Transcultural Humanities: Media, Texts, Languages in a Globalized World
Bachelor of Arts (Integrative study programme)

You should have a keen interest in your own as well as other cultures and language as well as a fundamental concern for the human society as such and its development. If you are prepared to read extensively, are not frightened of numbers (for e. g. empirical data collection), are inquisitive and open to anything new and different, you will be well equipped for this study programme. Formal requirements are the general qualification for university entrance.

The B.A. in Transcultural Studies is based on an interdisciplinary program taught by scholars from 11 different humanities fields. The curriculum is integrated rather than merely cumulative, as heterogeneous subjects are conceptualized within a common transcultural frame. Students are thus encouraged to approach a variety of fields from a uniquely transcultural vantage point, and to develop critical cross-disciplinary methods that will enrich their explorations of individual topics and themes. Instead of privileging one medium or form of expression over others, the curriculum is open to the whole range of medialities—from verbal to visual to digital—as it fosters a detailed and ongoing engagement with each cultural artifact in its (medial) specificity and uniqueness.

The program offers considerable flexibility, enabling students to tailor the curriculum to their individual needs and inclinations. The program’s flexibility is further enhanced by an entire semester at the student’s disposal, which can be used to study abroad, or to pursue internships and other academic/professional activities.

The B.A. in Transcultural Studies can be pursued either as a broad interdisciplinary degree, or with a specialization in any one of the participating subjects, e.g. media and communication, languages and literatures, history etc.

The programme is composed of mandatory core studies and a broad range of courses offered by eleven departments in the humanities which the students may freely select to cater for the student’s educational background, personal interests, and career goals.

The First Year includes three mandatory modules on the phenomenon and theories of transcultural studies as well as a propaedeutics module. Students will also start their foreign language modules and/or the education in the different disciplinary methodologies; two of the three offered have to be completed. They will also have the opportunities to select first modules from the 11 disciplines which offer courses in this B. A. programme to find their own preferences.

Second Year: During the second year of their studies, students will deepen their own foci in the selection of their core subjects. Mandatory is the “Forum Transcultural Studies” at which students are required to give a team-presentation, transferring core transcultural theories to new subject matters of their own choosing. 

Third Year: There are no mandatory courses during the fifth term; students are strongly encouraged to utilize this semester as mobility window for a study exchange or one or more internships. Up to 30 CP acquired during the 6 months of this term may be accredited. During the 6th and last term the bachelor thesis is written. (With the help of our media centre) Students are required to shoot a short video to present and discuss their research idea at a students’ forum.

The programme offers a broad, interdisciplinary repertoire of qualifications and competencies necessary for a successful business career in our contemporary globalized business world. Among these are communication and cooperation competencies, foreign language skills in at least two languages apart from the mother tongue, knowledge organisation and research skills, abilities in diverse empirical methods, self-organisation as well as the ability to work in a team. These key skills and capabilities open career possibilities in e.g. political foundations, art/cultural management, in marketing and human resource departments of multinational businesses or, of course, the classical 'humanities' careers in journalism, media and education.