Master of Arts in Modern Languages and Cultural Studies - Transnational and Comparative Literatures

Modern Languages and Cultural Studies offers MA and PhD degree programs in four major areas, or streams

Each stream is based around the model of the cohort, meaning students admitted together into a stream will proceed together through their coursework, portfolio modules, colloquia, workshops, and other required program elements. The cohort model offers peer-support and builds enduring collegial ties through the end of graduate study-and beyond. Each stream features dedicated core courses, broad faculty expertise, and electives specific or related to stream content and, when possible, to the linguistic, cultural, or thematic capacities and interests of the students in the cohort.

Faculty-member mentors work alongside students to support research interests that take into account diverse theoretical approaches-including gender and sexuality theory, visual cultural theory, urban studies, folklore, film theory, digital and internet studies, discourse analysis, second-language acquisition, and more-in time periods ranging from the premodern to the contemporary. The department supports research undertaken on a wide range of languages and cultural regions. In each of our graduate programs, we offer interdisciplinary, transcultural, and collaborative courses with a focus on professional development throughout.

Study national and global literatures, criticism, theory, and their intersections with other disciplines such as visual, cultural, or media studies within a single language or across languages and with an eye toward the historical and contemporary importance of literature for nations, cultures or social movements.

The Department's minimum admission requirement for the MA program is an undergraduate degree in a related field or the equivalent with an admission GPA of at least 3.3 on the 4-point scale from the University of Alberta, or an equivalent qualification and standing from a recognized institution. The admission GPA will be calculated on the last 60 units of graded coursework completed, or on the equivalent of the last two years of full-time graded coursework.

The minimum admission requirement for the PhD program is an MA degree or the equivalent, related to the area of specialization with an admission GPA of at least 3.3 on the 4-point scale from the University of Alberta, or an equivalent qualification and standing from a recognized institution. The admission GPA will be calculated on the last 60 of graded coursework completed, or on the equivalent of the last two years of full-time graded coursework.

Where applicable, applicants must provide proof of English Language Proficiency. Any one of the following is acceptable:

a TOEFL score of 100 (Internet-based) or equivalent,
an IELTS score of 7.0,
other acceptable English language proficiency tests.