205
Graduate Programs
205.46
Modern Languages and Cultural Studies
205.46 Modern Languages and Cultural Studies
Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies
200 Arts Building
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E6
E-mail: mlcsgrad@ualberta.ca
205.46.1 General Information
The Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies confers Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian. All MA programs, except for Humanities Computing, are available either as thesis- or course-based.
The Department focuses on individual language areas such as Studies in French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian as well as offers interdisciplinary possibilities.
The Graduate programs cover a broad spectrum of research on the Francophone, Germanic, Spanish, and Slavic worlds from a multiplicity of chronological and theoretical perspectives. Specific interests include literary and cultural studies, language pedagogy, applied linguistics, translation, folklore, postcolonialism, women's studies, medieval and early modern studies, modernism, postmodernism, the avant-garde, and humanities computing. MLCS has a unique competence to emphasize multidisciplinary and cross-linguistic approaches both within and without the department, while at the same time retaining the capacity to deliver complete individualized programs in discrete fields and languages.
Requests for information should be addressed to the Graduate Programs Office, Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies.
Entrance Requirements
The Department's minimum admission requirement for the MA program is a four-year undergraduate degree with an average of at least 3.0 in the last two years of undergraduate work at the University of Alberta, or an equivalent qualification from a recognized institution. The requirement for the PhD program is an MA degree in the area of specialization. Where applicable, a TOEFL score of 550 (paper-based) or 88 (internet-based), or other acceptable English language proficiency test is required (see §203.2.4).
Applicants for graduate work must have a competent reading knowledge of at least one of the following languages: French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, or Ukrainian, in order to undertake graduate programs.
Financial Assistance
Financial assistance in the form of scholarships and graduate assistantships are available to qualified students. For further information contact the Graduate Programs Office of the Department, www.mlcs.ca, and www.gradstudies.ualberta.ca. In order to be considered for Teaching or Research assistantships complete applications should be submitted no later than March 15. Applicants seeking support through university administered awards/scholarships must apply before December 1.
205.46.1.1 Areas of Specialization
Applied Linguistics (French, German, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian)
French Language, Literatures, and Linguistics
Germanic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
Humanities Computing
Italian Studies
Slavic Languages and Literatures (Russian, Ukrainian)
Slavic Linguistics (Russian, Ukrainian)
Spanish and Latin American Studies
Translation Studies
Ukrainian Folklore
205.46.2 The Degree of MA
Thesis-based MA Programs
Over the duration of their program, students must register in a minimum of 
24 credits. In addition to the thesis, a minimum of 18 credits must be in course work.
Course-based MA Programs
Over the duration of their program, students must register in a minimum of 27 credits, depending on their academic background. In addition to the project (3), a minimum 24 credits must be in course work.
Length of Program
For the MA, the normal time to completion is two years; the maximum allowed time to complete the program is four years.
205.46.3 The Degree of PhD
Over the duration of their program, students must register in a minimum of 36 credits. In addition to the thesis, a minimum of 27 credits must be in course work.
The Doctoral Candidacy in MLCS is a two-part written and oral examination that must be completed by the end of the first term of a student's third year. The written examination consists of three parts, each based on topics different from that of the proposed dissertation. All examinations must be completed within 21 days. The oral examination is ordinarily held two weeks after the written examination.
Language Requirement
PhD students must demonstrate a reading knowledge of one foreign language other than the language of their specialization. Credits taken to satisfy the language requirements do not count toward the degree.
Length of Program
The time necessary to complete the requirements for the PhD depends upon the student's progress. The minimum requirement is two years of study and research in residence at the University of Alberta. The maximum allowed time to complete the program is six years.
205.46.4 Programs in Germanic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
205.46.4.1 General Information—Germanic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
MLCS offers graduate work leading to the MA and PhD degrees with specializations in Germanic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics.
The library houses approximately 50,000 volumes in the areas of German literature, language and Germanic linguistics and philology, and subscribes to over 130 periodicals and serials. The holdings are particularly strong in the areas of eighteenth-century literature, Age of Goethe, Romanticism, Naturalism and Expressionism. The university has an impressive collection of Naturalist and Expressionist periodicals, and materials on the reading circles of the “Vormärz.” German women's literature is one of the areas of strength of current collection development. The Bruce Peel Special Collections houses the largest collection in North America of archival material by and about Georg Kaiser, with holdings that combine the Kaiser archives in Berlin and Switzerland.
The Germanic programs are especially well qualified in the following areas: Germanic language and linguistics, applied linguistics, second language acquisition, translation, eighteenth- to twenty-first-century German and Austrian literature and culture, contemporary studies, gender and sexuality, film and visual culture, literature and ethics, politics and aesthetics, poetics, European migration and globalization, Holocaust studies.
205.46.5 Programs in French, Italian, and Spanish Language, Literatures, and Linguistics
205.46.5.1 General Information—French, Italian, and Spanish Language, Literatures, and Linguistics
MLCS offers graduate work leading to MA and PhD degrees with a specialization in (1) French Language, Literatures and Linguistics; (2) Spanish and Latin American Studies; (3) Italian Studies (MA only).
The library holdings to support research in French, Italian, and Spanish are extensive. Materials include eighteenth-century French fiction and poetry, French books before 1601, French books from 1601 to 1700, and three centuries of French drama. Apart from the main library, the Bibliothèque de la Faculté Saint-Jean has extensive holdings in French language books in many disciplines. In Italian the holdings contain the Cornell Petrarch Collection, Italian books before 1601, Italian books from 1601 to 1700, and Italian drama. The Library has a comprehensive book and periodicals collection permitting research in a wide range of fields in the disciplines covering Spain, Spanish America and Brazil. Notably, there are several thousand items not held anywhere else among major North American university libraries especially in the areas of Spanish literature to 1700 and 1868-1960, as well as literature and Latin American Studies from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay.
Major research areas in French include: French and Francophone literature and culture, with specializations in the Caribbean, Québec, children’s literature, cinema and women’s writing; applied linguistics, with specializations in L2 pedagogy, SLA and discourse analysis; translation studies.
Italian Studies cover the following areas: Dante, Vico, Romanticism, prose, translation, avant-garde, Postmodernism, popular culture and Canadian-Italian literature.
Although Spanish and Latin American Studies are able to support research in a number of areas in the literature and culture of Spain, the program is oriented principally to Latin America. The strengths are in the following geographic and literary/cultural areas: Cuba, Caribbean, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile; avant-garde, modern and contemporary Brazilian poetry, comparative American studies and cultural politics, narrative, cinema, music, women writers, visual arts, contemporary fiction, poetry, popular culture; Latin American film; colonial and transatlantic studies, indigenous studies, literary translation; L2 pedagogy and acquisition, and sociolinguistics.
205.46.6 Programs in Slavic Languages, Literatures, Linguistics, and Ukrainian Folklore
205.46.6.1 General Information—Slavic Languages, Literatures, Linguistics, and Ukrainian Folklore
MLCS offers graduate work leading to the MA and PhD degrees with specializations in (1) Slavic Languages and Literatures (Russian, Ukrainian); (2) Slavic Linguistics (Russian, Ukrainian); and (3) Ukrainian Folklore.
The holdings of the library in the area of Slavic languages and literature comprise some 40,000 volumes. Together with some 25,000 volumes in the fields of history, economics, ethnography and political science, the collection in languages and literatures make Alberta the third largest research library in terms of Slavic studies in Canada. Over four hundred microfilm copies of old printed books obtained from the library of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences add to the research potential of the collection. The library's collection in Ukrainian language and literature is the third largest in Canada and is growing at the rate of several hundred volumes per year. The holdings in literature encompass all periods in the history of Ukrainian literature, including émigré writings. Russian holdings are especially strong in the nineteenth-century literary classics and twentieth-century literature, but medieval and eighteenth-century Russian literature is also well represented. The holdings in language and linguistics are particularly strong in the fields of historical linguistics, dialectology and language learning.
Research interests in Slavic include the following: In literature: Russian and Ukrainian medieval, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century literatures, especially Romanticism, modernism and the avant-garde; hagiography, Russian Imperial Ideology, historiography and court culture, Post-Soviet performance arts and visual culture, documentary genre; Ukrainian modernism and futurism; mysticism and iconography; also Polish literature and culture. In linguistics: synchronic phonology, especially Russian and Ukrainian; Russian syntax; L2 pedagogy and acquisition; discourse analysis and Slavic sociolinguistics. In folklore: folk ritual, oral folklore, dance and Ukrainian-Canadian topics.
205.46.7 Programs in Applied Linguistics
205.46.7.1 General Information—Applied Linguistics
MLCS offers graduate work leading to the MA with specialization in French, German, Russian, Spanish or Ukrainian.
The holdings of the library in Applied Linguistics are an area of strength of current collection development. Works on second language acquisition and foreign language pedagogy are particularly well represented. All research areas of departmental staff are supported with extensive monograph holdings and journals.
Research interests in Applied Linguistics include the following: sociolinguistics, with emphasis on language variation, language attitudes, language and politics, minority languages, language planning, and gender linguistics; second language acquisition and foreign language pedagogy, with special interest in writing and reading; pragmatics, discourse analysis, bilingualism.
205.46.8 Combined Program in MLCS and Humanities Computing
205.46.8.1 General Information—Combined Program in MLCS and Humanities Computing
The Office of Interdisciplinary Studies in the Faculty of Arts offers a two-year MA program in conjunction with existing graduate programs in the Faculty of Arts and the School of Library and Information Studies. It integrates computing and its underlying technologies with disciplines such as literature, language, and cultural studies. For specializations available to students pursuing an MA degree in MLCS and Humanities Computing see 205.46.1.1.
205.46.9 Graduate Courses
Graduate courses can be found in §231, Course Listings, under the following subject headings:
French (FREN)
German (GERM)
Italian (ITAL)
Modern Languages and Cultural Studies (MLCS)
Russian (RUSS)
Scandinavian (SCAND)
Slavics (SLAV)
Spanish (SPAN)
Ukrainian (UKR)
