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Reading the Now

English Literature: Writing the 21st Century

At the end of English Literature: Writing the 21st Century, you graduate with a set of intellectual and professional skills shaped by intensive reading, research, and debate.

In the programme, you hone your ability to analyse complex texts and cultural discourses, to process large amounts of information quickly, and to write with clarity, precision, and argumentative force. Through sustained engagement with theory, you develop the ability to entertain multiple perspectives, recognise power dynamics in cultural forms, and situate your own work within ongoing scholarly debates.

You gain concrete research skills: finding, evaluating, and synthesising secondary sources; mapping a field; and building an original, well-grounded argument. Working in an international classroom strengthens your cross-cultural communication skills and teaches you to navigate diverse viewpoints with nuance. This combination of analytical insight, theoretical sophistication, and clear writing prepares you to understand and rethink the narratives shaping the twenty-first century. 

Read the stories of our alumni Amrita Das and Jules Rosier

VU Master's Event

Saturday 7 March 2026

International Master's webinar

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What can you do after your Master's degree?

Enter the workforce

Graduates of this MA in English Literature are well prepared for a wide range of careers in the literary and cultural field. Alumni go on to work as editors at publishing houses, journalists for newspapers and magazines, literary specialists in libraries, consultants for cultural and literary programmes, organisers of literary festivals, or communications officers at governmental and non-governmental cultural institutions. The programme’s strong emphasis on critical analysis, writing, and cultural theory equips students with skills that are highly valued across the cultural sector.

In addition, there is a well-documented shortage of secondary school teachers in the Netherlands. After completing this MA, graduates can follow the one-year Master’s programme Leraar Voorbereidend Hoger Onderwijs in de Taal- en Cultuurwetenschappen, which provides the official qualification to teach English in secondary education as well as in adult education.

Where has the programme English Literature taken us?

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