English Language and Literature

Abstract

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  Profile of the study programme

  What are we like?
  Did you know that English is the largest language department in the multilingual world of the University of Fribourg? Our five professors have pursued international careers taking them to different parts of the world. They are deeply committed to their teaching and research. Doctoral and post-doctoral assistants support the teaching programme while continuing to pursue their own research.

  What do we do?
  We offer a solid, comprehensive curriculum ranging across all major fields of Anglophone literature in England and the United States, English linguistics, and the historical forms of the English language from Beowulf, through Chaucer and Shakespeare to the English we speak and write today. Interdisciplinary work is key to our identity at Fribourg. Our professors publish their research in peer-reviewed journals and with internationally renowned presses such as Oxford University Press, Manchester University Press, Elsevier and the University Press of Virginia. They are involved in prestigious international research projects in England, in Germany, in the United States, and in Australia.
  In addition, they contribute to and organise regularly national and international conferences as well as to events offered by the Institute of Comparative Literature (Institut de littérature générale et comparée/Institut für Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft), which was founded by a member of the Department of English.

  What can you do here?
  Our students come from Switzerland and abroad, and English is our exclusive language of communication in the hallways as well as in the classroom. Studying with us gives you the opportunity to learn about medieval women, act in plays, do linguistic field work in sociolinguistics, study English literature and its relations to other media and/or technology, discover the rich intellectual world of the English and European Renaissance, and investigate the American Western or meet contemporary American poets. You will meet scholars of international acclaim who are regularly invited to give talks at our University. We have exchange partnerships with universities in Nebraska, Mississippi, Arizona, and Southampton, in particular for first- and second-year BA students. Our students have won literary prizes and published their manuscripts. They have enjoyed intensive weeks of theatre-going in London, and performed in Renaissance plays and shot films in Oxford Colleges. Others have won travel awards to academic conferences from Albuquerque to Puerto Rico. Students in Linguistics embark on real-world empirical studies involving online questionnaires and experiments. They may also participate in the workshops organised by the nationally recognised Research Centre on Multilingualism (Centre scientifique de compétence sur le plurilinguisme/Wissenschaftliches Kompetenzzentrum für Mehrsprachigkeit). Students in Literature are invited to cross-enroll in classes offered by the Institute of Comparative Literature (Institut de littérature générale et comparée/Institut für Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft).

  How will you learn?
  Our study plan makes sure that you experience all the facets of the world of English literature and linguistics, not just a sliver here and there. A good academic programme offers you more than content: it gives you methodology, bibliography, theory, and the tools to think like a professional. We also give close attention to your writing skills. Those who work with literary texts are most effective when they manage to transmit their ideas clearly, distinctly, and persuasively. When you get ready to write your BA thesis, professors will help you along the way with their dedicated supervision of your project.
  When pedagogically appropriate, we may offer intensive weekend seminars for some of our classes. In these seminars, students and professors meet in a congenial setting to investigate a subject in detail. And for those who want more, there are opportunities for graduate and doctoral study down the road.

  Where will you go from here?
  Our bachelor and master programmes are designed to fit together. We want you to get the full benefit of five years of study in Fribourg, with all its diversity, to see you succeed with a master's thesis which – who knows – might turn out to be publishable. Many of our recent graduates have secured employment in the Swiss school system. When you complete your master's degree, you can choose from among French-speaking or German-speaking teacher education programmes right here in Fribourg. Other graduates work internationally, in journalism, communication, event management, as well as the world of publishing, or in non-profit or governmental organisations.

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Minor study programmes to be chosen