MA English Studies

The FAU Master of Arts English Studies is a degree programme with a focus on research. It offers in-depth study of the English language and the literatures and cultures of Great Britain and Ireland (as well as other English-speaking countries). The course of study is modularised and encourages a specialisation in one of the two following fields: "Culture and Literature" Culture and Literature employs two of the most prominent approaches in the humanities: the history of ideas and discourse analysis. Courses in Cultural Studies focus on cultural history, popular culture, and processes of cultural and medial translation. Courses in Literary Studies cover a wide range of English literatures from the Renaissance to the present, closely examining literary texts as well as their relations to other discourses such as philosophy and religion. A Wild Card module provides the opportunity to do an internship in order to get work experience in a related area (optional). Students have to organise internships by themselves. "Linguistics and Applied Linguistics" This specialisation focuses on the description and empirical analysis of the English language in the light of current linguistic theories and teaching approaches. The following topics are covered: the idiomatic element of language: construction grammar, valency theory, research on collocation and idiomaticity corpus linguistics first and second language acquisition and research on learner language the English language: history and variation foreign language teaching: lexicography, grammar, contrastive linguistics, speech perception and production, literacy development, bilingualism and bilingual education Students may specialise on either literature/culture or linguistics/applied linguistics, or they may choose to study a combination of the two fields (dedicating an equal amount of their studies to both fields). All three paths: comprise advanced language classes to further develop students' skills in the English language as well as their academic skills encourage students to choose modules from a range of related subjects (including North American Studies, Book Studies, Romance languages and others) offer opportunities for studying abroad at other European universities are taught entirely in English The areas of research are also embedded into a number of well-established research centres, including: the Interdisciplinary Centre for Research on Dialects and Language Variation the Interdisciplinary Centre for Research on Lexicography, Valency and Collocation the Interdisciplinary Centre for Contemporary Literature and Culture the Center for Literature and Natural Science Studies, ELINAS the Interdisciplinary Centre for Research on Gender, Difference and Diversity