• English

Courses are held in English (100%).

International students: 15 June

German students: 30 September

Under state law, there are no tuition fees for citizens of the European Union enrolled in so-called consecutive MA programmes at Heidelberg University.

For non-EU citizens, tuition is 1,500 EUR per semester, due prior to the beginning of each semester (15 July / 15 February).

The Master of Arts in American Studies (MAS) at the Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA) is a distinguished interdisciplinary programme aimed at qualified graduate students from around the world. It offers inside knowledge combined with an outside perspective. MAS participants benefit from both excellent teaching by internationally renowned scholars and from an interdisciplinary approach that meets the needs of future leaders. The curriculum includes subjects ranging from American literature and culture to geography, history, law, political science, economics, and theology/religious studies.

The subject-specific component of the programme is divided into four parts:

1. Main modules: Students choose two of the HCA’s offered disciplines as core disciplines in which they will develop and deepen their subject-specific knowledge and skills. Main modules in the chosen disciplines come with a minimum of one seminar that will be exclusively available to MA students, as well as an additional course (in either lecture or seminar format). Students can select their core disciplines freely. They may combine two fields from the humanities or from the social sciences, or they may choose to traverse academic disciplines. All combinations are possible.
2. Research module: After finishing the main modules, students complete a research module in order to immerse themselves more fully in one of their two core disciplines. For the research module, students will participate in a seminar offered exclusively to MA students. In an “Independent Study” format, students will autonomously work through and discuss with their professor an assigned reading list. This will usually serve as preparation for writing the MA thesis.
3. Flexibility module: In the flexibility module, students may choose 12 credits worth of courses from any discipline offered in the programme. For these elective credits, any combination of courses is allowed. Students can either choose to broaden their understanding of American Studies with classes outside of their core disciplines, or they can choose to focus more deeply on their primary areas of interest.
4. Interdisciplinary module: The interdisciplinary module serves to promote an interdisciplinary approach to scholarship and demonstrate the synergistic potential of such an approach. Students will take part in an interdisciplinary seminar offered by instructors from two different disciplines, as well as a two-semester interdisciplinary colloquium in which variegated topics and approaches from the field of American Studies will be discussed.

The section of the programme on “comprehensive competencies” is divided into the following three parts:

1. Methodology module: In this module, students will deepen their understanding of the theoretical and empirical methods of American Studies.
2. Cross-cutting perspectives: In this module, students will take courses outside of the area of American Studies.
3. Mobility window: The mobility window provides students with the opportunity for intensive and practical engagement with their degree in American Studies.