The Language, Culture and History: Italian Studies MA course will introduce you to texts from a variety of periods in Italian history and places them within a historical and philosophical framework. You will hone the subject-specific skills necessary for the pursuit of your chosen optional modules, including sourcing material, fieldwork techniques, bibliographic skills and linguistic skills, as well as skills which are transferable to professional workplaces and situations.
The Language, Culture and History: Italian Studies MA, comprises of one compulsory module that introduces a combination of methodology and research topics, such as historiography, literary studies and cultural studies. This core module provides a strong foundation at graduate level and helps you develop the skills and knowledge needed to carry out research, write academic essays and your final dissertation.
You will also take optional modules and a dissertation. The optional modules you choose will be specific to your subject language, as well as cultural modules which cover a range of topics that draw on literature, film, history and linguistics, from an interdisciplinary perspective. Further details can be found on our Postgraduate Modules page.
Modern Languages graduates are highly valued by employers for their linguistic and cultural knowledge, and for their set of transferable skills. These include the ability to speak, understand and write in a foreign language, intercultural understanding, translation and communication skills, and analytical rigour.
Our MA graduates bring their deep understanding of Italian culture to careers in which knowledge of the region is key. The course will be of interest if you wish to enhance your knowledge of Italian culture for professional purposes – in education, media, commerce and tourism, for example – and if you wish to to pursue your studies at doctoral level.
With their specialist knowledge and language skills, Italian Studies MA graduates go on to work in varied roles across the public, private and charitable sectors such as heritage or international agencies, as well as working as language consultants and teachers.
Recent graduates from our Language Culture and History MA courses, have gone on to work in a range of challenging careers from IT and technology to museums and university teaching. Our graduates are found in sectors such as publishing, journalism and translation (11.1%); PR, advertising and marketing (3.7%); media (7.4%); teaching and other educational activities (18.5%). They have gone on to work for employers such as the BBC, Toyota and the Financial Conduct Authority, while others have gone onto further study.*