Arts, Literature and Media (research) (MA)

About the Arts, Literature and Media Research MA

The study of artefacts from the past shifts our understanding of the present, just as contemporary arts and literature often invite us to critically revisit the past and its afterlives. The knowledge produced by art and literature - past and present - is always multiply mediated: through the contexts in which artistic or literary works function, through language, the material they are made of (print, paint, etc.), and 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 arts, literature, and media through a programme that combines theoretically grounded approaches with period-specific training. Offering space for specialisation, this Research MA allows you to design a personalised study programme based on your interests.

Why study Arts, Literature and Media in Leiden?

This programme combines theoretical and period-specific training, tailored to your own ambitions and interests. Its interdisciplinary, transhistorical and transmedial character makes it a unique study programme in the Netherlands: the programme allows you to specialize while training you in how to make your work ‘speak’ to peers from different (inter)disciplines, so that it has a broader appeal and hence a good chance of getting funded, published or being impactful in society. In two core seminars, you learn to position yourself as a scholar and to develop your research in a multidisciplinary field. Besides these common seminars, you may choose courses from two informal lines of specialization designed to delve into specific – historical – periods that work with different understandings of media. You are not required to follow the courses of one of the two lines; you are free to mix and combine them:

• 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 pertains mainly 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.

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 background in art history, media studies, comparative literary studies, or languages and literatures such as Dutch, English, Italian, French, German or Spanish? Are you passionate about research but haven’t yet committed to a specific field—and are eager to explore a wider range of fields, perspectives and topics? This interdisciplinary programme is designed for curious, ambitious students who want to deepen their expertise in the field(s) of their choice while engaging in intellectual conversations across disciplines. If you’re excited by the idea of conducting meaningful, exciting research in a dynamic, interdisciplinary academic environment, this programme could be a good fit for you. 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.