Mediterranean Studies is a comprehensively conceived Bachelor’s degree programme aimed at acquiring knowledge of languages, literatures, and historical background of the various philological disciplines related to the Mediterranean cultural space.

“Mare nostrum, nostra res – The Mediterranean, our world in miniature.”

Student of this interdisciplinary programme is systematically educated in the literary history of all the major cultures that were present in the Mediterranean as a contact point for the European, Asian and African continents. Compulsory reading and interpretation of the most important literary monuments of the Mediterranean aims to lead the student to recognize the interdependence and interaction of cultures.

The student is also systematically educated in Mediterranean languages: depending on the study programme, he/she chooses one or two of the following languages (Romance language: French, Italian or Spanish / Greek / Arabic; previous language knowledge is not required). These languages, on the one hand, open up access to modern scholarly literature and, on the other hand, enable him/her to (with the support of the basic knowledge of the classical languages of the ancient Mediterranean) uncover the roots of European civilization and its further development in relation to other cultures of the Mediterranean region up to the present day.

According to his/her own choice, the student can also familiarize himself with the most remarkable monuments of the history of philosophy, art and architecture, including their influence on other artistic creation of the Mediterranean, or broaden philological education from offered language, literary and historical courses.

This study programme is suitable for secondary-school graduates specialized in humanities or economy. It is a suitable complementary study for students of particular, especially Romance philologies, and for other students of related fields (geography, economics, international relations).

Within the bachelor's degree programmes offered in the Czech Republic, the study programme Mediterranean Studies is - in its philological-area focus - unique .

Practical training

Practical training is not an obligatory part of the study plan.

Further information

No preliminary knowledge of modern Greek or Romance languages or Arabic is required.

Further information: http://classics.phil.muni.cz/o-nas/kontakt and https://www.facebook.com/uksbrno/

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the study programme Mediterranean Studies, the graduates can find employment corresponding to Bachelor’s degree in libraries and museums, in cultural or foreign affairs departments in public administration, publishing, or media. Possible employment of the graduates may differ depending on the studied languages and the type of study programme.

This programme is accredited in Czech and requires students to have a native-speaker or C1 knowledge of Czech or Slovak.

The criteria for admission for studies are the results of the written Field of Study Examination. Applicants may also be admitted based on other criteria, see Admission without the Entrance Examination. The Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University disregards the results of SCIO National Comparative Examinations.

You can file your e-applications for studies from 20 July to 20 August.
Field of Study Examinations will be held from 3 to 4 September.
The date and time of the examination will be stated in the electronic invitation for the examination, which will be uploaded to your e-application. The faculty will not be sending paper invitations. Applicants applying for the major study plan and minor study plan in a combined study must comply with the conditions for admission into both plans.

Learning Potential Test (TSP)

For admission for studies in this degree programme, you do not need to take the TSP.

Field of Study Examination

This examination is only in Czech. It is intended to check the applicants’ knowledge of the given field of study. It is done in the form of an written test.

Basic description of the examination:

The test will include:

• language analysis of selected aspects of a short Czech text to the extent of a secondary school curriculum; comprehension of the text (ability to summarize the content and answer specific questions about the text)

and will further check:
• basic orientation of the Mediterranean (blank map testing the applicants’ accuracy at the level of countries, regions, islands, peninsulas, seas);
• basic reading of Mediterranean fiction (summary of the content of any one novel and one non-novel literary work of an author with connections to the Mediterranean: ability to determine the genre and historical and cultural context of the work and ability to answer specific questions about the work).
Time to complete the test: 60 minutes.

Admission without the entrance examination

You may be exempt from the entrance examination based on at least one of the following criteria:

1. results from profile subjects determined by the faculty: a) Czech (Slovak) Language, b) English or German language, c) French, Spanish, or Italian language, d) Latin or Mathematics. The exemption based on school results is applicable to applicants who are students in the final year of a secondary school or who passed the secondary school leaving examination no later than in 2021;
2. foreign language competitions: confirmed participation in a regional or national round.

Secondary school results may be applied for an exemption from the entrance examination by those applicants whose average grade was 1.5 or higher in each of the four profile subjects. The total average result in all subjects is not taken into consideration. Secondary school seminars are also disregarded. The average grade of each profile subject is calculated based on the results of the last four years of study in the following way: the mid-year grade is calculated from the final year, whereas the final grades are calculated from the previous three years. It is also necessary that applicants have studied each of the profile subjects for at least two years during the last four years.
Enter your grades in your e-application. Then print the grades out and let your secondary school certify them with a stamp and a signature. Upload the scan of the certified grades into your e-application. You can also upload officially certified school reports or any other documents certifying your school results.
Please upload the officially certified documents together with a completed Application for the Exemption from the Entrance Examination directly to your e-application in the section Application for the Exemption from the Entrance Examination no later than 20 August.

Criteria for evaluation

• Total number of points in the Field of Study Examination: 100
• Limit for successfully passing the Field of Study Examination: 60, out of which at least 20 are for grammar

Recommended literature

• Školní atlas světa. 4. vydání. Praha: Kartografie Praha, 2017. ISBN 978-80-7393-399-9.
• Hlavsa, Zdeněk. Pravidla českého pravopisu. Vydání 3. Praha: Academia, 2017. ISBN 978-80-200-2755-9.
• Applicant’s reading of belles-lettres of all genres (without a prescribed list). We recommend reading at least two novel works (either historical or current) and several non-novel works from the Mediterranean (the author must either come from a Mediterranean country or the story is situated in the Mediterranean).

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Minimum score and numbers of accepted applicants in past years

After completion of the Bachelor’s degree programme, it is possible to continue further studies in the Master’s degree programme directly in Mediterranean Studies or in other Master’s degree programmes (Theory and History of Arts and Culture, Comparative Literature, Literature and Inter-cultural Communication or Philology Studies) after satisfying the admission requirements.