American Studies

Overview

The focus of the American Studies programme at the University of Leipzig is on examining society, culture, history, literature and politics in the United States and their respective positioning in international and intercultural contexts. This examination occurs on the basis of an in-depth consideration of the interdisciplinary methodology and theory of American studies. The interdisciplinary nature of American studies is reflected in the structure of the modules. 

The programme

The majority are defined thematically rather than methodologically, as is usually the case elsewhere, and deal with a particular complex of topics from different specialist perspectives. To this end, Leipzig’s Institute of American Studies cooperates with experts from the fields of political science, sociology, etc. One didactic focus of the master’s programme in American Studies is project work, whether in the research seminars of the specialisation modules or in the publication project of the programme’s own key qualification module (www.aspeers.com).

The aim is to train students’ skills in the independent development and implementation of projects and to promote their linguistic and cultural competence in transatlantic thematic fields.