American Studies/British Studies/English Linguistics (M.A.)

Students can choose to study one of the subject areas 'British Literary and Cultural Studies', 'English Linguistics' or 'North American Literary and Cultural Studies' for their single-subject Master's degree or as their main (major) subject if they are enrolled for a dual-subject degree programme. Further specialization within any of the main three subject areas is expressly encouraged. The programme offers students a wide variety of options for planning study abroad periods that are tailored to their individual preferences or career goals and the department assists students in establishing contacts to foreign universities and research groups.

Students not only gain a detailed understanding of their chosen specialist discipline based on current research activity in the field, they also acquire the skills needed in order to be able to produce sound and reasoned analyses of the linguistic, literary and cultural relationships of a topic through application of the relevant theoretical and methodological tools. They also acquire a high level of proficiency in analysing and interpreting a diverse range of text types drawn from English-speaking cultures, including film and digital texts.

The Master's programme is designed to be completed in four semesters of full-time study or seven semesters if studying part-time. Students who plan to study for a single-subject Master's degree or who will be taking modules from the programme for their main (major) subject of a dual-subject degree programme, should select one of the following subject areas when they enrol at the University (Please note: switching to another subject area is usually possible after completing the first semester):

• British Literary and Cultural Studies
• English Linguistics
• North American Literary and Cultural Studies

Students must complete the following academic requirements:

Single-subject degree programme

• Coursework and examination credits totalling 120 credit points (CP) of which 27 CP are for the Master's thesis
• A study abroad phase (mobility phase) lasting at least three months but no more than one semester

Main / major subject

• Coursework and examination credits totalling 93 credit points (CP) of which 22 CP are for the Master's thesis
• A study abroad phase (mobility phase) lasting at least six weeks but no more than one semester

Subsidiary / minor subject

• Coursework and examination credits totalling 27 credit points (CP)
• Students taking modules for their subsidiary (minor) subject in a dual-subject Master's degree can undertake a study abroad phase (mobility phase) during their specialization module.

For further information, please refer to the study regulations.

Please note

As this is a consecutive Master's programme, applicants must already have a Bachelor's degree in English, American, or Anglophone studies or in a related field such as linguistics, gender or media studies. Simply having taken English language classes is not sufficient.

In addition to working in academia, employment opportunities for graduates include public relations and cultural work in globally active companies or international institutions, as well as career paths in the media. Other employment areas include private agencies, political parties, professional associations, museums, libraries, archives and adult education.

Students seeking admission to the Master's programme must have a Bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification in which the main subject area studied was

• Linguistics
• English Studies
• American Studies
• Modern English literatures and cultures / Postcolonial Studies

or another relevant academic discipline. If it is not possible to demonstrate the equivalency of the academic credentials presented by an applicant, the applicant may be granted conditional admission status.

Applicants must also provide proof of advanced proficiency in English by demonstrating that they have achieved CEFR proficiency level C1 (reading comprehension, listening comprehension, oral and written expression) in an internationally recognized language testing scheme (e.g. IELTS).

Additional admission requirements:

Single-subject Master's degree / Main (major) subject of a dual-subject Master's degree

• Students must demonstrate their academic competency in the subject areas listed above by accumulating at least 80 credits.
• Students must have attained a grade of at least 'good' (2.0 on the German academic grading scale) in the required Bachelor or equivalent degree. If this is not the case, applicants may still be able to demonstrate their aptitude for the Master's degree programme on the basis of a letter of application in English and/or an admissions interview in combination with the grade achieved in their first degree.

Subsidiary (minor) subject of a dual-subject Master's degree

• Students must demonstrate their academic competency in the subject areas listed above by accumulating at least 60 credits.

Detailed information regarding admissions requirements can be found in Section 35 of the subject-specific regulations.

Regulations

• Study regulations
• Examination regulations (in German)
• Subject-specific regulations
• Discontinued regulations (in German)
• Decision on the urgent competence decision of  22.06.2023 (language certificate) in German

Programme content

• Module catalogue
• Study guide (in German)