Master of Arts in African Languages and Culture

The study programme envisages an obligatory thematic concentration on the following study profiles: The Applied African Linguistics study profile: Language Education and Language Planning offers advanced courses in all areas of language management, status and corpus planning and related field of language in education. While a strong focus is placed on the aspect of societal multilingualism in Africa and its relevance to the educational sector, the informal educational background of people coming from African countries is also considered. Graduates acquire the appropriate qualifications for Africa-related responsible jobs in education, governmental or non-governmental cooperation and international organisations. The Linguistic Analysis and Language Documentation study profile offers advanced courses in all areas of formal grammar and linguistic field methods. Topics include elicitation, transcription, annotation and analysis of linguistic data from un(der)described African languages. It also covers aspects of documentary linguistics, the production of linguistic-ethnographic records through annotated audio and video data. The Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies study profile develops and deepens the graduates’ knowledge of Ethiopian and Eritrean languages, literatures, cultures and religions. It gives the opportunity to learn the philological method and to apply it to the texts transmitted in manuscripts. The students will be able to analyse texts in Ethiopian and Eritrean languages, both linguistically and philologically, and thus gain insight into such areas of knowledge as history with focus on ancient and pre-modern history, historical linguistics, religious history of Ethiopia and Eritrea, literature, and manuscript studies. Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies is primarily oriented to the study of linguistics, philology, history, and literature. It considers the oral as well as the manuscript traditions of Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Language in Culture study profile allows students with a BA in African Languages & Cultures or a degree in a similar programme to improve their methodological skills and theoretical knowledge in the field of mono- and multilingual communication, language use and knowledge transfer in Africa. Language in culture and communication in African societies are treated from a broad perspective based on the insight that social interaction and collective transmission of knowledge in African cultures can only be captured adequately by a deeper understanding of language and codifications of verbal interaction. A focus of this study programme is placed on communication in multilingual settings and the construction of social meaning in culturally diverse societies. Graduates acquire the appropriate qualifications for Africa-related responsible jobs in the media, education, and in the field of documenting or communicating African cultures.