Postgraduate Programs in Languages, Literature and Area Studies

Masters degrees in literature

There is a great selection of postgraduate courses available to study at universities in the UK, Europe and worldwide in languages, literature and area studies – these will focus on advanced study of languages, cultures, histories and societies from specific regions or linguistic traditions. T

Students can choose to specialise in areas such as English literature, comparative literature, modern languages, linguistics, translation, cultural studies, or regional studies, such as Asian Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, African Studies or European Studies.

Masters degrees in these subjects will encourage students to develop strong critical analysis skills, research skills and communication skills, as well gain an understanding of different cultures, societies and languages

These postgraduate courses prepare graduates for careers in education, publishing, translation, international relations, media, policy, research and more.

Postgraduate programs in languages

Masters degrees in languages If you are one of life’s communicators, you may decide to hone your skills further with a postgraduate masters degree in a language (or two!). As at undergrad, universities in Europe give students the option of studying one or more languages, and in terms of choice the world is your language lab!

For example, UCL offers courses in languages as diverse as French and Hebrew, while at Uppsala University in Sweden you can study a wide variey of modern foreign languages including Albanian and Estonian. These courses demonstrates the breadth of options within the study of languages, and this variety isn’t confined to the lingos themselves.

For those who find the technical and/or scientific side of language more engaging, there are plenty of institutions that offer courses in linguistics and phonetics. As with area studies, different languages may have their own university departments, and it is unlikely that you will find all modern languages courses on the same webpage, so make sure you do your research properly.

Find postgraduate programs in LANGUAGES

Postgraduate programs in literature

Masters degrees in literature For those who love nothing more than curling up with a good book (or play!) what could be better than doing a masters degree that gives you an excuse to indulge? Whether you prefer 19th-century American literature, 16th-century Scottish literature or postmodern literature you will be spoilt for choice with the postgraduate literature courses on offer at British and European universities.

And, if you can’t make up your mind, you could consider studying comparative literature, for example the MLitt in Comparative Literature at the University of Aberdeen or an MPhil/PhD degree in Comparative Literature at the University of Glasgow.

You can also find slightly more vocational degrees in this field of study. For example, in the United Kingdom, Bath Spa University offers MA courses in Scriptwriting and Nature & Travel & Writing, while the University of East Anglia (UEA) is one of the many places where budding authors can study for a Masters in Creative Writing.

Find postgraduate programs in LITERATURE

Postgraduate programs in area studies

Never has it been a more important (or fascinating!) time to immerse yourself in the inner workings of a country or group of countries, and when it comes to masters degrees in area studies, you can pretty much take your pick of region and indeed university. We’re not just talking UK here either, Google pretty much any European university that springs to mind and you will be presented with a veritable buffet of ‘area’ courses, many of which are taught in English.

The possibilities are, if not endless, hugely multiplied! Postgraduate courses can be found for any area you can think of: Western/Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, Southeast Asia and more. Certain countries sometimes have courses all to themselves, though this depends on the university.

It is also useful to bear this wide definition of ‘area studies’ in mind when researching courses; you may find it within the Faculty of Languages in one university and the Geography Department in another, so you may have to do a bit of digging. Plus, some universities may have separate centres for various regions, which can be misleading. For example, at Leiden University in the Netherlands, the Institute for Area Studies (LIAS) only seems to include Asian Studies and Middle Eastern Studies, although on further investigation Leiden University also has masters degree programs in African Studies and European Union Studies, as well as Chinese and Dutch Studies which are taught from its Humanities department. The university also has a separate centre for Latin American Studies!

As well as the general programs that incorporate several disciplines into area studies it is also possible to specialise even further. For example, at the Freie Universität Berlin you can focus your efforts exclusively on East European Studies or English Studies. You can even study an MLitt in Viking and Medieval Nordic Studies at the University of Aberdeen or an MA in Welsh and Celtic Studies at Aberystwyth University.

Find postgraduate programs in EUROPEAN STUDIES