Arts, Literature and Media (research)

This interdisciplinary research master offers the best of three worlds (arts, literature and media). You take two collective courses which will train you to position yourself and your research in a multi-disciplinary field. Then you choose between two historically defined lines:


In the medieval and early modern line, art and literature work through media. Here, medium is the means by which art and literature are made (such as the medium of language, print, theatre, paint, etching, andsoforth).

In the contemporary line, from the 19th century until the present, art and literature get accompanied by media such as cinema, games, or social media.
You are free to design the rest of the programme based on your own interests. As part of the programme, you are asked to select courses provided by the national research schools, which offer an educational programme around specific fields of research: medieval studies, art history, literary studies, media studies, and cultural analysis. You also take courses worth 30 EC that are specific to your research and can be chosen from Leiden master programmes or other universities. Finally, in the ‘case-based research’ component you get a good grasp of a researcher’s ‘laboratory’ by collaborating with a staff member – individually or in small groups – on their ongoing research project and actively contributing to it.