World Studies: Orders, Politics, Cultures

Bielefeld University’s interdisciplinary two-year MA programme “World Studies: Orders, Politics, Cultures” combines scientific perspectives of law, history, sociology, political and cultural studies and provides students with in-depth knowledge of global structures and interactions. It prepares them for an international career in academia as well as in other professional fields with interdisciplinary and international requirements. An increasing number of professions throughout the world are no longer just internationally oriented but also require in-depth knowledge of global structures and interactions. The MA programme “World Studies” prepares students for a career in the following fields: international governmental and non-governmental organisations marketing firms and global market research companies administration, unions, political parties, and labour unions, both national and international publishing companies, newspapers, radio and TV universities and other institutions of higher education, research centres The MA programme is jointly convened by the Departments of Law, Sociology, History, and Literature/Cultural Studies. Accordingly, we address global processes and structures from diverse perspectives including social sciences, history, literary and cultural studies. The Master's programme aims at an enhanced understanding of structures and processes as globally interdependent and interconnected relationships. We understand "orders" as stable frameworks gathering the different components and a whole "world" (e.g. in the sense of multi-level governance and international legal systems). "Politics" is concerned with the regulation of societies in transnational contexts. "Cultures" refers to contested interpretations, practices, and values pertaining to these orders and politics. The “World Studies” MA programme is linked to two of Bielefeld University’s research facilities dealing with questions of globalisation, the “Institute for World Societal Studies” (www.uni-bielefeld.de/fakultaeten/soziologie/forschung/iw/) and the Research Training Group “World Politics: The Emergence of Political Arenas and Modes of Observation in World Society” (https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/fakultaeten/soziologie/forschung/worldpolitics). The World Studies MA programme offers an international study programme with a duration of four semesters. After a broad and intensive introduction (Basic Module) in the first semester, the programme covers the following five study areas: Global Structures and Governance Global Entanglements Global Trade and Inequality World Society and Law Global Processes and Interactions These study areas are covered in lectures as well as in seminars. During the fourth semester, the Master's thesis should be written. In addition, students can take academic language training courses in English or German as well as in other languages. For further details, see the following chart. PDF Download