14.09.2022
Overview
Cultural Studies
Study programs that cover parts of the broad spectrum of cultural studies are multidisciplinary, that is, they combine study content from different disciplines. Ethnology explores and compares the cultures of peoples and ethnic groups worldwide. Folklore is limited to European societies.
The study field at a glance
The focus of the study is the scientific-theoretical discussion of "culture" in the broadest sense, while also aspects such. Culture finance, controlling, marketing, management and logistics or the application-oriented orientation about possible occupational fields. In part, these are international programs.
The cultural sciences are a highly interdisciplinary field of study: depending on their orientation, they also include the cultural aspects of ethnology and linguistics. Cultures, their historical development as well as individual cultural achievements and techniques are examined and compared with each other. But the students not only deal theoretically with cultural studies content: In the preservation of monuments or the conservation and restoration sciences, they are concerned with the preservation or reconstruction of architectures and archaeological finds. Studies in cultural management and museology are prepared for activities in museums and other cultural institutions. Ethnologists also conduct empirical fieldwork and occasionally participate in the life of groups they study, giving them deep insights. Prospective students are expected to have a great deal of openness for direct contact with (foreign) people as well as a high level of interest in social developments.
Depending on the orientation, different abilities are important for the success of the study. Strong linguistic thinking and intercultural competence are essential foundations for all study programs.
Offered courses
The Bachelor programs are usually offered at universities, rarely - depending on subject - also at colleges. The degree programs may also include designations such as Empirical Cultural Studies, European Cultures and Society, Ethnology of Ethnology / European Ethnology, Franco-German Studies / Études Franco-Allemandes, German-Polish Studies, Human Development, Intercultural Studies, Cultural Work, Cultural Management, Art and cultural management, museology, museum studies, social and cultural anthropology.
Contents of the course
Common to all cultural studies programs are events on cultural theory and history. Depending on the university, modules also impart knowledge from a wide range of select specialist disciplines. The range of events includes the examination of questions of scientific methodology and interdisciplinary, economic and jurisprudential as well as artistic and aesthetic, in part cultural and art-practical or technical study content, as well as introductions to data processing and language courses.
Possible careers after graduation
Cultural scientists and cultural educators are primarily responsible for communicative and integrative tasks in the cultural sector. As employees or freelancers, they organize exhibitions, town festivals, theater or film festivals on behalf of private or public cultural organizers. They also work as museum educators or as journalists in the press, radio and television. Employment opportunities can also be found in the fields of cultural management, tourism, advertising, marketing, public relations, media, trade, science and research as well as in child, youth and senior citizen work.
In addition to colleges, research institutes and museums, graduates of ethnological studies have job opportunities in areas where intercultural competences and culturally oriented regional knowledge are required. These include development cooperation, employment in international organizations and in areas dealing with migration. There are also classical occupational fields (such as museology) and newer ones such as cultural management, cultural work and intercultural communication.
