Teaching
The courses offered by our faculty cover the following areas:
- American history of ideas
- the cultural history of specific media and cultural forms of expression such as literature, film, photography, theater, popular music and american visual arts;
- ethnic and other subcultures;
- theories and methods in "American Studies" and "Cultural Studies".
Students can specialize in our discipline both on the B.A. and on the M.A. level.
Current Courses
For more information on current course offerings in the Culture Department, please go to this section.
Lectures, classes, and seminars
The following information is intended to help you plan your academic progress at the department. We offer a variety of courses on a regular basis, but there are several modules that require you to attend classes in a specific semester (summer or winter). Please consult the course catalog for detailed information on current course offerings.
B.A. North American Studies
The introductory module Understanding North America A (Culture/Literature/History) is offered each winter term.
The disciplinary orientation module consists of a Proseminar (winter term) and a seminar (summer term). The module exam can be taken in either of the two courses.
In the advanced disciplinary modules A and B, students attend two topical seminars of their choice. Module A is offered in the winter term, module B in the summer. We are often able to provide courses for both modules in one term.
|
|
Disciplinary Orientation Module |
Advanced Disciplinary Module | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
A |
B (cultural theory / ethnic and other subcultures) | ||
|
Summer 2024 |
(additional course offerings possible) |
(one or more courses offered) |
|
| Theorizing Culture (Seminar) | |||
|
Winter 2024/25 |
Rhetorics of Continuity and Change (Proseminar) | (one or more courses offered) | (additional course offerings possible) |
| Summer 2025 | (additional course offerings possible) | (one or more courses offered) | |
| Theorizing Culture (Seminar) | |||
M.A. North American Studies
The course of study for an M.A. degree in North American Culture includes the following modules.
Modules in American Culture | |
|---|---|
|
Culture A American History of Ideas and Theories of American Culture |
|
| Lecture course:
A1: “Discourses and Practices of Colonization and Settlement” OR A2: “A Revolutionary Culture: Sources of America's Political Imaginary” |
Corresponding master's seminar |
|
Culture B Culture of Nationality and Diversity |
|
| Lecture course: B1: “Reform, Diversity, and Cultural Nationalism in the Age of Romanticism” OR B2: “Capitalism, Sectionalism, Immigration and American Nationhood” |
Corresponding master's seminar |
|
Culture C Cultural History of Specific Media and Aesthetic Forms of Expression |
|
|
Lecture course: C1: “American Modernities” OR C2: “American (Media) Culture after World War II” |
Corresponding Master's Seminar |
Modules are offered according to the following scheme:
| Summer 2023 | Winter 2023/24 | Summer 2024 |
Winter 2024/25 |
Summer 2025 | Winter 2025/26 | |
| Module | BC | CA | AB | BC | CA | AB |
| Lectures |
B2 C1 |
C2 A1 |
A2 B1 |
B2 C1 |
C2 A1 |
A2 B1 |
Graduate School of North American Studies
Winter Term |
Summer Term |
|---|---|
|
Disciplinary Theory and Methods in the Study of Culture Interdisciplinary Research Seminar |
Advanced Disciplinary Theory and Methods in the Study of Culture |
Credit Transfer
Contact person for credit transfer: Hannah Spahn
Brief overview for credit transfer, department of culture, MA and BA:
- MA: In our MA program we will not accept credit points from a seminar as credit points for a lecture
- MA: Credit points from a seminar listed in a different module can only be transferred to the target module, if we offer no other seminar in the target module during the respective semester; if this applies, you still need to talk to the teacher and Prof. Lüthe about transferring the credits before the semester starts
- MA and BA: In order to transfer credit points from our department to other departments at the JFKI (or the FU), make sure to get the process green lighted by the receiving department prior to the start of the semester
- BA: Credit points cannot be transferred from the disciplinary orientation module to the advanced disciplinary module and vice versa
- BA: We will only transfer credit points from advanced disciplinary modules A to B (or vice versa) as an absolute exception (based on the contents of the seminar) and after prior consultation
- Transferring credit points from abroad in the BA and MA: only as an absolute exception will we accept credit points from a seminar as credit points for a lecture in our MA program; please make sure to contact Prof. Dr. Martin Lüthe regarding the transfer of credit points from abroad to our programs and modules
In order to transfer credit points from other departments to the department of culture, the respective class has to be officially cross-listed as a class in our department prior to the start of the semester and as approved by the “Institutsrat” of the JFKI. As an exception, you may try to contact the teacher in the other department and the person in charge of transferring credits in the culture department (Lüthe) prior to the start of the semester to get the class credit transferred individually.