Masters Degrees in Portuguese Literature & Language

This Graduate Diploma is ideal if you wish to familiarise yourself with and understand the rich cultural histories of Portugal and Brazil, while also improving your Portuguese and your research and study skills.

The course has been designed for those who want to refresh their knowledge of Portuguese in preparation for a Master's degree, particularly if you've taken a break from studying and need to refamiliarise yourself, or if you have a degree in a different but relevant subject area. The course will also suit international students who want to deepen their knowledge of Brazilian and Portuguese language and culture while experiencing life and study in the UK, as well as teachers who want to refresh and deepen their knowledge, but who do not necessarily want to undertake a full MA quite yet.

This programme will develop your Portuguese language skills, enabling you to communicate fluently and accurately with native speakers in both informal and professional contexts. It will also develop your ability to critically analyse Portuguese and Brazilian language, linguistics and culture, including art, film, history, literature and urban studies. You will learn the latest theoretical approaches to cultural critique and explore a wide range of cultural forms within their social and historical contexts.

Why study this course at Birkbeck?

Arts and humanities courses at Birkbeck are ranked third best in London and 11th in the UK in the Times Higher Education 2015-16 World University Subject Rankings.
Provides a 1-year qualification in Portuguese language and the cultural histories of Portugal and Brazil.

Enables you to improve your Portuguese language skills and increase your knowledge of Portuguese and Brazilian culture, while also developing the study and research skills you need for Master's-level study.
Ideal for international students who wish to study in the UK for a year and also for teachers who want to deepen their knowledge of Brazilian and Portuguese language and culture.

Designed for students who require further training to progress to an MA programme, such as Birkbeck's MA/MRes Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Cultural Studies.
You will be studying with a wide variety of students from all over the world and taught by world-class researchers.

Birkbeck is at the heart of a global capital city that is full of opportunities for those wishing to hear and speak Portuguese.

Our flexible evening study allows you to achieve your educational goals alongside your professional and personal ones.

Our School of Arts is in the top 5 in the country. Our Department of Cultures and Languages brings together research and teaching in French, German, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish, making it an outstanding interdisciplinary department.
Ours is a community of scholars with shared interests in interdisciplinary topics and cross-cultural research. Our affiliated research centres, The Centre for Iberian and Latin American Visual Studies (CILAVS) and the Birkbeck Research in Aesthetics of Kinship and Community (BRAKC), provides important platforms for this exchange.

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This Master's degree offers you an opportunity to engage critically with the study of comparative literature. The primary focus is on English-, French-, German-, Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking cultures, and while we welcome students able to work in these and other languages, you may work exclusively through the medium of English.

Students with a particular interest in French or German culture and/or with high-level French or German language skills are encouraged to apply, as it is possible to take a French or German pathway through the programme.

You will have the opportunity to develop your understanding of key critical concepts associated with the comparative study of literature and cultures, such as literary history and the canon, genre, theme, influence, intertextuality and translation across genres and media. You will gain practical experience of working with these concepts in your reading of texts. You will also be given a grounding in twentieth- and twenty-first-century literary theory, exploring its development in a cross-cultural context and investigating how it can change the way we read texts and the cultures that produced them.

Why study this course at Birkbeck?

Arts and humanities courses at Birkbeck are ranked third best in London and 11th in the UK in the Times Higher Education 2015-16 World University Subject Rankings.
Explore literature from a comparative perspective and in the context of other cultural forms.
Examine the ways in which literary and cultural theories can change how we read cultures and the texts they produce.
Follow a pathway in French and/or German culture and language, if this is your specialist interest.
Courses taught in English by subject specialists from a variety of language areas.
Ideal if you wish to embark on doctoral research, further your career prospects (particularly in arts-related fields), or build on a personal interest.
You will have access to outstanding specialist libraries, including the collection of the Institute of Modern Languages Research at Senate House.
The departments involved in teaching this programme run a series of research events for both their taught and research postgraduates.

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The Portuguese MLitt comprises taught and research-based elements, allowing you to focus in depth on one aspect of Portuguese studies. Topics available include: linguistics, culture, history and politics of Latin America, the Spanish novel and Latin American film.

The School of Modern Languages research staff work in a diverse range of fields from sociocultural, historical and political studies, to film and literature, linguistics and sociolinguistics. We offer expert supervision in the following areas:
-Anthropology, anthropological linguistics and sociolinguistics of Latin America, including Quechua language (Prof Howard)
semantics, philosophy of language, history and spread of Spanish in Latin America, Latin American dialects and Creole (Prof Mackenzie)
-Political, social and intellectual history of Latin America in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially Brazil and Southern Cone (Prof Hentschke)
-History of education in Latin America in 19th and 20th century Latin America (Prof Hentschke, Dr Oliart, Prof Howard)
-Discourses of race and identity in Latin America (Prof Howard, Dr Oliart, Dr Morgan)
-Latin American film, literature and theatre (Dr Page)
-Spanish and Latin American cultural history and popular culture (Dr Catala Carracso, Dr Morgan, Dr Oliart, Dr Fernández)
-Catalan nationalism (Dr Catala-Carrasco)
-Spanish novel (Dr Catala Carrasco)

You will normally work on a research project which comprises two to four research assignments and a longer dissertation. Your supervisor will be an expert in your chosen field and you will receive support if necessary from an experienced research supervisor. The course is well suited as preparation for PhD research.

The School has strong links with interdisciplinary research centres and groups, including:
-Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
-Centre for Research in Linguistics and Language Sciences
-Research Centre in Film and Digital Media
-Gender Research Group
-Medieval and Early Modern Studies
-Postcolonial Research Group

You will also have the opportunity to attend festivals and conferences with a direct bearing on your course:
-Talking to the World Conference
-VAMOS festival

As a student in the School of Modern Languages, you will benefit from the Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) Faculty research training programme. You will choose these research modules in consultation with your supervisors.

Up to £250 per year is available to support your attendance at conferences or for archival research. You can also request an inter-library loan allowance.

Delivery

This programme is delivered by the School of Modern Languages, with the possibility of joint supervision with other schools. You will mainly be based in Newcastle's city-centre campus. Attendance is flexible and agreed between you and your supervisors depending on the requirements of the research project.

Full-time students are expected to undertake 40 hours of work per week with an annual holiday entitlement of 35 days (including statutory and bank holidays). Part-time study requires a commitment of at least 20 hours per week.

The MLitt incorporates a formal research training component where you will develop your research skills and methodologies (20 credits).

You also complete a portfolio of essays chosen in consultation with your supervisors according to your interests and experience (80 credits). You then undertake a dissertation of 16,000–24,000 words consisting of a sustained piece of original research (80 credits).

Study consists mainly of tutorials and independent learning supported by research training. Supervisors will advise you on how to develop your research proposals

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This degree offers the possibility of following advanced study in the histories of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American cultures in the light of contemporary theoretical developments in the fields of literature, cultural studies, cultural geography, film and the history of art and media. You may specialise in either Spain and Portugal or Latin America, as well as in different historical periods and media, or combine interests.

Birkbeck is a world-renowned centre of Iberian and Latin American Studies. Our work is distinguished by its innovative character, its engagement with other disciplines and its challenge to received ideas. We are committed to a continual rethinking of the fields we research and the subjects we teach, creatively and critically.

We are also known for our unique student population, including a high number of Spanish and Latin American undergraduates and postgraduates. This brings a particular richness and variety of experience and knowledge to our courses and seminars.

Our international staff specialise in diverse aspects of cultural history and critique, with a strong emphasis not only on the literary and linguistic but also the audiovisual expression of Latin America and the Iberian peninsula past and present.

Why study this course at Birkbeck?

Can be taken as a first step to doctoral research, to enhance your career prospects or simply for interest.
Our School of Arts is one of the best centres of Iberian and Latin American studies in the country.
Our work is distinguished by its innovative character, its engagement with other disciplines and its challenge to received ideas.
The department hosts the Centre for Iberian and Latin American Visual Studies (CILAVS), offering a unique environment in which to undertake collaborative, cross-disciplinary and comparative research on visual subjects in the Hispanic and Lusophone world, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The School has achieved notable success in obtaining external funding for research. In addition we have an excellent team of research students (just over 20 at present), several of whom attend MA modules out of interest, ensuring a high level of intellectual discussion and allowing you to benefit from being part of a lively postgraduate community. You are in turn welcome to attend Research Seminars and the Postgraduate Conference, as well as all talks and conferences organised by the Centre for Iberian and Latin American Visual Studies (CILAVS). As about a third of our students come from Spain, Portugal or Latin America, you also have easy access to native speakers of Spanish and Portuguese, socially as well as academically.
Postgraduate research seminars are held throughout the year, offering a stimulating forum for discussion among our research students, MA/MRes students, staff and invited speakers.
We offer a lively student experience, as well as student support and facilities.

Our research

Birkbeck is one of the world’s leading research-intensive institutions. Our cutting-edge scholarship informs public policy, achieves scientific advances, supports the economy, promotes culture and the arts, and makes a positive difference to society.

Birkbeck’s research excellence was confirmed in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, which placed Birkbeck 30th in the UK for research, with 73% of our research rated world-leading or internationally excellent.

In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), Modern Languages and Linguistics achieved 100% for a research environment conducive to producing research of the highest quality, while 73% of our research was recognised as world-leading or internationally excellent.

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This course studies literature, language, history and culture from medieval times to the present and covers Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Lusophone Africa and Latin America.

It will help you to deepen and broaden your understanding of the Hispanic & Lusophone world, while providing the opportunity to concentrate on a disciplinary or country-specific focus of interest.

Key benefits

• Unrivalled range of modules taught by specialists in literary, cultural and historical studies, film and visual arts.
• Guided country-specific or disciplinary focuses of study. Opportunity to personalise your studies for breadth or target particular interests in a period, topic, or area.
• Excellent opportunities for both taught and research modules. Hone your advanced research skills in small classes and a dissertation module.
• Excellent seminar and lecture series that attracts national and international speakers and allows students access to state-of-the-art thinking in the subject areas. Get actively involved in departmental events and Humanities Research Centres that attract national and international speakers.
• Located in the heart of London and with modern study and social spaces that create a vibrant and supportive environment for students and academic staff.
• Enhanced career prospects in a wide range of fields: cultural industries, teaching, academia and business.

Description

Studying with our expert staff and undertaking supervised research will develop your understanding of the problems and debates which have arisen in the field of Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies both through classroom-led curriculum-based study and supervised research. OUr course provides a rigorous but innovative framework within which students can pursue your personal interests. You will be given training in theoretical concepts and in research skills in order to equip you with the tools to undertake research in your chosen area. This course is ideal if you wish to deepen and develop your knowledge in this field and gain research training and experience.

Course purpose

For graduates wishing to deepen and develop their knowledge of the field of Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies and gain research training and experience. This MA enables students to follow their interests and meet their personal needs while at the same time constituting an intellectually coherent approach which can be pursued at an advanced level.

Course format and assessment

You must successfully complete modules equivalent to a total of 180 credits. Students take up to 6 modules (120 credits) and complete a compulsory dissertation (60 credits). Modules are taught in weekly two-hour sessions; modules are assessed by coursework.

Career prospects

Many of our students have used the research and academic skills they developed over our course to pursue further research in our Department. However, others have also gone on to excel in a diverse range of careers such as teaching, journalism, cultural management and the financial sector.

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This degree offers the possibility of following advanced study in the histories of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American cultures in the light of contemporary theoretical developments in the fields of literature, cultural studies, cultural geography, film and the history of art and media. You may specialise in either Spain and Portugal or Latin America, as well as in different historical periods and media, or combine interests.

Birkbeck is a world-renowned centre of Iberian and Latin American Studies. Our work is distinguished by its innovative character, its engagement with other disciplines and its challenge to received ideas. We are committed to a continual rethinking of the fields we research and the subjects we teach, creatively and critically.

We are also known for our unique student population, including a high number of Spanish and Latin American undergraduates and postgraduates. This brings a particular richness and variety of experience and knowledge to our courses and seminars.

Our international staff specialise in diverse aspects of cultural history and critique, with a strong emphasis not only on the literary and linguistic but also the audiovisual expression of Latin America and the Iberian peninsula past and present.

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This programme allows you to explore the cultures of the variety of language-speaking areas in which we specialise - French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Brazilian Studies and Spanish and Latin American Studies - and it also gives you a thorough grounding in comparative literature and cultural studies in the context of modern languages. You can choose whether you want your focus to be broadly comparative or whether you wish to engage with one or more specific language-speaking areas.

The programme brings together the specialisms of our teaching team who are experts in a variety of different areas: cultural studies, visual studies, linguistics, comparative literature and cultures, history and thought. We will help you steer a pathway through the programme that reflects your specific interests and knowledge of the languages of those areas on which we focus. You will be able to choose whether you study texts in the original language(s) or in English translation; if you work in the original language(s) this will be reflected in the final degree title.

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The MA in Portuguese and Lusophone Studies by Research allows students to pursue postgraduate studies in a broad range of areas of Portuguese and Lusophone Studies.

The Department is a vibrant, international community and postgraduate students are fully integrated into our dynamic research environment. They are invited to participate in numerous international collaborative ventures with our partners in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, Portugal and Spain, as well as with universities across the rest of Europe and in North America.

We also have close links with other research groupings in the University, including the Centre for the Study of Post-Conflict Cultures which offer exciting opportunities for interdisciplinary studies.


Course structure and support

The programme, which can be completed over one year full-time or two years part-time, comprises guided reading and supervisions with an appropriate member of staff leading to a 30,000-word dissertation. The guided reading may be conducted in conjunction with other modern languages and humanities departments. Students receive training in research methodology and presentation skills including library, archival, bibliographical and word-processing skills. They also have the opportunity to present their work at the postgraduate Work in Progress Seminar, a supportive and constructive forum for discussing on-going research, and are invited to attend a range of research–related activities including the Departmental Research Seminars and international colloquia.

Assessment

Students submit a 30,000-word dissertation at the end of the programme.

Entry requirements

Those whose first language is not English must achieve an overall score on the British Council IELTS test of at least 7.0 with no less than 6.0 in each element, or a TOEFL score of 600 (250 for computer based tests) with a TWE of at least 4.5, or a TOEFL iBT score of 100 (with no less than 19 in any element). Test results should be no more than two years old.

Careers

The programme is ideal preparation for Further studies at doctoral level and many of our students have secured academic appointments and established successful academic careers both in the UK and internationally. Others have gone on to work in teaching and related areas.

Funding

The School of Modern Languages and Cultures awards a number of Studentships (fees and maintenance at home/EU rates), fee-waivers and smaller bursaries for postgraduate study at Nottingham. All studentships and bursaries are competitive and are awarded on academic merit. To be eligible to apply for an award, you must have been offered and have accepted a place to undertake a programme of study/research on one of the degrees within the School of Modern Languages and Cultures.

If you are applying from overseas you should consult the funding database via the International Office webpage for details of any specific schemes for which you may be eligible to apply at http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/international.

Both full-time and part-time students may apply. If you wish to study part-time you may apply to the University of Nottingham for a Revis Grant, which, if awarded, covers approximately a third of the cost of tuition fees: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/student-support/revis.htm.

Applications

Candidates are encouraged to apply online at https://pgapps.nottingham.ac.uk

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