European Studies MA

The research-oriented and interdisciplinary masters programme in European Studies analyses the European unification process in the form of its deepening and enlargement. Europe is considered as a political, economic, social and cultural project from a historical perspective. Central themes of Leipzigs MA programme in European Studies are the historical moments and social arenas of processes of Europeanisation in their diversity and openness. The programme is not limited to a single interpretative approach. Instead, the aim is to enable students to make independent contributions to this scientific and political debate, which reaches into the future, and thereby increase their employability.

The programme assumes that processes of Europeanisation:

• are not phenomena of recent decades, and their analysis thus demands adequate historical depth;
• can be reduced not only to economic processes and their social consequences, but also include the development of political-cultural patterns of consent or defence;
• cannot be analysed as processes of homogenisation alone, but must also be considered in terms of the differentiating effect from the perspective of European regions; and that
• any consideration of the effect of European contexts ultimately depends on the location and the perspective of the interpreter.

Since the Middle Ages, Leipzig, a city of trade fairs, media and books, has been regarded as a hub for the transfer of science, business and culture linking Western and Eastern Europe. Leipzig University, too, has a long tradition of Europe-based research. Since 1990, the potential of Europe-based research, teaching and information services has been systematically developed using the foundations laid in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, Leipzig can boast a concentration of corresponding expertise that is unique in Germany and Europe. In addition to research, the University has also carved a name for itself in the field of teaching European studies. There is close cooperation with the Collaborative Research Centre 1199 on Processes of Spatialization under the Global Condition”, with Leipzig Universitys France Centre, and with various non-university research institutions that conduct social, cultural and spatial research on Europe: the Leibniz Institute for History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO), the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography (IfL) and the Leibniz Institute for Jewish History and Culture Simon Dubnow (DI).

• Completion of a six-semester BA programme in history or cultural studies, a six-semester BA programme in social sciences or a certificate recognised as equivalent by law or by the competent state authority;
• knowledge of German at B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and
• knowledge of English at B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and
• knowledge of another modern foreign language at B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Please refer to the respective study regulations of your chosen subject to find out what level of proficiency in English is required and how this must be demonstrated.