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German Language and Literature (will no longer be offered from winter semester 2024/25!)

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Regelstudienzeit	4 semesters
Studienbeginn	Winter semester , Summer semester
Zugangsbeschränkung	Ja
Unterrichtssprache	German
Credit Points / Leistungspunkte	Subject: 90 CP + Master’s Thesis: 30 CP = 120 CP

Course description

The programme will no longer be offered from winter semester 2024/25, please see instead Media Aesthetics of German Literature (1-subject or 2-subject MA) or Linguistics (1-subject MA) or Linguistics and Phonetics (2-subject MA).

A master’s programme in German Language and Literature can be completed at the University of Cologne as a single-subject or dual-subject master’s degree.

Students specialise in two subdisciplines (Modern German Literature, German Linguistics or Medieval German Language and Literature) in the single-subject master’s degree, while the focus can be placed on one or two of the subdisciplines in the dual-subject master’s degree.

Both master’s degrees entitle the holders to undertake doctoral studies.

Key areas of research at the Department of German Language and Literature I

German Language and Literature in Cologne gains its profile due to an integrated education in all three subdisciplines as well as its attractive specialisms:

Theories of Grammar
Rhetoric and Performance
Historical Linguistics and Philosophy of Language
Literature and Culture of the Middle Ages
Contemporary Literature
Media History, Film and Media Theory
Structure of the German Language
Cultural History, Cultural Studies and Cultural Theory
Literature and the History of Knowledge
Gender and Women’s Studies
Language and Cognition

The lecturers in the department cover an extraordinarily wide range of subjects and methods in a field of tension between applicability and fundamental research, empiricism and theory, history and contemporary cultural practices.

In addition, the subjects in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities are linked with other disciplines through the teaching and research centres: exciting lecture series and workshops held on a regular basis broaden your horizons. You can see your subject in wider contexts, which also benefits you in your later professional practice.

Language proficiency and other requirements

Students must demonstrate their proficiency in English at level B2 (CEFR) and either proficiency in another modern foreign language at level A2 (CEFR) or Latin proficiency comparable to the intermediate Latin certificate (Kleines Latinum) to register for their master thesis. Other language skills may have to be demonstrated upon admission to the master’s degree. You can find more information in the admission regulations.

Career perspectives

You are highly trained and, as a linguist, literary scholar or expert in media studies or cultural studies, you are also able to convey the linguistic, literary and cultural tradition of the German-speaking world, including beyond your own field of expertise, in a methodical and knowledgeable way and develop your own concepts for research or practice.

This makes you ideally qualified for linguistic, text-related and cultural professions