Master Programme in Transcultural Studies 2021, Heidelberg University, Germany

The M.A. Transcultural Studies is an English language, research-oriented master programme that combines interdisciplinary education with a transregional focus predominantly on East/ South Asia and Europe.

The study programme is situated at the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context”. Its transregional outlook is based on the perspective that cultures are not contained within ethnically closed, linguistically homogenous and territorially bounded spheres. Instead they are constituted through transformations and entanglements that follow from contacts and relationships between various agents, concepts and institutions. Transcultural Studies combine methodological and theoretical approaches from a broad spectrum of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.

The study programmes expands the regional and disciplinary competences the students have obtained in their Bachelor degrees or another Master degree. Students of the M.A. Transcultural Studies acquire empirical knowledge on historical and contemporary moments of exchange as well as on theories and methodologies to frame and analyze such processes.

In their two years of studies, students choose one of three study foci. "Society, Economy and Governance" is mainly supported by our chairs for Cultural Economic History, Visual and Media Anthropology as well as our startup professorship Social Sciences. "Knowledge, Belief and Religion" is mainly being taught by the Cluster chairs for Intellectual History and Buddhist Studies as well as our startup professorship Humanities. "Visual, Media and Material Culture" is supported by our chairs for Global Art History and again Visual and Media Anthropology.

As a research-oriented and interdisciplinary study programme the M.A. Transcultural Studies requires from its students a high degree of self-organisation and willingness to engage with a variety of subjects and approaches.

The M.A. Transcultural Studies is a full-time programme. Students attend 4-5 classes per semester most of which will be (research-based) seminars. Particular attention is being paid to introduce students to the integrated study of different types of sources – objects, texts, visual, audio or digital media.

In preparation for their master thesis, students may utilize their third semester as mobility window away from Heidelberg (e.g. study exchange and a research internship).

As a research-oriented degree programme the M.A. Transcultural Studies is primarily designed to train its students for a successful career in international academia. Consequently, the course guides them in developing key practical skills (e.g. academic writing) but also in building upon and extending their disciplinary, regional and methodological competencies.

Upon completion of the programme, students will be able to independently conceptualize a research question, critically evaluate and incorporate relevant theories and methods from a number of disciplines, apply them to selected material and present their results according to international academic standards.

In line with the programme’s qualification goals, many of our graduates apply their academic training to pursue a PhD degree either in Germany, Europe, United States, or Asia.

Other graduates utilize the research training, intercultural competency and ability for independent, critical thinking they have acquired in their studies to pursue a career in other fields of employment. Graduates of the M.A. Transcultural Studies are currently working, e.g., in international NGOs, in political foundations, in art/cultural management or in marketing and human resource departments of multinational businesses in Germany and Asia.