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UNICAEN | UNIVERSITÉ DE CAEN NORMANDIE | UFR Langues vivantes étrangères

Master's degree Foreign and Regional Languages, Literature and Civilisations Track Cultural Studies: Literature and Civilisation

field(s) of training :

Arts, Literature, Languages

diploma level :

Master's degree (five-year degree)

duration of the program :

2 years

Course overview

You master a foreign language and wish to deepen your written and spoken skills in said language? You want to improve your knowledge in a precise cultural area? With the master’s programme in Foreign and Regional Languages, Literature and Civilisations (LLCER), you can specialise in Cultural Studies: Literature and Civilisation.

This two-year full-time programme is research-oriented, with a focus on literature and civilisation. The master’s provides a language offer unique in the Grand Ouest Region:

  • German
  • English
  • Spanish
  • Italian
  • Nordic languages (Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish)
  • Russian

As well as less well-known specialities such as Irish studies. With this master’s, you will go beyond disciplinary studies or language barriers, and discover more general and innovative approaches. You will acquire all the linguistic and cultural tools to specialise in high-level researches in literature and civilisation, and pursue doctoral studies.

Moreover, specialising in Cultural Studies is the best way to prepare to the Agrégation, both through the subjects and the methodology studied during the master’s. Besides, the university of Caen Normandy also provides preparatory courses for the Agrégation of English language (website in French).

Highlights

The master’s programme in Foreign and Regional Languages, Literature and Civilisations (LLCER) specialising in Cultural Studies is supported by several research teams of the university of Caen Normandy:

Thanks to the support of this research structures, you will be involved in research activities. This can be a great opportunity especially if you wish to pursue in research, leading you to write and defend your own thesis as a member of these research units.

Application requirements

Entry requirements

To enter this master’s, you should 

  • Graduate from a bachelor’s degree in Foreign and Regional Languages, Literature and Civilisations
  • Have oral and writing skills in French and in your language of study (equivalent to a C1 level in both languages)
  • Be organised and able to work on your own
  • Master research methods: questions, strategy, analysis and synthesis

Language proficiency requirements

Minimum French proficiency level required: C1

Minimum English proficiency level required: B2

Specific conditions

Entry requirements for Year 2

If you successfully completed Year 1 of this master’s, you will automatically enter Year 2.

If you have completed Year 1 of another master’s in foreign languages, you can also apply to Year 2 in this master’s.

 

Course structure

Courses

  • Take place 
    • on site on campus 1 of the University of Caen Normandy
    • online via the platforms of the University Centre of Multimedia Teaching
  • Amount to 10 hours per week in Year 1 and 4 hours per week in Year 2, since most part of the programme is dedicated to personal research activities

Course units

The master’s programme in Cultural Studies: Literature and Civilisation provides main courses in:

  • Documentary, digital, and master’s thesis methodology
  • Literature
  • Civilisation
  • Visual and intermedial studies
  • Written and spoken language improvement
  • Oral practice
  • Preparation to the Master’s thesis

In addition to the courses, you will take part in research activities during the 4 semesters of the master’s. Moreover, in Year 1, you will have to present a project for your master’s thesis, and, in Year 2, you will write and present the completed master’s thesis.

Coursework and assessment

The course lasts 2 years and is divided in 4 semesters, each comprising several courses units. Examinations vary depend the courses (dissertations, oral presentations, synthetic reports…) and are held through coursework from 0 to 20, 20 being the best grade. Grade compensation is organized without eliminatory marks and on the basis of the general average obtained in every course unit.

To successfully complete a semester, you must have an average mark of at least 10 points out of 20. If you have not completed your semester, you can retake the courses units you failed; you do not have to retake the courses in which you have obtained at least 10 points out of 20.

Language

  • French
  • English or German or Spanish or Italian or Nordic languages or Slavic languages

Study abroad

“In a text, there is always a part up for interpretation, a proposition of a world one could inhabit and, as such, envision as a very personal possibility.” The question is: how can one grasp “the work’s world” if one has never experienced a change of scenery themselves? And how can one grasp the fundamentals of a society without exposing themselves daily to the society’s contemporary politics, society and culture?

You wish to improve your English mastery in full-immersion? Perfect your academic training and study abroad in an English-speaking country, in Europe or all around the world:

In addition to the compulsory internship in Year 3, the Department of Applied Foreign Languages offers to travel all around the world as part of:

  • Erasmus+ European exchange programme
  • Joint-programme with the École normale supérieure of Tunis: with this programme, students specialising in English can obtain both the master’s of the university of Caen Normandy and the master’s of the ENS Tunis in Interdisciplinary Approaches to English-speaking Literatures
  • University exchanges through networks and programmes such as the Quebec student exchange programme (BCI), the ISEP and Asia Exchange, allowing you to travel in various destinations: Africa, South America, Asia, Australia, Canada, United States of America, Europe, United Kingdom (including Warwick and Birmingham). You can't speak Thai, Korean or Norwegian? Don't worry: many universities offer courses in English.

Is going abroad expensive? It may be, depending on the destinations. You can go abroad for less than 500 euros, and you can benefit from cumulative financial supports (including scholarships).

When can I go abroad? Most students go abroad in Year 3, for a year or for the second semester. To do so, you need to apply for an exchange during the previous year.

You want to learn more about financial supports or discover other ways to go abroad? Read more (all resources are in French) on the dedicated page of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and or that of the Service for the international mobility programmes, which co-organises study exchanges and international internships. You will also discover the experiences of other students who took these opportunities!

Learning outcome

By the end of this course, you will be able to

  • Master written and oral skills in your language of study
  • Analyse literature documents and contextualise them within literary traditions, genres and forms
  • Analyse civilisation documents and contextualise them within their cultural and language area
  • Master research techniques, ask new research questions and use research methods for linguistic research

Further study

This master’s in Cultural Studies is research-oriented. As such, you are encouraged to pursue doctoral studies, especially in the History, Memory, Heritage, Language Doctoral School (HMPL · ED 558 (website in French) doctoral school, in which the laboratories supporting the master’s programme (ERIBIA, ERLIS and LASLAR) are involved.

Careers

With an expertise in cultural studies, you can work in the cultural industry. Main opportunities include:

  • Cultural mediation
  • Territorial public services in charge of the cultural offer

You can also take another programme to specialise in:

  • Publishing
  • Documentation
  • Translation and Interpretation
  • Journalism

Besides, you can prepare French teaching examinations, such as the CAPES or the Agrégation in your language of study. If you pursue doctoral studies, you can also become a higher-education teacher, or a research professor.

Address

Université de Caen Normandie

UFR LVE · Langues vivantes étrangères

MLI · Maison des langues et de l’international

Esplanade de la Paix · CS 14032 · 14032 CAEN cedex 5

France

Course leader

formation : Bertrand Cardin · bertrand.cardin@unicaen.fr

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