American Studies Leipzig University

Overview

The focus of the American Studies master’s programme at Leipzig University is on examining society, culture, history, literature and politics in the United States and their respective positioning in international and intercultural contexts. This examination occurs on the basis of an in-depth consideration of the interdisciplinary methodology and theory of American studies.

The interdisciplinary nature of American studies is reflected in the structure of the modules. The majority are defined thematically rather than methodologically, as is usually the case elsewhere, and deal with a particular complex of topics from different specialist perspectives. To this end, Leipzig’s Institute of American Studies cooperates with experts from the fields of political science, sociology, etc. One didactic focus of the master’s programme in American Studies is project work, whether in the research seminars of the specialisation modules or in the publication project of the programme’s own key qualification module (www.aspeers.com).

The aim is to train students’ skills in the independent development and implementation of projects and to promote their linguistic and cultural competence in transatlantic thematic fields.

Careers

The American Studies program prepares students for an academic career (doctorate) and for positions on the international job market, for example in the areas of cultural associations, media/journalism and communication, public relations, publishing, political and international organisations, and science and research management or adult education. Typical fields of work include:

• editorial and journalistic tasks
• copyediting, event organisation and management
• teaching language and literature courses
• translation work
• project management
• corporate consulting in regard to international relations
• tasks in foundations as well as intercultural exchange and communication