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General information

General profile of the programme
Structure of the two-year research master's programme
Learning trajectories
Thesis and project
Future prospects
Supervision
Becoming an Academic professional: Tutoring module
Tutor
Thesis Supervisor
Individual Examination Programme
Rules for elective courses
International Research Training
Organisation of the programme
Academic year 2023-2024

General profile of the programme

This English-taught programme accepts applications from (national and international) students with a BA degree in a related field.

This master’s programme focuses on research and the acquisition of research-related knowledge and skills. Its curriculum reflects trends and shifts in theoretical and methodological approaches that currently inspire the discourse within the humanities. The combination of disciplinary and interdisciplinary components helps you to develop skills and knowledge beyond one academic discipline so as to contribute to various topical debates and societal questions. Elective components offer you the opportunity to create a tailor-made individual examination programme that you carry out under the guidance of a personal tutor. This research master’s aims to train you to gain a deep understanding of the complexities of a quickly changing world from historical, literary, cultural, and artistic perspectives. You will learn to assess the relevance and impact of Humanities scholarship and to seek and develop alternative forms of collaboration, co-creation and sharing of knowledge.

Structure of the two-year research master's programme

The two-year research master’s in Historical, Literary and Visual Culture Studies offers an advanced programme for highly qualified students interested in exploring history, literature or art and visual culture from a distinct interdisciplinary perspective that is based on collaboration, exchange and debate. The research master’s in Historical, Literary and Cultural Studies consists of three tracks:

  • Art and Visual Culture
  • Historical Studies
  • Literary Studies

You will choose one track and participate in disciplinary and interdisciplinary (core) courses, as well as electives at Radboud University or other universities as part of your individual examination programme. You are supervised by a personal tutor from the research master’s core faculty staff. This programme prepares you for a career in academia, in cultural, historical or literary institutions such as archives, heritage and conservation institutions, museums and libraries, as well as in policy, government or non-governmental organisations.

Learning trajectories

The core curriculum consists of interdisciplinary and disciplinary courses structured along three learning trajectories:

  • Personal and Professional Development: Engaging with Academia
  • Theoretical and Conceptual Approaches
  • Methods and Techniques

Personal and Professional Development: Engaging with Academia

This multi-year learning trajectory supports you in the process of orienting and positioning yourself as an academic. It equips you to translate this master’s focus on research to relevant career paths both in the academic world and beyond. This trajectory enables you to reflect on your abilities and possibilities to engage in current debates on societal issues and to bring about societal change. The courses in this learning trajectory familiarise you with the manifold practices of doing research and encourage you to consider yourself as a researcher in various professional contexts.

Theoretical and Conceptual Approaches

This learning trajectory aims to familiarise you with the uses and applications of theory and theories in the humanities. Courses focus on seminal perspectives, on concepts and ‘turns’ in the humanities, as well as on the application of theoretical concepts to relevant topics and research questions in your field. Through thematical prisms, you learn to contextualise, reflect on, and critically engage with various theoretical perspectives and conceptual approaches that have had – and continue to have – a significant impact on the humanities.

Methods and Techniques.

This learning trajectory centres on the epistemological and methodological consequences of the theoretical ‘turns’ in the Humanities. Disciplinary courses deepen your ability to critically reflect on the methodological assumptions and rationales of the research designs of projects in your field of specialization. These courses focus on recognizing, evaluating and applying a selection of methodological approaches and perspectives proper to the specialization. This hand-on approach carries over into the interdisciplinary course in which case-based lectures dissect problem-oriented interdisciplinary projects into research questions, data and methods of analysis. You can strengthen this learning trajectory with the elective course Humanities Data Analysis for which interdisciplinary teams collaborate in ongoing research projects within RICH.

Thesis and project

You will conclude this research master’s programme with a master’s thesis and a project in which you present your research findings in a different form to a specific audience.

Your thesis is based on topical research questions that are embedded in relevant scholarly and societal debates. You are expected to position your thesis topic within a theoretical and conceptual framework, which allows for interdisciplinary, innovative, and original approaches to your topic; identify, collect, and manage relevant data for your research; analyse and interpret these data through a robust methodology; and present your findings in a transparent and convincing manner.

For your project you choose a form and audience(s) in alignment with your professional ambition and potential future work field(s). If you want to pursue an academic career, you can decide to write a scholarly article or research proposal based on your thesis. If you aim for a position in policy, government or non-governmental organisations, you can write a policy document or develop a workshop for the strategic implementation of your research findings. If you pursue a position in investigative journalism or other media-related fields, you can develop a brief series of articles or episodes of a podcast. Should you consider a position in a museum, heritage centre or archive, you may want to develop your research findings into an introduction for an exhibition catalogue, or a detailed plan for an exhibition, live or digital. Your project enables you to define and present the way(s) in which you aim to use this research master’s as stepping stone in your career. The presentation of your project brings you in contact with alumni of this programme and other interested parties.

Future prospects

This two-year research master’s programme prepares you for a career that requires advanced academic competences and research skills, including a PhD trajectory. Alumni have found positions as researcher in a cultural or scientific organisation; assistant of a senior researcher; teaching staff in institutions for higher education; policy-making official in the fields of culture and science; editor in the field of historical or cultural scholarship; (assistant) curator in a museum; critic; scientific staff member of heritage and conservation institutions or archaeological agencies; and scientific staff member of publishing companies and text agencies. This English-taught master equips you to find such positions in the Netherlands and abroad.

Supervision

Becoming an Academic Professional: Tutoring Module

This research master’s starts with a tutoring module in semester 1. You are introduced to the organization of the curriculum and are given tools to organise your study programme as efficiently and autonomously as possible, with an eye on your well-being. Through this module, you will start your education well prepared: you are put ‘on track’.

The module ‘Becoming an Academic Professional’ consists of six compulsory meetings in which you are encouraged and supported to actively and jointly take control of your study programme. This module is therefore about providing basic information as much as it is about facilitating participation and interaction. In the module, you will consider all the decisions and options you are presented with during the learning process. These range from electives, module registration, courses and masterclasses offered by national research schools (Year 1) to the internship or study abroad (Year 2). These are included in your individual examination programme.

Tutor

In this module, you will select one research staff member from your programme or discipline to serve as tutor. You will discuss academic planning and progress on a regular basis with your tutor. You need your tutor’s approval for components of the individual examination programme before submitting this to the Examination Board for approval.

Thesis supervisor

You are encouraged to choose another staff member than your tutor as thesis supervisor. Thesis supervisors must be a staff member of Radboud University. This does not apply to the second thesis reviewer, who may be employed elsewhere.

Individual Examination Programme

Rules for elective courses

The elective component of the curriculum consists of (research) master’s courses (10 EC) and courses offered by national research schools (10 EC). During the tutoring module, you will register with one of the national research schools (via the executive secretary). Language courses and transferable skill modules are excluded. The final assignments will have to be completed in English.

All optional modules will be chosen in agreement with the tutor. Electives are included in your individual examination programme which is submitted to the Examination Board, which will ultimately check if the proposed selection of electives meets the requirements of the research master’s.

International Research Training

In the second year, you will widen your horizon of research knowledge and practice abroad by means of a research training (internship) or course programme with a research component. Planning and organization are discussed in the tutoring module. This enables you to take the initial steps of the preparation for this research training in the first semester. In principle, all students are expected to spend a period of four months abroad. Foreign research master students, can opt for similar training programmes in the Netherlands.

The host institutions must be recognised universities or research institutes. In all cases, the research training must strengthen your (disciplinary and interdisciplinary) learning process and contribute to the development and application of your research-related skills.

Organisation of the programme

Director of Studies: Prof.dr. A. Van Oyen (astrid.vanoyen@ru.nl)

Programme coordinator Historical Studies: Dr. K. Ihnat (kati.ihnat@ru.nl)
Programme coordinator Literary Studies: Prof. dr. A. Montoya  (alicia.montoya@ru.nl)
Programme coordinator Cultural Studies: Dr. S.A. de Laforcade (sonia.delaforcade@ru.nl)

Study counsellor: Kim Oyen, MA (studentadvisor-hlcs@ru.nl )
Executive secretary: Cecilia Stutvoet (secr.researchmastershlcs@let.ru.nl)

Academic Year 2023-2024

In Nijmegen, the Academic Year 2023-2024 starts on 4 September 2023.

Students admitted to the research master’s programme in Historical, Literary and Cultural Studies must be present at the start of the Academic Year.

For an overview of the Academic Year 2023-2024 at Radboud University, Faculty of Arts, https://www.ru.nl/facultyofarts/stip/study-information/courses-exams/annual-calendar-arts/

NOTE: Schedules in different universities and faculties are not harmonised. Therefore, if you are planning to take any courses offered by another university or faculty, you should always check the scheduling there.