Course summary

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2023). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas. The MPhil in Celtic Studies is designed to give students the opportunity to concentrate on the study of aspects of the history and culture of Celtic-speaking peoples from antiquity to the present day. Options in language, literature and linguistics form the core of the degree, while a range of optional subjects in these areas and beyond is also available. The MPhil in Celtic Studies is suitable if you wish to proceed to a research degree or if you would like to spend only two years at Oxford on a free-standing degree. This two-year course is normally restricted to those who have taken a first degree in a relevant subject area; however, it is also suitable for students with no previous background in Celtic, but with sufficient linguistic ability to acquire grounding in Welsh and/or Irish quickly. Generally, student numbers in the MPhil programme are relatively small and this allows the teaching to be tailored to the particular choice you may make. Teaching is provided through a mixture of classes and tutorials. A core course provides an introduction to the medieval Celtic languages through the close study of texts in class, while other areas are taught through tutorials which may be supplemented by lecture series. A weekly Celtic research seminar brings all students together with talks by invited, mainly external speakers, run jointly in collaboration with the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth. You may be required to take an intensive course in a modern Celtic language as a condition of admission, either in the long vacation prior to the admission or in the long vacation following the third term of your course of instruction. The MPhil in Celtic Studies provides an appropriate introduction for you if you are contemplating higher research in a DPhil or PhD programme in this area. Students are required to take one or two core options, from a choice of: (i) Celtic linguistics; (ii) Welsh literature; or (iii) medieval Irish literature; plus one or two special options, which may develop one of these areas in more depth; or may be another ancient or modern Celtic language and its associated culture; or may be on a historical or other relevant topic. You will write a dissertation that typically arises out of one of the options studied; and will also be required to develop a reading knowledge of a modern Celtic language which you have not previously studied at degree level. Teaching for the course is shared among three faculties, English, History and Linguistics. Faculty members with particular expertise in Celtic topics include Prof David Willis (course director; Celtic linguistics, Welsh language and culture); Prof Mark Williams (medieval Irish and Welsh literature; modern reception of Celtic literature); Dr Conor O’Brien (early medieval history of Britain and Ireland); Dr Holly Kennard (modern Breton linguistics); Nora Baker (Irish language instructor); and Llewelyn Hopwood (Welsh language instructor).