Geschichte der Moderne transkulturell│History of Modernity in Transcultural Perspective (M.A.)

Europe is facing a double challenge in the 21st century: internally, European societies are working on a mutual understanding of cultural self-images and on a better compatibility of different economic and political systems within and outside the European Union. Externally, they have to reposition themselves in a hitherto unknown dynamic of global interdependencies. In both processes, lines of fracture and conflict that have long been overlooked are once again coming to light. Dealing with these problems requires a sound understanding of their historical background, which this degree programme explores from a cultural studies perspective.

The degree programme problematises Europe and the modernity emanating from Europe as formations that have emerged from both commonalities and diversity since the early modern period. Diversity has enriched Europe, but has also led to conflicts: political, economic, social and religious disputes and clashes of interpretation. Their often violent resolution is a specific feature of European history, from the process of colonial expansion to today's conflicts. At the same time, the exchange with other regions of the world and the cultural diversity within the continent have also produced particularly dense material and immaterial interdependencies. Without them, it is impossible to understand the political and economic upheavals that began around 1800 and the dominance of Europe that lasted well into the 20th century. Against this background, the degree programme also offers access to an understanding of the catastrophes of the 20th century and current political, cultural and economic crises.

This degree programme not only teaches genuine historical skills, but also incorporates approaches from literature, art studies and philosophy. From a transcultural perspective, the programme focuses on the exchange processes between different European and non-European cultural constellations. This perspective makes it possible to thematise European constructions of one's own history, which has often become culturally alien, and to cross the boundaries between disciplines and academic cultures.

Modules

• History of Modernity in a transcultural and transdisciplinary perspective
• Cultures of knowledge and the history of ideas
• History of conflict and violence
• Political and economic cultures
• Forms of aesthetic perception of the world
• Research and practical skills modules

The degree programme is problem- and research-oriented. It strengthens key skills and imparts interdisciplinary knowledge that opens up career paths in a wide variety of directions. In project seminars, it also imparts practical knowledge, usually in cooperation with non-university institutions such as archives, memorials, museums, international NGOs or exhibition organisers. Frankfurt (Oder) and its German-Polish neighbourhood as well as nearby Berlin form a historical landscape in which the layers of the recent past are densely layered in their legacies.

This degree programme opens up relevant career prospects, for example:

• in museums, archives, libraries,
• in historical research,
• in adult education and political education,
• in the foreign service,
• in companies and regional and local authorities,
• in associations, foundations and political parties
• as well as in the media sector in general.