Course description
MA Modern Languages and Cultures at Manchester will prepare you for further research in constituent disciplines, but it is also relevant if you wish to broaden and deepen your critical engagement with a wide range of languages and cultures as well as prepare for professions where those languages are needed. Some of our alumni have continued into PhD programmes, others have taken up careers in the UK and abroad.
The structure of the MA is flexible, which means that you can choose to combine your interests in different languages or cultures or focus more exclusively on one particular area. Modern Languages at The University of Manchester is a thriving environment, with its vibrant research culture, University Language Centre facilities, its close links to a wide range of cultural partners across the city and its access to the world-class John Rylands Research Institute.
You can study full-time or part-time and decide on the balance between taught units on campus or research-based one-to-one supervision meetings that fit easily into your schedule. Our programme offers great flexibility allowing you to pursue your studies at your own pace.
Our range of exciting units are chronologically or geographically specific, but all course units are informed by recent theoretical and historical developments that allow you to think about categories like 'language'.
Special features
Links with cultural partners
You will benefit from our links with a range of cultural partners, including:
- Alliance Française
Manchester's branch of the Alliance Française seeks to foster closer links between France and the city of Manchester, and to promote French culture in the north-west of England.
It houses an extensive library of French language materials, including books, DVDs, newspapers and periodicals, and organises regular cultural events, including regular film screenings usually on Friday evenings.
- Instituto Cervantes
The Instituto Cervantes offers a full range of courses in Spanish and houses an extensive library of language materials: newspapers, books, periodicals, videos, and audiotapes.
It has a significant programme of cultural events, including an annual film festival.
- HOME
HOME is Manchester's leading contemporary arts centre and regularly programmes foreign-language cinema, welcomes international theatre productions, and exhibits works by worldwide artists.
Teaching and learning
You will learn through a variety of teaching methods depending on the units you take, including seminars, lectures and eLearning.
Coursework and assessment
You will be assessed via a range of methods depending on the units you take, including written assignments, exams and oral presentations.
Course unit details
You will take units totalling 180 credits.
Core and optional units combine to make 120 credits, with the remaining 60 credits allocated to the dissertation.
Core units
Across both semesters, you will study a range of core course units, which will lay the groundwork for your coursework, as well as preparing you to think about your dissertation.
The core units address questions that are at the heart of modern languages and cultures, and will give you conceptual tools relevant to all of the additional course units offered. The core units are:
- Research Training in Modern Languages
- Theories and Methods in Modern Languages
Optional units
Across both semesters, you will have the opportunity to study from a broad range of 15-credit units taken from across Modern Languages and Cultures. This includes provision in:
- Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies
- Chinese
- French Studies
- German Studies
- Italian Studies
- Japanese Studies
- Russian and East European Studies
- Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies.
You will also have the opportunity to select a 15-credit directed reading unit in each semester, which allows you to work on a specific area of focus and develop your own interest with the support of an academic supervisor.
The list of units on offer will be updated annually. You can also choose up to 30 credits' worth of units from another MA course as part of your optional units, subject to the approval of the Programme Director.
Dissertation
You will write a 15,000-word dissertation, worth 60 credits, supervised by an academic member of staff. The focus of the dissertation will be developed during individual supervision meetings. The dissertation is generally due in early September of the following year (for full-time students).
Course unit list
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research Training in Languages and Cultures | LALC61011 | 30 | Mandatory |
| Dissertation (Modern Languages and Culture) | LALC61040 | 60 | Mandatory |
| Theories and Methods in Modern Languages I | LALC70011 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Theories and Methods in Modern Languages II | LALC70022 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Culture and Society in Germany 1871-1918 | GERM60722 | 15 | Optional |
| Bodies, Sex and Gender in Japan | JAPA63071 | 15 | Optional |
| Buddhism in Japan | JAPA63082 | 15 | Optional |
| Research Essay I | LALC61021 | 15 | Optional |
| Research Essay II | LALC61032 | 15 | Optional |
| Popular Music and Identity | LALC61052 | 15 | Optional |
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Facilities
The University Language Centre offers a well-stocked library of materials in text, audio, DVD and CD-ROM formats, as well as materials in some 80 languages.
There are two suites of dedicated multimedia PCs for computer aided language learning and a conversation room for group work and voice recordings.
You will also benefit from access to Manchester's internationally renowned cultural assets.
Extensive training and workshops available on career options and professional development.
Regular research events (workshops, guest lectures, conferences) hosted by the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures.
Find out more by visiting the Facilities page.