Masters Degrees in Swedish Literature & Language

UCL's Scandinavian Studies MA offers an intellectually exciting and flexible range of options focusing on Nordic culture in a global context. No prior knowledge of a Nordic language is required, though students can opt to consolidate their language or translation skills, or to start Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian or Swedish from scratch.

Degree information

Option modules include advanced translation skills, Nordic cinema, Nordic literature in global perspective, the transnational politics of the region, and material cultures as well as modules on Viking and medieval Scandinavia. Assessed modules are supplemented with workshops and a summer school providing opportunities for networking and career development in publishing, translation, filmmaking, and the heritage and creative sectors.

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 taught 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:
-Advanced Scandinavian Translation
-Nordic Cinema: Contextualising Dreyer, Bergman and Dogme 95
-Introduction to Old Norse
-Crime and Small Communities in Nordic Literature
-Advanced Old Icelandic Literature
-Sources for the Viking Age

Dissertation/report
All students undertake an independent research project which culminates in a substantial dissertation.

Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through a combination of seminars, lectures and reading and language classes. Student performance is assessed through written examination, coursework, and the dissertation.

Careers

An MA in Scandinavian Studies offers prospects for employment in the private as well as in the public sector, whether in Scandinavia or in the English-speaking world. Former graduate students in the department are to be found in a range of challenging careers, which include work in IT and management, museums and university teaching.

Employability
In the UK and abroad, the Nordic countries are increasingly recognised for the success of their political and social model, and for their film, literature, food and design. Our MA graduates bring their deep understanding of Scandinavian culture to careers in which knowledge of the region is key: publishing, the arts, commerce and information management. Expertise in Nordic languages is rare in the UK, and employer demand is accordingly high. Our MA allows students to hone their Nordic language skills or to try a new language. Many of our graduates launch careers with translation companies and as freelancers.

Why study this degree at UCL?

UCL Scandinavian Studies is the largest independent Scandinavian department in the UK. Our research and teaching encompasses the languages, literatures, cultures, histories and politics of the entire Nordic region, ranging from the Viking Middle Ages to the present day.

Facilities are excellent: UCL boasts possibly the best Scandinavian Studies library outside Scandinavia, and students also have the outstanding collections of the British Library close at hand. Excellent links with universities in mainland Scandinavia, Iceland and Finland provide further benefits.

The department is home to the Viking Society for Northern Research, a leading publisher of Old Norse texts and monographs on medieval Scandinavia.

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Research profile

As one of the few centres for the study of modern Scandinavian languages in the UK, we offer a programme that can cater to a wide range of research interests, covering all Scandinavian countries.

Our academic staff are able to offer supervision on a broad variety of subjects, including:

• 19th and 20th century literature
• cultural relations and transfer
• language history and dialectology
• literary translation
• onomastics
• place and identity
• Scottish–Scandinavian historical relations

In addition, you have the opportunity to undertake interdisciplinary research in areas such as comparative literature, film studies, translation studies, cultural studies and Scottish studies.

Thanks to our place in the diverse School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures, we are also able to cater for interdisciplinary research programmes.

Training and support

In order to encourage immersion in your research, we celebrate the major Scandinavian festivals, screen regular films and generally make the atmosphere as Scandinavian as possible. We are fortunate in being able to attract many Scandinavian visitors and speakers, including prominent authors and academics.

We encourage you to participate in our very active social and cultural life. We collaborate closely with the many Scandinavian bodies active in Edinburgh, such as the Danish Cultural Institute, the Norwegian Consulate General, the Scottish-Swedish Society and the Scottish-Finnish Society.

In addition, we have a partnership with the Georg Brandes International PhD School for Scandinavian Literature, Art and Linguistics, which is affiliated to the Department of Scandinavian Studies and Linguistics at the University of Copenhagen. This collaboration provides funding for our staff and students to attend and contribute to international workshops and seminars at the University of Copenhagen.

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Literature is produced in a market, in an economic as well as in a figurative sense - a marketplace in which points of view and values are negotiated and reflected upon.

The Master's profile European Literatures and Cultures examines this cultural process of production and reflection, and how literature functions in society.

As a continuation of your bachelor degree you specialise in English, French, Frisian, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish or Swedish literature and choose one of the three following pathways:
- Literature as Market
- The Uses of Literature
- Material Culture.

Why in Groningen?

- English, German, French, Frisian, Italian, Russian, Spanish or Swedish literature
- New, modern and unique programme with focus on Media, Markets and Communication
- Attractive specializations in: Literature as Market, the Uses of Literature, Material Culture

Job perspectives

The programme aims to provide you with academic skills and approaches that will prepare you to operate as a cultural expert in wherever texts are involved: in the private sphere, in the media, in institutions and networks. You learn to analyse these processes and functions, to solve problems and to communicate about them clearly and with flair.

Job examples

- Book editing and publishing
- Cultural functions
- Journalism
- Translation

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This one-year Master's programme focuses on foreign language teaching. It offers theoretical insights to help assess language-teaching methods and applied linguistics research. You will study the process of learning and the use of second languages. The programme allows you to focus your research on your language of choice, for instance Dutch as a second language, but also French, German, Swedish, Chinese, or any other language.
You will approach second language acquisition from many different angles, including psychology, social interaction and language teaching. You will be introduced to the field of linguistics, language acquisition and language teaching theory.
The program focuses especially on Dynamic System Theory, which explains how cultural differences become bodily differences. You will learn about the social, cultural and political processes that play a role in using a language or that may cause the use of a second language to decline. You will explore didactic applications of recent research and theoretical developments, and learn about computer assisted language learning.

Why in Groningen?

The MA Applied Linguistics at the University of Groningen is a unique programme focussing on the processes involved in second language learning, as well as teaching theories. The programme encompasses various fields of study, as learning and using a second language may be approached from many different angles. Students will explore and discuss the factors that relate to second language development, including cognition, psychology, social interaction, language teaching, and culture.

In addition to theoretical and teaching paradigms, students will also take classes in the research practices and methodology essential for conducting applied linguistics studies and research. These classes will act as the foundation from which students will be able to conduct their own applied linguistics research in the form of the MA thesis in Semester 2.The MA Applied Linguistics is a truly international programme, welcoming students from all over the world. The classes are taught entirely in English, and students are encouraged to use their own language experiences as the basis for their individual linguistic enquiries and research.Our degree programme is small, which means that students benefit from small, intimate classes and close collaborative relationships with the other students as well as instructors.

Job perspectives

After completing this programme, you can pursue a career in research, or set up language teaching projects. You are also equipped to take positions on the European level that deal with issues of language policy.

Job examples

- Linguist (L2)
- language research
- language education
- language policy
- language testing
- curriculum development
- publishing

Research in Applied Linguistics focuses on the process of learning and using a second language. It covers various fields of study because learning and using a second language can be approached from many different angles, including cognition, psychology, social interaction, language teaching and culture.

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The master's programme trains students to be cultural mediators (translators, administrators, editors, etc.) by providing knowledge and skills in a modern or classical language and culture. Students choose one of the following specialities: 1) Classical philology 2) English language and literature 3) French language and literature 4) German language and literature 5) Russian and Slavic philology 6) Scandinavian languages and literature 7) Spanish language and literature

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