German Studies/German Philology (M.A.)

Today's German studies is a central discipline in the humanities and cultural studies that deals comprehensively with the German language and literature: with its prerequisites and modes of use as well as its mediality and impact, with 'classics' as well as with everyday culture.

For more than 100 million people today, the German language is the elementary medium of thought and action. With its long history from the Middle Ages onwards and its intensive interrelations with other languages, literary traditions and cultures, German literature and the German language are a field of surprising discoveries.

The study programme in Göttingen offers you

• a broad variety of methods from edition science and corpus linguistics to cultural studies approaches, digital humanities and psycholinguistics,
• a pronounced focus on cultural, literary and linguistic theory,
• a comprehensive historical perspective from the beginnings of German language and literature around 750 to the 21st century

You have a variety of different options to put together your individual study programme from the entire spectrum of the subject. At the beginning of the Master's programme, you can combine two of the three sub-disciplines - German linguistics, German medieval studies, modern German literature. Towards the Master's thesis, you can then specialise in one sub-discipline or one theoretical orientation (German linguistics, German medieval studies, modern German literature or theory and methodology of text sciences).

In the mono-master's programme, the focus can be on 'German Literature' (with a literary-historical or literary-theoretical orientation) or on 'Language and Literature' (with a systematic or historical orientation). If the programme is studied as a combined Master's degree (or as part of a module package), there are many possible combinations - for example with other philologies, with comparative literature, linguistics and also digital humanities as a separate subject.

The Master's degree prepares you for jobs in science-related and literature-mediating professional fields, e.g. in science and culture management, in publishing houses, libraries and media institutions, as well as in public relations at a wide range of institutions and in adult education. In addition, it opens up the possibility of further academic qualification, especially in the context of a doctorate.