Program Overview

This is a taught Masters course that offers a range of language and literature modules - most of these through the medium of English - including Modern Welsh, Middle Welsh, Modern Irish, Old Irish and Scottish Gaelic. As a student on this course, you will write a thesis on a subject of your choice under the supervision of a specialist in that field.

One of the strengths of this MA, and one which sets it apart from similar schemes, is that we will enable and encourage you to develop your Welsh-language skills, whether you come to us as a Welsh speaker or learner, or as a complete beginner.

Why study the MA Welsh and Celtic Studies at Aberystwyth University?

• Choose Aberystwyth University and you’ll be studying in a location like no other. On the west coast of Wales between Cardigan Bay and the Cambrian Mountains, you’ll be part of a friendly, outward-looking community where students have been coming since 1872. What better place to study the rich history and cultural heritage of the Celtic people and regions?
• The Department of Welsh and Celtic Studies at Aberystwyth University is the oldest department of its kind in the world - home to a lively community of students and researchers who all share the aim of promoting a wider understanding of the Welsh and Irish languages, their history, literature and place in the modern and international world.
• Joining us at Aberystwyth, you will become part of a vibrant wider research community. At monthly seminars, staff, students and visiting scholars present their research, and informal open textual seminars and reading groups run throughout the year.
• The National Library of Wales is a wonderful resource and is a short walk from the Welsh and Celtic Studies Department. It is one of only five copyright libraries in the UK. Its priceless medieval manuscripts contain some of the earliest Welsh literature as well as valuable collections of medieval Cornish material, modern Irish manuscripts and Manx folklore.
• Aberystwyth is also home to the University of Wales Welsh Dictionary and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. We have a close working relationship with these institutions, and our students can take advantage of their resources.
• Language learning takes place outside the classroom as much as within it, and here the wider community in Aberystwyth comes into its own. The county of Ceredigion is home to thriving Welsh-speaking communities, and Aberystwyth plays host to a lively Welsh language arts scene, featuring drama, poetry, pop music, traditional music and dancing, and more. Regular social and literary events such as Cicio’r Bar, an evening of poetry readings and music presented by renowned Welsh poets Eurig Salisbury and Hywel Griffiths, allow students access to contemporary Welsh culture and unique opportunities through which to gain experience of Welsh in the community.
• Aberystwyth also has a Welsh-speaking students’ union (UMCA), Welsh-speaking sports teams (under the umbrella of Y Geltaidd) and Pantycelyn, Aberystwyth’s famous and newly-refurbished Welsh-language hall of residence. All of these facilities provide opportunities for students to use Welsh in social situations.