Profile & Curriculum

Column 1 (Foundations of Global History) consists of four compulsory modules which form the basis of this program. The students will acquire basic knowledge about the Global History approach with its specific paradigms, theories, and methods. All four modules contain methodological reflections of different historiographical approaches, of entanglements between political, social, economic and cultural history and the analysis of global encounters and conflicts.

Column 2 (“Area Expertise”) consists of six elective modules. The acquisition of area expertise forms the first part (three modules) of this column. Here, four different options are up for election: “Africa” (A), “Europe” (B), “Atlantic World & the Americas” (C), and “Trans and other areas” (D). We recommend students to choose either option A, B, or C right at the beginning of the program. If students do not wish to acquire area expertise by choosing three courses/seminars within the same focus area (A, B, or C), they are free to choose option D (“Trans- and other areas”), which also requires the successful completion of three courses/seminars. These courses (for option D) might contain a mixture of focus areas A, B, and C, but – depending upon the individual course program of each term/semester – may also be filled with courses focusing on, for example, Asian or Middle Eastern history, or on transnational/transregional historical entanglements. For each option, students will have to successfully complete three different courses/seminars which will focus on the history of the particular area(s) but may do so from different chronological points of view (ancient, medieval, premodern, modern, contemporary) and by scrutinizing different topics (for example, economic, social, cultural or religious phenomena).

The acquisition of additional language skills forms the second part of this column (three modules). Depending upon the chosen area expertise, students will learn an accompanying language or intensify their preexisting language skills in three different language classes. The idea is to learn or refresh/intensify language skills which exceed the obligatory English and German skills according to the admission requirements of this program. Non-native speakers of German or English may choose one of the three courses to improve their preexisting English or German skills, respectively. Generally, the language(s) should be chosen according to the students’ fields of interest and enable them to read and analyze source materials in their original language. For “Africa” (A) this could be French or one of the African languages (Swahili, Hausa, Bambara for example); for “Europe” (B) this could be French, Italian, Spanish, Latin, Greek, Dutch, Polish, Czech. For “Atlantic World & Americas” (C) this could be Spanish, French, or Portuguese. For “Trans and other areas” (D) this could be Arabic, Turkish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. All language courses are provided by the UBT language center (“Sprachenzentrum”). Therefore, the specific course types and according methods of examination depend upon the specifications of the UBT language center (“Sprachenzentrum”).

Column 3 (“Specialization”) consists of two elective modules. Module “Specialization I: Additional Area of Expertise” is a chance – especially for those students choosing options A, B, C in column 2 – to broaden the scope of their area expertise by gaining additional expertise in a second focus area. This enables them to compare historical phenomena in different global areas. But – depending upon the individual course program of each term/semester – this module might also be filled with courses on, for example, Asian or Middle Eastern history, or courses on transnational/transregional historical entanglements. Nevertheless, it is recommended to use this module as a chance to gain a special area expertise in Franconian regional history or German history. This module can be either filled with two seminars (each for 8 ECTS) or one seminar (8 ECTS) and two seminar-tutorials (“Übung”, 4 ECTS each) or four seminar-tutorials (“Übung”, 4 ECTS each).

In the courses for module “Specialization II: Methods and Skills” students will be introduced to different analytical tools and practices enabling them to apply specific methods (qualitative and quantitative) in their own academic investigations of specific historical phenomena. These methods (for example, from social sciences, literary studies etc.), which are usually not part of a curriculum in history, will broaden the methodological tool kit of the students and help them approach historical phenomena in an innovative way. As these courses will usually be provided by other departments, the moderator of this program will supply a list of suitable courses at the beginning of each semester on the homepage of this program. Here, the specific course types and according methods of examination also depend upon the specifications of the offering institution.

Column 4 (“Master Thesis”) contains the whole process of conceptualizing and writing the thesis in one compulsory module. Students will be asked to present a report (“Forschungsbericht”) in the accompanying Master Class.