Russian and East European Cultures and Societies: The University of Manchester

MA Russian and East European Cultures and Societies (Pathway of MA European Languages & Cultures)

Course description

Manchester has one of the oldest and best established centres for the study of Russia and Eastern Europe in the UK. REES offers coverage of history, society, culture, media, film and politics in Russia, the former Soviet Union, Poland and Southeast Europe, as well as comprehensive instruction in the Russian and Polish languages.

In delivering the MA degree programme, Russian and East European Studies closely collaborates with colleagues from the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures and the School of Social Sciences. Through this collaboration they can offer expertise on the social and economic history of imperial and early Soviet Russia, post-communist Russian politics, the political economy of post-communist Europe, and the impact of EU enlargement on Eastern and East Central Europe.

The MA Russian and Eastern European Cultures and Societies pathway is a modular programme, with a free choice of course units. This pathway comprises the compulsory course unit in Studying and Researching Russia and Eastern Europe (30 credits), a 12-15,000 word dissertation (60 credits) and optional course units (to a total of 90 credits) selected.

Areas of specialist study include:

• Culture and Dictatorship
• Soviet and Post-Soviet Cinema and Mass Media
• Nationalism in Russia and Eastern Europe
• Contemporary Russian Literature
• Russian Literary Theory
• Migration and Diaspora in Eastern Europe
• Post-Communist Transition in Eastern Europe

Module details

The MA comprises:

• Research Methods I and II (30 credits)
• Optional course units (90 credits)
• a dissertation (60 credits)

Optional course units typically include:

• Remembering the Second World War after the Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe
• The Politics of Culture
• Social and Cultural Upheaval in War and Peace: Russia, 1890-1960
• Television and Mass Media in Post-Soviet Russia
• The EU as an International Actor
• Russian Language I
• Translation and Interpreting Studies l and ll
• Russian Language ll

Entry requirements

Academic entry qualification overview: The normal requirement for admission to the MA is an Upper Second class Honours degree, or higher, or its overseas equivalent, in a suitable Humanities discipline.

English language: Students whose first language is not English require an overall IELTS score of 7.0 with 7.0 in the writing component or TOEFL 600 (paper-based test), 250 (computer-based test) or 100 (internet-based test).