Arts, Literature and Media (research) (MA)

About the Arts, Literature and Media Research MA

The study of cultural artefacts from the past keeps shifting our understanding of the present, just as studying contemporary arts and literature often compels us to critically revisit the past and its multiple afterlives. The knowledge produced by works of art and literature - past and present - is always multiply mediated: through the contexts in which these works are called to function, through language and the media they are made of (print, paint, other materials), as well as through other media (photography, cinema, social media etc.) that they engage with or incorporate.

Transhistorical and transmedial

This interdisciplinary Research MA deems such transhistorical and transmedial conversations essential for humanities research and its social impact, even when one’s research focuses on a specific period, genre or medium. It thus brings together the best of three worlds (arts, literature, and media) through a programme of well-designed courses that combines a range of theoretically grounded approaches with period-specific training. Offering space for specialisation, it allows you to design a personalised study programme based on your interests.

Why study Arts, Literature and Media in Leiden?

This programme provides a unique combination of theoretical and period-specific training, tailored to your own ambitions and interests. In two core seminars, you learn to position yourself to develop your research in a multidisciplinary field and to make your work speak to others so that it has a broader appeal and hence a good chance of getting funded, published or being impactful in society. Besides these common seminars, you may choose between two lines designed to delve into specific – historical – periods that work with different understandings of media:

• In the medieval and early modern line, the focus is on art and literature from the medieval and early modern period and the media they work through. Here, medium refers to the means by which art and literature are made and through which they are transmitted and co-shaped (such as the medium of language, manuscript, print, theatre, paint, etching, and so forth).
• In the modern and contemporary line we study art and literature from the 19th century to the present, as it is accompanied and co-shaped by diverse media such as cinema, games, or social media.

You are not required to follow the courses of one of the two lines: you are free to mix and combine them.

Prof. dr. Maria Boletsi

Programme Director

"At the research MA Arts, Literature and Media, we combine disciplinary with multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, which means that if you are fond of a particular discipline, the programme offers you the opportunity to further develop in this discipline; and if you are fond of a multi- or interdisciplinary approach, this programme fully stimulates that too. There is ample space for specialization, but we also offer a broad, transhistorical overview and theoretical training that enables you to make your research relevant to audiences beyond your own discipline and to enter the international market. In this programme, we expect you to be a responsible and autonomous researcher, willing to collaborate with others but also to organize your own programme - with our guidance."

Deepen your interests

The free specialisation space offers you the possibility to tailor the programme to your disciplinary interests in medieval, early modern, modern or contemporary studies. Whether you have an art history, media studies, or comparative, Dutch, English, Italian, French, German, Spanish or other literary studies background, the programme provides 70 ECTs in courses and research that contributes to your specialisation. All you need is love for doing research. 

Learn more about the study programme

What are your career prospects?

The programme provides the basis for writing your research master's thesis that forms the starting point for either a path in academia or elsewhere, in the broader cultural and educational sector. The programme aims to prepare you well for both. During your studies you will acquire a valuable range of specific and transferable skills and knowledge, both disciplinary and interdisciplinary, historical, contemporary and theoretical.

Find out more about the career prospects

Is Arts, Literature and Media the programme for you? 

Do you have a love for doing research and a background in art history, media studies, or Dutch, English, Italian, French, German, Spanish or comparative literary studies? Then this programme may be for you. With this programme you will learn what it takes to do good, exciting research. Do you want to find out if you are eligible for this Master's programme?

Check the admissions requirements

Related programmes

For programmes in related fields, you can also check our one-year MA programmes in Literary Studies, Media Studies and Arts and Culture. If you start a one-year MA in Leiden in a related field (e.g. Media Studies, Literature in Society or Arts and Culture) it may be possible to transfer to this Research MA during your studies, if you wish to acquire a deeper specialisation and more extensive training in research.

PhD vlogs

Interested to see what some of our graduates are doing now? Around 40% of our students go on to work in (academic) research after graduating from the Arts, Literature and Media research master. Check out the PhD vlogs from the Leiden University Centre of Arts in Society where graduates, including Merel Oudshoorn en Andries Hiskes, talk about their PhD project.