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 MSt 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 MSt in Celtic Studies is suitable both for students wishing to proceed to a research degree and for those who wish to spend only one year at Oxford. This is a nine-month course designed to help those who already possess a good knowledge of Welsh, Irish or another Celtic language to acquire a grounding in areas of Celtic studies which were not part of their first degree course. Alternatively, it can be a path for those who wish to deepen their knowledge in a particular area of Celtic studies. The MSt in Celtic Studies provides an appropriate introduction for you if you are contemplating higher research in a DPhil or PhD programme in this area. Generally, student numbers in the MSt 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. Students take two papers, either two options from a choice of: (i) Celtic linguistics; (ii) medieval Irish literature; or (iii) Welsh literature, or one option from these subjects and one paper on a special subject to be chosen from each year's course handbook. You will write a dissertation on an approved topic normally arising from 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).