American Studies Leipzig University

The MA American Studies at Leipzig University offers a unique programme in graduate studies of the field. It provides students with sophisticated expertise in US culture, literature, history, society, and politics, and it allows them to acquire advanced academic skills and research capabilities. The programme prepares participants both for pursuing a further academic career and for positions in the international employment market in fields such as cultural affairs, media and communication, publishing, political and international organisations, science and research management, or adult education. While the MA programme overall deepens students’ understanding of the complexities of the United States from an interdisciplinary perspective, through individual choices in thematic modules and research projects, it also allows students to specialise in a discipline or field within American Studies.

The scholarly modules of the programme stand out by their strictly interdisciplinary design. Grouped around core themes and concerns in the study of the United States, they combine classes from different disciplinary perspectives and allow wide room for pursuing individual interests. The titles of the modules make this clear, as does the nature of the expertise integrated into the modules.

The modules for the MA include:

• Cultures of Difference
• Global America
• Imagining the Past
• Immigration, Community, and Citizenship
• Media, Society, and Culture
• Myths, Narratives, Memory
• Political Cultures
• Trans-/National Spaces, Bodies, Cultures

In addition to the scholarly components of the programme, we offer a highly innovative Professional Skills Module that enables students to develop advanced abilities in integrating academic training with applied knowledge via project creation and implementation. In this module, called iCAN, students acquire practical and analytical skills needed for the publication of an academic journal, as peers: emerging voices in American studies. Working together as a team, they go through all steps involved in reviewing, discussing, improving, and editing academic articles for publication.

Opportunities to study abroad and to pursue a professional internship round off the programme. These opportunities are formally embedded into the possibilities to earn credits.

Optional courses are taught by guest professors from the United States as part of Leipzig University's American Studies Picador Professorship for Literature.

Internships are recommended and can be recognised for credit.

The application period is usually from the beginning of April to 31 May. Please see the website of Leipzig University, specifically its International Centre, for more information.

In addition, the deadline for the first stage of the entrance exam (aptitude test) is usually towards the end of April. Please see the website of the Institute for American Studies at Leipzig University for more information.

Passing of the entrance exam; BA or equivalent in American Studies or in a field overlapping with American Studies

Approx. 300 EUR per semester

Leipzig University has a Career Service as a specialised institution supporting students on their path from studying to working life.

The Institute for American Studies also has an active alumni organisation (ASLAA) that helps facilitate the connection between current students and graduates working in diverse fields.