The application period for the 2025/26 academic year has now ended!
The application period for the MA NTS programme at the University of Münster for the 2025/2026 academic year has now ended! The application portal was open between May 5 - July 15, 2025, and we have received a high amount of applications from a number of qualified applicants from all around the world. We look forward to welcoming our successful applicants in Münster very soon!
The essay task for the 2026/2027 academic year will be online in February, and the portal will start accepting applications in May 2026.
Further requirements for the application process can be found here.
Welcome to the pages of the Master of Arts (MA) programme "National and Transnational Studies: Literature, Culture, Language" (NTS) at Muenster University!
This two year (four semester) programme offers:
- A specialisation in anglophone literatures and cultures from around the world, and in English linguistics, combined with an interdisciplinary orientation towards other modern languages and literatures, history, and social anthropology. The programme also draws on scholarship from other fields such as sociology or political science.
- Reflections on nationalism and nationality as cultural (rather than merely political) phenomena: How are nationalism and nationality constructed through literature, language and other forms of cultural expression?
(with topics including theories of nationalism, tradition and memory, national aesthetics, canon formation, and varieties of English) - Research on the global role of English with a focus on New English varieties in the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. The programme offers the possibility to apply different approaches to the study of World Englishes, including for example sociolinguistics, corpus linguistics, language attitude research, phonetics, or (variational) pragmatics.
- Explorations of complex cultural dynamics beyond national frameworks in an increasingly globalised world
(with topics including colonialism & postcolonialism, migration & diasporas, transculturalism, English as a world language and the sociolinguistics of globalization)
- Studies in a wide range of literature, cultures and varieties of English
(e.g. British Isles, North America, Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific)
- Advanced understanding of theoretical approaches from literary and cultural studies as well as sociolinguistics, including reflections on selected approaches from the social sciences (e.g. social anthropology, sociology, political science)
- Courses on anglophone literatures and cultures (incl. film and media), English linguistics, and subjects from related disciplines (e.g. other languages and literatures, history, social anthropology)
- Combination of taught courses and independent research
- International orientation reflected in the possibility of spending one semester abroad. The compulsory module "Work Experience" can likewise be completed abroad
- Course language: English
Due to the interdisciplinary orientation and the integrated External Module students can participate in thematically relevant courses in other departments and disciplines, where the language of instruction may also be in other languages (e.g. German, Spanish).
As the focus of the MA NTS programme is on anglophone literatures and cultures and on varieties of English, students will mainly be based in the English Department. Our staff possess a broad range of specialisations, ranging from Shakespeare to Bollywood and from Adam Smith to Zadie Smith. Linguistic research foci range from sociolinguistics, corpus linguistics to phonetics and pragmatics. Current research projects include Mobile outer circle speakers’ attitudes towards different varieties of English, Standardisation processes in Nigerian English, The Language of English Pop and Rock Music, Translocality in the anglophone Caribbean, or the global spread of Jamaican Creole. This variety is reflected in our teaching and in the wide range of topics available for students' own research choices. Our MA NTS students form a friendly and lively community that is characteristically shaped by the diversity of students' cultural backgrounds. The high proportion of international applications we receive every year from outside Europe reflects this diversity. Inclusiveness and pluralism are at the heart of this MA programme which is why we especially like to welcome international students to Münster.
Interdisciplinary components can be chosen from a number of related fields and departments, such as other literatures and languages, history, or social anthropology. Beyond our established partnerships, our students have also taken classes in fields like sociology and political science.
The various options for individual choice and specialisation enable students to develop precisely tailored academic and professional profiles in preparation for national and international careers in both academic and non-academic sectors.
Preparation for academic careers (e.g. via PhD study) is facilitated through this Master programme’s strong orientation towards research, as well as towards recent disciplinary and theoretical developments.
Preparation for non-academic careers is facilitated through the programme’s emphasis on international perspectives and on transferable skills. Students are trained not only in self-organised independent work, but also in team work and group projects. They develop their media competence and possess advanced English-language skills in oral and written communication. A compulsory module "Work experience" is also part of this programme.
Potential fields of employment for our MA graduates include academic institutions, media and publishing, advertising and public relations, museums, festival organisation, consulting, national and international organisations dealing with migration, language policy or international cultural relations, as well as multinational private businesses in various sectors.
You can watch an introductory video here:
Additionally, you can watch an interview with one of our alumnae, Emma Weissenfels, here: