Literary Studies Leiden University

Overview

The Leiden University Master in Literary Studies offers separate one-year programmes in English, French, German and Italian literature and culture, as well as Literature in Society.
This Master is an excellent way of deepening and broadening your knowledge of the literature and culture of your specialisation, thus becoming a true specialist.

All courses are taught in the language of your specialisation. The Master programmes in English, French, German and Italian literature cover the entire range of these literatures, from medieval to early modern, modern and contemporary.

You will benefit from courses given by experts in terms of the period (middle ages, early modern, modern, post-modern and post-colonial) but also in terms of rhetoric, semiotics, intermediality, inter-cultural history and other approaches current in Literary Studies.

Use the vast range of options to construct your personal programme. You may include a course in English, French, German or Italian linguistics. You may also include a course in the national Master language programme or go abroad to the country of your specialisation, for an internship or university courses.

What you will learn

With the skills and knowledge you have gained during your master’s programme at Leiden University you will be able to work in a range of professional and academic careers. These include highly sought after skills such as:

• to think critically;
• the ability to write;
• to organise your work and meet tight deadlines;
• to convey meaning precisely;
• to research and thoroughly analyse literary and academical texts;
• to critically use literary and cultural theory.

The master’s programme in Literary Studies at Leiden University aims to equip you with these important skills and knowledge that will help you thrive in your future career. Your specialised knowledge is complemented by a strong, critical-thinking approach to problem-solving that can be applied to even the most complex conceptual problem.

Career prospects

The master’s programme in Literary Studies prepares you for a wide range of careers in which specialised knowledge of a language and culture and advanced academic skills are highly valued. Our graduates are currently pursuing successful careers in publishing, translation, communications, editing, education, journalism, advertising and marketing, teaching and research.

A few examples of positions held by our graduates :

• Account executive at a communications agency
• Policy officer at The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science
• English/French/German/Italian teacher at a university of professional education
• English/French/German teacher at a secondary school
• Junior information specialist at an association of civil-law notaries
• Project officer for subtitling at a company specialising in media translations
• PhD researcher at a Dutch or foreign university
• Project manager at a translation and interpreting agency
• Publishing assistant at a legal publishing house
• Copywriter at a software and consultancy company
• Content manager and communications advisor at a multinational accountancy firm

Accreditation

Accredited by NVAO, the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders.