Modern Languages

DPhil and MLitt in Medieval and Modern Languages

Course Code | 000850 

In the 2008 RAE exercise, Oxford French and German were ranked top in the UK, with other languages very near the top. The Faculty groups a large number of research-active staff with an exceptionally wide range of interests. We are therefore able to offer supervision in most fields, covering not only modern and contemporary literature in each language, but medieval and early modern literature as well.

Areas of particular strength include:

• Enlightenment studies
  
• Women’s writing and gender studies
  
• Life writing
  
• Walter Benjamin and Modernism
  
• Dante studies
  
• The Spanish Golden Age
  
• Latin American (including Brazilian) studies
  
• Russian cultural studies

MPhil in Modern Languages

Course Code | 003735

This course is designed to allow those who already have a high level of attainment in a foreign language and have studied literature to degree level to undertake advanced work in one or two literatures, working in Medieval Studies, Renaissance Studies, or Modern Literary Studies. Students will be required to take three Special Subjects, and submit a dissertation of not more than 25,000 words. The course also offers the opportunity to follow a seminar series on Methods of Criticism and Theory of Literature; or, if you have chosen either Medieval or Renaissance Studies, to acquire skills in the study of literary manuscripts or early books.

• Length of programme: Twenty-one months

MPhil in Celtic Studies

Course Code | 000450 

This course is designed to offer a wide range of subjects, including Archaeology, Art, History and Law in addition to Language and Literature, with the opportunity to concentrate on the study of aspects of the history and culture of Celtic peoples from antiquity to the present day. The subjects taught are in four groups:
(a)     Historical and Comparative Celtic Linguistics
(b)     Irish Literature up to the Cromwellian Wars
(c)     Welsh Literature up to the Reformation
(d)     Special Subjects
Students are required to submit a dissertation of 20,000 words and three other papers.

• Length of programme: Twenty-one months

MPhil in Slavonic Studies

Course Code | 001190 

This course is designed to help those who already possess a good knowledge of Russian or another Slavonic language to acquire grounding in areas of Slavonic Studies which were not part of their first degree course, as a preparation for advanced research in this field. All candidates study at least one Slavonic language which they have not previously studied to degree standard. They also take up to four other subjects chosen from a wide range of philological, literary and historical options, and at least one paper in research methods such as palaeography, textual criticism and methods of literary criticism.

• Length of programme: Twenty-one months
  

MSt in Modern Languages

Course Code | 003725

The MSt is suitable both for candidates wishing to proceed to a research degree and for those who wish to spend only one year at Oxford. The degree has three components:
(i)     Special Subjects
(ii)     A theoretical or methodological component
(iii)     A dissertation
For students wishing to proceed to a research degree, the MSt will allow students to work towards the identification of a precise thesis subject and to gather research materials. This degree is also suitable for candidates who do not wish to proceed to a research degree as it enables students to build upon their undergraduate studies and acquire some knowledge of literary theory.

• Length of programme: Nine months
  

MSt in Celtic Studies

Course Code | 000460

This course is designed to offer a wide range of subjects, including Archaeology, Art, History and Law in addition to Language and Literature, with the opportunity to concentrate on the study of aspects of the history and culture of Celtic peoples from antiquity to the present day. The subjects taught are in four groups:
(a)     Historical and Comparative Celtic Linguistics
(b)     Irish Literature up to the Cromwellian Wars
(c)     Welsh Literature up to the Reformation
(d)     Special Subjects
Students are required to submit a dissertation of 8,000–10,000 words and two other papers.

• Length of programme: Nine months

MSt in Slavonic Studies

Course Code | 001200 

This course is designed to introduce students who already possess a good knowledge of Russian or another Slavonic language to areas of Slavonic Studies which were not part of their first degree course. The examination consists of four papers: a paper in translation from unseen texts in a Slavonic language which the candidate has not already studied to degree standard, and three other papers selected from a wide range of philological, literary and historical subjects.

• Length of programme: Nine months
  

MSt in Yiddish Studies

Course Guide | 001290 

This MSt is designed to enhance the linguistic proficiency, academic competence, and cultural literacy of aspiring scholars, instructors, and educators in the field of Yiddish language and literature. The course offers a variety of subjects central to the history and linguistic and socio-cultural fabric of pre-modern Ashkenazic (Yiddish-speaking) society and modern Yiddish language, literature, and culture. The wide selection of subjects will be taught by Yiddish specialists working at the University and at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

• Length of programme: Nine months
  

For further information on all MSt and MPhil programmes, core and optional courses and programme specifications, see the departmental website

• Taylor Institution Library
• Modern Languages Faculty Library
• Slavonic and Modern Greek Library
• Sackler Library
• The Maison Française
• The Language Centre

Information on academic staff profiles

Many of our taught-course students proceed to doctoral degrees Oxford or at other universities. Many of our doctoral students take up academic positions in the UK and overseas. Other graduate destinations include teaching, journalism, law, publishing, and the civil service.

• MSt in Film Aesthetics
• MSt in Women’s Studies