Masters Degrees (Italian)

The Italian Studies MA is a pathway in the faculty-wide MA in Language, Culture and History, offering an extensive range of courses in Italian literature, history and literary theory. Students can take this flexible, interdisciplinary programme as self-contained study or as preparation for a research degree.

Degree information

The programme introduces students to texts from a variety of periods in Italian history and places them within a historical and philosophical framework. Students develop subject-specific, professional skills necessary for the pursuit of their chosen options, including sourcing material, field-work techniques, bibliographic skills and linguistic skills.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. The programme offers two pathways: taught and research.

Taught: one core module (30 credits), three optional modules (90 credits), dissertation (60 credits). Research: one core module (30 credits), two optional modules (60 credits), dissertation (90 credits).

A Postgraduate Diploma, one core module (30 credits), three optional modules (90 credits) full-time nine months or part-time two years, is offered. A Postgraduate Certificate, one core module (30 credits), one optional module (30 credits) full-time three months, part-time six months, is offered.

Core module
-Language, Culture and History. This core module permits research into two areas of major contemporary interest; for example, topics explored during the current year include the following: Trauma; Memory; Visual Culture; Queer(y)ing Sexuality

Optional modules - students take a choice of optional modules on topics such as the following:
-Medieval and Renaissance Italian
-Renaissance Texts: Resources and Research Techniques
-Dante: Divina Commedia
-Genre in Italian Cinema
-Italy: A Difficult Modernity
-Advanced Translation from and into Italian
-Contemporary Italian Cultures

Dissertation/report
All students undertake an independent research project which culminates in a dissertation of 12,000 words (taught pathway) or 18,000 words (research pathway).

Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through a combination of seminars, tutorials, seminar-presentations, film screenings, and visits to research libraries including the British Library, the Warburg Institute, Institute of Historical Research and Senate House. Students are assessed by a variety of methods: unseen examinations, long essays, course work and the dissertation.

Careers

The programme will be of interest both to those who wish to enhance their knowledge of Italian culture for professional purposes - in the fields, for example, of education, media, commerce and tourism - as well as to students wishing to pursue their studies to a doctoral level.

Recent first destinations of MA graduates from the department of Italian at UCL include:
-The Royal Armouries, Tower of London: Education Officer
-University of Naples: Language Coordinator
-International House: Teacher Trainer
-University of Trento: Doctoral Research in Italian Studies
-Warburg Institute: Doctoral Research in Renaissance Studies
-UCL University: Doctoral Research in Renaissance Studies

Why study this degree at UCL?

UCL Italian is the original home of Italian studies in Britain, and has a distinguished record in the field of graduate studies and research. Students benefit from UCL's excellent Italian resources, including the Rotton and Ogden collections, and the Castiglione and Dante collections.

UCL's central location enables easy access to London's exceptional resources including the specialist collections of Italian material in the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. The British Film Institute Library holds major Italian film periodicals and numerous books on Italian cinema, and the nearby British Library houses the largest collection of early printed books in the world.

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MSc Italian FOOD & WINE (ItF&W)

The "Italian Food and Wine" MSc degree will focus on the understanding, management, promotion and protection of high-value food products, including wine.

Programme Summary

In this MSc course, the internationally-recognised Italian food production system is analysed as a model for defining and characterising the individual elements that contribute to the unique value of food products that are inextricably linked to place (terroir) through historic, social and cultural ties. These elements also include more recent developments in technology, nutrition, food safety, diet and health, and sensory science that are at the heart of a growing international demand for terroir-related high-value foods.

The specific learning outcome is a deep understanding of the multi-faceted characteristics that distinguish these foods from others in the marketplace and that can be exploited in products’ valorisation and consumer information strategies both in the EU and international markets. The ultimate objective of this multi-disciplinary program is to train professionals who are well-versed in the complex system of producing high-value foods and wines whose quality is profoundly linked to tradition and place of origin.

Who is the MSc candidate?

This programme is open to Italian and foreign students interested in learning and implementing effective actions for the valorisation of high-quality food products and wines.

What career opportunities does the MSc provide?

Graduates will be expert in the technical and economical management, valorisation and protection of high quality agro-food products - in an export and territorial development-oriented perspective - by using the Italian system as the reference model. He/she will find employment opportunities in quality-oriented agro-food companies, in producers' organizations, and in public and private consultancy companies involved in the protection, valorisation, marketing, consulting, training and communication activities for high-quality agro-food products.
The most relevant positions concern: ii) marketing of high-quality foods and wines, on both the EU and international market; ii) design and implementation of promotion and protection strategies for these products; iii) management of producers' organizations; iv) 'off-trade' and 'on-trade' buying activities, mainly in the international market; v) information on high-quality foods and wines management; vi) planning and management of territorial development strategies based on 'terroir-related' quality agro-food products.

How is the programme organised?

During the two-years MSc course students choose 12 course units – according to their individual background and interest - among the following:

Plant biodiversity and food
Animal biodiversity and food
Quality, processing and sensorial analysis of Italian food
Quality, processing and sensorial analysis of Italian wine
Food microbiology and quality
Food safety and hygiene
Food traceability for food quality
Food, wine and nutrition

Value adding quality schemes and consumer demand
Food and Wine-based territorial valorization and rural development
Quality-oriented Food and Wine management and governance

Consumer behavior
Food, wine and society
Food and Wine history and anthropology
Food and wine: perspectives from abroad

Foreign language (Italian or English)

Teaching includes lectures, laboratory and field activities, practical exercises, and seminars by outside experts that feature a rich variety of relevant case studies of Italian foods and wines. Opportunities for intensive tutoring and for master thesis-related stages of at least six months duration will be available with outstanding companies in this sector of the food industry or with other relevant organisations in the private or public sphere.

Visit the MSc “Italian food and wine” page on the Università di Padova web-site (http://www.unipd.it/en/italian-food-and-wine) for more details.

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Research profile

As a postgraduate research student of Italian studies, you will be exposed to an environment that celebrates both language and culture, through rigorous research and vibrant social events.

Studied informally here at Edinburgh since the late 16th century, Italian was formally added to the curriculum in 1919. Since then it has developed into a broad area of study that engages with both contemporary culture and historical times, when Italy shaped our civilisation.

Postgraduates are an integral part of our research community. We can offer you supervision in:

• comparative literature
• digital philology and second language acquisition
• film studies
• Italian cultural studies (most areas, including literary studies from the Middle Ages to the present)
• literary theory
• translation studies

Training and support

Your place in our graduate school will see you taking part in a thriving research community, attending regular seminars, publishing papers, presenting your research at national and international conferences, and participating in interdisciplinary research clusters across the School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures.

Facilities

Just a few minutes away from our base in George Square is the Italian Cultural Institute, where you will receive a warm welcome and the opportunity to mix with Scotland’s wider Italian academic community.

You will also have access to its extensive library and programme of events. Also extending cultural and academic networks is the Edinburgh Journal of Gadda Studies, which is produced here at the School and offers opportunities for you to contribute to the editorial team as a research or editorial assistant. Through our membership of this network we also host the Edinburgh Gadda Prize, presented biennially.

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Are you keen to specialise in academic study of your chosen language and culture, and do you have the curiosity and motivation to develop an individual research path, leading potentially to PhD study? This innovative course, combining cross-School taught modules with languagespecific research, offers an advanced preparation for doctoral research.

You’ll work with the support of leading researchers of international reputation, drawing on our expertise in critical theory, research skills, and key research themes from across the School of Modern Languages and Cultures. You’ll benefit from a broad introduction to critical theories and perspectives across the European and North American intellectual traditions, as well as the opportunity to develop your research specialism in French, German, Hispanic or Italian Studies, or in comparative analysis of these cultures. We also provide research skills training, helping you to build subject-specific and transferrable skills.

Our researchers collaborate to teach the core critical modules, and we encourage interdisciplinary teaching or supervision within and outside Modern Languages through optional taught modules, Advanced Study Options, and your dissertation. Advanced Study Options enable you to pursue individual research pathways with the guidance of a tutor or tutors before undertaking your dissertation.

The skills you’ll acquire in research, critical analysis and advanced argumentation, written and oral presentation, project design, and time management will prepare you thoroughly for doctoral research and an academic research career. Equally, you’ll be well placed to pursue professional routes into sectors such as publishing, media, and non-academic research.

Course details

We offer a taught MA course specifically designed for postgraduates with a strong desire to continue their studies through PhD research. This 'for research' course includes:
-A core module on critical theory (shared with French Studies, German Studies, and Hispanic Studies): 30 credits; 1 essay, 5000 words.
-A related core module Research Skills in Modern Languages: 15 credits.
-Two taught modules or Advanced Study Options (functioning on a tutorial basis, with topics to be agreed with the relevant tutor). Reflecting the School's expertise in Italian Studies from medieval times to the present, some of the MA modules offered typically include 'Shapes of Knowledge in Early Modern Italy' and 'Emigrants, Migrants, Immigrants' (offered according to student demand). There is scope for taking one of the two modules or ASOs in French, German or Hispanic Studies): 2 x 30 credits, 2 essays of 5000 words each.
-A dissertation of 20,000 words: 75 credits.

Note that this course is different from the Italian Studies BY Research MA in that the latter does not include taught elements.

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The MA by Research (Italian) is a flexible programme that allows you to undertake in-depth study (both full and part-time), under the supervision of international experts, on a broad range of subjects, including literature, visual or cultural studies or comparative topics.

The core of the MA by Research is a 25,000 word dissertation on a subject of your own choosing, intended to give you the scope to explore your area of interest in real depth and to develop sophisticated critical and analytical research and writing skills.

You will also complete a research-focused, taught module which will equip you with a range of theoretical and historical approaches to the study of literature, art and culture, enabling you to articulate, refine and persistently test your approach to your chosen topic within this broader theoretical and methodological framework.

See the website https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/mllc/coursefinder/maitalianbyresearch.aspx

Why choose this course?

• Pursue in-depth, directed research through the 25,000 word dissertation with one-to-one supervision, regular feedback and other departmental support
• Follow a taught course with your peers on theories of literature and visual culture
• Participate in the energetic research culture in the School of Modern Languages, Literatures and cultures and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Royal Holloway – libraries, seminars, symposia including the regular postgraduate work-in-progress seminars and our annual Postgraduate Colloquium
• Enjoy proximity to London’s unparalleled facilities, including the British Library, Senate House library, and the Institute of Germanic and Romance studies
• Take advantage of professional and research development training on campus and at the Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies

Department research and industry highlights

Research drives the School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Royal Holloway. Academics in the School all contribute to teaching and are active researchers with international reputations. Our research environment has a basis in our expertise in French, German, Hispanic, Italian and Comparative Studies, and encourages collaboration and exchange across traditional disciplinary boundaries. Our strengths span literature, thought, film and the visual arts from the medieval to the twenty-first century.

Course content and structure

You will take one core taught course and complete a dissertation

Core course units:
- Theories of Literature and Visual Culture (40 credits)
This course is the core taught course for all students and is taught across two terms. It provides you with knowledge of a range of historical and modern theoretical approaches to the study of literature and the visual arts. It refines students’ theoretical understanding and provides the methodological tools to proceed to PhD research if they so wish.

- Dissertation (140 credits)
A 25,000 word dissertation on a subject of your choice. You will receive one-one-one support from a dedicated supervisor.

On completion of the course graduates will have:
- Joined a community of scholars who are working at the cutting edge of their chosen discipline.

- Learnt to undertake focused research, developed written and presentation skills, and honed your skills in critical analysis.

- Gained an understanding and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights in literature, film, cultural studies or the visual arts.

- Demonstrated self-direction and originality and the independent learning and initiative required for continuing professional development

Assessment

The taught course is assessed by essay and presentation. The dissertation is examined by a visiting examiner and includes a viva voce.

Employability & career opportunities

Our graduates are highly and, in recent years have entered many different language-related fields including international management, consultancy, sales and marketing, media and publishing, banking, the arts, politics, the Civil Service, teaching, travel and tourism, translating and interpreting. This course also equips you with a solid foundation for continued PhD studies.

How to apply

Applications for entry to all our full-time postgraduate degrees can be made online https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studyhere/postgraduate/applying/howtoapply.aspx .

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The Master of Arts program offers advanced education in Italian literature and provides training in research techniques.

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The Translation and Interpreting MA is open to native and non-native speakers of English, who combine English with any of the following languages: Chinese, French, Italian, Polish or Spanish. The course will provide you with professional training aimed at the translation and interpreting markets, building on your existing language skills to develop a career in those sectors.

The course involves translation as well as conference and public service interpreting between one main language (Chinese, French, Italian, Polish or Spanish) and English. You will learn how to research specialised subjects for professional translation and interpreting purposes and hone your translation and interpreting skills by extensive practice, applying insights drawn from the study of linguistics and translation and interpreting theory as well as from professional practice. You will complete a Translation or Interpreting Project or a Research Thesis. You will also be able to choose from a range of option modules that will, for example, give you an introduction to audiovisual translation, intercultural communication, or sociolinguistics, or enable you to acquire a working knowledge of another language for translation purposes.

You will be able to benefit from our wide range of resources, including an extensive collection of volumes and electronic materials in our library, a state-of-the-art language lab and extensive interpreting facilities, and additional resources made available through the University's Virtual Learning Environment. Our teaching staff includes full and part-time lecturers, all with expertise in translation and interpreting and in other specialist fields. You will be allocated a personal tutor and be given academic guidance by the course team.

Course content

The course emphasis is on practical training in translation and interpreting, developing your skills to a high level and learning about the professional environments. If you are a native speaker of English, your translation modules will involve both institutional and technical translation from French, Italian, Polish or Spanish into English. If you are native speaker of Chinese, French, Italian, Polish or Spanish, your translation modules will cover institutional translation from and into your native language (commonly referred to as your 'first' or 'main' language). You will also study conference and public service interpreting, and learn new relevant skills through the option modules. You will also complete a research-based MA Thesis or an MA Translation or Interpreting Project. Your studies are further supported by regular student-led interpreting practice sessions and mock conferences, blended learning provision on developing your professionalism, weekly lectures on the theoretical concepts and principles of translation and interpreting, introductory workshops to a range of translation memory tools, and guest lectures and workshops delivered by external speakers from industry and international institutions.

Modules

The following modules are indicative of what you will study on this course.

Core modules
-CONFERENCE INTERPRETING
-PUBLIC SERVICE INTERPRETING
-MAIN LANGUAGE INSTITUTIONAL TRANSLATION (INTO YOUR FIRST LANGUAGE)
-MAIN LANGUAGE TECHNICAL TRANSLATION (NATIVE SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH ONLY)
-SECOND LANGUAGE INSTITUTIONAL TRANSLATION (NATIVE SPEAKERS OF CHINESE, FRENCH, ITALIAN, POLISH OR SPANISH ONLY)
-MA INTERPRETING PROJECT OR MA TRANSLATION PROJECT OR MA THESIS

Option modules
-ADVANCED ENGLISH LANGUAGE SKILLS FOR INTERPRETERS (NATIVE SPEAKERS OF CHINESE, FRENCH, ITALIAN, POLISH OR SPANISH ONLY)
-COMPUTER-ASSISTED TRANSLATION (CAT)
-EDITING: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE
-INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
-INTRODUCTION TO AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION
-MAIN LANGUAGE TECHNICAL TRANSLATION (NATIVE SPEAKERS OF FRENCH, ITALIAN, POLISH OR SPANISH ONLY)
-SECOND LANGUAGE TECHNICAL TRANSLATION (NATIVE SPEAKERS OF FRENCH, ITALIAN, POLISH OR SPANISH ONLY)
-SOCIOLINGUISTICS
-SUBSIDIARY LANGUAGE (LANGUAGES SUBJECT TO ANNUAL CONFIRMATION)
-TRANSLATING CULTURES
-UNITED NATIONS AND EUROPEAN UNION FOR LINGUISTS
-ANALYSING SPOKEN AND WRITTEN DISCOURSE

[Associated careers

Graduates of the course go on to develop careers as freelance and in-house translators in the corporate sector and in national and international organisations, or as freelance interpreters, editors and revisers, subtitlers, terminologists, translation project managers, and specialists in translation tools.

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Italian Studies at Birmingham has an excellent record in attracting postgraduate students and offers a vibrant postgraduate community that is firmly anchored within the broader context of Modern Languages.

Our doctoral researchers are involved in student-led seminars, discussion groups and networks including ROLES (the postgraduate and sexuality research network), the GCfE (Graduate Centre for Europe), the BCT (Birmingham Centre for Translation) and EMREM (a postgraduate forum for researchers working on Early Medieval, Medieval, Renaissance, Reformation and / or Early Modern topics).

The department is home to the Leopardi Centre, a Leverhulme-funded project on populists in power, an AHRC-funded project on Leopardi's Zibaldone and an AHRC-funded project on ‘Interdisciplinary Italy 1900-2010'.

Research interests range from Medieval to Contemporary Italy and include expertise in literary studies, history of art, translation studies, cinema and visual culture studies, politics and media studies and cultural studies.

The MA by Research programme requires you to prepare a dissertation of up to 40,000 words on a topic of your choice, for which an academic staff member will provide expert supervision.

The PhD – the most advanced research degree – leads to a dissertation of up to 80,000 words on a subject of your choice and under the expert supervision of an academic member of staff.

Funding and Scholarships

There are many ways to finance your postgraduate study at the University of Birmingham. To see what funding and scholarships are available, please visit: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate/funding

Open Days

Explore postgraduate study at Birmingham at our on-campus open days.
Register to attend at: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate/visit

Virtual Open Days

If you can’t make it to one of our on-campus open days, our virtual open days run regularly throughout the year. For more information, please visit: http://www.pg.bham.ac.uk

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Why take this course?

Modern Foreign Languages is a foundation subject of the secondary curriculum at Key Stage 3 and an entitlement at Key Stage 4. On this course, you will study and learn about issues related to modern foreign languages teaching as you develop an understanding of educational issues pertaining to teaching and learning, classroom interaction, the school curriculum and the school and society.

What will I experience?

On this course you can:

Undertake placements with our network of experience training schools
Train in classroom management techniques as you study the theory underpinning them
Develop your subject knowledge

Applications should be made through UCAS Teacher Training. You can find out more information and apply online at http://www.ucas.com/how-it-all-works/teacher-training.

Training Programme code: French and Italian RX31

What opportunities might it lead to?

The course is accredited by the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL). This means that successful completion of the PGCE will enable you to gain Qualified Teacher Status and will provide for a career in secondary teaching. On recent figures, over 90% of our students each year gain employment with 60% of those getting jobs in our partnership schools.

This course may also be studied under the School Direct model. Read more: School Direct.

Module Details

The course is essentially practical and two-thirds of your time will be spent in school where you will be working closely with mentors and other school staff.

Throughout the year you will be engaged in considering a range of subjects including:

Subject Knowledge Enhancement
ICT in the classroom
Lesson Planning
Classroom management
Research into the pedagogy and psychology of learning computer science
Special Needs and Inclusion
Assessment
Teaching and assessment

Programme Asssessment

The course lasts 36 weeks between September and June, with one third of the time spent in University-based sessions such as lectures, group participation and guided reading, and the remainder working in at least two of our partner schools.

You will be supported by tutors while in the university, and by professional and subject mentors while in schools, encouraging the development of teaching skills specifically for the secondary sector and blending work-based learning experience and supervised teaching practice.

The programme offers trainees a choice between the Professional and the Postgraduate route, with the latter allowing trainees to graduate with 60 M-level credits.

The assessment procedures adopted throughout the course are mainly formative in nature and designed to ensure that trainees meet the Standards for Qualifying to Teach.

In each term you will be assessed on:

The development of your teaching skills
A formal assignment
An interview in which you will demonstrate the evidence collected towards the standards including your subject knowledge

Throughout the course you will collate a portfolio of evidence based on schoolwork, observations of teaching, tasks and assignments.

Student Destinations

Career opportunities within teaching are now far wider and more diverse than ever before. After a few years of teaching, relatively recently qualified teachers are able to gain promotion (responsibility) points for leadership within their subject. Alternatively some teachers prefer to pursue a pastoral route and may gain promotion to Year Head or other pastoral roles. There are also opportunities to become a Subject Leader, which allows effective classroom teachers to gain recognition for their excellence in the classroom without needing to move to more administrative positions. After some experience of middle management successful teachers may progress to senior management as Senior Teacher, Deputy Head or Head.

At the end of the training period, more than 90% of the trainees went into full-time employment in schools within the Portsmouth University Partnership.

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The programme has been designed to allow you to meet the Standards required for recommendation for Qualified Teacher Status.

The PGCE: Secondary French with Italian is a partnership programme and falls within "Secondary Modern Languages". The majority of your time will be spent in schools observing teaching and learning, considering how the theory of education and the practice link together and, of course, working with children in classroom settings.

You will be studying in a diverse community of trainees from a range of different subjects as well as studying alongside fellow Modern Languages trainees.


Many themes such as equal opportunities, bilingualism, meeting the needs for children with special educational needs etc. underpin the taught programme.

The subject studies elements of the programme focus on teaching Modern Foreign Languages as a curriculum subject. These sessions aim to:
• provide an introduction to MFL as a curriculum subject
• enable you to develop high levels of teaching skills and classroom management, as well as the capacity for reflection and further professional development
• offer theoretical perspectives on the principles of syllabus design and evaluation, and the assessment and recording of children’s progress in both classroom and workshop situations
• provide knowledge and understanding of the National Curriculum and the framework of statutory requirements.


Key Facts:
Modern languages 83% of UEL trainees in a teaching post (69% London providers).

Why Choose Us?
Successful completion of the PGCE enables you to apply for teaching posts and the vast majority of our students attain such posts. There is a clear teaching career structure in place, with several paths available. Some graduates take the management path through management in subject or pastoral issues on to senior management and/or headship.

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The Romance Languages and Literatures Department provides instruction in Italian language and literature leading to the master of arts degree. Students have the option of pursuing a track of study culminating in a master's thesis or may pursue a track of study whereby one course may be selected in substitution of the thesis. The program at Binghamton University allows students to work closely with the accomplished members of our faculty throughout their academic careers. The flexible programs and options for work done outside the department make Binghamton University a unique educational institution.

All applicants must submit the following:

- Online graduate degree application and application fee
- Transcripts from each college/university you have attended
- Two letters of recommendation
- Personal statement (2-3 pages) describing your reasons for pursuing graduate study, your career aspirations, your special interests within your field, and any unusual features of your background that might need explanation or be of interest to your program's admissions committee.
- Resume or Curriculum Vitae (max. 2 pages)
- Official GRE scores

And, for international applicants:
- International Student Financial Statement form
- Official bank statement/proof of support
- Official TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE Academic scores

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During the course "The Italian System: from Fashion to Design" we will study the synergistic roles that the areas of fashion marketing play within companies in the implementation of the most appropriate strategies to design new types of products.
In particular, within the concept of brand extension we will face how to develop a project, from strategy and organization to the creation and design of the products to be placed on the market.
It is a multi-faceted activity that embraces "value-added brands", and it is increasingly sought and practiced. In this context, we will learn the most innovative branding strategies for new products: the choice between line or brand extensions, the launch of new brands or sub-brands, et.
The course is structured in a series of "lessons" and a "workshop of ideas" in which information and method blend into the complete picture of the "know how" to work in different kind of teams: companies, professional studios, as a freelancer or as an employee, as a business owner and developer of start-ups dedicated to the fashion and design industry.
The teaching methodology is very innovative as it addresses in a synergistic and transverse way the different topics covered in the course, which are related to each other by a direction that allows the student to determine a long term learning path crossing over all subjects

The teaching model is composed as follows:
- In classroom lectures
- Case studies
- Company visits
- Project Works
- Sessions of career orientation and/or review on business ideas

Traditional in classroom lectures are alternated with case discussions, meetings with managers and other representatives of the business community, company visits, in class activities and project works.
Career orientation will be provided to the students that aim at working in the industry; feedbacks to the business ideas will be shared with participants that are willing to become entrepreneurs.
At the end of the course a MFI certificate is delivered to each student.

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Our MRes programme provide a personalised and focused introduction to postgraduate research allowing you to develop as an independent researcher with the support of an expert in Modern Languages and Cultures. It provides a rigorous overview of the current state of scholarship in your selected field, guides you, through a programme of directed, individualised reading, to the selection of a feasible research project, and allows you to complete a substantial piece of research.

Within Modern Language and Cultures, we offer pathways in:

- Latin-American Studies
- Hispanic Studies
- Spanish Studies
- Portuguese Studies, Catalan Studies
- Basque Studies
- French Studies
- German Studies
- Italian Studies
- Film Studies
- Chinese Studies.

As an MRes student you will benefit from your membership of the university research community, both students and academic staff. You will also have access to facilities available to doctoral students e.g. free Interlibrary loans, a print allowance and a research allowance.

Why Department of Modern Languages and Cultures?

We are a smaller department than many, but manage at the same time to maintain a variety of very distinctive areas of strength in research. As a result we are uniquely placed to offer taught programmes which are tailored to the individual in a friendly, supportive atmosphere and, for research students, close contact with your supervisors from the outset.

There is a high degree of interdisciplinary activity, with students and staff from all disciplines interacting through institutional research centres, cross-School reading groups, research groups and seminars.

We offer an MA in Latin American Studies and an MA in Modern Languages (French / German / Hispanic Studies/Italian) and supervision on a wide range of topics for both MPhil and PhD study.

Applications are welcome for both full-time and part-time study. Postgraduate students form an integral part of our research culture, and are encouraged to become involved in conference, workshops and seminar series, in addition, we have postgraduate reading groups and a regular programme of postgraduate workshops involving leading scholars visiting the institution. We have an active and vibrant research community, with staff engaging in research covering eight language areas consisting of French, German, Italian, Spanish, Galician, Catalan, Portuguese and Corsican. Research interests range from medieval manuscripts to contemporary cyber literature, and cover a wide geographical remit, with staff working on American, Latin American, and Caribbean, African and Indian contexts as well as European ones.

We are home to three scholarly journals: Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, Bulletin of Latin American Research, and Migrations and Identities as well as a number of prominent book series.

Research Overview

Our research activities are broadly organised around four research groups in addition to the Research Institute of Latin American Studies. The groups are engaged in interdisciplinary work, taking in literary, visual and historical sources, and collaborating across the language areas.

French Studies

Research interests in French Studies cover all areas of French literature, culture and history, including Medieval studies, sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth century studies, French theatre, French cinema, travel literature, francophone postcolonial studies (including French language representations of India),modern and contemporary France, and sociolinguistics. Colleagues are actively involved in interdisciplinary research centres, namely the Research Centre in Eighteenth-Century Studies, the Centre of International Slavery, the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and the India in the World Research Centre.

German Studies

Postgraduate teaching and supervision in German Studies covers the full range of modern (post 1750) German literary and cultural studies, including German cinema. It also offers tuition and supervision in many areas of social history, where staff specialisms include gender and women’s history since the eighteenth-century, twentieth-century labour history, Holocaust studies, issues of race and ethnicity (Afro-German and Gypsy studies), the culture and politics of East and West Germany and contemporary Berlin. The University Library’s Special Collections include uniquely rich holdings on German and European Gypsy studies. Research contacts exist with numerous universities and institutes in Germany and the United States.

Hispanic Studies

The University has the oldest chair of Spanish in the country (established 1908). It has a distinguished tradition of excellence within an extensive area of Hispanic Studies teaching and research which includes not only the Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), but also Latin America (Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, etc). Among the section’s achievements and publications in research are the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, a quarterly journal of international influence (published by Liverpool University Press), Hispanic Textual Research and Criticism (TRAC) and a scholarly series of books and editions. Postgraduate supervision and courses are offered in diverse specialist subjects within the broad range of Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan and Latin American Studies. This reflects the varied research interests and publications of members of staff in the section. Postgraduate students have at their disposal in the Sydney Jones Library large holdings in Hispanic books and periodicals, which are among the most comprehensive in the country.

Italian Studies

Postgraduate supervision in Italian is provided in the following areas: sociolinguistics, Italian dialectology, Italian cinema and crime/detective fiction. Postgraduate students benefit from the remarkable digitised collections and resources available in the Sydney Jones Library and the personalised services provided by library staff.

Latin American Studies

Latin American Studies is one of Modern languagesa dn Cultures' major research specialisms. The six permanent members of staff have research interests in the following domains of Latin American Studies: anthropology, cultural studies, history, literature, politics, and sociology and extend to Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Central America, the Caribbean and southern USA. The Sydney Jones Library is an acknowledged centre of excellence for collections in Latin American Studies. Additional facilities for all postgraduates include access to regular seminars and short conferences, language tuition, and use of the University’s networked computer facilities.

Career prospects

Former postgraduates in French, German and Hispanic Studies are currently employed in senior positions at the universities of: Aberdeen, Sussex, Leeds, Sheffield, Kings College London, Loughborough, Salford and Liverpool, as well as in a variety of careers.

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If you already have a considerable base of knowledge and a firm idea of where your interests lie, the MA by Research may be for you.

This degree requires no coursework; the main focus is a dissertation of 40,000 words, which will be undertaken under the supervision of an appropriate member of staff. You will be encouraged to undertake relevant research-skills training and, where appropriate, further language study.

Research interests

Medieval and Renaissance Intellectual Culture — the reception of texts and ideas, and their relationship with institutions of learning and habits of reading, including manuscript and print culture; 18th- and 19th-Century Reading Cultures — the rise of the novel and the development of reading cultures; Transnational engagements with Italy in the 20th- and 21st-Century — forms of cultural expression associated with migration and mobility within, out of, and into Italy since Unification.

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Note: this MPhil can be developed into a PHD.

This degree requires no coursework; the main focus is a dissertation of 80,000 words, which will be undertaken under the supervision of an appropriate member of staff. You will be encouraged to undertake relevant research-skills training and, where appropriate, further language study. You may apply if you already have (or are finishing) an MA, you wish to pursue further research, and have a clear project in mind, which can be pursued under the direction of a Warwick staff member.

You would be initially registered for the MPhil, and upon completion of a successful upgrade placed on the track for the PhD.

Research interests

Medieval and Renaissance Intellectual Culture — the reception of texts and ideas, and their relationship with institutions of learning and habits of reading, including manuscript and print culture; 18th- and 19th-Century Reading Cultures — the rise of the novel and the development of reading cultures; Transnational engagements with Italy in the 20th- and 21st-Century — forms of cultural expression associated with migration and mobility within, out of, and into Italy since Unification.

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