Course content and focus areas
The two-year master's program in Romance Literature and Cultural Studies (MA RLK) is a Romance studies degree program focusing on literature and cultural studies, offered by the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures.
It builds consecutively on the bachelor's program in Romance studies (as a major) at Goethe University Frankfurt and is research-oriented, aiming to train the next generation of scholars. However, its transnational and multilingual dimension also opens up horizons for other career paths.
The core focus of the MA RLK is on a specialized component that analyzes the interactions and transfers between the literature, cultures, and poetics of various Romance languages and cultures from both historical and contemporary perspectives. Emphasis is placed on developing integrated literary and cultural studies competencies. Central to the program are the literatures and cultures of France, Spain, Italy, and Portugal, as well as the exchange processes with the literatures and cultures of these countries' former colonies.
The MA RLK gives appropriate attention to in-depth study of individual languages, supported by the integration of its module on country-specific and sociohistorically oriented foreign language education in the offered languages: French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.
The study regulations are designed to ensure that a semester abroad during the third semester can be seamlessly integrated with studies in Frankfurt. The Department of Romance Languages and Literatures offers a wide range of Erasmus placements for studying in countries such as France, Spain, Italy, and Portugal.
The MA RLK employs integrative teaching concepts. Students are given the opportunity to deepen their individual academic interests through a "Free Study" module. Additionally, extracurricular activities—ranging from participation in workshops to internships outside the university—can be credited toward the program. The degree program is committed to the principles of research-based teaching: competencies in the area of literature and cultural transfer are developed collaboratively by instructors and students and tested in a research-oriented manner using exemplary topics. The "Research Colloquium and Independent Study" module also contributes to this, aiming to foster a participatory teaching and learning culture.
Who is it for?
The MA RLK is open to graduates of the BA Romance studies program (major or minor) at Goethe University Frankfurt, as well as graduates of Romance studies programs from other universities in Germany and abroad. It is also open to graduates of other philological, comparative, and theater, film, and media studies bachelor's programs from Germany and abroad. Additional language requirements apply.