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World Literatures and Cultures (MA)

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The Master of Arts in World Literatures and Cultures is the first and only program of its kind in Canada. This one-year MA brings together areas of study such as literature, film, media, sociolinguistics, gender, diasporas and minorities.

The program explores the comparative and interdisciplinary nature of world cultures and arts, both past and present. It draws upon the combined expertise of professors from the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and from other departments in both the faculties of Arts and Social Sciences.

Discover how identities are shaped by cultural expressions in a national and transnational context. Explore the nature of representation and cultural diversity. Expand your intercultural knowledge in the dynamic setting of the nation’s capital.

The program is offered both full- and part-time. The two compulsory courses in the program are offered bilingually and the others are offered in rotation in French and in English. In accordance with the University of Ottawa regulation, students have the right to produce their work, their research papers or theses, and to answer examination questions in French or in English. The program operates under the general regulations of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (FGPS), which can be accessed on the FGPS Website.

Search all research fields for members of the teaching staff

The professors included in the list below are members of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. This means that they are authorized to supervise or co-supervise theses.

ANDACHT, Fernando, Associate Professor
Semiotic theory applied to media analysis; representation of reality in audiovisual discourse; micro-sociological study of media's impact in everyday life; a socio-semiotic approach to the documentary genre and the reality show

BIRT, Paul, Associate Professor
Modern Welsh Literature; the Welsh in Argentina; early Celtic Narrative; Language revitalization; Linguistic geography; Language legislation

BLAIR, Jennifer, Assistant Professor
Canadian literature and cultural studies; Critical theory; Literature and architecture

BRISSET, Annie, Full Professor
Discourse analyses; culture and translation; translation theory; pedagogy of translation and interpretation (curriculum development)

CAO, Huhua, Associate Professor
Urban and regional dynamics; francophone urban space; chinese community in Canada; regional development of Asia; planning and development of chinese metropolitan areas; geographic information systems (GIS)

CARDINAL, Linda, Full Professor
Citizenship debates; relationship between law; history and politics, issues of modernity and identity Québec; Ireland and United Kingdom; governance of minority languages; Canada-Europe; francophones outside Québec; women and minorities; history of political ideas in Canada

CLAYTON, John, Full Professor
Russian romanticism; Pushkin; Chekhov; Russian theatre since 1895

CORNEJO-PARRIEGO, Rosalia, Full Professor
Contemporary Spanish literature (narrative); literary theory; gender and cultural studies; contemporary Latin-American literature

EID, Mahmoud, Assistant Professor
International; transnational; intercultural; and political communication; theories of communication; quantitative and qualitative research methods (media effects, audience research, social development, and public opinion), conflict resolution; crisis management; and terrorism control; international relations; political decision-making; and game theory; Middle East politicsl; Arabic media; and Islamic culture; media ethics and social responsibility

ESLEBEN, Joerg, Associate Professor
The works of Georg Forster (1754-1794); cultural relations between Germany and India; Weimar cinema; Faust

FLOREZ-MALAGON, Alberto, Associate Professor
Culture and power; cultural studies and cultural history; postcolonial and subaltern studies

GERMAIN-RUTHERFORD, Aline, Full Professor
University teaching; faculty development; integration of technology in teaching; second language teaching; speech technology in second language teaching

GRANDENA, Florian, Assistant Professor
Contemporary french cinema in the french republican context and the new global order; french / francophone queer cinema; impact of digital technology on film aesthetics and narrative

GRUTMAN, Rainier, Full Professor
Bilingual writers and multilingual writing (involving combinations of French, English, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and German), self-translation (in Canada, Spain and Belgium), the poetics and politics of intertextuality - in particular in the Romantic era

GUERRERO, Jorge Carlos, Assistant Professor
Latin American intellectual history and cultural production

HOTTE, Lucie, Full Professor
Théories de la réception; littérature franco-ontarienne; littérature québécoise contemporaine

IMBERT, Patrick, Full Professor
Analyse du discours : presse; littérature; violence et pouvoir; études canadiennes : culture; postmodernisme; littérature québécoise : XIXe et XXe siècles; littérature française : XIXe et XXe siècles; littérature comparée

LAGACÉ, Martine, Assistant Professor
Méthodes de recherches quantitatives en communication, communication interculturelle : cultures et conceptions du vieillissement : le défi de la communication, communication interpersonnelle : rôles et répercussions des stéréotypes et de la discrimination, communication organisationnelle : identité, vieillissement et âgisme et travail, désengagement psychologique, estime de soi, communication intergénérationnelle

LALIBERTÉ, Andre, Full Professor
Identity and nationalism; politics and religion; politics of China and Taiwan; welfare regimes in East Asia

LEVEY, Stephen, Assistant Professor
Urban dialectology and linguistic change; the language of adolescents and preadolescents from a variationist perspective; pidgin and creole languages

LILLO, Gaston, Associate Professor
Latin American literature and cinema

MAKARYK, Irene, Full Professor
Shakespeare; Comparative literature

MARGOLIS, Rebecca, Associate Professor
Canadian Yiddish culture; Yiddish language and literature; Canadian Jewish history

MARTINEAU, France, Full Professor
Syntaxe française; histoire de la langue française; philologie française et québécoise; sociolinguistique; discours épistolaire et identitaire

MAYNE, Seymour, Full Professor
Canadian literature; Modern poetry; Creative writing; Comparative literature

MEERZON, Yana, Associate Professor
Theory of drama and performance; cultural and interdisciplinary studies; russian drama and theatre

MERKLEY, Paul, Full Professor
Medieval and Renaissance music; film music; 20th century music; history of music theory; religion and music; medieval studies; patronage of music; the business of music

MURTHY, Viren, Adjunct Professor
Modern Chinese intellectual history; modern Japanese intellectual history; Marxism and historiography

NAHON-SERFATY, Isaac, Assistant Professor
Health Communication; Public Relations and Institutional Communication; International Communications; Discourse and Public Policy

PERISSINOTTO, Cristina, Associate Professor
Italian studies; Utopia; the Italian Renaissance

RICCI, Franco, Full Professor
Contemporary Italian literature and aesthetics; Narrative discourse and visual representation; Italian contemporary culture

RUANO-DE-LA-HAZA, Jose, Full Professor
Spanish literature; Theatre studies; Renaissance poetics

SCHWARTZ, Agatha, Associate Professor
Literature of the 20th century; women's literature; gender studies; German and Central Europe culture

SIMON, Scott, Associate Professor
Political and legal anthropology; development; East Asian studies

SIOUI, Georges, Full Professor
Metahistory and history of Aboriginal peoples; Aboriginal philosophy and spirituality; Aboriginal/Indigenous education; Canadian studies

SOKOLOSKI, Richard, Associate Professor
Polish language and literature; Russian literature

STACEY, Robert, Associate Professor
Canadian literature

SUGARS, Cynthia, Associate Professor
Canadian Literature; Postcolonial theory; Psychoanalysis

TELMISSANY, May, Associate Professor
Arab cinema and culture; contemporary Arab literature; literary theory; film theory; intercultural relations and multiculturalism; Arab Canadian Studies

VALENZUELA, Elena, Assistant Professor
Language acquisition ; Bilingualism and heritage languages ; Hispanic linguistics

VERONIS, Luisa, Assistant Professor
The formation and contestation of immigrant identities and communities in and through space/place; the transnational experiences of Latin American immigrants in Canada; neoliberal governance and citizenship formation, the impacts of neoliberal restructuring on the nonprofit sector; especially immigrant NGOs

VON FLOTOW, Luise, Full Professor
Literary translation; gender and translation; audiovisual translation; Canadian studies

Tous les cours ne sont pas nécessairement offerts chaque année. Les cours sont offerts dans la langue dans laquelle ils sont décrits. / Not all of the courses listed are given each year. The course is offered in the language in which it is described.

Cours obligatoires / Compulsory courses:

LCM5901 MÉTHODOLOGIES DE LA RECHERCHE INTERCULTURELLE / METHODOLOGIES OF INTERCULTURAL RESEARCH (3cr.)
Étude de la méthodologie et des techniques de la recherche interculturelle et comparative et des théories sur la formation de l’identité, de la différence et de la représentation. Préalable: connaissance passive de l’anglais. / Study of intercultural and comparative research methodology and techniques. Theories of identity and difference formation and of representation. Prerequisite: passive knowledge of French.

LCM5902 SÉMINAIRE DE RECHERCHE / RESEARCH SEMINAR (3cr.)
Techniques avancées de rédaction. Développement et présentation du projet de mémoire. Préalable: connaissance passive de l’anglais. / Advanced essay writing techniques. Development and presentation of the research paper proposal. Prerequisite: passive knowledge of French.

LCM6999 MÉMOIRE/RESEARCH PAPER (6cr.)
Mémoire entre 40 et 50 pages préparé sous la direction d’un ou deux membres du corps professoral choisis en accord avec le directeur du programme. Mémoire noté S/NS par la(les) personne(s) qui l’a(l’ont) dirigé et un autre membre du corps professoral. Préalables : LCM5901, LCM5902. / Paper (40-50 pages) completed under the supervision of one or two professors selected in consultation with the program director. The research paper will be evaluated by the supervisor (and co-supervisor) and one other professor. Graded S/NS. Prerequisites : LCM5901, LCM5902.

Cours optionnels / Optional courses:

LCM5100 INTERTEXTUALITY: LITERATURE AND THE ARTS (3cr.)
Study of common discourses, threads and motives that occur in the literatures and arts of various countries, regions and across various historical periods. Comparative methodological approach to world cultures beyond the limitations of disciplinary, historical and national configurations.

LCM5101 LESSER-USED AND MINORITY LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES (3cr.)
Study of the situation (e.g. acculturation and assimilation issues; language as the expression of cultural identity), the relevance and the cultural impact of lesser-used and minority languages and literatures in an international context, in the present and the past.

LCM5102 EUROPE AND ITS OTHERS (3cr.)
European culture and its encounters with the Other, both within and outside of Europe. Study of the creation of cultural, racial and gender stereotypes and hybridity in literature, film, the arts and the media in various geographic and historical contexts, including Canada.

LCM5103 ORIENTALISM IN LITERATURE, CINEMA AND THE MEDIA (3cr.)
Study of Orientalist discourses through post-colonial theories. Representations of the Orient and the Occident in literary and cinematic productions and the media.

LCM5104 TOPICS IN WORLD LITERATURES (3cr.)
Definitions and theories of world literature (Goethe’s Weltliteratur) as developed and applied in various cultures and during different historical periods. Study, in a comparative context, of major topics in world literatures from various countries and continents.

LCM5105 TOPICS IN INTERNATIONAL CINEMA (3cr.)
Study of film as a vehicle of national and transnational cultural identity; cinematographic representation, language, themes, topics and motives in an intercultural and comparative context.

LCM5106 LANGUAGES IN CONTACT (3cr.)
Study of a contact situation between two or more languages and of its social, historical and cultural impact.

LCM5107 CULTURES IN THE DIASPORA (3cr.)
The situation of linguistic and cultural survival, identity, production and interaction (literary, cinematic and other) in various diasporas, in Canada and/or selected regions in the world.

LCM5301 SPECIAL TOPICS IN WORLD LITERATURES AND CULTURES I (3cr.)
Comparative study of selected topics pertaining to at least two different cultures, literatures, and/or cinematographic and artistic traditions.

LCM5302 SPECIAL TOPICS IN WORLD LITERATURES AND CULTURES II (3cr.)
Comparative study of selected topics pertaining to at least two different cultures, literatures, and/or cinematographic and artistic traditions.

LCM5500 L’INTERTEXTUALITÉ : LA LITTÉRATURE ET LES ARTS (3cr.)
Étude des discours et des motifs communs aux littératures et aux arts de différents pays et régions et à travers différentes périodes historiques. Approche méthodologique comparative aux cultures du monde au-delà des limites des configurations disciplinaires, historiques et nationales.

LCM5501 LES LANGUES ET LITTÉRATURES MOINS RÉPANDUES ET MINORITAIRES (3cr.)
Étude de la situation (ex. les problèmes de l’acculturation et de l’assimilation; la langue en tant qu’expression de l’identité culturelle), de l’importance et de l’influence sur le plan culturel des langues et littératures moins répandues ou minoritaires. Étude dans un contexte international, au présent ainsi qu’au passé.

LCM5502 L’EUROPE ET SES AUTRES (3cr.)
La culture européenne et ses rencontres avec l’Autre à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur de l’Europe. L’étude de différentes formes de l’hybridité ainsi que des stéréotypes culturels, raciaux et sexuels dans la littérature, le cinéma, les arts et les médias dans différents contextes géographiques et historiques, incluant le Canada.

LCM5503 L’ORIENTALISME DANS LA LITTÉRATURE, LE CINÉMA ET LES MÉDIAS (3cr.)
Étude des discours orientalistes dans la perspective des théories post-coloniales. Représentations de l’Orient et de l’Occident dans des œuvres littéraires et cinématographiques ainsi que dans les médias.

LCM5504 THÈMES DANS LES LITTÉRATURES DU MONDE (3cr.)
Définitions et théories de la littérature mondiale (littérature universelle d’après Goethe) tel que développées et appliquées dans des cultures et périodes historiques variées. Études comparatives de thèmes majeurs dans les littératures du monde provenant de divers pays et continents.

LCM5505 THÈMES DANS LE CINÉMA INTERNATIONAL (3cr.)
Étude du cinéma en tant que véhicule de l’identité culturelle nationale ainsi que transnationale, de la représentation, du langage, des thèmes et des motifs cinématographiques dans un contexte interculturel et comparatif.

LCM5506 LES LANGUES EN CONTACT (3cr.)
Étude du contact entre au moins deux langues et de son impact social, historique et culturel.

LCM5507 LES CULTURES DANS LE DIASPORA (3cr.)
La situation de la survie linguistique et de l’identité, production et interaction culturelles (littéraire, cinématographique et autre) dans des diasporas variés, au Canada et/ou dans des régions choisies ailleurs dans le monde.

LCM5701 THÈMES SPÉCIAUX EN LITTÉRATURES ET CULTURES DU MONDE I (3cr.)
Étude comparative de thèmes choisis appartenant à au moins deux cultures, littératures et/ou traditions cinématographiques et artistiques différentes.

LCM5702 THÈMES SPÉCIAUX EN LITTÉRATURES ET CULTURES DU MONDE II (3cr.)
Étude comparative de thèmes choisis appartenant à au moins deux cultures, littératures et/ou traditions cinématographiques et artistiques différentes.

LCM5909 LECTURES DIRIGÉES EN LITTÉRATURES ET CULTURES DU MONDE /DIRECTED READINGS IN WORLD LITERATURES AND CULTURES (3cr.)
Cours individuel ayant pour objectif d’approfondir les connaissances de l’étudiant dans un domaine particulier ou de lui permettre de se familiariser avec un nouveau domaine. Le sujet est déterminé et développé en consultation avec le professeur responsable et en conformité avec les directives du département. Le travail remis dans ce cours doit être différent de ce qui a pu être soumis dans d’autres cours, y compris le mémoire. On permet un maximum d’un cours de lectures dirigées par étudiant et la permission n’est accordée que dans des circonstances exceptionnelles. Préalable : permission du directeur du programme. / Individual course aimed at deepening a student’s knowledge of a particular area or at gaining knowledge of a new area. The topic is selected and developed in consultation with the supervising professor in accordance with departmental guidelines. The work submitted for this course must be different from that submitted for other courses, including the research paper. Maximum of one directed readings course per student and permission granted only under exceptional circumstances. Prerequisite: Permission of the program director.

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World Literatures and Cultures (MA)

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