North American Studies Freie Universität Berlin

Overview

North American Studies from Freie Universität Berlin provides in-depth knowledge of North America in the following six disciplines: politics, sociology, literature, economics, culture and history. Students may choose two areas of concentration (out of the six disciplines listed above).

Quick Facts:

• The John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies (JFKI) is an interdisciplinary institute for research and training at Freie Universität Berlin. Its MA program offers students the opportunity of an academic specialization in numerous facets of North America (US, Canada). Courses are exclusively taught in English. German language skills are not required.
• The MA program at the JFKI combines academic training in six academic disciplines with interdisciplinary perspectives. Besides studies in two of the six following disciplines – cultural studies, economics, history, literary studies, political science and sociology – the curriculum includes courses taught by two faculty members with different disciplinary backgrounds. The curriculum further entails lecture series focusing on a specific issue by researchers of all disciplines taught at the JFKI. No other American/Canadian studies program in German offers a comparable breadth of disciplines devoted to the North American hemisphere.
• As an outward looking Area Studies Institute the JFKI prides itself on an excellent network – at home and abroad. The Institute maintains ties to numerous American and Canadian Studies Institutes via the Erasmus Program. Students may benefit from a year abroad at an American or Canadian university as part of the university-wide direct exchange program. Due to the Graduate School’s prestigious visiting professor program well-known researchers from North America regularly teach at the JFKI. The Institute also closely cooperates with the US- and Canadian embassies and institutions such as the American Academy. In addition, the Terra Foundation for American Art funds a visiting professor program in art history.