Study of Art and Literature (Research), track Literature

First year

Second year

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Objectives
Programme

Objectives

Knowledge and insight

Students develop a thorough knowledge and understanding of their specialisation
and its basic concepts, apparatus, research methods and techniques, as well as recent
developments in the field. They also acquire a thorough knowledge and understanding
of the interdisciplinary aspects of the field, both internally (the research master’s
programme in Literature aims to attract students from many different language and
culture studies) and externally (History, Art History). Moreover, students develop an
understanding of the relevance of the field for society as a whole.

Skills

Graduates of this programme are able to identify and collect the literature and sources
of their field independently, using both traditional and modern methods. They have the
skills to study the literature and sources of the field and judge their quality and reliability.
Moreover, graduates are capable of formulating a clear and solid research problem and of
subdividing it into well-defined and manageable sub-problems. They are able to present
their findings in clear and solid oral or written reports that meet the criteria of their
field. Graduates also have the ability to initiate and conduct a research project under
expert supervision, thus qualifying for further education, both on a national and an
international level.

Programme

The research master in Literature welcomes all students with a background in literature,
and is taught by a group of Leiden scholars from a wide range of disciplines. The research
master offers a flexible programme that encourages students to adopt an interdisciplinary
perspective, but also gives them considerable freedom to follow literature courses
within their ‘home discipline’ (for example, French or Chinese literature). The diversity
of the programme is characteristic of the Leiden Faculty of Humanities, with its broad
spectrum of teaching and research in both Western and non-Western literatures. Such
variety is unparalleled in the Netherlands and in most of the rest of the world.
Students follow courses within the research master in Literature but also elsewhere in
the Faculty of Humanities. Some of the research master courses are offered jointly by the
research masters in Literature and Art History. The two-year programme’s structure is as
follows:

First semester

All students take a course in ‘Approaches to Literature’, which provides an overview of
literary theories from classical antiquity until present day. In addition, students take two
elective courses – most likely, but not necessarily, within their BA-discipline. It is possible
to change one of the elective courses for an research master course in ‘Interculturality’
(see below for more details).

Second semester

This semester consists entirely of research master courses. The two set courses, followed
jointly by Research master students in Literature and Art History, are ‘Methodological
Concepts in Art and Literature’, which builds on the first-semester course on Approaches
to literature, and a Research Colloquium: a conference for Research master students in
Literature: ‘The Sublime and the Uncanny’. In addition to this, students take one of the
following elective Research master courses:

• Classics and Classical Civilization

On offer is a course that studies the diverse and complex culture of Graeco-Roman
Antiquity through the analysis of primary texts in Greek and Latin and, to a lesser
degree, material remains from the classical world. However, ‘Classics track’ students have
the opportunity of taking almost any of the MA courses on offer in a given year. These
courses are offered by the Department of Classics.

• Medieval and Early Modern Studies

This is a course on the literature and art of the medieval and early modern period, and
the various forms of interaction between them, with an emphasis on the period between
1300 and 1700. The course is taught jointly by literary scholars and art historians.

• Modern and Contemporary Studies

This course focuses on the literature and art of the period between 1800 and the present.
It is taught jointly by literary scholars and art historians and will focus in part on the
relation between word and image.

• Interculturality

This course investigates how literature and art explore the dynamics of intercultural
contact. It explores the cultural, psychological, and political mechanisms at work in
the literary and artistic imagination of self and other. Please note that the course on
interculturality offered in the first semester focuses exclusively on literature.

The last three courses are followed jointly by Research master students in Literature and
Art History; ‘Classics and Classical Civilization’ is offered to Literature students only.
Students are expected to choose an elective Research master course that fits in with their
overall programme.

Third semester

Students can spend their third semester at a university abroad, where they follow
elective courses of their own choice, or take elective courses at Leiden University. After
consultation of the co-ordinator also elective courses at other Dutch universities are
permitted. In addition, all students work on a research proposal for their Research master
thesis.

Fourth semester

During the fourth semester, students write their Research Master thesis under the
supervision of an academic member of staff.
Also see: hum.leiden.edu/students/regulations.