research master literary studies uva

• Accountancy and Control (master)
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• Engels, Educatie en communicatie (schakelprogramma)
• English Language and Culture (bachelor)
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• Exchange programme Economics and Business
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• Film Studies (master)
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• P&A: Science for Energy and Sustainability (master, joint degree)
• P&A: Theoretical Physics (master, joint degree)
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• Redacteur/editor (duale master)
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Curriculum and electives

• Honours programme The Honours programme gives you the opportunity for a broader and more in-depth study experience. Do you wish to further develop your talents? Consider joining our Honours programme.
• Internships You can do an internship as part of your studies. The internship is usually elective or extracurricular. For some degree programmes, an internship is compulsory.
• Becoming a teacher From a minor to a Master's, the UvA offers various options (in Dutch) if you're considering becoming a teacher in a primary or secondary school.
• Following an elective course External link
• Planning your courses

Literature, Culture and Society (Literary Studies)

The Master's in Literature, Culture and Society has a unique focus on the ways in which contemporary literature, culture, and society are interlinked and inform and influence each other. You can specialise in English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Scandinavian, Slavic, or Spanish studies, thus significantly enhancing your language skills as well as your expertise in literary and cultural analysis to prepare you for professions in cultural industries or education, among others. For students interested in Modern Greek literature, culture, and society, the English language specialisation programme offers the possibility to follow a course in this area.

Literature and culture from a global European perspective

The aim of the programme is for you to become an expert at analysing and querying how literature and culture respond to wider socio-political issues, and how, on the other hand, society may be affected and impacted by literary and cultural products. You will develop key skills in researching and writing about literary studies, specifically in reporting on the dynamics of the interplay and interface between literature and society. You will take courses in your target language and significantly improve your language skills while enhancing your expertise regarding a particular language region.

What characterises the Master's Literature, Culture and Society?

• You can specialise in European literature of your choice, adding depth and focus to your programme. Learn more at  Language Specialisations .
• This Master’s gives you the freedom to tailor the programme to your own interests: We offer over 50 electives in Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Scandinavian and Slavonic literatures, as well as Comparative Literature and New Greek.
• If you choose a language track for which MasterLanguage is available, you will take one module as part of your programme. Courses are organised collaboratively with other Dutch universities and are taught by invited experts, giving you access to internationally leading scholars and giving you the chance to meet students with similar research interests from other universities. Learn more at  MasterLanguage .
• The programme offers you the freedom to explore potential career paths by encouraging you to do an internship at a cultural or literary institution in Amsterdam.
• Learn more about the study programme
• Check the entry requirements

Unique focus on interplay between literature and society

Choice of a specific language track

Internship possible

Broad selection of courses and priority for MasterLanguage courses

Why study Literature, Culture and Society at the University of Amsterdam?

• The University of Amsterdam is one of the best universities in the world, usually consistently in the top 60 internationally;
• Amsterdam is an international urban hub with a lively literary culture. Drawing inspiration from our surroundings, you will benefit from our connections to and partnerships with publishers, theatres, poetry stages, museums, bookstores, and much more; 
• The Faculty has a lively programme of research seminars in which staff and students have the opportunity to give papers on their work and to meet specialists from other universities and institutions;
• Diverse cultural partners including Perdu, De Balie, Goethe Institut, Cervantes Institute, Research Centre for Material Culture/Museum of World Cultures, Spui25, Stedelijk Museum and many more.

As a graduate of the Master’s Literature, Culture and Society you will be particularly well equipped to work in professions where analysing, researching and reporting on the interface between literature and society, and on cultural issues more widely, are key assets. You will be skilled at navigating and interpreting cultures, or creating culture-based materials and projects, or in education or information services. 

Degree certificate

Literature, Culture and Society is an accredited degree programme of Literary Studies. After successful completion of this programme, you will receive a legally accredited Master’s degree in Literary Studies and the title Master of Arts (MA).

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Department of english.

• Creative Writing >
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• Graduate Faculty
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• The English Major
• Distinguished Majors
• Modern and Global Studies
• Area Program in Literary Prose Writing (APLP)
• Area Program in Poetry Writing (APPW)
• Medieval and Renaissance Studies
• The English Minor
• Minor in Public Writing and Rhetoric
• BA/MA Program
• Careers in English
• Study Abroad
• Want to Teach English?
• Admissions Procedures
• Financial Aid
• Want to teach English?
• Concentration in Teaching Literature and Writing
• PhD Requirements
• Orals Lists
• Placement Information and Help for Job Seekers

Theory & Criticism

Handelsman katz.

Search form

Department of english.

• Creative Writing >
• Writing and Rhetoric >
• Graduate Faculty
• General Faculty
• Affiliated Faculty
• Graduate Students
• Emeritus Faculty
• Publications
• The English Major
• Distinguished Majors
• Modern and Global Studies
• Area Program in Literary Prose Writing (APLP)
• Area Program in Poetry Writing (APPW)
• Medieval and Renaissance Studies
• BA/MA Program
• Careers in English
• Study Abroad
• The English Minor
• Want to Teach English?
• Admissions Procedures
• Financial Aid
• Want to teach English?
• Concentration in Teaching Literature and Writing
• Concentration in World Religions, World Literatures
• PhD Requirements
• Orals Lists
• For Job Seekers

The Graduate Program

At a time of rapid transition in the field of literary and cultural studies, we are intent upon sustaining our offerings in traditional historical periods, elaborating those in diverse world literatures, and engaging fully with the spectrum of current theoretical concerns. The University of Virginia is also widely recognized as a leader in digital humanities, an area for which much of the initiative comes from faculty and graduate students in the English department. We take pride in offering graduate study superintended by an internationally renowned faculty.

The Master of Arts  Program provides advanced training in literary studies, preparing students for either admission to Ph.D. programs or careers in a variety of fields that require intellectual ingenuity, skills in writing or research, or training in literary criticism and theory. Those who wish to pursue doctoral degrees regularly gain admission to other fine programs. Those seeking careers immediately following the MA have found jobs in secondary teaching, technology, the public sector, business, publishing, and higher education. The MA degree may be completed in three full semesters, though students opting to write an MA thesis often take a fourth semester. 

In addition to our regular MA, we offer several concentrations.  The MA in English with a Concentration in Teaching Literature and Writing is a two-year program that provides specialized training in teaching, and, in the second year, teaching opporunities and financial support (tuition, fees, one-person health insurance coverage, and a salary per course). The English Department also offers a Concentration in World Religions, World Literatures , a multidisciplinary and interdepartmental concentration that joins the study of literature and literary theory to the study of religious traditions. In cooperation with the Law School, we offer an interdisciplinary  MA in Law and Literature . Our  BA/MA program  enables selected UVa undergraduates to take graduate courses in their fourth year and go on to complete the MA degree the following year. Interested MA students may choose to earn a  certificate in Comparative Literature , a certificate in American Studies , or a Digital Humanities certificate. The MA in English is a terminal degree; UVa MA students who apply to the PhD program compete with other transfer applicants. 

The PhD program , with its coursework, exams, guided dissertation research, and training in teaching, places graduates in college and university research and teaching positions, in secondary education, and in academic administration, as well as in positions in publishing, consulting, the public sector, private foundations, and journalism—everywhere that research skills, rigorous analysis, and good writing are valued. In addition to their specialized research, interested PhDstudents may choose to earn a  certificate in Comparative Literature , a certificate in American Studies , a certificate in Gender and Sexuality Studies , a Certificate in Africana Studies, or a Digital Humanities certificate. Financial support, including health insurance and tuition remission, is awarded to all PhD students from the first through the fifth year of study, with students regularly receiving support in the sixth and seventh years of study. As part of their package, PhD students teach one course per semester in years two through four of the program.  The fifth year of study is a fully funded year dedicated entirely to writing the dissertation without teaching obligations. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences awards Dissertation Completion Fellowships to select graduate students in the sixth year. These fellowships provide stipend and tuition support and require only half-time teaching, freeing up a significant amount of time for dissertation writing. Students in the English Department have been very successful in winning these fellowships.  Beyond this, students may receive tuition remission, fees, and a salary in consideration for teaching in the sixth and seventh years. Government loans and work-study funding are also available. Students typically complete the doctoral degree in six to seven years. The English Department makes every effort to place its students and has a good record of doing so. Recent recipients of the PhD have found teaching positions at such institutions as Williams College, Illinois, Ohio Wesleyan, Harvard, Virginia Commonwealth University, Bowdoin, Clemson, Iowa, McGill, Nevada, MIT, Dartmouth, Bowling Green, New Mexico State, Penn, North Carolina, Rutgers, Fordham, Tufts, Arizona, Wake Forest, and Berkeley.

 The University library system is a resource of many dimensions. The  Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library holds a number of remarkable collections of American and British literature. Most noteworthy is the Barrett Library, one of the finest research collections in the world for American literature, including rare books and manuscripts of Cabell, Cather, Crane, Cummings, Eliot, Frost, Harte, Hawthorne, Hemingway, Holmes, Howells, James, Twain, Wharton, and Whitman. Manuscripts in the collection include  The Red Badge of Courage , the 1860  Leaves of Grass , and  The Sun Also Rises . Other collections of note include the William Faulkner Collection, the unique Sadleir-Black Collection of Gothic Novels, the Wagelin Collection of American Poetry, the Taylor Collection of American Fiction, and the Tunstall Collection of Poetry.   Alderman Library , the largest circulating library on Grounds, is an excellent research facility with a standard working collection suitable for advanced studies across the humanities.  The library's online holdings and well-staffed  Scholars' Lab  provide access to a large collection of literary works and advanced computer techniques for working with the texts.  In addition,  Clemons Library  holds an abundant collection of video material and a well-equipped media center. The Department itself is the home of three prize-winning journals:  New Literary History , an internationally respected journal of theory and interpretation;  Studies in Bibliography , the premier international journal of analytical bibliography and textual study; and  Meridian , a student-edited journal of writing.

Students with physical or learning disabilities which may require reasonable accommodation at the University should contact  Brad Holland, Coordinator of  Services for Students with Disabilities .  Information about the larger University and Charlottesville communities may be found  here .

The information contained on this website is for informational purposes only.  The Undergraduate Record and Graduate Record represent the official repository for academic program requirements. These publications may be found at  http://records.ureg.virginia.edu/index.php .