MA in English Studies: detailed description (in Hungarian) of the programme from the 2019/20 academic year
For a full description of the former programme click on the Hungarian version of this page.
The programme started in September 2009
(This programme was one of the only two MA programmes in English studies to be accredited in 2008)
Short description
Participants of the MA in English Studies – depending in which track and stream they choose – will have the opportunity to acquire extensive and high-level knowledge of English linguistics and British (Irish, Canadian, Australian, South African etc.) culture/history respectively. In the course of the training, we do our best to ensure that our graduates will be able to do their jobs equipped with state-of-the-art attitudes that are European in the noblest sense of the word (laying special emphasis on the interdisciplinarity of our approach, on incorporating the insights of cultural critique, gender studies and other disciplines, with a view to producing in our students a generally critical stance and tolerance for any kind of otherness, as well as a democratic conception of culture).
Degree: MA in English Studies
Participating departments:
Objectives of the MA in English Studies
The goal of the MA in English Studies is the training of experts who, besides a full mastery of the English language, possess an extensive and in-depth knowledge of the language, culture and history of English-speaking countries. Rather than mere passive receivers of information, students graduating from this MA programme will be specialists fully capable of undertaking independent and original investigations in a wide range of topics: as highly educated experts, they will become players in the social and cultural field occupying positions where their views will in fact influence a number of people; it is, therefore, indispensible that they be capable of applying and developing the skills acquired here in areas as diverse as international relations, tourism, the press and the media, business, publishing, municipal and national administration, the political and diplomatic spheres (several of our ex-students found jobs in the administrative centres of the EU), in cultural life (taken in its broadest sense) and, of course, in the academic field. The fact that the UK is one of the leading nations in the EU further increases the significance of training programmes of this kind. The diversity of the positions taken by our students in the past few years (students graduating from the five-year programme), as described in their testimonials, might serve as a useful pointer regarding the kinds of fields open for our graduates.
Admission requirements
Certificate of English proficiency (international B2 level, 4 skills - Admission into the MA program is possible on condition that the applicant has completed at least 50 credits in the field of English Studies; - In case the latter condition is not met, the student must have a record of at least 38 completed credits in the field of English Studies; the missing credits can be completed parallel with the MA training within two terms from the date of admission; - An oral entrance examination: discussion of the candidate’s research interests, testing her/his general familiarity with some basic aspects of English studies and her/his ability to complete successfully the MA program.
The topic of the entrance interview will be any kind of subject within the field of British or American Studies (such as linguistics, literary studies, cultural studies, or history) as specified by the candidate. The starting point of the interview will be a text formerly written by the candidate (e.g. a take-home essay or a chapter from her/his thesis), which s/he can choose freely. The candidate should be able to give a summary of her/his ideas in the text, speak about the sources used in it, and take part in a professional conversation following the summary.
Candidates must submit their texts at least 7 days in advance of the entrance interview, in electronic form. This can be done via e-mail (ieas@arts.unideb.hu), mail (Debreceni Egyetem, Angol—Amerikai Intézet, Debrecen, Pf. 73, H-4010, Hungary – the document must arrive 7 days before the scheduled interview), or directly at the Office of IEAS (Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, Room 114).