| Degree awarded | Master of Arts (M.A.) |
| Duration | 4 semesters |
| Starts in | October (winter semester) |
| Language of instruction | German |
The M.A. History and Society has two clear objectives: It aims to enable postgraduates with a bachelor's degree in history to consolidate their academic knowledge and tackle their own, individual research projects under excellent supervision. The degree programme also covers the fields of digital and public history and enables students to explore potential occupational fields by completing internships.
This gives students a wide range of options for specialising within the degree programme. Historical research and science communication are taught and researched in a similarly close connection as in later professional practice, as both fields are becoming increasingly intertwined.
The M.A. History and Society primarily qualifies its graduates for research and science communication. During your studies, you will receive a broad historical education while developing an innovative and societally relevant specialisation through communication theory and digital history. The skills you will acquire in this process will open up a wide range of high-profile career opportunities:
- As a budding historian, you can embark on an academic career: with this master's degree, you have the prerequisites for undertaking doctoral study.
- However, you're not limited to universities; you will be able to carry out historical research for specific private clients, municipalities or companies, or indeed work for research organisations and museums. You could also find employment at a political organisation, an NGO or as a policy adviser.
- Further areas of employment available to graduates are in archives, museums and libraries, in the field of adult education, in the media sector, for example as a science journalist, in publishing, in the culture sector or in tourism. Graduates can also work, for example, in cultural promotions, monument preservation, museum education, or in the media and PR industry.
These are just a few examples of the wide range of occupational areas in which the skills acquired in the degree programme are applied.
Module area A: Principles of Historical Research and Science Communication
This module area introduces the diversity of historical disciplines involved in the degree programme, thereby allowing students to deepen their knowledge of the basic sciences and historical hermeneutics. At the same time, the module area imparts the basics of science communication via digital history.
Students acquire 30 ECTS credits in module area A.
Module area B: History as an Occupational Field
In this area, students attend a lecture series on potential future occupations in the field of history and complete an internship.
Students acquire 15 ECTS credits in module area B.
Module area C: Advanced Modules and Research
In this research-oriented module area, students complete two research seminars and one module on science communication. The focus is on the independent planning of research projects and research on historical topics as well as the presentation of research results. The research seminars are offered in the following sub-fields of historical sciences:
- Ancient history
- European medieval history and cultures
- Modern and contemporary history
- Modern and contemporary history and cultures of Eastern Europe
- Church history and Christian identity
- Bavarian and European regional history
- Art history and bildwissenschaft
- Digital history
Students acquire 45 ECTS credits in module area C.
Students choose their master's thesis topic from one of the sub-fields of historical sciences (ancient history; European medieval history and cultures; modern and contemporary history; Bavarian and European regional history; modern and contemporary history and cultures of Eastern Europe; church history and Christian identities; art history and bildwissenschaft; digital humanities; historical education and public history; environmental and technological history").
For a successfully completed thesis, including colloquium, students receive 30 ECTS credits.
Applicants should have a good (undergraduate) degree in history (or a related discipline) with a result of, or equivalent to, 2.5 or better according to the German grading scale. Alternatively, they should be ranked among the best 50% of their cohort.
A degree discipline is considered equivalent if at least 60 ECTS credit points were earned in historical subjects, such as
- Ancient history
- European medieval history and cultures
- Modern and contemporary history
- Modern and contemporary history and cultures of Eastern Europe
- Church history and Christian identity
- Bavarian and European regional history
- Art history and bildwissenschaft
- Digital humanities
- History education and public history
- Environmental and technological history
You will need German language skills at level C1 CEFR or higher to study this degree programme. If German was the language of instruction for your secondary school education or prior tertiary education, your academic certificates suffice as proof of your language skills. Otherwise, you will have to provide a recognised German language certificate along with your application for a place of study.
Other language requirements
You do not need foreign language skills in order to enrol on this programme.
Language requirements when registering for the master's thesis
- To register for a master's thesis in the sub-disciplines 'Ancient History', 'Medieval History', 'Modern and Contemporary History' or 'Church History', you must prove that you have a sound knowledge of Latin.
- To register for a master's thesis in the field of 'Eastern European History', you must prove either Czech language skills at level B1 CEFR or Polish or Russian at level B2 CEFR.
You can acquire modern foreign language skills by completing the relevant language courses during your degree programme.
Application period for the winter semester:
- 15 April - 15 July (direct applications)
- 1 April - 30 June (applications via uni-assist e.V.)
Please use the interactive application guide to find out which application method you should use.
Application period for the summer semester:
This programme does not accept an intake for a summer semester start.
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