Course content and focus areas 

The four semester Master’s degree programme Moving Cultures – Transcultural Encounters / Cultures en mouvement – rencontres transculturelles / Culturas en movimiento – encuentros transculturales / Culture in Movimento – Incontri Transculturali (Moving Cultures) is a four language programme of study which deepens the culture and literary-science core competences acquired in an English, Romance language or comparable Bachelor degree programme and connects these with an interdisciplinary perspective on phenomena of cultural contact within the anglophone, francophone, italophone and Spanish-speaking world.

The Master’s degree programme Moving Cultures operates on the assumption that languages, literatures, media and cultures are not constituted in ethnically self-contained, language-wise homogeneous and territorially delimited regions but rather through cross-border interconnections which arise from migration and contact. The areas of focus of the Master’s degree programme therefore lies on the transcultural processes in history and the present and the associated negotiation strategies in the respective regional and historical context, which manifest themselves in writing, images, sound and other media.

These processes and strategies are moved in the Master’s degree programme Moving Cultures into the centre point of learning through research, as an example, based on concrete transcultural contact zones. A number of contact zones are studied as an example from the following list as part of the course: Canada (with the bipolarity of an anglophone and a francophone culture in the context of a multicultural migration society), the Caribbean (with its history and present status deeply affected by hybridity, creolization and culture syncretism), Latin America (with the multi-faceted relationships between Spain and the Latin American countries as well as with other regions, above all North America and Africa, through to the current Latino culture in the USA), Africa (with its language diversity, the interaction of “old“ and “new“ diasporas and the Maghreb as a European-African contact zone), the South Asian diaspora (which connects Asia with North America, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe as well as the Pacific region) as well as Great Britain, Italy and France (where migrants from non-European regions have contributed greatly for a number of decades now to cultural transformation processes).

The Master’s degree programme Moving Cultures provides a comprehensive foreign language action-related competence in two languages (English, French and/or Italian and/or Spanish). It prepares one, on the one hand, for a scientific career and, on the other hand, for a demanding qualified occupational activity, for example as a PR Manager or consultant and adviser in NGOs, public administration, politics and foundations or as a press officer or editor in the field of company communication.

Detailed information

Information from the department
Study regulations

Degree

Master of Arts Moving Cultures – Transcultural Encounters / Cultures en mouvement – rencontres transculturelles / Culturas en movimiento – encuentros transculturales / Culture in Movimento – Incontri Transculturali

Duration

The standard length of study for the Master of Arts is 4 semesters. 

Languages of instruction

English, French, Italian, Spanish

Start of the programme

The study programme starts at the beginning of the winter term.
 

Student advisory service

Prof. Dr. Astrid Erll / Dr. Pavan Malreddy
Department of English and American Studies
Nobert-Wollheim-Platz 1
D-60323 Frankfurt am Main
To make an appointment:
Phone: 069/798-32352
Email: c.argast@em.uni-frankfurt.de

Prof. Dr. Jacopo Torregrossa
Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
Norbert-Wollheim-Platz 1
D-60629 Frankfurt am Main
To make an appointment:
Phone: 069/798-32023
Email: Salerno-Petersen@em.uni-frankfurt.de

Admission requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or comparable degree in a similar subject
• Letter of Motivation in English (max. 800 words)
• Proof of English and French / Spanish / Italian language skills – you have to choose a main language:
  If English is chosen as main language, level C1 is requested, and French or Spanish or Italian language skills have to be on level B2.
  If French is chosen as main language, level C1 is requested, and English or Spanish or Italian knowledge have to be on level B2.
  If Spanish is chosen as main language, level B2 is requested in Spanish and English.
  If Italian is chosen as main language, level B2 is requested in Italian and in English.

Provisional admission

If the university entrance qualification for the consecutive Master’s programme (namely the Bachelor’s degree) has not yet been completed, you can apply for the programme with a transcript of records on the basis of at least 80% of the required CP for the bachelor's degree. This provisional certificate must be issued by an office authorised to award grades or issue certificates. If a student is admitted, this will be on a provisional basis. Provisional admission is valid for 6  months.

Mode of admission

Admission is not restricted. Students will be directly admitted if the admission requirements are met in full.

Documents to be submitted

• Letter of Motivation in English (max. 800 words) (see requirements)
• Proof of English language skills (level C1 or B2, depending on which language is chosen as main language) and French language skills (level C1 or B2, depending on which language is chosen as main language) or Spanish language skills (B2) or Italian language skills (B2)
• Declaration on previous Master examinations (download in the online application portal or here)
• APS certificate for applicants from India, Vietnam and PR of China (original)

If you are not already enrolled at Goethe University Frankfurt:

• A university entrance qualification (e.g. A-Levels)
• Bachelor’s degree certificate

If the Bachelor’s degree has not yet been completed:

• A transcript of records or equivalent document listing the content of the study programme and average grade
• Letter of recommendation from your supervisor (download in the online application portal or here)
• Proof of current enrollment in the Bachelor’s programme

Deadline for applications

01.04. - 15.06.  

Address for applications

Online application portal for Master's study programmes