Manuscript Cultures

The two-year MA programme in "Manuscript Cultures" is taught by a broad range of faculty and has two distinct characteristics. First, it spans regions and periods: Students will explore manuscript cultures across Asia, Africa, and Europe from the dawn of writing to the present day. Second, the programme is highly interdisciplinary, and students will be introduced to the study of manuscripts according to the highest and latest standards with courses in the Humanities, Natural Sciences and Computer Science. In addition to this global and interdisciplinary curriculum, students pursue discipline-specific courses to enhance their skills in specific fields. The programme is aimed at promoting the independent, analytical handling of manuscripts and other written artefacts (such as inscriptions and graffiti), the cultural examination of the texts, images, notes and diagrams contained in them, the scientific material analysis of the written artefacts and the development of creative approaches for solving complex questions. The Master's programme is offered at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) with its Cluster of Excellence "Understanding Written Artefacts". Students benefit from the extensive range of guest lectures, conferences, and workshops offered in this research environment. The MA programme "Manuscript Cultures" takes four semesters to complete and consists of core modules worth 50 credit points (CP) and an elective area of 40 CP that allows students to focus on their areas of interest. The elective area is further divided into a subject-specific and a general elective area, with 20 CP each. In the first semester, students take the core module "Global Written Artefacts I" (MC-H1, 10 CP), which provides an overview of interdisciplinary research on written artefacts. In addition, fundamental methodological knowledge is taught in the fields of computer science with "Information Systems and Natural Language Processing" (MC-CS1, 6 CP) and the natural sciences (MC-NSC1, 6 CP) with "Scientific Material Analysis". Parallel to these core modules, students can begin to take modules in the elective track. In the second semester, the humanities modules continue with "Global Written Artefacts II" (MC-H2, 10 CP). In the natural science track, the module "Archaeometric Methods" (MC-NSC2, 6 CP) offers in-depth insights into analytical methods for the examination of manuscripts. The elective area is filled in parallel. In the third semester, the focus is on the module "Cultural Heritage and Ethics in Manuscript Research". It is complemented by the module "Computer-Assisted Analysis of Manuscript Visuals" (MC-CS2, 6 CP), in which image-processing methods are applied to manuscripts. This semester, too, allows for further specialisation in the elective areas. In the fourth semester, students take the final module (MC-F, 30 CP), which consists of writing the Master's thesis (28 CP) and an accompanying research colloquium (2 CP). With both, students demonstrate that they are capable of addressing a scholarly research question in the field of manuscript studies using appropriate methodological approaches. Assessments in all modules include the following exam types: giving oral presentations writing seminar papers oral and written exams writing reports on selected research activities PDF Download