M.Phil. Identities and Cultures of Europe

Course Description

Identities structure our reality, our desires, our experience and our ideas. As such, they assume many shapes and forms: the self and the nation, language and gender, migration and trauma, myth and ideology, class and religion, capitalism and populism, ecology and technology. Above all, identities are crystallised in their representation: in the media and popular culture, in literature and film, but also in imagined communities and destinies, contested histories, and collective memory.

Exploring and analysing questions of identity as they have unfolded and continue to unfold in Europe, this one-year taught Masters programme offered by the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies will equip students with the critical tools and real-life experience to understand the complex and varied challenges posed by shifting notions of identity and their very real consequences.

All students take two core modules on Questions of Identity in Europe. Students also choose four modules from two thematic areas: Cultural and Political Histories of Europe, and Literary and Visual Cultures of Europe, before completing a 15,000- to 20,000-word dissertation. In addition, students take part in a structured three-day study trip at the Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe in the first semester, and in the second semester, they have an opportunity to intern at an approved NGO or cultural institution as an optional module.

For a brief introduction to the course, please see our animation.

For more information see the MPhil website.

COURSE STRUCTURE
1. Core modules (20 ECTS): all students take two core modules on Questions of Identity in Europe, which approach the issue of identity from a range of disciplinary perspectives through theories of identity and case studies.
2. Elective modules (40 ECTS): students choose four modules from two thematic areas, i) Cultural and Political Histories of Europe and, ii) Literary and Visual Cultures of Europe.
3. Dissertation (30 ECTS): students engage in their own research project, writing a 15,000- to 20,000-word dissertation under the supervision of a staff member in the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies.
4. Study trip: students take part in a structured three-day study trip at the Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe in the first semester, during which they attend lectures, meet fellow Masters students at KU Leuven, and visit cultural and political institutions at the heart of Europe.
5. Internship: in the second semester, students have an opportunity to intern at an approved NGO or cultural institution as an optional module.