University of British Columbia Masters Degrees in Languages, Literature & Culture

General Information

Admission to the MA program in Asian Studies normally requires a Bachelor of Arts with first-class standing in Chinese, Japanese, Korean or South Asian languages. This implies at least four years of language study; in the case of East Asian languages, applicants who also have experience studying the target language intensively in-country for an extended period of time tend to advance through our program more quickly. The Department is prepared, in exceptional circumstances, to accept a limited number of students who are otherwise well qualified and show linguistic aptitude but have less than this amount of preparation in the target language. Such students will be required to spend one or two extra years in their MA program making up this deficiency.
Those interested in Asia-related modern history, political science, commerce, economics, geography, fine arts, anthropology or sociology, should apply to the department concerned.
Please be advised that we don’t accept late applications and we don’t have January or May admissions.
Most students begin their program at the start of the Winter Session (First Tuesday in September, after Labor Day). Under special circumstances students may be allowed to begin their program in the second term of the Winter Session, that is, in January (after New Year’s Day).
Candidacy in the M. A. program may be terminated if the degree is not awarded within a period of five years from initial registration. Program extension or on-leave status is possible only in certain exceptional circumstances.
Students’ progress will be reviewed during spring term of each year. A candidate may be required to withdraw if progress has not been satisfactory.
A graduate student’s registration for a second term in a degree program will be blocked until all conditions for admission to that program have been met.

Quick Facts

- Degree: Master of Arts
- Specialization: Asian Studies
- Subject: Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
- Mode of delivery: On campus
- Program components: Coursework + Thesis required
- Registration options: Full-time
- Faculty: Faculty of Arts

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The University of British Columbia offers a Master of Arts in Children’s Literature (MACL) program, jointly offered by the Departments of English and Language and Literacy Education, the Creative Writing Program, and the School of Library, Archival & Information Studies. The Program Chair and administrative support of the MACL program are housed at the School of Library, Archival & Information Studies.

MACL Overview

The MACL program provides specialized education for graduate students in the study of children’s and young adult literature and media using a multi-disciplinary approach. It provides each student with the opportunity to study the creative writing and publishing of this literature, to examine models of sharing its rich heritage with the young, and also to facilitate the literary, social, historic, and psychological analyses of children’s literature as literature. This multi-disciplinary approach exposes students to many schools of literary criticism, educational theory, and professional and creative practice. It acquaints students with the broad literary canon of children’s literature across a spectrum of languages and cultures, and with a variety of critical perspectives and professional application. Across various disciplines, departments, and faculties, a broad range of courses provide disciplined, academic study of children’s and young adult literature and media.

The MACL Program is the only one of its kind in the world offered from such a broad, multidisciplinary perspective and the only Master’s program in children’s literature in Canada. The program is unique in that the two faculties and the four academic units jointly provide faculty, courses, thesis supervision and committee support to give the graduate academic study of children’s literature a perspective on the full life cycle of the literature – the creation of the literature (through Creative Writing), its critical analysis (through English) and pedagogical approaches to the literature in interaction with children in schools, homes and libraries (Language and Literacy Education; School of Library, Archival & Information Studies).

Faculty in these departments are authors of both acclaimed children’s books and scholarly guides to the literature. They serve on national and international children’s book juries, lead national research studies, and have received awards for scholarship, service, and teaching.

The University Library's collections in historical and contemporary children’s books and the critical study of children’s literature are considered among the strongest such collections in an academic library in Canada, including some 4,000 early and rare children’s books and some 50,000 modern children’s books. As well, the Library maintains a large collection of research materials on children’s literature, including histories, criticisms, bibliographies, catalogues, and biographies.

Students in the MACL Program have come from China, England, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the United States, and from across Canada. The program provides specialized study of children’s books to those who are, or who intend to be, involved in teaching, school and public library services, writing, editing/publishing, theatre/film, storytelling, or affiliated fields.

The Master of Arts in Children’s Literature Program extends beyond its four departments and two faculties in a strong outreach to the community across and outside the University. Members of all departments involved in the program sit on the Steering Committee of the Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable which plans a series of annual events and conferences to bring award-winning authors, illustrators, editors and publishers such as Philip Pullman, Gregory Maguire, Shaun Tan, Katherine Paterson, and Lois Lowry to speak with students and Vancouver’s dynamic children’s literature community.

Quick Facts

- Degree: Master of Arts
- Specialization: Children's Literature
- Subject: Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
- Mode of delivery: On campus
- Program components: Coursework + Thesis required
- Faculty: Faculty of Arts
- School: School of Library, Archival and Information Studies

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About the Graduate Program

The UBC English Graduate Program, one of the most vibrant and wide-ranging in Canada, has been awarding the M.A. degree since 1919 and the PhD degree since 1962. Students may earn these degrees in each of two areas: English Literature and English Language. Indeed, the UBC English Department is one of the few departments in North America to offer a language program in addition to its literary programs.

English Language

The English Language program includes specializations in history and structure of language, discourse and genre analysis, and history and theory of rhetoric. Faculty members in the Language program teach and supervise research in descriptive linguistics, historical linguistics, cognitive linguistics, functional grammar, semantics, pragmatics, discourse analysis, stylistics, genre studies, and history and theory of rhetoric. Students in the English Literature program can take advantage of Language graduate courses; recent offerings include courses on reported speech and its rhetorical versatility across genres; the uses of classical rhetoric for contemporary critical practice; and cognitive approaches to the language of literature. By the same token, Language students can take advantage of the wide variety of Literature courses our department offers.

English Literature

The English Literature program includes specializations across the periods, genres, and major figures of British, North American and World Literature in English. Current research initiatives on the part of faculty include such diverse topics as the ecocritical study of Renaissance drama; the triumph of transport in Romantic poetry; the impact of radio and television on modernist poetics; the politics of post-identity in Asian American literature, and the role of war and its traumatic shocks in twentieth-century Canadian, U.S. and British literature. Graduate students can also choose to work across disciplinary fields, taking advantage of UBC's outstanding interdisciplinary programs in Medieval Studies, Canadian and U.S. Studies, Studies in Sexuality, and Science and Technology Studies, among others.

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M.A. Program in French

The M.A. program provides for two options. The minimum credit requirement for either option is 30.

M.A. without Thesis

1. 27 credits of course work in FREN numbered above 500, up to 6 of which may be drawn from 400-level undergraduate courses in literature or linguistics given in French.
2. French 548 (3), a Graduating Essay written in French. The length of the graduating essay should be approximately 40 pages, including the bibliography. It may be based on a paper submitted for a graduate course, but thoroughly revised and expanded.
3. A one-hour oral examination, normally conducted in the target language, based on the graduating essay and the student's overall graduate program.
4. Regular attendance in the French Research Seminar is mandatory and active participation and debate are expected.

M.A. with Thesis

1. 24 credits of course work in FREN numbered above 500, up to 6 of which may be drawn from 400-level undergraduate courses in literature or linguistics given in French.
2. French 599 (6) a Master’s Thesis written in either French or English. The length of the M.A. thesis should be approximately 80 pages including the bibliography.
3. A one-and-a-half hour oral thesis defence normally conducted in the target language.
4. Regular attendance in the French Research Seminar is mandatory and active participation and debate are expected.

M.A. candidates in French who are interested primarily in Linguistics may write a thesis on an aspect of French Linguistics and will be permitted, after consultation with the Graduate Advisor, to supplement the Linguistics courses offered in the Department itself by taking courses elsewhere at UBC (in the Department of Linguistics or the Faculty of Education, for example), or at other universities under the Western Deans' Agreement.
Only a concentration in linguistics is possible, however, and students specializing in this area will be required to take some courses in French Literature to complete their Master’s program.

Time for Completion of Program

The maximum time permitted for the completion of a Master’s Program is five years. In certain circumstances, it is possible to complete the M.A. in a twelve-month period. The maximum period of financial support for full-time study in the M.A. program is two years. The program is available to students on either a full-time or a part-time basis. There is no formal residence requirement.

Quick Facts

- Degree: Master of Arts
- Specialization: French
- Subject: Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
- Mode of delivery: On campus
- Program components: Coursework + Options
- Faculty: Faculty of Arts

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MA in Germanic Studies

Students have the opportunity to develop a comprehensive knowledge of German literary texts in their aesthetic, social, political, (inter-)cultural, and historical dimensions. They will learn how to apply a variety of critical methods and theories to the study of literary texts, refine literary sensibilities, analytical skills and conceptual abilities. The Master’s program is intended as preparation for a career in teaching and provides a possible foundation for advancement to a PhD program in Germanic Studies.

Students also have the option of proceeding directly to the PhD program after only one year of our M.A. program in Germanic Studies (without completion) if they obtain first-class marks, demonstrate advanced research potential, and if the other requirements for PhD admission, as outlined in the Academic Calendar, are met.

Master of Arts

The program of study intended as preparation for a career in teaching and/or research in German literature and provides a possible foundation for doctoral study in Germanic Studies.

As the emphasis of the M.A. is on the study of literature and literary historiography, students have the opportunity to: develop comprehensive knowledge and critical judgment of German literary history; acquire an understanding of literary texts in their aesthetic, social, political, (inter)cultural, and historical dimensions; apply a variety of critical methods and theories to the study of literary texts; and refine literary sensibilities, analytical skills, and conceptual abilities.

Program Requirements

There are two options for the M.A.:
1. The Thesis Option requires a 9-credit thesis, 9 credits of obligatory courses, and 12 credits of additional coursework excluding the extended research paper. At least 24 credits must be at the 500-level or above.
2. The Course-based Option requires 30 credits of coursework, including GERM 548. At least 24 credits must be at the 500-level or above.

Quick Facts

- Degree: Master of Arts
- Specialization: Germanic Studies
- Subject: Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
- Mode of delivery: On campus
- Program components: Coursework + Options
- Faculty: Faculty of Arts

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Program Overview

The graduate program in Hispanic Studies offers opportunities for advanced study in the literatures of Spain and Spanish America, leading to the Ph.D and to the M.A. (with or without thesis).

The UBC Library has extensive holdings in all areas of Hispanic studies, with particularly strong holdings in periodicals and Latin-American studies, in both Spanish and Portuguese. The Department has a reading room for graduate students, containing basic texts, scholarly collections, and reference works.

The program makes available a list of courses to be offered as early as possible, usually in February of the preceding academic year.

The M.A. program provides for two options. The minimum credit requirement for either option is 30.

M.A. without Thesis
1. 27 credits of course work in SPAN numbered above 500, up to 6 of which may be drawn from 400-level undergraduate courses in Spanish.
2. Spanish 548 (3), a Graduating Essay written in Spanish. The length of the graduating essay should be approximately 40 pages, including the bibliography. It may be based on a paper submitted for a graduate course, but thoroughly revised and expanded.
3. A one-hour oral examination, normally conducted in the target language, based on the graduating essay and the student’s overall graduate program.
4. Regular attendance in the Hispanic Studies Research Seminar is mandatory and active participation and debate are expected.

M.A. with Thesis
1. 24 credits of course work in SPAN numbered above 500, up to 6 of which may be drawn from 400-level undergraduate courses in Spanish.
2. Spanish 549 (6), a Master’s Thesis written in Spanish, English or French. The length of the M.A. thesis should be approximately 80 pages including the bibliography.
3. A one-and-a-half hour oral thesis defence normally conducted in the target language.
4. Regular attendance in the Hispanic Studies Research Seminar is mandatory and active participation and debate are expected.

Quick Facts

- Degree: Master of Arts
- Specialization: Hispanic Studies
- Subject: Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
- Mode of delivery: On campus
- Program components: Coursework + Options
- Faculty: Faculty of Arts

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Human Development, Learning, and Culture

The Human Development, Learning, and Culture (HDLC) program at UBC addresses the interface of research and practice in education, weaving together theoretical models and concepts in their application to real world educational issues. Investigations of learning and development, including the unique contributions of culture to these processes, are applied to a wide range of contexts including classroom, afterschool, work, and technological contexts. This work is interpreted through a variety of theoretical lenses (e.g., constructivist, cognitive, sociocultural, and social and emotional development). Students are encouraged to participate in research and teaching opportunities throughout their program.

Coursework emphasizes three primary areas: a) learning and development, b) culture and diversity, and c) research methods, including qualitative and quantitative, experimental and developmental.

Quick Facts

- Degree: Master of Arts (research-based), Master of Education (course-based)
- Specialization: Human Development, Learning, and Culture
- Subject: Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
- Mode of delivery: On campus
- Faculty: Faculty of Education

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