Celtic Studies (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 MPhil in Celtic Studies is a taught course exploring the history, languages, and cultures of Celtic-speaking peoples. It includes core and special options, language study, and a dissertation developed from chosen topics.

This two-year course is normally restricted to those who have taken a first degree in a relevant subject area; however, it is also suitable for students with no previous background in Celtic, but with sufficient linguistic ability to acquire grounding in Welsh and/or Irish quickly.

Options in language, literature and linguistics form the core of the degree, while a range of optional subjects in these areas and beyond is also available. The MPhil in Celtic Studies is suitable if you wish to proceed to a research degree or if you would like to spend only two years at Oxford on a free-standing degree.

Course structure
You will take a core course which introduces the medieval Celtic languages through the close study of texts in class, while other areas are taught through tutorials which may be supplemented by lecture series. A weekly Celtic research seminar brings all students together with talks by invited, mainly external speakers, run jointly in collaboration with the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth. You will take one or two core options from a choice.

You will write a dissertation that typically arises out of one of the options studied; and will also be required to develop a reading knowledge of a modern Celtic language which you have not previously studied at degree level.

Generally, student numbers in the MPhil are relatively small and this allows the teaching to be tailored to the particular choice you may make. Teaching is provided through a mixture of classes and tutorials.

Teaching for the course is shared among three faculties; English, History and Linguistics. Faculty members who have previously taught on the course and have particular expertise in Celtic topics include Prof David Willis (course director; Celtic linguistics, Welsh language and culture); Prof Mark Williams (medieval Irish and Welsh literature; modern reception of Celtic literature); Jenyth Evans (medieval Irish literature); Prof Gillian Ramchand (Scottish Gaelic syntax); Dr Nora Baker (Irish language instructor); and Dr Hanna Hopwood Griffiths (Welsh language instructor).

Opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange are provided by the communities fostered within individual colleges, which also offer you dedicated support by means of personal advisors. The Oxford Centre for Research in the Humanities (TORCH) offers a stimulating range of interdisciplinary activities.