Gain broad knowledge of French literature or linguistics through our Master of Arts (MA) degree program in French at UBC Vancouver.
Degree Requirements
The MA in French degree program offers two options. The minimum credit requirement for either option is 30.
Option 1: Course-based MA
- This option requires 30 credits of coursework, up to 3 of which may be drawn from 400-level undergraduate courses in literature or linguistics given in French.
Option 2: MA with Thesis
- This option requires 24 credits of coursework numbered 500 and above in literature or linguistics given in French.
- French 599 (6) a Master’s Thesis written in either French or English. The length of the MA thesis should be approximately 80 pages including the bibliography.
- A one-and-a-half hour oral thesis defence normally conducted in the target language.
MA candidates may specialize in literature or linguistics, or propose a research program combining both fields.
Candidates who are primarily interested in Linguistics may write a thesis on an aspect of French Linguistics. After consulting with the Graduate Advisor, they may also be permitted to supplement the Linguistics courses offered in the Department itself by taking courses elsewhere at UBC (in the Department of Linguistics or the Faculty of Education, for example), or at other universities under the Western Deans’ Agreement. Students specializing in this in French linguistics will be required to take some courses in French literature to complete their Master’s program.
When the language skills of a graduate student do not meet the expected standards of the Department during the first year of the program, this student, at the discretion of the Graduate Advisor, will have to take the appropriate undergraduate course(s) and obtain a minimum mark of 80%, in addition to the program’s course requirements.
Program Overview
Students must form their supervisory committee by the end of the first year and submit the Supervisory Committee Approval Form for approval by the Graduate Advisor no later than March 31st (if your graduate program started in September) or July 31st (if your graduate program started in January).
The MA Thesis Proposal must be approved no later than the first month of the second year in the program (September, if your graduate program started in September; January, if your graduate program started in January).
Students must submit the thesis to their committee a minimum of four weeks prior to the Oral Defence. The thesis supervisor informs the Graduate Advisor when the committee has accepted the thesis and considers it ready to be defended. The Graduate Program Assistant organizes the Oral Defence.
The Oral Defence requires students defend their theses before they can graduate.
The final copy of the MA thesis after the oral defence should be submitted to the Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies.
An Annual Progress Report must be submitted by March 1st for every year that the student is enrolled in the program.
Time for Completion of Program
The maximum time permitted for the completion of a Master’s program is five years. In certain circumstances, it is possible to complete the MA in a twelve-month period. The maximum period of financial support for full-time study in the MA program is two years. The program is available to students on either a full-time or a part-time basis. There is no formal residence requirement.