Support

Foreign Language Tuition

In the University Language Centre there are facilities for the study of a wide range of languages, including all the main European languages and also Hindi, Hebrew, Hungarian, Serbo-Croat and Swahili. Students may start to learn a new language or improve on previous knowledge. There are self-instructional audio courses in over forty languages. All students may use the laboratory during term or vacation times.

For Leeds students undertaking Erasmus/Socrates exchanges there is a range of accredited modules which are specifically aimed at 'survival learning' of languages offered by the university's Foreign Language Teaching Unit.

ERASMUS/SOCRATES Exchange programme

The ERASMUS/SOCRATES Programme for the mobility of university students aims to increase student mobility within the European Union (or EU). The goal is for 10% of students to spend a term or one year in a different EU country as part of a taught course. The IMS participates in the programme by sending out and receiving students from a range of European Union universities, including Copenhagen, Groningen, Helsinki, Leuven, and Poitiers.

The particular strengths (or major subject areas) of these institutions lie in (i) Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic Studies, (ii) Medieval Latin and Palaeography, (iii) Medieval Theatre, (iv) Late Medieval Languages and Literatures (English, French, Dutch, Danish and German), (v) Medieval History and Archaeology, (vi) Art History and Cultural Studies and (vii) Linguistic and Humanities Computing. This range enables the institutions to offer students an interdisciplinary programme tailored to their individual needs. Students are taught according to the existing teaching structures of the host institutions. This approach emphasises the pan-European sources of modern culture and course-content reflects this as much as possible.

The ERASMUS Programme has several elements: joint curriculum development, staff exchanges, student exchanges and sometimes intensive programmes, typically of one-week duration, and on topics such as the performance of medieval drama.

Student exchanges

All MA Medieval Studies applicants from the UK will be encouraged to participate in the programme (unless practical reasons prevent their mobility). At taught MA level exchanges are likely to be of one-semester duration. IMS PhD students will be encouraged to participate in the programme as appropriate.

Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) student exchanges

The University of Leeds is a member of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN).

The curent range of partner institutions outside the UK is: University of California, San Diego University of Washington, Seattle University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Wisconsin at Madison Pennsylvania State University. Research students will be encouraged, where applicable, to apply to the WUN for funding to spend a period of time in a partner institution.

Professional development

Employment: In recent years, graduates from the Institute for Medieval Studies have found employment in a number of different areas, including:

Work placement: Students in the Institute for Medieval Studies can also apply for an internship in the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, as described above, and can work with historical documents for the Yorkshire Archaeological Society. Further information on these activities is available from the Director of Studies.

University Careers Centre: The university's Careers Centre offers employment guidance, training and advice for students with interests in medieval subjects. In addition, it holds details of scholarship databases and other relevant information.

This page is owned by Institute for Medieval Studies and was last updated on 2 March, 2010