UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

Central and East European Studies
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International Masters in Russian, Central and East European Studies
(18 months, 120 ECTS*)

For a downloadable course leaflet in PDF Format (960KB)

Aims of the International Masters programmeCEES Internationl Masters Course poster

The International Masters (IMRCEES) degree offers a coherent programme of in-depth study of the Russian, Central and East European region. This innovative new degree offers postgraduate students the opportunity to undertake an advanced study of various subjects relating to historical and contemporary developments in the economy, politics, culture and society of Russia and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

The programme runs over 18 months starting in mid-September with the first year (semesters 1 and 2) being spent at the University of Glasgow. In semester 3 (mid-September to January) students go abroad to study at one of our exchange partner universities in Estonia, Finland, Hungary, or Poland. During semester 4 (January to mid-March) students will undertake a dissertation either under the sole supervision of the University of Glasgow or under the supervision of the University of Glasgow and the given exchange partner university.

The programme also aims to give students a working knowledge of one of the region’s languages, to a level enabling them to read and critically interrogate relevant sources in that language. Students will gain a specific cultural awareness of a given Central or East European country and will benefit from the international experience of studying and conducting research in another country. By the end of the programme students will be able to locate Central and Eastern Europe within a broader global context whilst retaining an appreciation of the region’s internal diversity in a variety of spheres (cultural, economic, ethnic, political and social).

*European Credit Transfer System.

Award of the degree

The International Masters degree is awarded by the University of Glasgow. Graduates will receive a degree certificate and a diploma supplement detailing their course of studies at one of the following exchange partner universities:

Language

Language training is normally available in a choice of Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Polish, Russian and Slovak with teaching available for beginners and for those with an existing knowledge of any of these languages (students with particular linguistic interests should check the availability of that specific language in that session). The International Masters language courses aim to provide students with a working knowledge of the relevant language. The courses are taught to enable students to acquire sufficient linguistic knowledge and translation skills to be able to read texts in the given language and to use these texts in their studies; and to be understood in basic everyday communicative situations.

Students with an advanced knowledge of a particular language from the region will be required to learn another Central and East European language. However, students with advanced knowledge of two or more languages from the region may choose to make up their credits by taking a relevant non-language based course. The Department of Central and East European Studies has been offering postgraduate masters language courses for the past few years to beginners and to those with some linguistic knowledge. Our language courses are taught by very experienced native language teachers.

Student Mobility

As part of the International Masters degree programme, students are required to spend Semester 3 studying abroad at one of our exchange partner universities and also have the option of continuing their students abroad in Semester 4. The Head of Department of Central and East European Studies will take into account the fit between the exchange partner university's research/language specialisations and a student's own research and/or language interests when determining the appropriate university for the student in Semester 3. This decision will be taken in consultation with the appropriate exchange partner university and the student concerned.

Courses at the exchange partner university will be given in English. Students will also be expected to continue with language tuition in a given Central and East European language. In cases where the language specialism is not the partner institution's local language, language tuition in the local language will also be offered

The International Masters Programme

Year 1, Semester 1 (mid-September to December - at University of Glasgow)    30ECTS

Year 1, Semester 2 (January to end May - at University of Glasgow)    30ECTS

Students begin work on the dissertation at the beginning of April.  This includes participating in compulsory dissertation classes which cover a range of issues relating to the process of researching and writing a dissertation.  All students will be required to submit a 3,000 word draft of some aspect of their dissertation and will have to present their research to staff and students in the Department by the end of June.

Year 2, Semester 1 (mid-September to January - at Exchange Partner University)    30ECTS
Students will spend a period of time abroad at one of our exchange partner universities where they will study a range of courses totalling a credit value of 30 ECTS.

Year 2, Semester 2 (January to mid-March - at the University of Glasgow / Exchange Partner University) 30 ECTS
Dissertation
The Dissertation component is flexible in that the student may undertake the Dissertation either under the sole supervision of the University of Glasgow; or under the joint supervision of the University of Glasgow and a given exchange partner university.