After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the linguistic, literary, and cultural phenomena at the intersection of two cultural regions of North America
• be equipped with practical language skills and theoretical tools enabling an analytical approach to the cultural areas in question

Graduates can work wherever good bilingual skills and critical thinking are needed and where attention is paid to issues of cultural relations, such as the issues of otherness, social and cultural exclusion, migration, and immigration.

In order to apply for the state final exam at the end of master's studies the single subject students must meet the following requirements:

a. to attend the compulsory core courses (30 credits in total) :

AJ27072 / ROM0B009 history of European colonization

AJ22094 / ROM0B012 multilingualism, language change and language policy

ROM0B010 Geography, culture and society in Francophone regions of North America

SJ0B789 Contemporary society and cultures of Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America I

FJIB553 history of francophone Canada

AJ27073 North American cultural geography

b. From among the following three modules the student chooses two modules, i.e. either the English and French module or the English and Spanish module (a total of 40 credits).

Required courses - English Module

AJ27071 North American intercultural narratives

AJ22092 Current issues of American Linguistics

AJ27069 Film in the USA : Institutions, genres, authors, criticism

AJ29085 Translation of the North- American literature into the Czech, a historical - cultural perspective

Required courses - French Module

FJ0B747 imaginaires de la Villeroy Montréal , Québec

FJ0B767 image of the US and the Americas in Quebec literature

FJ0B773 Czech translations of Quebec literature

FJ0B774 French in North America

Required courses - Spanish Module

SJ0B781 The Representation of the US in Mexican literature

SJ0B793 Society and Culture of Central American countries

SJIIA109 Spanish in Latin America

SJIIB969 Spanish in the US

c. From amont the courses below the student must obtain a minimum of 26 credits:

AJ15074 Aspects of Post-war American Fiction

AJ22093 American English pronunciation

AJ25037 Decadent literature and its reception in the late 19th century

AJ25044 North American Gothic

AJ25046 Decadence in America in the late twentieth century

AJ25047 Literature American Indigenous Peoples

AJ25051 Shakespeare and American Literature

AJ27051 Contemporary Native American communities

AJ27052 The 1960s in American history

AJ27053 Civil and Human Rights: a comparative view

AJ27068 / FJ0B771 Migration and immigration in North America

AJ28001 Postcolonial, and Feminist transcripts canonical texts

AJ28056 A Variety of the Canadian experience: Canadian film from the 70s to the present day

FJ0B762 Le fantastique dans la littéature canadienne française et québécoise

FJ0B763 Auteurs féminins en littérature canadienne-française et québécoise

FJ0B764 Histoire de la culture francophone en Amérique du Nord /

FJ0B765 Quebec theatrical creation

FJ0B768 image of Anglo-Canadian of French-Canadian literature

FJ0B772 Current issues of culture of the indigenous peoples in French-speaking areas

FJ0B776 identity and culture in Francophone regions of America

SJ0B762 El cuento Fantástico Hispanic Americans

SJ0B774 Mexican theatrical production

SJ0B776 Literature New Spain and Mexico. Selected chapters

SJ0B779 Identity and Culture in the Spanish-speaking areas of North America

SJ0B790 Contemporary society and culture of Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America II

d. to attend the Master’s thesis I and II seminars (AJ29800 and AJ29801)

e. to write and to defend the Master’s thesis (AJ29850).

Writing a Master’s thesis usually takes at least two semesters: during the first semester, the student performs preparatory activities and fulfils tasks of the electronic seminar I (AJ29800); the second semester is dedicated to the actual writing of the thesis and to seminar II consisting of consultations with the supervisor (AJ29801).

One semester of at least 15 hours per week of practice in a public institution or a private company dealing with some aspect of North American space is required. The list of collaborating organizations is available on the website of the Centre for North American Studies ( http://www.phil.muni.cz/wcss/ ). These organizations include the American Corner at the Moravian Library, Brno Expat Centre, and the Central European Association of Canadian Studies, based at the Faculty Arts.

The final state examination consists of two parts: the thesis defence (written in English, Spanish or French) and an oral examination focusing on either the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking area or he Anglophone and Francophone area. Tests are carried out in the appropriate language. This part of the exam includes the following topics: 1) for the English / Spanish / French language, the test focuses on theoretical knowledge and understanding and specificity of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, lexicology and language development in the given language area; 2) for literature and culture in Canada, USA, Mexico, and the Caribbean, the test focuses on theory, history, and the ability to analyse cross-cultural phenomena.

After completing the Master’s degree study programme, it is possible to continue further studies in a doctoral degree study programme in English Language, Literature in English, Romance Literatures, or Comparative Literatures.