Arts, Literature and Media (research) Leiden University

Overview

This interdisciplinary research master offers the best of three worlds (arts, literature and media). You take two collective courses which will train you to position yourself and your research in a multi-disciplinary field. Then you choose between two historically defined lines:

• In the medieval and early modern line, art and literature work through media. Here, medium is the means by which art and literature are made (such as the medium of language, print, theatre, paint, etching, andsoforth).
• In the contemporary line, from the 19th century until the present, art and literature get accompanied by media such as cinema, games, or social media.

You are free to design the rest of the programme based on your own interests. As part of the programme, you are asked to select courses provided by the national research schools, which offer an educational programme around specific fields of research: medieval studies, art history, literary studies, media studies, and cultural analysis. You also take courses worth 30 EC that are specific to your research and can be chosen from Leiden master programmes or other universities. Finally, in the ‘case-based research’ component you get a good grasp of a researcher’s ‘laboratory’ by collaborating with a staff member – individually or in small groups – on their ongoing research project and actively contributing to it.

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 well;
• 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 research master’s programme in Arts, Literature and Media 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 problems.

Future employers are interested not only in the subject-related knowledge that you acquired during your study programme, but also in the ‘transferable skills’. These include cognitive skills; interpersonal skills, such as flexibility, initiative, appreciating diversity and metacognition; and interpersonal skills, such as communication, accountability and conflict resolution. In short, they are skills that all professionals need in order to perform well.

Career prospects

As a graduate of the master's programme in Arts, Literature and Media (Research), you are in a strong position to enter a top PhD programme and a research-oriented career.

You are also well-prepared for a career in a wide variety of fields, such as museums, galleries, cultural institutions (art) libraries, archives. Our graduates also find jobs within the publishing and general media sectors, in governmental agencies, NGOs, education, journalism and public relations.

Examples of the diverse roles of our graduates include:

• PhD candidate in English Literature at a European university
• Editor in chief for a Dutch arts and culture magazine
• PhD candidate in Arts and Culture at a British university
• Policy officer at The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations
• Academic staff member at a Belgian university
• Account manager for books and literature at an antique store
• Teaching coordinator at a Dutch university
• PhD candidate at a Dutch university
• Project officer at an art museum
• Project coordinator at an advertising agency
• Coordinator/lecturer in art theory and practice at an art academy
• Marketing and product manager/assistant at a company producing designer glasses
• Project officer at a foundation promoting regional artists
• Gallery assistant for modern art at an art school
• Auctioneer at an online auction house
• Curator at a museum
• Collections manager at a natural history museum

Accreditation

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