interest
Our programme offers a wide variety of courses that reflect the state of the art in linguistics today. The selection of courses on offer provide an in-depth perspective on contemporary and older varieties of English, mainly from a combined social and cognitive point of view.
Discover your inner scholar
Students are also given the valuable opportunity to do field work and thus develop their research and analytical skills: an indispensable part of any Master programme.
Whether in linguistics or literature, the research aspect of our programme will enable you to discover your inner scholar. Apart from writing research papers, you will be able to indulge in scholarly work in preparation of your Master’s thesis, which allows you to investigate a particular subject of your own interest more thoroughly and systematically.
If you want to experience the world of scientific research more directly, you can apply for an internship with one of our research groups.
For those of you interested in pursuing an educational career, the course on curriculum and syllabus design will be particularly useful.
And if you stay over the summer, our two summer schools – Digital Humanities and Children’s Literature – are an excellent way to earn ECTS credits and learn valuable skills from international experts in the field.