North American Studies: Culture and Literature
North American Studies: Culture and Literature (M.A.)
North American Studies at FAU offers a unique research and teaching profile going beyond national boundaries. The degree program focuses on the USA in a comprehensive context of hemispheric and transatlantic relations. Teaching and research covers not only the USA but also Canada and the Anglophone Caribbean. The focus lies on literary studies, taking a cultural and media-based approach with specific modules that enhance students’ skills in academic discourse.
- Degree
- Master of Arts (M.A.)
- Duration of studies in semester
- 4
- Start of degree program
- Winter semester
- Study location
- Erlangen
- Number of students
- 50-150
- Subject group
- Language and Cultural Studies
- Special ways to study
- International degree program, Part-time degree program
- Teaching language
- completely in English
- Admission Requirements
- Qualification assessment
What is the degree program about?
North American Studies at FAU has always gone beyond the narrow definition of national boundaries, forming a unique research and teaching profile that regards the U.S. in an interwoven context of hemispheric and transatlantic relations.
Apart from the U.S., Canada and the Anglophone Caribbean are important areas of teaching and research. By focusing on these regions and a transnational perspective, the Master’s degree program in North American Studies at FAU combines area-specific cultural studies and cultural history, general cultural theory, and literary studies with a cultural and media-specific approach, including literary theory and literary history.
North American Studies: Culture and Literature
- is a research-oriented program with a clearly structured, area-specific profile in which cultural and literary developments in the U.S., Canada, and the Anglophone Caribbean are analyzed
- systematically combines literary studies based on a cultural and media-specific approach with area-specific cultural studies and cultural history
- offers specific and general modules aimed at taking an in-depth systematic and historic approach and includes special modules that help students develop their skills in academic discourse (written and spoken)
- lays the foundations for a successful doctoral degree, especially in American Studies or English
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North American Studies: Culture and Literature systematically links two closely connected areas: cultural and literary studies. Both include specific teaching units with a systematic and historical accentuation in basic, intermediate and advanced modules. The degree program also includes two smaller overview modules on North American cultural and literary history, a basic module on academic language proficiency and an interdisciplinary project module consisting of a series of lectures or a conference that is funded by the North America section of the FAU Center for Area Studies and is partly organized by students from the degree program. In the last semester of the degree program, students write their Master’s thesis over a six month period, focusing on a specific question relating to cultural or literary studies.
In the first semester, students learn the theoretical and methodological foundations of cultural and literary studies in the basic modules, laying the foundation for the further course of the degree program. These modules consist of a lecture on North American cultural and literary studies and a class in cultural and literary theory. In addition, students also take a basic module in language skills, allowing them to improve their skills in academic English.
During the second semester, students explore the key research priorities of the degree program on the basis of specific objects and topics of relevance to cultural and literary history in their intermediate modules. These modules consist of a seminar and a class thematically related to the seminar with instructions for the self-study of texts in cultural and literary criticism. These classes build a bridge to the survey module I that consists of lectures on cultural or literary history.
In the third semester, advanced modules cover specific topics in depth, allowing students to develop their individual research perspectives, also in view of their final thesis. These modules consist of an advanced seminar in cultural and literary history and a free working group in which students can plan the topic of their Master’s thesis. In addition, students attend a lecture series or a conference module on an interdisciplinary topic relating to North American Studies.
In the fourth semester, students write their Master’s thesis and participate in a Master’s thesis working group. -
Skills
The degree program in North America Studies helps you develop the following skills:
- The ability to apply theories and methods of American studies and cultural and literary theory to specific research topics
- Skills concerning the contextualization, comparison and analysis of cultural practices and forms of expression on the basis of an extensive knowledge of the cultural and literary history of North America.
- Essential skills in knowledge organization and transfer
- Academic discourse in English
- Ability to reflect critically on the basis of important paradigms of cultural and literary theory.
Professional field
Graduates of this degree program have cultural-specific knowledge and skills in cultural analysis and may pursue careers in the following areas:- Political education
- International organizations
- Cultural management
- Publishing and libraries
- Journalism
- In areas where economics, politics and culture meet
- Doctoral studies and an academic career (continued research in American Studies)
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This degree program is taught exclusively in English
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- Admission requirements (first semester)
- Qualification assessment
- Application deadline winter semester
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15.07.
- Content-related admission requirements
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- the degree; you are required to submit a transcript of records as proof)
- Final grade “good” (2.5 or better); applicants with a final grade of between 2.5 and 3.5 must attend a selection interview.
- Proof of proficiency in English at level C1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (TOEFL 95, IELTS 7.0); proficiency in German at level A1 (proof can be submitted any time within the first year of study).
- Short essay (1,000 to 1,500 words), as described on the website for the degree program.
Language skills
- German language skills for international applicants
- No DSH
- General language skills
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- English C1
- for foreign applicants: German language skills on at least level A1 (proof can be submitted in the first year of study).
- Details and notes
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Interested parties from non-EU countries are recommended to apply early in order to be able to apply for the visa in time in case of acceptance (application deadline: 31.05.)
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