This transferable competency in humanities includes the ability to think historically and analytically about language, literature, culture and society. In addition, you will gain thorough and detailed insight into the subjects of your elective courses and the topic of your master’s thesis. The fields of competence are listed below. They are divided into knowledge, skills and general competence.
Knowledge
The candidate
- has C2 level in English (according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).
- has an extensive knowledge of cultural, political and social conditions in the USA or Britain historically and contemporarily.
- has specialized insight into an individually chosen and clearly defined field of cultural, social or historical studies from the English speaking world.
- has a thorough working knowledge of current cultural, historical or political approaches, theories and methodologies in the fields of American and British area studies or cultural studies.
- has the conceptual and verbal skills necessary to advance rigorously argued analyses of texts, of translational phenomena or of the history and culture of the U.S. or Britain.
- can analyze cultural problems in a way that reflects insight into relevant distinctive historical, traditional and social contexts.
Skills
The candidate
- can analyze and deal critically with a wide variety of sources of information and use them to structure and formulate scholarly arguments in a narrowly defined question within American or British historical or cultural studies.
- can engage analytically with existing theories, methods and interpretations in American or British studies, and work independently on analyzing relevant theories, methods , arguments and interpretations within the field.
- can comment on or analyze American, British, or other English language sources within their field of study either singly or in relation to other texts or sources, and contextualize them in light of the period in which they were written.
- can use libraries and archives to find relevant sources and knows how to apply references, footnotes and bibliography for various types of material.
- can carry out an independent, limited research project under supervision, in accordance with applicable norms, ideals and conditions for historical or cultural research within a geographically limited framework, to a degree of academic excellence that satisfies common and basic scholarly requirements of logical and empirical rigor.
- is aware of ethical norms for protecting sources and how to apply these norms in academic work.
General competence
The candidate
- is able to analyze a wide range of problems relating to cultural and historical scholarship and is able to use good research ethics.
- can extend their knowledge and skills to new areas in order to carry out advanced assignments and projects, also beyond specific application to British or American historical or cultural studies in English.
- is able to communicate extensive independent work in a way that is acceptable to the scholarly community, masters the specialized language and terminology specific to the academic fields of cultural and historical studies and has a high level of proficiency in reading, writing and speaking formal, academic English.
- is able to communicate with specialists as well as the general public about academic issues, analyses and conclusions in American or British studies.
- is able to contribute to innovative thinking both within and outside of the bounds of the topic for their master’s thesis.