English Literatures and Cultures

The wide variety of courses in the programme encompass cultural developments from the early modern to the ‘postmodern’ periods. Literature is viewed as an integral part of modern culture and its increasing globalisation. More recent developments in the field, combining literary studies with media studies and cultural studies, form the basis for exploring the relationship between literary texts and other types of text and media, thus creating a productive link between literary and cultural studies. The ability to critically analyse and reflect on texts of any kind constitutes the core principle underlying teaching and learning in this area. The programme prepares students from diverse cultural and academic backgrounds to work independently on questions and problems related to literatures and cultures in English and to present results in written and/or oral forms. To do so, the programme begins with a seminar on Central Concepts and Competences (CCC) for all incoming students (ELC-MA 01). This module introduces them to concepts and skills used in research at the department. The ensuing additional four core modules systematically build students’ writing and communication skills with a mixture of oral exams and term papers of increasing length. The thematic focus of these core modules can be freely chosen by the students.