Curriculum Cultural Studies
The six-semester long course of studies (3 years, 180 Credits) begins with the Leuphana semester with which all students, regardless of future major, start. In the course of the second semester students start their specializations by selecting a major and a minor. The major represents the thematic focus of the studies, whose core is the so-called major modules, and is five-semesters long. The minor functions as a second specialization. In addition to the major and the minor all students complete, as of the second semester, an interdisciplinary program in comprehensive studies. The total number of credits for the major is 90.
Majors in cultural studies are required to accumulate 25 credits in the Core Area. There, students will learn about the most important historical and contemporary paradigms of cultural sciences and will be introduced to the central methodological approaches of their major. Two additional required modules deal with the relationship between culture, law and society as well as with the foundations of cultural history.
To sharpen their disciplinary profile all students are required to take an additional 25 credits in a specialized discipline of their own choice. Within this module area a variety of choices and combinations are possible. Not only do you have a choice of seven areas of specialization, you also have the chance to broaden your specialization and/or to define clearly recognizable foci. If so desired, you could take up to 40 credits in a specialized discipline and take the last 10 by selecting from the broad spectrum of the other areas of specialization. Or, you could take a mere 25 credits in your area of specialization and disseminate the other 25 credits amongst the other areas of specialization that are offered. With your Bachelor Thesis you earn the last 15 credits for your major.
Core Area
All students are required to take courses in the Core Area of the Cultural Studies in which overarching themes and perspectives are taken up. The Core provides you with an overview of the central questions, paradigms and theoretical concepts of the contemporary Cultural Sciences (i.e. Cultural Studies, Cultural Analysis, Intercultural and Postcolonial Theories; Cultural Memory and Culture of Remembrance; Culture and Space; Networks; Actant and Meme; Visual Studies; Culture of Philosophy and Sociology of Culture).
The Core is an area in which students can practice interdisciplinary cultural scientific diagnosis and problem-solving skills in selected thematic areas and examples. Becoming familiar with scientific methods, whether in the Humanities (i.e. hermeneutics, discourse analysis) or in the Social Sciences (e.g. interviews and surveys) is an equally indispensable part of university studies and, hence, is a Cultural Sciences requirement. In a lecture series about topics of general interest (for instance, city and culture) you will learn about the similarities and differences of a number of cultural scientific thinking styles and methodological approaches.
Architecture
Program Profile
As the oldest expression of culture in the world, architecture occupies a decisive position in our society. According to the Federal Foundation architecture means responsibly shaping our environment. Architecture needs an environment that is marked by a high degree of sensitivity and responsibility carried by all those involved in guaranteeing the quality of our houses, streets, squares, bridges and parks. If you choose architecture as your area of specialization you will learn about architectural development through an understanding of social, economical and cultural interconnections.
Through the analysis of individual buildings as well as large structures you will investigate functional, constructive, geographical as well as aesthetic correlations. While examining the questions that will arise in the process sustainable solutions that are both environmentally sound and aesthetically appealing will receive special emphasis. Aspects of spatial theory and spatial model building, as well as of interior design inform the decision making as well.
Important topics that will be discussed in this context include: safe, clean and appealing urban architecture, building design and artistic expression, international cultural connections and inter- and transcultural studies, spatial perception and conceptions of space.
Several international contacts allow for the exchange with other cultures, social structures and models of thought. A number of excursions will offer the students the possibility to deepen their theoretical knowledge.
Career Options
Job possibilities can be found in institutions for culture and the cultural economy and public cultural sectors, in foundations, in the print media, radio and in television, in internet service providers, in advertising agencies, in cultural and personnel departments of larger domestic and international firms, in public planning and political consulting, in the real estate business, in large scale event planning (trade shows, biennales, etc), when linked with the modules in the specialized area of tourism, then also tourism planning and commercial tourism management. Academic positions are available in research and teaching after further qualification with a Master’s degree.
Cultural Organization and Communication
Program Profile
The specialization in cultural organization and communication entails teaching and research in the structures and processes that produce and communicate art and culture, while guiding its reception as well. At the center of these sociological and economical perspectives are models of an interdependent cultural production, distribution and reception. Culture is a result of cooperations; i.e. the product of culture is never the product of a single artist. Culture is a collective process; social, political and economic conditions shape culture and culture in turn alters markets, politics, communal and social networks and other social and economic organizational structures. Cultural organizations can be found on local, national and global levels; their audiences can be classified according to class, life style or other demographic features. Communication and organization work hand in hand. The analysis of cultural communication requires the analysis of cultural organizations and vice versa.
Occupational fields:
- Positions within institutions for culture and cultural economy, as well as in the culture-oriented economy at large
- Positions in the public and the non-profit cultural sector (cultural ministries, foundations, associations, etc)
- Positions in management and in the public relations branch of cultural institutions (Museums, Theater, Orchestras, Publishing Houses, Media, etc)
- Academic positions in research and teaching after further qualification with a Master’s degree
Development of Cultural Spaces
Educational Profile
The culture of a given space is marked, on the one hand, by natural factors and, on the other, by human activity. The cultural sciences analyze the functional intersection of mutual influential factors as they impact space, and the cultural shaping of that space that results. The academic focus is, therefore, on spatial theory and model building, as well as on the aesthetic components of spatial design. Important thematic fields of investigation that are studied under from these perspectives include, for example: the morphology of landscapes/ the utilization of climate and space, the utilization and design of urban space and the quality of life, population and mobility, the development of cultural landscapes, economic structures, spatial orders/ regional political economy/ tourism, as well as sustainable development of space in terms of economy, ecology, social justice, cultural and political participation. This educational profile also analyzes and develops possible solutions for these and other problem areas.
Occupational fields
- Regional market research and corporate location management
- Public planning and political consulting
- Those realms of print media, radio, television that are concerned about spatial topics
- Regional tourism planning and commercial tourism management, when linked with the modules in the tourism specialization
Cultural Theory and Analysis
Educational Profile
The specialization in cultural theory and analysis provides the foundations and highlights particular in-depth aspects of sociological and philosophical grounded theories of culture. From a theoretical and historical perspective, the central question of this specialization examines the conditions for the possibility of culture and the culturability of humans, as they manifest themselves in language, religion, myth, art or science, as well as in social systems, institutions and social practices. In addition to the classical foundations of theoretical cultural analysis this concentration also focuses on new approaches to cultural studies and empirical cultural analysis. Topics of interculturability, art, urban culture, and creativity, as well as the temporal diagnosis of culture in contemporary society are addressed. Investigating cultural theoretical approaches should enable students to carry out concrete and critical analysis of cultural relations and expand the horizon of perceptions in cultural contexts.
Occupational fields
Positions in institutions for culture and cultural economy and the public cultural sectors, in foundations, in traditional and new media, management in cultural institutions (Publishing Houses, Media, Internet Service Providers, Advertising Agencies, etc). Academic positions in research and teaching after further qualification with a Master’s degree.
Art and Visual Culture
Educational Profile
The specialization “Art and Visual Culture” teaches the foundations of art history as well as the sociology of artistic fields, their institutions, agents and practitioners. While art historical periods and styles are addressed (i.e. Renaissance, Mannerism, Impressionism), special emphasis is placed on the art of the 20th and 21st centuries (Modernism, Postmodernism, contemporary art).Students can gain practical experience by interacting with artists and curators from the contemporary art scene through a number of projects—i.e. the artistic spaces of the university, the art gallery or with artists in residence. Excursions allow students to engage with original art works, i.e. opening access to important institutions (museums, biennales, fairs, galleries), exhibitions and agents in the artistic field. Along with art, other forms of visual culture are studied as well which allow students to deepen their understanding of visual culture through photography, advertising and fashion, as well as the visualization of popular and sub-cultures (i.e. Graffiti, Street Art, visual codes of youth culture) and forms of visual representation, found in the sciences (i.e. graphics, diagrams).
Occupational Fields
Art Institutions such as galleries, art halls, artists associations, large exhibitions, as well as biennales, museums, art shows, auction houses, businesses with art collectors, agencies for culture and cultural economy and public cultural sectors, foundation, traditional and new media. Academic positions are available in research and teaching after further qualifications with a Master’s degree.
Literary Cultures
Educational Profile
The term “literary cultures” emphasizes the cultural character of the literary criticism assembled within Lüneburg’s cultural science disciplines. Literary cultures above all and it its core subject area above all on literary works—just like traditionally oriented literary criticism programs. It studies their aesthetics, the circumstances of their historical production, their reception history as well as interpretations that these works have evoked in the past and the present. Literary cultures reach beyond the individual literary work in a two-fold manner. First, in an intracultural sense, to the extent that various production and reception cultures with a society are illuminated, and second in an intercultural sense, whereby processes unfolding on a global scale are thematized in relation to literature.
Literary criticism with a cultural science approach is by nature interdisciplinary. Though it is still rooted in traditional philology and its theoretical elaborations has, the questions that literary cultures raises are derived from transdisciplinary teaching and research, and, therefore, are genuinely part of the cultural sciences. Topics, which can be meaningfully investigated only through the cross-fertilization of different disciplines, have, therefore, a particular relevance for this field. Examples of such topics include: interculturality, mediality and intermediality, cultural memory, translation as well as gender and power relations.
Occupation Fields
Publishers with the appropriate departments (editorial offices) as well as newspapers, journals, radio and television (editing, criticism, moderation), literature museums, literature houses, (conception, organization of exhibitions and literary readings), literary events, trade shows and festivals (organization). In combination with other concentrations and subfields, there are a large number of employment possibilities. Academic positions are available in research and teaching after further qualifications with a Master’s degree.
Media Culture and Communication
Educational Profile
In the specialization “media culture and communication” you explore the relationship between media, communication processes, culture and society. The investigation, critique and application of theories, approaches and methods in media and communications research form the basis for your academic work. Thus, you will analyze processes of media use and action in the respective social contexts as well as medial texts, in other words the media products in their social and historical form. Along with the mediation between systematic interrelationships between societal developments, media/communication and social interactions, the program allows for the exploration of various media cultures, their representative forms and transformations.
By planning and implementing research oriented, empirical projects, you can gather important experience in carrying out academic investigations that can be transferred to the working world beyond the university. A connection between theory and practice also occurs through the application of academic knowledge to professional activities: In the professionally oriented module you will acquire practical skills in the field of audiovisual, journalistic or cultural production, as well as in organizational communication. Being confronted with the standards in your professional field and reflecting critically upon these forms the basis for your later occupational activity.
Occupational Fields
Graduates can work in press-, marketing-, and public relations departments of businesses or as journalists, in the field of media research, in advertising and creative agencies or find their future job in the many other segments of the cultural sector.
Music and Auditory Culture
Educational Profile
The specialization in music and auditory culture conveys the foundations and specialized aspects of a musicology expanded by media and cultural science approach. In particular the cultural acquisition of electronic and digital music, as well as intercultural questions form the background of an expanded view of current auditive processes and phenomena. Basic media-driven design is thematized in the module on music theory and auditory design, then supplemented with an historical perspective on genres and style in the module music history. The object of study is thus styles in “serious” music as well as popular music’s lines of development.
A number of further modules allow for an individual concentration, in the field of theoretical discourse (music aesthetics, music and auditory culture, music cultures of the present) as well as in economic and design-oriented fields of practice (studio practices, music economy). This allows cultural studies students to explore a wide palette of theoretical, design and economic aspects belonging to auditory culture.
Occupational Fields
Management in music publishers, labels, web advertisers, mobile phone and internet service providers; events management, consulting and coaching in classical, contemporary and popular music; music marketing; media and music journalism in TV, radio and print industries; independent work in the field of audio production and distribution (recorded books, web radio, etc); academic professions after further qualification with a Master’s degree.
Elective Modules
Additional elective modules can be taken in the areas of “Tourism” and “Cultural History.”
In project modules you can pursue your first independent project, which can be praxis-oriented, but can also serve as a basis for your Bachelor Thesis.
In your Bachelor Thesis you will demonstrate at the end of your studies that you can structure long-term work processes and are largely able to grapple with an academic topic of your choice. For the majors in cultural studies there is a nine-week period within which the Bachelor Thesis should be completed.
After you have completed all modules of the major, the minor that you selected, the Leuphana Semester, and the program in comprehensive studies you will have earned the academic degree “Bachelor of Arts” (B.A.).