Department of Literature Studies

Welcome to the Department of Lettres modernes (Literature Studies) Website! You will find here a detailed description of the courses we offer, a link to our research activities, and several useful contacts.
 

• Check out the academic calendar

Organisational structure of the Department of Literature Studies

Activities

The Department of Lettres modernes (Literature Studies) provides courses in French Language and Literature, as well as in General and Comparative Literature. These courses present the current state of knowledge and study problematics in the field of literary research. Composed of several disciplines (French Literature from the Middle Ages to the present, Comparative Literature, French Language, one Ancient and one Modern Foreign Languages) which often borrow from other fields of study in Humanities (History of Societies and Ideas, Cultural History, History of French Language, grammar, stylistics…), our curriculum prepares students for a B.A Degree (high school diploma + 3 years of study), M.A degree (high school diploma + 5 years of study) or PhD (high school diploma + 8 years of study). We also ensure vocational training for future school teachers, and provide courses preparing students to the CAPES and Agrégation examinations.

With a BA degree in Lettres Modernes, you can take the ESPE admission test in order to prepare for the recruitment examination for primary school teachers. To take the CAPES examination, you must enrol on the MEEF M.A degree course after obtaining your B.A degree. To take the Agrégation examination, you must have an M.A degree (or have passed the CAPES examination already) and enrol on the PSE (Préparation Supérieure à l’Enseignement) M.A degree course. To prepare a PhD, you must have an M.A degree and contact one of the University professors (or lecturers, provided that they have passed their accreditation to supervise research) to ask them to mentor you according to your research project.

During your Licence (B.A degree) course, you will be able to personalise your curriculum thanks to various specialisations that will allow you to progressively determine your career path throughout the three-year course. Four specialisations are offered: Approfondissement littéraire (in-depth literary course), Découverte des Métiers du Livre (discovery of the book industry and its various professions), Info-Com, Professorat des écoles (vocational training for future school teachers).

Courses and training provided

The Licence Mention Lettres parcours “Lettres Modernes” (B.A degree in Literature) offers a common core curriculum and several possible specialisations to be chosen by the students. These specialisations enable them to personalise their studies according to their professional project. Nevertheless, please keep in mind that this curriculum aims at preparing students for a B.A in Literature, and thus has a majority of literature-oriented courses: Specialisation courses represent around 20% of the curriculum.

Licence Lettres modernes

Master Arts, lettres et civilisations

Master MEEF

Master Préparation supérieure à l'enseignement PSE

B.A "Humanités" here.

With a BA degree in Lettres Modernes, you can take the ESPE admission test in order to prepare for the recruitment examination for primary school teachers. To take the CAPES examination, you must enrol on the MEEF M.A degree course after obtaining your B.A degree. To take the Agrégation examination, you must have an M.A degree (or have passed the CAPES examination already) and enrol on the PSE (Préparation Supérieure à l’Enseignement) M.A degree course. To prepare a PhD, you must have an M.A degree and contact one of the University professors (or lecturers, provided that they have passed their accreditation to supervise research) to ask them to mentor you according to your research project.

What to do next?

In addition to the traditional career opportunities in teaching, the practice of critical analysis, written and oral expression, and the extensive general knowledge provided by Literature Studies give students who graduated with a B.A degree in Lettres Modernes a solid basic training that allows them to adapt to a greater number of professional fields than is often imagined. For instance, we can think of most administrative careers in the public and private sectors. The synthetic mind, independent judgement, taste and zest for human interactions of these young graduates make them open-minded an approachable, a much appreciated quality in the corporate world (Human Resources Management). The solid culture acquired during their Lettres Modernes studies also allows them to pursue a career in the book industry or in the field of documentation (libraries, publishing sector, book shops, documentalist in a company…), in the press and communication sectors (journalism, advertising…), or even in tourism or trade.
 

Research activities

The literature research centre most of the teachers-researchers of the Lettres Modernes Department work with is called "L'Antique, le Moderne" (The Antique and the Modern, the AMo). It is an Equipe d’accueil ((Host Team, EA 4276) that belongs to the Ecole Doctorale (Doctoral program for future PhDs, ED 496) entitled “Societies, Cultures, Exchanges”. Within this framework, conferences and day-long seminars are regularly organised, in which M.A and PhD students in particular are invited to participate.