Double degree option is organised in cooperation with Maestría en Literaturas Interamericanas from Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico.
Courses are held in English and Spanish. Students can choose to write their Master's theses in either language.
Students can begin their studies either in the winter or the summer semester. The curriculum is designed for starting the programme in the winter semester. Students should contact the programme counsellor to plan the course of their studies.
The standard period of studies is four semesters.
The MA programme in InterAmerican Studies / Estudios InterAmericanos consists of 120 credit points.
The double degree option in InterAmerican Studies, funded by the DAAD, is a particularly attractive opportunity for students who wish to study InterAmerican Studies with an emphasis on Literature and Cultural Studies.
Students interested in pursuing the double degree must apply to the MA InterAmerican Studies and inform the coordinator about their intentions to enter the double degree programme.
Application deadlines: 15 January for the summer semester and 15 July for the winter semester (German time). The online application process for the programme is mandatory. Follow this link to access the online application portal:
The interdisciplinary MA InterAmerican Studies / Estudios InterAmericanos focuses on social, cultural, historical, and political developments in the Americas both in their specifically national characteristics and in regard to processes of transnational integration. The programme is characterised by a broad interdisciplinary approach to Hemispheric area studies and includes the disciplines of literary, cultural, and media studies, linguistics, sociology, political science, and transnational history. The larger context of current research questions of transnationality, of interculturality, of globalisation, and of the world society is of central interest.
The InterAmerican Studies / Estudios InterAmericanos Master's programme is structured according to basic and optional complementary modules. There are four basic modules which should be completed during the first two semesters, together with the individual electives module. The basic modules cover seminars on North and South American culture, literature, history and language. During the second year of the programme, students are to complete two optional complementary modules, choosing their major and specialising in literature and culture and/or linguistic and/or history and politics and/or social studies of the American continent. An additional graduation module consisting of the Master's thesis and a research colloquium is to be completed during the last semester of the programme.
Basic modules:
1. Interdisciplinary Introductory Module
2. History of the Americas
3. North American Literature and the Processes of Culture
4. Latin-American Literature and Culture
5. Individual electives with optional internship
Optional complementary modules:
6. History of the Americas
7. Language and the Processes of Culture
8. Media and the Processes of Culture
9. Literatures and Cultures of the Americas
10. Language Typology and Language Comparison
12. The Politics of Global Citizenship
13. Graduation Module
The InterAmerican Studies / Estudios InterAmericanos MA programme aims at educating experts in the fields of international, cultural, social and communication processes. Students have the opportunity to choose between the double degree option or going abroad for a semester on a student exchange to Latin America or the United States.
The structure of the double degree option is designed so that each generation of students will study the first two semesters at Bielefeld University, where they will acquire the basis of interdisciplinary studies. The remaining two semesters will be spent at Universidad de Guadalajara in Maestría de Literaturas Interamericanas, where they must write their thesis, which will be supervised by professors from both institutions.
This way, students are given the opportunity to apply the theoretical knowledge acquired during their studies in a concrete, cultural, social and political environment of the Americas, at the same time conducting the necessary field research.
The programme offers the possibility to choose specific complementary modules from the special research and educational offers of our partner universities. Most importantly, the exchange programmes offer students the possibility of a double supervision ("co-tutelle") for their Master’s theses. Agreements have been established with the following universities:
Since Bielefeld University does not charge tuition fees, every student only has to pay a social fee. The social fee includes the contribution to the social ticket for free public transport in the city and area of Bielefeld and on regional trains and buses in North-Rhine Westphalia for the whole semester.
The current semester contribution is approximately 300 EUR.
The following documents are needed in order to apply:
*Certificates that are not issued in English or German must be officially translated to one of these languages.
Applicants must provide proof of their advanced Spanish and English skills (B2 level in both languages).
Application deadlines: 15 January for the summer semester and 15 July for the winter semester (German time). The online application process for the programme is mandatory. Follow this link to access the online application portal:
The online application process for the programme is mandatory. Follow this link to access the online application portal:
Basically, with your residence permit (stamp in your passport), you will receive a work permit for 120 work days per year. This allows you to work 120 full days (eight hours per day) or 240 half days (up to four hours per day). This condition must be noted expressly in the passport by the authorities.
Please try to secure accommodation in Bielefeld as early as possible. In Bielefeld, a broad range of accommodation options can be found at affordable prices. Students residences are run by the public "Studierendenwerk" or private organisations, and shared flats are very common.
Offers of accommodation can be found online by following the links below:
The International Office supports students who are searching for accommodation.
Career planning is a step-by-step development and clarification process that requires individual strategies. Based on a strengths- and resource-oriented approach, we support you in developing your own career prospects.
Depending on your needs, our Career Service at Bielefeld University will accompany you throughout the entire process or in individual steps.
At PunktUm, our German Learning Centre, we offer a comprehensive range of academic support programmes that are designed to meet the needs of international members of the Bielefeld University. These include the Academic Mentoring Programme for Master's students, the Peer Mentoring Programme for Bachelor's students, and semester-long workshops designed to help all students and researchers with academic writing. We also offer individual consultations on academic writing in German as a Foreign Language (DaF) or German as a Second Language (DaZ).
The International Office provides an orientation programme for all international members of Bielefeld University, including degree seekers (BA and MA), double degree students, Erasmus/cooperation students, doctoral students, scholars, interns, and refugees/preparing applicants. Example of activities include Café International, campus tour, introductions to digital services and administrative procedures.
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