English Linguistics
Why this program?
The UZH English Department has four chairs in English Linguistics, including Switzerland's only full professorship in English Historical Linguistics, offering the broadest range of courses among Swiss universities. The UZH Master program in English Linguistics is designed to offer a great deal of thematic flexibility to advanced students wishing to deepen their engagement with English linguistics.
Students will learn how to develop their own research design in specialized areas. Students will debate and contribute to state-of-the-art research in historical linguistics (incl. medieval literature and culture), English as a world language, and the field of language acquisition, from both a synchronic and a diachronic perspective.
What can I do with it later?
The Master programs in English Linguistics prepare students for later employment in a wide range of areas. Moreover, graduates with a strong academic record will have the option of pursuing a PhD and thus lay the basis for a possible career in higher education.
Many of our Alumni/Alumnae work at Swiss Maturitätsschulen. In addition, former students of English have been employed by:
- multinational banks
- Switzerland’s largest TV station
- local as well as national newspapers
- various types of NGOs
- cultural institutions (such as museums or foundations for the arts)
- in other sectors of the economy (e.g. in high-tech companies: responsible for PR materials and user manuals)
What will I learn?
In English Linguistics, students will learn how to reflect critically on their own choice of method and theory, and continue to hone their skills in preparing, analyzing, and interpreting increasingly complex sets of linguistic data.
In addition, the UZH Master program in English Linguistics includes advanced writing and media studies modules. By the end of their studies, students will thus have acquired all the necessary skills to conduct independent scholarly work.
