Postcolonial Studies (Paris)

Entry requirements

A first or second class honours degree in a relevant subject (or equivalent).

Months of entry

September

Course content

This is an innovative and interdisciplinary MA programme, combining taught modules and a dissertation, which allows you to share your year between Canterbury and Paris.

This programme develops your understanding of the politics of culture in relation to both the imperialist world’s interpretation of the colonial, and postcolonial assertions of autonomy. In this context, while ‘postcolonial’ refers primarily to societies of the so-called ‘Third World’, it also includes questions relevant to cultures such as those of Ireland and Australia.

Following a similar path to our Postcolonial Studies MA, the Paris option allows you to spend your first term at our Canterbury campus with full access to its excellent academic and recreational facilities, before relocating to our Paris centre for the spring term, studying in the heart of historic Montparnasse.

In Paris, you participate in the Paris-focused modules, taught in English. Then, in the the final term, you complete your MA by writing a 12-15,000-word dissertation on a research topic defined in collaboration with your academic supervisors.

Course structure

During the autumn term your core module, Colonial and Postcolonial Discourses, provides an introduction to the analysis of colonial discourse and to the most significant strands of postcolonial theory. Topics covered also include the role that culture plays in anti-colonial struggles and the role of the postcolonial intellectual in the contemporary world. Recommended reading for the module includes works by Frantz Fanon, Edward Said and Gayatri Spivak.

During the spring term, spent in Paris, you develop your studies to include the cultural production of exiles, with particular focus on the role of Paris as a place of refuge and as a focus for multi-cultural encounters and creativity. Works studied may include texts by North American, Latin American and North African writers living in Paris, with focus on their diverse representations of the city and how the experiences of diaspora and exile inform and shape their writing.

You then complete your one-year MA by writing a dissertation on an aspect of postcolonial studies that you will define in consultation with an appropriate tutor. All texts and teaching materials are in English, so this programme offers you a rare opportunity to spend part of your MA year living and studying in Paris without necessarily knowing any French.

Modules

You take two compulsory Postcolonial modules and two further optional modules (four in total) during the autumn and spring terms. You are also expected to attend the Faculty and School Research Methods Programmes. You then write the dissertation or editorial project between the start of the summer term and the end of August.

Teaching and Assessment

Assessment is by a 5000 word essay for each module and a 12000 word dissertation.

Information for international students

If you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of pre-sessional courses in English for Academic Purposes through Kent International Pathways.

Fees and funding

Please visit our funding web pages for the most current opportunities and application details.

Qualification and course duration

MA

Assessment

Course contact details