MA Comparative Literatures and Cultures

University of Bristol

This degree is designed to give you an exciting exploration of literary and cultural products and critical issues that span national and linguistic borders as well as time periods. You will become acquainted with the theory and practice of comparative literary and cultural studies, consider how concepts of national cultures cross borders and media forms, and interact with ideas of the transnational and intermedial. You will gain a thorough grounding in literary, cultural and intermedial theories; critical reading and research skills; and put this theoretical knowledge into practice by studying topics and themes that span disciplines, national contexts and time periods. You could choose to follow a 'literature', 'visual culture', 'history' pathway, or a mixture of such components, according to your interest, by selecting from different optional units taught by internationally recognised scholars in a wide range of disciplines covered by the School of Modern Languages and other schools and departments within the faculty. While knowledge of a foreign language is not a requirement for this programme, you will have the opportunity to learn a language at a variety of levels, from beginner to advanced, and to engage directly with material in foreign languages throughout the MA. The programme culminates in a dissertation – an extended piece of original academic research. As a postgraduate, you will be considered a full member of the academic community, with the opportunity to participate in the many research seminars and conferences taking place within the Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences.