Literary Studies (research MA)

The two-year Research Master's programme Literary Studies offers a theoretically and historically informed survey of the diversity and diachronic complexity of literature.

Literary studies crosses borders – whether between cultures, periods, influences or media – and thus provides the perfect breeding ground for interdisciplinary and intercultural research. The Research Master's in Literary Studies distinguishes itself by offering students the opportunity to explore issues of interdisciplinarity through a specialised focus on the literary. It provides room for analysing the specificity of literature and other text-based media from a metahistorical perspective. This means that the programme offers students the tools to thoroughly reflect on literature from both a theoretical and historical perspective.
The programme benefits from the UvA's wide-ranging expertise in numerous European languages, such as English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Spanish, Scandinavian and Slavonic languages. It also draws from the UvA's strong interdisciplinary tradition in 'area studies' and cultural studies. Due to these strong ties, the programme does justice to both the breadth of the discipline and the depth of its specialisations. It does so by offering a modular programme on three levels of expertise and independence: the core courses, electives and tutorials.