Modern Languages (Taught)

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2025). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.

The MSt/MPhil in Modern Languages is designed to allow those who have a high level of attainment in a foreign language, and have studied literature to a degree level, to undertake more advanced work.

The MSt/MPhil in Modern Languages allows you to undertake advanced work in one or more linguistic and literary contexts, and as part of the faculty's dedicated comparative pathway. The Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages is one of the largest centres of its kind in the world and is consistently ranked highly in the QS rankings of Modern Languages departments. You will join a research community spanning medieval studies, early modern literature and culture, through to modern and contemporary literature, film, and cultural history.

The faculty has many links with universities in Europe, Africa, and the Americas. There is an active research culture and we are committed to integrating graduate students into research seminars. Workshops and conferences with Oxford-based and visiting academics are hosted by the faculty, which bring together students and faculty members in - and between - individual languages and disciplines.

Areas of particular interest that span the faculty's different languages and period specialisms include:

• Cognitive Literary Studies

• Comparative Literature and Translation Studies

• Gender and Diversity

• Ecology and Environmental Humanities

• Medical Humanities and Life Writing

• Performance and Voice

• Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies

If you wish to proceed to a research degree, the MSt/MPhil will allow you to work towards the identification of a precise thesis subject and to gather research materials. This degree is also suitable if you do not wish to proceed to a research degree, as it will enable you to build upon your undergraduate studies and to reflect on the methods of literary and cultural analysis.

On completion of the course, it is expected that students will have:

• acquired a thorough understanding of theories and methodologies of literature and cultural studies;

• developed an understanding of the opportunities and challenges in working transnationally and comparatively within Modern Languages

• acquired specialist knowledge and understanding of at least two topics within the fields of Modern Languages, including a range of different cultural forms

• developed greater intellectual flexibility in drawing constructively on approaches and material from different languages and from different historical periods

• acquired intellectual sophistication in handling theoretical and methodological issues in literature and cultural studies;

• developed skills in research in one or more specific fields within Modern Languages;

• developed advanced skills in appraising and constructing arguments and in assessing and presenting evidence.

The course aims to equip students with many transferable skills, such as the ability to:

• find information, organise and deploy it, including through the use of libraries and information technology;

• use such information critically and analytically;

• work with sensitivity and acuity in contexts of linguistic and cultural difference;

• consider and solve complex problems;

• work well independently and in co-operation with others;

• effectively structure and communicate their ideas in a variety of written and oral formats.

For the full description, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas