Course information

Course highlights

• Students become truly bilingual and intercultural by studying at two world-renowned and historic universities.  
• The programme is taught by a group of internationally renowned experts in all major areas of German and comparative studies from the Middle Ages to the twenty-first century.
• Due to the generous support of both Universities and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), students will benefit from a scholarship covering over two-thirds of their fees.
• Students spend their first year in Germany and the second year in Scotland.

Teaching format

The MLitt/MA in German and Comparative Literature is a two-year taught programme run jointly by the School of Modern Languages at St Andrews and the University of Bonn. The programme will deepen your knowledge of the latest thinking in literary and comparative studies and give you the research, communication and writing skills needed to embark on a PhD or top-level graduate career. 

Students spend their first year at the University of Bonn in Germany where they will take two compulsory modules on comparative literature and have a choice of optional modules covering a wide range of topics from medieval texts to current trends in German literature. 

Students will spend their second year at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, where one semester will be devoted to studying two compulsory and one optional module, and the second semester will be spent focused on writing an 18,000-word dissertation.

Modules

These are the modules offered by the University of St Andrews during the second year of the MLitt/MA programme. Find out more about the modules taught by the University of Bonn.  

The modules in this programme have varying methods of delivery and assessment. For more details of each module, including weekly contact hours, teaching methods and assessment, please see the latest module catalogue.

Compulsory modules

• Apples and Oranges: Issues in Comparative Literature: explores the most pressing questions which arise when different texts are put in contact, using pairings of texts to reflect on different kinds of relations, such as clashes, genetic, interdisciplinary and intermedial relations.
• German Literary and Cultural Contexts: Turning Points: advanced knowledge of contexts that have shaped literature and culture in the German-speaking lands from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Optional modules

Students choose one optional module. Optional modules are subject to change each year, and attendance may be limited (see the University’s position on curriculum development).

• Middle Eastern Literary and Cultural Contexts
• Women, Writing and Gender 1: Renaissance to Romanticism
• Women, Writing and Gender 2: Victorian to Contemporary
• The Continental Renaissance
• Renaissance Popular Culture
• Learned Culture: Rhetoric, Politics and Identity
• Contextualising the Modern
• Reading the Modern
• Theorising the Contemporary
• Contemporary Literature and Culture
• French Literary Revolutions
• Italian Literary and Cultural Contexts
• Literary and Cultural Theory 1
• Generation in Russian Literature and Culture
• Patterns in Hispanic Literature and Film

The modules listed ran in the academic year 2015-2016 and are indicative of this course. There is no guarantee that these modules will run for 2016 entry.

Take a look at the most up-to-date modules in the module catalogue.

Dissertation

In the second semester at St Andrews, students specialise in an area of choice within German or comparative literature and write an 18,000-word dissertation under the joint supervision of one professor in Bonn and one supervisor in St Andrews. This is an in-depth independent research project that serves as an ideal preparation for the demands of a PhD. 

If students choose not to complete the dissertation requirement for the MLitt, there are exit awards available that allow suitably qualified candidates to receive a Postgraduate Diploma. By choosing an exit award, you will finish your degree at the end of the second semester of study and receive a PGDip instead of a MLitt.

Conferences and events

The St Andrews School of Modern Languages hosts an annual seminar programme which promotes integration across the language departments. In addition, the School hosts a number of conferences and events, including guest speakers and workshops for the discussion of ideas and issues in a thought-provoking but relaxed and supportive environment. 

Find out more about current postgraduate seminars. 

Admission to the University of St Andrews is governed by our Admissions policy.

Curriculum development

As a research intensive institution, the University ensures that its teaching references the research interests of its staff, which may change from time to time. As a result, programmes are regularly reviewed with the aim of enhancing students' learning experience. Our approach to course revision is described online. (PDF, 72 KB).

Tuition fees

The University will clarify compulsory fees and charges it requires any student to pay at the time of offer. The offer will also clarify conditions for any variation of fees. The University’s approach to fee setting is described online. (PDF, 84 KB).