MLitt German And Comparative Literature

• A  2.1 Honours undergraduate degree in German Studies, English Studies or a related subject. If you studied your first degree outside the UK, see the international entry requirements. 
• Applicants must be fluent in both German and English. German applicants and those with native languages other than English will need to provide an English certificate (Level C2, TOEFL, IELTS or equivalent). See English language tests and qualifications.

The qualifications listed are indicative minimum requirements for entry. Some academic Schools will ask applicants to achieve significantly higher marks than the minimum. Obtaining the listed entry requirements will not guarantee you a place, as the University considers all aspects of every application including, where applicable, the writing sample, personal statement, and supporting documents.

For fees and funding options, please visit website to find out more

Modern Language postgraduates go on to careers in the academic field or in other areas, for example as cultural advisors, translators, publishers or in the public or civil service. 

Recent graduates have secured posts such as: 

• adviser to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) 
• postgraduate recruitment officer at Government Communications
• Headquarters (GCHQ) 
• professional translator 
• research assistants 
• television subtitler 
• university teachers in the UK and Germany

The Careers Centre offers one-to-one advice to all students as well as a programme of events to assist students in building their employability skills.

Compulsory 

• Comparative Methodologies and Research Skills 1: You will problematise established approaches and explore new and emerging directions to conceptualise how you think texts might best be analysed and compared. The module's methodologies will underpin your acquisition of a range of transferable skills essential in academic research and non-academic roles.

Options 

• German Literary and Cultural Contexts: Turning Points: enables you to acquire advanced knowledge of contexts that have shaped literature and culture in the German-speaking lands from the Middle Ages to the present day. It concentrates on the research-led study of selected turning points in the cultural, literary or intellectual history of the German-speaking lands. This module is strongly recommended.
• Literary and Cultural Introspection: invites you to look inward and consider areas of critical importance such as sex, gender, race, psychoanalysis, and the medical humanities in relation to the self. You will engage with case studies in translation from experts across the School of Modern Languages to encourage a breadth of scholarship. This module may be replaced with an agreed alternative module.

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 at St Andrews and receive a PGDip instead of an MLitt.