Masters Degrees in Danish Literature & Language, United Kingdom

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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Your programme of study

More and more of us want to know about how people lived in the UK and Europe, what sort of cultures existed and why these cultures were named Celtic or Anglo Saxon. Why did these people travel or move to the UK as we know it now, what other people were on the scene and how did they influence these people? We know that the Celts came to Britain 500 years ago and Anglo Saxons from 400-1066, joining the Jutes and Frisians from Demark with the language we know today in Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Wessex. The programme allows you to learn more about specific areas of the UK and their influences and folk tales plus history. If you enjoy history you will be fascinated with this discipline and subject areas.

You learn about European Celts, German invaders with Roman culture and legacy. There are in-depth insights of kingdoms, cultures, invasions and accounts of who we really are. The programme offers theories, method and languages, history and literature.

Courses listed for the programme

Semester 1

Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Research Seminar

Optional Courses

Modern Gaelic for Postgraduates

Modern Irish Language for Postgraduates

M.Litt Special Study in Language and Literature 1

Modern Gaelic for Postgraduates

M.Litt Special Study in Language and Literature

Semester 2

Celtic & Anglo- Saxon Research Seminar

Dissertation Preparation

Optional Courses

Modern Gaelic for Postgraduates

Modern Irish Language for Postgraduates

M.Litt Special Study in Language and Literature 1

Modern Gaelic for Postgraduates

M.Litt Special Study in Language and Literatures 1

Semester 3

15000 word dissertation

Why Study at Aberdeen?

• If you enjoy learning about language, history and literature the university (1495) is steeped in history and you can enjoy the museums on site
• You can enjoy activities on site whilst you study such as events, seminars and festivals relevant to your programme
• The university is multidisciplinary in subjects and many overlap in relevance to your degree with plenty of seminars you can attend
• You are taught be experts in the discipline from the Centre for Celtic and Anglo Saxon Studies and Centre for Linguistic Research

Where you study

• University of Aberdeen
• 12 Months Full Time or 24 Months Part Time
• September start

International Student Fees 2017/2018

Find out about fees:

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/international/tuition-fees-and-living-costs-287.php

*Please be advised that some programmes have different tuition fees from those listed above and that some programmes also have additional costs.

Scholarships

View all funding options on our funding database via the programme page

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/finance-funding-1599.php

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/funding/

Living in Aberdeen

Find out more about:

• Your Accommodation
• Campus Facilities
• Aberdeen City
• Student Support
• Clubs and Societies

Find out more about living in Aberdeen:

https://abdn.ac.uk/study/student-life

Living costs

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/international/finance.php

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The MA in Translation Studies aims to prepare you for the translation professions and for advanced professional or academic research. It combines practice in translating between English and one other language with education in the academic intellectual discipline of Translation Studies.

You will be introduced to the history and theory of translation and to current issues in the discipline; you will receive thorough grounding in research skills and research paradigms relevant to advanced investigations of translation processes, products, contexts and producers, so that you will be ready to enter the professions or progress to further academic study.

The programme is available for English in combination with most other languages including Arabic, Chinese, Danish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish (students with languages other than those listed are advised to enquire before applying).

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