Work placement and practical experience: research focus

Teacher(s)

Cavagna Mattia (coordinator); Engel Vincent (coordinator);

Language

French

Main themes

The work experience is designed to complement and to question the training in the Master's degree in French and Romance Languages and Literatures by offering the students the opportunity to experience a professional setting linked with one of the direct or indirect openings linked to this research focus, in the knowledge that it is designed as a focus to provide openings (cf. description of the research focus).
Students have the opportunity of making use of the analytical and interpretative skills acquired during their linguistic and literary training in all the work environments where such skills may be required.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

The work experience enables students to put into practice, within a specific professional framework, the analytical and critical knowledge acquired from studying literature and language. In this way, it prepares them to participate in contemporary society, as humanist intellectuals.

Content

The work experience is made up of 120 hours in an organisation or institution in which the specific skills of a Romance specialist might be required (see skills acquired), particularly in such fields as:

• culture: cultural centres, museums, writing workshops, intercultural institution, cultural management, theatres, etc.;
  
• continuing education: literacy centres, training centres, etc.;
  
• communication: the media, publicity, business communication, marketing, etc.;
  
• research: preferably in research centres outside UCLouvain.
  

Teaching methods

It is left up to students to find their own work experience and to ensure that it is worthwhile. They should submit a one-page proposal to the supervisory committee which should include

1. a description of the host institution and the role in it they will play ;
   
2. an explanation of why the proposal is relevant to the ROM Master's degree (particularly skill n° 8, mentioned above : in other words, they should show how the work experience will enable them to make use of skills acquired in the Master's degree) ;
   
3. evidence, where appropriate, that there is no overlap between the proposed work experience and other activities undertaken for the ROM Master's degree. (An activity which is compulsory for a class, a seminar or a thesis may not be validated a second time.)
   

Other information

This work experience is only for students doing the research focus (and may not therefore be done by students doing the two other focuses through the option courses).
The work experience may take place during either the first or the second year of the Master's degree. At least 15 days before the programmes are validated (in the first or second year of the Master's degree), students should submit their work experience proposal and the agreement, duly filled in, to the supervisory panel. Should the supervisory panel reject the proposal, students should add to their programme a supplementary course from the research focus (with the possibility of submitting an alternative proposal at a later stage when the programme may be amended).

Faculty or entity

ELAL