The French and Francophone Studies pathway of the MA in Language, Culture and History aims to encourage innovative approaches to issues in the field, as well as to sharpen students' creative and critical responses.
The programme provides a thorough understanding of key methods and issues in textual criticism, and of aspects of French and francophone culture, within a broadly interdisciplinary focus. The modules are designed to offer exciting critical engagement with topical issues currently being addressed in French and francophone studies and modern language studies more widely, such as text and theory, text and image, historiography, trauma, creativity and post-colonial theory.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme offers two pathways: taught and research. Taught: one core cross-language module (30 credits), three optional modules (90 credits), and a dissertation (60 credits). Research: one core cross-language module (30 credits), two taught modules (60 credits), and a research 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
Optional modules
Students take a choice of optional modules on topics such as the following:
Dissertation/report
All students undertake an independent research project related to the broad area of French and Francophone Studies, which culminates in a dissertation of 12,000 words, for the taught pathway and 18,000 words for the research pathway.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars and tutorials. French-specific translation modules are assessed by take-home examinations. Other modules are mainly assessed by essays.
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: Language, Culture and History: French and Francophone Studies MA
The programme provides an excellent foundation for further doctoral study in the field. Graduates of the department have entered a wide range of professions including finance, commerce, journalism, education, the media, public relations, translation and interpreting, and the police.
UCL has a renowned tradition in both teaching and research in French, dating back to its foundation in 1826 and continuing to the present day. UCL is at the leading-edge of current debate in French, which involves challenging the boundaries of French studies and contributing to its remapping. Students are taught by nationally and internationally renowned experts in their fields.
There is a thriving research culture in the school: students can attend and participate in an extensive programme of seminars. Students also have access to conferences held at the Institute of Modern Language Research and are welcome to participate in its graduate forum.
The department has excellent research facilities, including an extensive library of films on DVD.
The Research Excellence Framework, or REF, is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The 2014 REF was carried out by the UK's higher education funding bodies, and the results used to allocate research funding from 2015/16.
The following REF score was awarded to the department: School of European Languages, Culture & Society
74% rated 4* (‘world-leading’) or 3* (‘internationally excellent’)
Learn more about the scope of UCL's research, and browse case studies, on our Research Impact website.
Over the centuries French writers, philosophers and artists have shaped our ideas of freedom, citizenship and the good life, challenged our views of society, identity and cultural memory, and blazed trails of artistic expression in painting, cinema and literature. This is reflected in the interdisciplinary scope of our French studies, making Royal Holloway an ideal place to study for a postgraduate degree in French.
This degree enables you to independently explore your area of interest in real depth, it can also provide you with the chance to test or try out an area of study in preparation for doctoral study. Whilst you will be working independently, you won’t be alone, you will receive specialist one-to-one tuition throughout your degree. You will work closely with your specialist supervisor, or supervisors, to develop a clearly defined research topic and complete a 30,000-40,000 word dissertation.
You will be part of our research-led environment in which academic staff are working at the frontiers of their subjects. The breadth of our teaching and research expertise means that we are able to provide the latest thinking, expert support and intellectual challenges. Our cutting-edge work ranges from the medieval to the 21st century and spans literature, cinema, thought and the visual arts. Current research in French is concerned with subjects such as the representation of the body, consumerism, disability, food, the Holocaust and globalisation. Other focal points for our work include cultural memory and marginality, gender and spectatorship, philosophy and ethics, the postcolonial and the transnational, and critical theory and post-theory. Our academics would be pleased to hear from anyone interested in postgraduate research in their areas of expertise.
In addition to your dissertation you will undertake a taught course designed to equip you with an array of theoretical and historical approaches to the study of literature, art and culture. This will enable you to articulate, refine and persistently test your own approach to your chosen topic within this broader theoretical and methodological framework. You will also have access to skills training and enjoy the additional support of a dedicated Research Advisor.
Theories of Literature and Visual Culture is assessed by an essay and presentation. The dissertation is examined by a Visiting Examiner and includes a viva voce.
On graduation you will have a proven ability to undertake focused research, improved your written and oral presentation skills, and honed skills in critical analysis. In addition, you will have an understanding and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights in literature, film, cultural studies or the visual arts. All of the these skills will be appealing to employers and enable you to pursue your chosen career. Alternatively, you will also be in a strong position to continue onto doctoral study, having demonstrated that you have the self direction, originality and initiative required.
In recent years a number of our Modern Languages, Literature and Culture postgraduates have gone on to successful academic careers both in Britain and internationally in the fields of modern languages, critical theory and film.
Postgraduates have also embarked upon many interesting and successful careers outside academia – in the UK, continental Europe and the United States – including journalism at The Independent, work for NGOs, trade sales, publishing, professional translating, teaching, opera direction, museum curatorship, creative arts, and librarianship.
Studying our French Literature & Culture MA means joining a lively and welcoming French department and dipping into London’s unparalleled cultural and intellectual life, including its collections of French art and its French film festival, plus other connected events. The course offers research methodology and critical theory as a core component, with a wide choice of options ranging from Medieval Occitan to Contemporary French Women’s Writing.
Leads to careers in universities, the media, arts, teaching, journalism and many other sectors.
This French Literature & Culture MA centres on a module in literary and critical theory. Our optional modules, which reflect the research interests and expertise of our staff, range from the Middle Ages to the present day, including modern French thought and Francophone literature. This gives the course a unique depth and range and offers you the opportunity to explore a variety of interests. You will also have the opportunity to take our innovative modules in advanced French language studies (subject to availability) as well as modules from other courses to provide a rich and diverse course, tailored to your own interests and needs. If you are looking to further your knowledge of French literature and culture and/or to prepare for research, this course is ideally suited for you.
For students seeking to further their knowledge of French literature and culture and/or to prepare for research.
Teaching
If you are a full-time student, we will provide six hours of teaching each week through lectures and seminars. We will expect you to undertake 34 hours of independent study.
If you are a part-time student, we will provide two to four hours of teaching each week through lectures and seminars, and we will expect you to undertake 16 to 18 hours of independent study.
For your dissertation we will organise a workshop and provide you with four hours of supervision.
Typically, one credit equates to 10 hours of work.
Assessment
We will assess you through a mixture of coursework and occasionally exams. Your coursework will normally consist of a 5,000-word essay per module (two for the required module Research Methodology). We will assess your dissertation module through an oral presentation and a 12,000-word essay.
Regulating body
King’s College London is regulated by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
This course is an opportunity to develop your understanding of particular aspects of French language, literature and culture while enhancing your research and critical skills. It’s designed for students who see an MA as an end in itself, as well as those who want to prepare for a PhD.
All students take a core module, which is updated each year. This year students are examining writings by key French and francophone intellectuals including Cixous, Deleuze, Foucault and Glissant alongside texts from the eighteenth century onwards, to examine issues such as consumer culture, gender and race, and problems of identity and power.
You also have the option to take a shorter course and qualify with a postgraduate diploma or certificate. Please contact us for further information.
Your knowledge and skills will be useful in all kinds of careers. Our graduates work all over the world in academic research, teaching, government and cultural organisations.
An inspiring environment
We organise seminars, contribute to national and international conferences, and exchange expertise with other universities in the Worldwide Universities Network.
We specialise in film, visual cultures and performance, literary text, sociology, cultural history and politics, and gender studies. We teach and research subjects including poetry, contemporary art, classical music, cartoons, feminism, the French Revolution and postcolonial France.
We’re leaders in humanities knowledge transfer and the development of digital resources. We’ve been awarded funding to create a database of French film stars, electronic editions of old French romances and the Chronicles of Froissart, and an online archive relating to André Gide.
Our new building has dedicated study areas for postgraduate students and a café where you can relax and catch up with friends. The nearby Humanities Research Institute hosts seminars, workshops and conferences. The Information Commons and Western Bank Library are also close, giving you easy access to research collections.
Students can also choose from a selection of modules run by other departments.
If you’re offered a place, you can apply for faculty awards or the White Rose College of Arts and Humanities (WRCoAH) scholarships. The department’s Marjorie Shaw bursaries are also available to MA students.
We teach in English and French, as appropriate. Assessment is by coursework (including essays, translations and analytical exercises) and projects or a dissertation.
We offer supervision for the PhD, MPhil and MSc by Research degrees in most areas of French cultural studies.
The PhD and MPhil degrees allow you to pursue a research topic in depth and produce a substantial thesis.
The MSc by Research programme is designed to enable students who have taken a first degree in French to specialise in an aspect of French literature or culture which interests them, while acquiring core skills in theories and methods of study applicable to their topic.
Students spend the first half of the degree programme doing preliminary research and writing two essays on their chosen field of study, while following a taught course according to their specialisation. They then write a dissertation, on a topic agreed with their supervisor.
French at the University of Edinburgh has enjoyed a consistently excellent record in research and publications, confirmed in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise, which ranked 55% of our research as world leading or internationally excellent.
Language, to us, is inseparable from culture. As such, we encourage you to think broadly and explore the implications of language in a wider perspective. Our research expertise covers a wide range of areas including:
All research students follow a core course in Theory and Methods of Literary Study plus a course of research training, which includes bibliographic skills, project development and dissertation and thesis writing. You will participate in regular research seminars run by French, Film Studies, European Theatre and Translation Studies.
As a member of our dynamic and enterprising postgraduate research community, you will have access to a comprehensive range of resources, including world-class libraries (the National Library of Scotland holds one of the best French collections in the UK), membership of the Institut Français d’Ecosse, and access to a number of specialised facilities, such as the Centre de Recherches Francophones Belges which hosts a regular programme of talks and conferences.
