Possible specializations for students still in the old 5 year system:
SPECIALIZATION STREAMS
Students can get recognition for specializing in one of four academic “streams” organized in the IEAS. Specializing in a stream means that students take a concentration of courses in one of the areas as described below. Some of the benefits of participating in a stream include focusing your studies in a particular area, getting to work with instructors in areas of central interest to them, and receiving a certificate upon graduation produced by the IEAS which states that you have specialized in a particular area.
Please note that students are not required to participate in a stream, and all courses listed in the requirements for the streams are open to all students regardless of specialization.
Applied Linguistics Business English Gender Studies Irish Studies Semiotics
Applied Linguistics Specialization Stream (ALSS)
[Up]1. The aims and goals of the program
The aim of the present project is to develop a specialization stream in applied linguistics for students of the Institute of English and American Studies, University of Szeged, which would offer a theoretically well-grounded and practically oriented course of study for the students of the Institute.
The applied linguistics specialization stream (ALSS) is one of a number of specializations currently under development at the Institute. Because one of these specializations is a stream in TEFL Methodology, the focus of ALSS is applied linguistics including EFL issues from a more theoretical rather than a methodological point of view.
2. Reasons for being
The aim of this specialization stream is to offer basic theoretical and empirical training to students who want to utilize their knowledge and skills in language policy making, language education administration, and questions of intercultural communication and public relations, language contact, second language learning, organizational communications, language and the professions, and a variety of other issues regarding language use, where Hungary can be expected to be in a great need of trained specialists after its admission into the European Union.
The specialization will fill a void in the undergraduate training of the U of Sz Arts Faculty, where the Department of General Linguistics offers a course of study oriented almost exclusively towards generativist theoretical linguistics.
The specialization will also be able to prepare students wishing to pursue Ph.D. studies in English applied linguistics, programs for which already exist in Hungary at two universities and a program for which, involving most of the specialization faculty, is currently undergoing accreditation.
The courses that have so far been offered have enjoyed a considerable popularity with students: the introductory level courses in the 1997/1998 academic year alone were attended by more than half of all the 2nd and 3rd year students. If only a third of these chose the specialization, it would mean approximately 40-50 students in the stream from the three years in question. All courses will, naturally, be part of the regular course offering of the Institute, open to all of its students regardless of whether they choose to specialize in applied linguistics or not.
Even though many courses have been offered at the Institute in the past years by the faculty participants of the present project in the subfields of the planned applied linguistics specialization, no program has attempted so far to offer a comprehensive and structured course of study in this field and/or coordinate the work of the participating faculty beyond informal collegiate contacts.
3. Participating faculty
The faculty teaching in the applied linguistics stream will include linguists from the IEAS whose specialization is in applied linguistics. Currently there are five such faculty members, who are briefly introduced below.
- Erzsébet Barát — specialization: discourse analysis, critical discourse
analysis. - Anna Fenyvesi — specialization: sociolinguistics and language contact.
- Miklós Kontra — specialization: sociolinguistics, language rights
and education EFL. - Don Peckham — specialization: second language acquisition, EFL, research
methods. - Malgorzata Suszczynska — specialization: sociopragmatics, conversation
analysis.
4. The structure of the stream
The structure of the various streams under development at the IEAS has been loosely defined as follows: the completion of a total of 10 courses will be required for each stream, 3 of which will be introductory and 7 others beyond the introductory level.
Students choosing the ALSS will be required to take the following courses: of the Introductory courses, Introduction to Applied Linguistics and Introduction to Sociolinguistics, plus one other introductory level course, any 6 of the 17 Elective courses, and the Research methods course (see complete listing of courses in section 5 below).
The stream will specify special requirements beyond the general IEAS student requirements for the Major Paper (a 15-25 page paper submitted at the end of the 3rd year) and the Thesis (a 35-60 page paper submitted at the end of the last, 5th year) only to the extent that students in the ALSS stream will be required to write these papers in applied linguistics. Where necessary, the topic of these papers will be chosen to accommodate already existing requirements (e.g. of the American Studies major students to write these papers in a topic pertaining to the United States).
5. Course offerings
The course list below comprises all the courses that are being planned for the ALSS. The introductory courses and Research methods will be offered at least once in every academic year, and the other courses at least once in every two year period.
In the course list below, courses that have not yet been offered as part of the IEAS curriculum are marked with an asterisk, and the initials of the faculty member teaching the course are included in brackets.
A. Introductory courses (lecture courses):
- Introduction to applied linguistics (DWP)
- Introduction to discourse analysis (EB)
- Introduction to sociopragmatics (MS)
- Introduction to sociolinguistics (AF)
B. Elective courses (seminars):
sociolinguistics
- Sociolinguistics and language teaching (MK)
- Language, law and education (MK)
- The sociolinguistics of gender * (EB)
- Multilingualism in the United States (AF)
- Bilingualism (AF)
- Language contact * (AF)
- Advanced sociolinguistics (AF)
discourse analysis
- Language and ideology (EB)
- Language and the media (EB)
- Critical language awareness (EB)
sociopragmatics:
- Analyzing dialogue (MS)
- Dialogue as a social action (MS)
- Speech act analysis (MS)
- Politeness, society and culture (MS)
second language acquisition:
- Second language acquisition (DWP)
- Communication and learning strategies * (DWP)
- Cognitive perspectives on second language acquisition * (DWP)
C. Applied linguistics methodology:
- Research methods in applied linguistics (seminar) (DWP and EB)
Business English Specialization Stream (BESS)
[Up]The aims and goals of the program
The aim of this specialization is to offer theoretical as well as practical training to those students who wish to utilize their knowledge and skills in the business world. The seminars cover a wide range of business-related topics focusing on concepts and practice. The British and American Culture of Business World courses provide the theoretical background to pursue business studies while the other seminars concentrate on more practical issues on a skills-based approach.
The specialization aims to provide the students of the IEAS with an academic training at a specific and up-to-date level, and with a degree which can be utilized also outside the academic community. Getting this kind of certificate issued by the Institute may mean an advantage for the students when seeking employment.
All the courses are part of the regular course offering of the Institute and open to all of its students regardless of whether they choose to specialize in Business English or not.
Requirement: 10 courses, including two of the Introductory courses and at least one elective course from each block
Courses
Introductory courses (at least two of the following):
British and American Culture of Business World
- 1 HR and Personnel Management
- 2 Marketing , Promotion, and PR
- 3 Banking and Financing
- 4 Business Types and Market Structure
Elective courses (at least one of each block):
Business Communications
- 1 Management
- 2 Production and Marketing
- 3 Finance
- 4 Economics
Business Reading
- 1 Finance and Management
- 2 Advertising, PR and Sales Promotion
Business Writing
- 1 Business Correspondence
- 2 In-company Correspondence and Employment
Translation
- 1 Translation into Hungarian
- 2 Translation of Legal Texts into Hungarian
“Általánosan művelő” offered by Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (max. 1)
Course offerings
- British and American Culture of Business World: one in every semester
- Business Communication: one in every semester
- Business Reading: one in every academic year
- Business Writing: one in every academic year
- Translation: one in every semester
Gender In Language And Literature Specialization Stream (GLASS)
[Up]Gender studies, as a critical approach to the socially, ideologically and discursively constructed gender relations in the fields of linguistics, the interpretation of literary texts and canons is an area of specialization in English and American Studies. Gender Studies, which exerted its influence in Hungarian scholarship and higher education primarily in the study of the literatures and cultures in English has been considered a novelty and proved to be a challenge to the conventional philological study of English.
In our Institute several members of the staff have organized and taught courses on gender studies topics from feminist perspective for years. These courses have contributed not only to widening the scope of the course offers in English and American Studies but also enhanced the plurality of perspectives and approaches in the teaching of linguistics, literary and cultural studies.
The objective of the specialization stream Gender in Language and Literature is to establish a course package out of the previously taught and tested courses in gender studies, in which the optional courses in the syllabus of English Studies can be structured systematically and so students may enroll a conceptionally unified module of courses.
According to our knowledge of the present situation of English Studies programmes in Hungary, there is no other Institute of English and/or American Studies where students of English are offered a specialization in gender studies and one that is also officially acknowledged with a certificate in their Diploma. This pioneering effort to run a gender studies specialization stream in our English and American Studies programmes enables our students to prepare for their postgraduate studies either in our PhD programme “Literatures and Cultures in English in Europe and North America” or in CEU Gender and Culture MA Programme.
For application and further information please contact Ms Sarolta Marinovich, Convener of GLASS.
The stream consists of 10 courses: 6 introductory and survey courses and 4 MA thesis related courses:
- Introduction to gender studies: gender in intellectual history
- Gender in social theory
- Gender in philosophy
- Gender, language, discourse
- Gender in literature 1.
- Gender in literature 2.
- Feminist research methods (MA thesis related course)
- MA thesis related elective course 1.
- MA thesis related elective course 2.
- MA thesis related elective course 3.
Staff members teaching in the specialization stream
- Reschné Marinovich Sarolta, Convener of the Stream, associate professor retired
- Barát Erzsébet, associate professor
- Federmayer Éva associate professor
- Annus Irén associate professor
- Kérchy Anna senior assistant professor
- P. Balogh Andrea assistant professor
- Tóth Zsófia Anna part-time pre-doctorate fellow
- Antoni Rita part-time pre-doctorate fellow
Guest lecturer
- Joó Mária associate professor (ELTE Institute of Philosophy)
Irish Studies Specialisation Stream (ISSS)
[Up]Aims and Goals
Irish Studies is a distinct field of academic study and research like American Studies or British Studies etc. in many universities in many parts of the world. The aim of this stream is to offer students the opportunity to study Ireland in a systematic way using the approaches of the various disciplines already present in the work of the Institute of English and American Studies. These include literature, culture, history, politics, international relations and, of course, the Irish language. This specialisation stream, therefore, attempts to offer a comprehensive and structured framework for approaching Irish Studies with Ireland serving as an integrating theme for the disciplines of history, politics, literature etc. Thus students can concentrate on a particular discipline or area for their work or adopt an interdisciplinary approach if they prefer this.
Participating Faculty
- Edward Kelly (Irish Government Lecturer in Irish Studies and Stream Manager) – Specialisation: History, politics, international relations.
- P Balogh Andrea – Specialisation: Literature, cultural studies.
- Bocsor Péter – Specialisation: Literature, film.
- Molnár Anita – Specialisation: Irish Cultural Studies.
- Harry Fitzpatrick – Specialisation: Irish Language.
- Rozsnyai Bálint – Specialisation:literature, literary theory
- Kopár Lilla – Specialisation: Medieval Studies
Structure
All students will be required to take “Introduction to Irish Studies” (Molnár Anita) in second year to be admitted to the Irish Studies Stream.
Once admitted, students will be required to take a total of NINE courses chosen in consultation with their major paper and thesis supervisors. While not all courses listed below will be available every year they will be offered over the three-year period in which a student is in the stream.
Course offerings
All courses offered for ISSS are part of the regular course offering of the Institute, open to all of its students whether they choose to specialise in Irish Studies or not. The course list below comprises the courses that are being planned for the ISSS.
Compulsory Courses
- Introduction to Irish Studies (MA)
Optional Courses
Nine of the following to be chosen in consultation with major paper and thesis supervisors:
- Themes in Irish Culture (MA)
- Irish Drama and Theatre (survey course) (PBA)
- Contemporary Irish Poetry (survey course) (PBA)
- Modern Irish Fiction (survey course) (BP)
- Irish History I c1450-1912 (survey course) (EK)
- Irish Women Writers (PBA)
- Samuel Beckett’s Work (PBA)
- Irish Modernism (W. B. Yeats and James Joyce) (RB)
- Irish Film (BP)
- The Celtic Heritage: Myth, Folklore and Culture (KL & PBA)
- Irish History II Independence and Partition, 1912-26 (EK)
- Irish History III Ireland since 1922 (EK)
- Irish History IV Northern Ireland since 1920 (EK)
- Irish Foreign Policy (EK)
- The Irish Political System (EK)
- Peace-Making in Northern Ireland (EK)
- Irish Language for Beginners (HF)
- Irish Language for Advanced Learners (HF)
The Semiotics Of Cultural Representations (Semiotics) Specialization Stream (SSS)
[Up]Objectives
This specialization program will provide students with an opportunity to systematize their studies in a way so that a significant amount of their courses and research will be focused on various traditions and methods of semiotic analysis and semiotic theory. The stream lays special emphasis on the semiotic understanding of the ideologically determined social systems of cultural representations, the semiotics of subjectivity and cultural identities, semiotic approaches to high and popular registers of culture, the semiotic typology of cultures and the different semiotically informed interpretive approaches to early modern (Renaissance through 18th century) and (post)modern (20th century and contemporary) literature as well as
non-literary genres, such as film, media, arts, fashion, etc.
The structure of the stream
A total of 10 courses will be required for the stream, 4 of which will be lectures, accompanied by 5 seminars and the Research methods in semiotic analysis course, which has to be taken in the MAT research period. Students in the Semiotics stream will have to write the MP and the MAT in semiotically oriented analysis.
Course offerings
To rationalize the sturcture of the courses and to enhance co-operation with various other streams and courses, courses from other streams and courses offered on a non-regular basis may be specified as acceptable for the Semiotics stream at the beginning of the academic semester.
A. 5 lecture courses:
Obligatory:
- Semiotics and Cultural Theories (team-taught)
- Semiotics, Iconography, Verbal/Visual (Szőnyi Gy.E.)
- Poststructuralist Literary Theory and the Semiotics of the Subject (Kiss A.)
One of the following:
- Introduction to Discourse Analysis (Barát E.)
- Introduction to Sociopragmatics (Suszczynska M.)
B. Elective courses (seminars), 5 courses total:
- Structuralist Semiotics and Beyond (Bocsor P.)
- Semiotics of Theater and Drama (Kiss A., P. Balogh A.)
- Semiotics and Narratology (Bocsor P.)
- Semiotics of Film and Visual Culture (Farkas Z.)
- Popular Culture (Vajda Z.)
- Engendering the Subject (Barát E.)
- Language and Ideology (Barát E.)
- Literature and the Semiotics of the Subject (Kiss A.)
- Semiotics and Deconstruction (Bocsor P.)
- Postsemiotics and Semiography (Kiss A.)
- Semiotics and Hermeneutics (Szőnyi Gy. E.)
- Semiotics, Inonography, Emblematology (Szőnyi Gy. E.)
- Hypertextuality and Semiotics (Bocsor P.)
- Semiotics, Renaissance, Postmodern (Kiss A., Szőnyi Gy. E.)
Methodology, one seminar
- Research Methods in Semiotic Analysis (Bocsor P., Kiss A., Szőnyi Gy. E.)
