MSt in Yiddish Studies

University of Oxford

About the course

The MSt in Yiddish Studies is designed to enhance the linguistic proficiency, academic competence, and cultural literacy of aspiring scholars, instructors and educators in the field of Yiddish language and literature. The MSt in Yiddish Studies is suitable both for candidates wishing to proceed to a research degree and for those who wish to spend only one year at Oxford.

The MSt in Yiddish Studies offers a variety of subjects central to the linguistic, literary and socio-cultural history of pre-modern and modern Ashkenazic (Yiddish-speaking) society. Subjects will be taught by Yiddish specialists and the degree comprises:

a paper in Modern Yiddish literature

a paper in the history of the Yiddish Language

an option paper (previous options have included: Old Yiddish Literature: Between Folklore and Literature; Nineteenth-Century Yiddish Literature; Modern Yiddish Poetry; Yiddish Drama and Theatre; Sociology of Yiddish; and History of Yiddish Studies)

a dissertation.

The MSt in Yiddish Studies provides an appropriate introduction for you if you are contemplating higher research in a DPhil or PhD programme in this area. Personalised and small-group teaching will equip you with a range of transferable skills and give you an opportunity to develop your particular interests. Both compulsory papers are taught in six tutorials, while the teaching for the option paper will be in tutorials or seminars (depending on the option). You will be expected to undertake a significant amount of self-directed learning in your own time, building on the information provided in the teaching sessions and preparing your formative and summative assessments.