Education
Bachelor’s Degrees
(in alphabetischer Reihenfolge)
Master’s Degrees
Angebote für Schulen
Degree program descriptions
B.A. Anthropology
The degree programme in Anthropology centres around the comparative study of societies and cultures. The aim of the programme is to understand and be able to describe commonalities and differences in the ways in which humans live and think.
As a descriptive, theoretically-oriented and comparative cultural and social study programme, the Anthropology degree programme conveys an understanding of dynamic cultural and societal processes and contexts for actions, particularly from the perspective of the persons involved. Anthropology thus takes a comprehensive outlook and a perspective in a targeted fashion onto complex interrelationships and mutual impact between different subsets of cultural dynamics and social practices. Intercultural comparisons and the study of transcultural processes play a particularly important role in this. The regional focus ranges from South Asia to Southeast Asia to Oceania, while the thematic focus covers ritual and performance research to anthropological medicine, from anthropological media to political ecology (environment), and from cultural identity to intercultural ethics. Other areas of focus include social structures, economy and barter, migration and urbanisation, as well as transculturalism. The degree programme is characterised by long-term local field research, combined with a participatory examination of daily life.
B.A. East Asian Studies
Students of East Asian studies learn about the societies in Japan, Korea and the Chinese-speaking world and study their historical and cultural developments, current manifestations and regional relationships.
The combination of approaches adopted from cultural and social studies enables students to study East Asia against the background of its long history and tradition as well as from the perspective of its current importance as a gravitational centre for the global economy and international politics.
The academic programme includes the acquisition of sound knowledge of Chinese or Japanese. Students can select a specialisation in either Chinese studies, Japanese studies or East Asian art history (with a focus on either China or Japan).
B.A. South Asian Studies
Degree programmes in South Asian studies at Heidelberg University offer students in Europe a unique opportunity to study geographical, social and economic aspects of South Asian culture, in combination with historical and philological aspects. Alongside the linguistic and cultural traditions of South Asia, degree programmes consider a broad field of contemporary, modern regional studies.
Degree programmes in South Asian studies are interdisciplinary and have a strong link to practice. Courses will equip students with practical language skills, as well as knowledge of philological, cultural, social, economic and scientific aspects of South Asian culture. These aspects may be studied in relation to the following countries; Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In view of the strong linguistic and historical links that these countries have with the Indian subcontinent, neighbouring regions of Afghanistan and Tibet and the languages spoken in these countries, also form part of courses’ content.
Programmes offered cover all subjects available at the Institute: Developmental Economics, Ethnology, Modern Foreign Languages and Literature, Cultural and Religious Histories (Classic Indology), History, Geography and Political Science. In addition, professors in Buddhism, Media Ethnology and Art History, as well as guest professors from governmental organisations in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, based at the Heidelberg Center for Transcultural Studies (Heidelberger Centrum für Transkulturelle Studien), are also involved in teaching and research.
A central focus in placed on the development of students’ language skills. Intensive language courses are therefore offered in the Bengali, Hindi, Classical Tibetan, Nepalese, Pali, Sanskrit, Singhalese, Tamil, colloquial Tibetan and Urdu.
Students who are studying South Asian studies as a major subject spend the fifth semester in South Asia. This gives students numerous opportunities to use their theoretical knowledge in practical applications and gain new insights to inform their individual period of study.
M.A. Anthropology
The master programme sociocultural anthropology predominantly studies non-European lifeworlds comparatively with the goal to understand them descriptively.
The consecutive Master programme in Anthropology we offer at the Institute of Anthropology provides a theoretically and empirically well-founded and in-depth training in Social and Cultural Anthropology. In a globalised world, Anthropology plays a special role as a comparative discipline in the humanities that looks at the variety of human ways of life and cultural perspectives. The subject of the programme is the advanced study of cultural processes and dynamics in a globally connected world, without losing sight of the local and emplaced dimensions of everyday life. The programme qualifies students to recognise and understand local, regional and global cultural processes in terms of meanings, values, communications and practices. These cultural processes draw together aspects of economy, religion, politics, health, kinship, aesthetics and other aspects of culture and society. The regional foci lie on Southeast Asia, South Asia and Oceania, but other world regions and Western societies are also covered under the programme’s comparative scope. The Master programme deepens theoretical, methodological and regional knowledge, while it equips students with the tools necessary to conduct independent scientific research, tackle complex problems, and carry out in-depth analyses of socio-cultural issues. Graduates are subsequently able to work independently in various professional settings or carry out PhD work. The main language of instruction is English.
M.A. Chinese Studies
In the Chinese Studies academic programme, students learn about both traditional and contemporary aspects of China, including the role played by China in the greater world and the associated diversified exchange processes that link both China’s history and its present-day existence to other regions.
During the degree programme, students will learn the Chinese language and acquire fundamental knowledge of China’s history, culture, philosophy, literature, and current political and economic structures.
M.A. Communication, Literature, and Media in Modern South Asian Languages
The Master’s degree programme in Communication, Literature and Media in Modern South Asian languages explores the different languages, literatures and media discourses of the Indian subcontinent (texts, manuscripts, films, internet and audio sources).
The Master’s degree programme considers aspects of modern South Asia as reflected in text, culture and media. The term “South Asia” refers to the Indian subcontinent which today has a population of approximately 1.5 billion people - more than a fifth of the world’s total population. South Asia is home to numerous different cultures, ethnicities and religions, as well as languages and literatures. The core languages which can be studied as part of the degree programme include Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, and Tamil. Theoretical modules offer students insight into topics relating to linguistics, literary and media studies, as well as translation processes. The primary objective is comparative analysis of original linguistic sources from South Asia. Theoretical approaches from the fields of cultural and religious studies are also explored.
M.A. Conference Interpreting (Japanese)
Students of Conference Interpreting study the theory and practice of communicating in spoken language at specialist conferences, in political contexts and in the media.
Students acquire the practical skills required to work as a professional simultaneous and consecutive interpreter of challenging and complex spoken language. Skills include a high level of proficiency in each of the student’s working languages, as well as specific cognitive abilities such as strategic listening, and the efficient use of attention and memory. In addition to this, students gain particular instrumental skills (language development, noting taking techniques, terminological preparation).
The practical elements of the course are consolidated and developed as students gain interpretation skills. Interpreting studies is also acknowledged as being of a highly interdisciplinary nature, having strong links to translation studies, linguistics, cultural studies and psychology.
M.A. Development, Environment, Societies, and History in South Asia
Students in the academic programme Development, Environment, Societies, and History in South Asia focus on historical, societal and current political and economic developments and events, as well as physiogeographical processes, in the countries of South-East Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka as well as Tibet and the regions surrounding the Himalayas.
A central component of the degree programme is to familiarise the students with multi- and interdisciplinary approaches right from the beginning and to enable them to independently and critically work in multicultural environments. To this end, the students select at least one area of specialisation in which they acquire advanced scientific expertise that will then be applied during completion of the Master's thesis.
M.A. Health and Society in South Asia
Der Studiengang Health and Society in South Asia kombiniert das Studium der Medizinethnologie mit einem regionalen Fokus auf Südasien. Die Medizinethnologie umfasst das Studium des Gesundheitswesens und Wohlbefindens aus sozialwissenschaftlicher Perspektive mit einem Schwerpunkt auf Heilsystemen, wobei jedoch weniger medizinische Theorien oder Gesundheitspolitik im Vordergrund steht, sondern wie diese Systeme unter spezifischen, sozio-kulturellen Gegebenheiten angewendet werden.
Der zweijährige Studiengang Master of Arts Health and Society in South Asia (MAHASSA) beschäftigt sich mit Medizinethnologie in Kombination mit Südasienstudien. Es handelt sich um einen integrierten Studiengang, der am Südasien-Institut der Universität Heidelberg gelehrt wird, einem der weltweit führenden Institute für interdisziplinäre Forschung und Lehre zu Südasien. Dies ermöglicht es den Studierenden, südasiatische Sprachen, Geographie, Politik usw. in ihr Curriculum aufzunehmen. Den Studierenden werden Theorie und Methodologie der Medizinethnologie vermittelt und sie belegen Kurse über Südasienstudien und südasiatische Sprachen, und vertiefen so ihre Kenntnis über die Region.
M.A. Japanologie
Gegenstand der Japanologie sind Kultur und Gesellschaft Japans in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart.
Der Masterstudiengang Japanologie (Japanese Studies) führt vertieft in die vielfältigen Inhalte des Faches Japanologie ein und stellt das Erlernen wissenschaftlicher Methoden und deren Anwendung in den Mittelpunkt. Forschungsgegenstand sind die Kultur und Gesellschaft Japans in ihrer Einbindung in die historischen und gegenwärtigen Entwicklungen in Ostasien. Der Studiengang berücksichtigt den ostasiatischen Kontext sowie die mannigfachen Beziehungen zum Westen. Dennoch stehen bei der Vermittlung eines auf allgemeinen Kenntnissen der Region aufbauenden Wissens speziell auf Japan bezogene Themen im Mittelpunkt dieses Aufbaustudienganges. Die wissenschaftlichen Fragestellungen, denen die Studierenden nachgehen, speisen sich aus den Bereichen der Kultur- und Literaturwissenschaft und der Sozial- und Geschichtswissenschaften und werden für die Japanologie formuliert.
Ziel der Ausbildung ist es, die Absolventinnen und Absolventen als Japan-Spezialisten mit einem ganzheitlichen, transkulturelle Vergleiche berücksichtigenden Verständnis der japanischen Kultur und Gesellschaft auszustatten und darauf aufbauend eine sinnvolle Spezialisierung zu erreichen.
M.A. Kultur- und Religionsgeschichte Südasiens (Klassische Indologie)
Die Kultur- und Religionsgeschichte ist Gegenstand der Klassischen Indologie. Sie erforscht und lehrt vor allem die klassischen Sprachen, Kulturen und Religionen, Literaturen und Philosophien Südasiens wobei die Beschäftigung mit dem Sanskrit als Ausgangspunkt dient.
Ein Schwerpunkt des Faches sind die Sprachen Sanskrit, Pali und Prakrit, mit denen die Studierenden die Texte der Kultur-und Religionsgeschichte Südasiens erschließen. Die große Vielfalt an diesen Texten steht in reichen und heute noch immer lebendigen religiösen, wissenschaftlichen und künstlerischen Traditionen. Ergänzend können die Studierenden moderne Sprachen wie Nepali und Singhalesisch und – in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Lehrstuhl für „Buddhist Studies” – auch klassisches und umgangssprachliches Tibetisch erlernen. Die Studierenden beschäftigen sich intensiv beispielsweise mit Gender Studies, Ritualforschung sowie mit weiteren religions-und kulturwissenschaftlichen Themen und können in diesem Zusammenhang auch an Feldforschung in Südasien teilhaben.
East Asian Art History
The East Asian Art History academic programme focuses on the art, archaeology, and material culture of China, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Korea. All art forms will be studied, from painting and calligraphy to sculpture and architecture to ceramics, handiwork, and photography, as represented in all epochs, from the Neolithic Age to the present.
The academic programme prepares students to be able to work independently and to be able to convey the results of their work, with particular competence in the use of both historical and modern media in the area of East Asian Art History. With its interdisciplinary learning approach to both subject-area expertise and career-oriented competencies, including intercultural competency and the routine use of modern media, the East Asian Art History academic programme emphasises the practical application of linguistic and art-historical studies. Along with theoretical principles of the academic discipline of East Asian Art History, at Heidelberg, great value is placed upon a practice-oriented education, including first-hand observation of actual art objects. For this purpose, every semester, the Institute of East Asian Art History organises both brief and longer-term excursions to exhibitions and museums as well as to international centres for East Asian Art History. In addition, the Institute holds regular lectures from researchers as well as faculty specialists with professional experience. These include museum curators, art restorers/conservators, art collectors, and gallery owners.
M.A. Transcultural Studies
Students in the Master’s degree programme Transcultural Studies learn about cultural exchange processes, transformations and interweavings between, or in, Asia and Europe. The transregional approach applied in Transcultural Studies questions traditional ideas about cultures in ethnically contained, linguistically homogenous and territorially limited areas.
The focus of Transcultural Studies is on interweavings and transformations of Asian and European cultures in history and today. In this context, Eurocentric narratives related to these processes are critically reviewed. During their first semester, students in the Master’s programme specialise in one of the three special fields of the academic programme: “Knowledge, Belief and Religion“, “Society, Economy and Governance“ or “Visual, Media and Material Culture“. The focus of the further periods of studies is determined by this choice.