In the first semester, you will take the advanced literary studies core course ‘How Literature Shapes Society’, during which you will acquire the methodological and conceptual tools that will allow you to analyse how literary and societal developments impact on one another. At the same time, you will also follow the course ‘Close Readings: Love and Madness’ which will enable you to improve your analytical and argumentation skills in conducting research on selected literary works. In the second half of the second semester, you are given a unique opportunity to take a language-specific or area-specific module that reflects the tutors’ research interests. Your fourth core module is called ‘Thesis Seminar’ and prepares you for the writing of your thesis. Students taking English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, will have a fifth core module – any course of your choice from the MasterLanguage programme (MasterLanguage is not currently available for Scandinavian and Slavic tracks).

You will also follow a language-specific trajectory, in which you will explore the interrelation between society and the literature of your choice. These courses approach literature from a historical as well as a contemporary perspective and are taught (with the exception of Scandinavian and Slavonic) in the language of your specialisation.

In addition to the four compulsory modules (five including MasterLanguage for English, French, German, Italian and Spanish), you will have the special opportunity to take a further 12 credits (18 ECTS for Scandinavian and Slavic) in electives from a wide selection of courses that cover a vast range of subjects such as urban fictions, the metropolis in literature, crime fiction, the graphic novel, cultural memory, trauma, the book, philosophy, area studies, etc. You can also do an internship for 6 ECTS.

You can do an internship worth 6 ECTS in order to enhance your professional skills, put into practice what you are learning in your Master’s, and boost your CV. In the past, students of the Literature, Culture and Society programme have undertaken the following internships, among others: NPO radio station; Spanish Consulate Education Office; De Amsterdammer newspaper; Cinéma Arabe cinema; Schwob (Letterenfonds – literature foundation); Instituto Cervantes (Spanish cultural institute); Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (research internship); Meertens Instituut (Dutch cultural institute – research internship).

During the second semester, you will write your Master's thesis in the language of your specialisation, in English, or in Dutch. You will work closely with and under the supervision of someone from the academic teaching team. You are free to choose your own topic, in close cooperation with your supervisor.