Master of Arts: North American Studies
North American Studies is a single-major Master's program at the University of Cologne taught entirely in English. It focuses on the history, culture, art, literature, language, film, philosophy, media theory, politics, society, economy and law of North America, i.e. Canada, the US, the Caribbean and Latin America. It aims at providing insight into the cultural and literary history of North America and offering an overview of relevant theories and methods in the fields of literary studies, culture studies and media studies.
Further Information can be found on the website of the Central Student Guidance and Councelling Services of the University of Cologne and of the website of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
Application Requirements
Applicants must have completed an undergraduate's degree totaling or being equal to 180 ECTS in one of the following areas:
- North American Studies
- English Studies
- American Studies
- History
- Geography
- Philosophy
- Political Science
- Law
- Sociology
- Theology
- Economics
- Translation
- Intercultural Communication
Moreover, applicants must have excellent English skills on C1 level of the CEFR and skills in a modern language on B1 level of the CEFR. C1 level in English must be proven upon immatriculation. B1 level in another modern European language must be proven by the time the master thesis is started, i.e. it can be reached while completing the North American Studies program. German does not count as the second modern European language if the student's native language is German.
The checking of the students’ fulfilment of the language requirements is the responsibility of the examination office [Prüfungsamt] of the Faculty of Humanities [Philosophische Fakultät]. The English Seminar I does not provide legally binding information on what language certificates are accepted by the examination office.
All applicants who completed a first academic degree course within Germany must apply via KLIPS 2.0.
All applicants who completed a first academic degree course outside of Germany must apply via uni assist. More information for international applicants can be found here. Moreover, the International Office provides useful information and services for international applicants.
More information on the application process can be found here.
Information for Students
Study Program (Studienaufbau)
Students can be begin their major during the winter semester or the summer semester. It is a single-major program. The standard period of study is four semesters over the course of which students acquire 120 credit points [Leistungspunkte; LP]. These credit points are awarded upon completing entire modules, not upon completing individual courses.
The major consists of four advanced modules [Aufbaumodule], one specialization module [Schwerpunktmodul], and one module pertaining to the master thesis. With the exception of the master thesis module [Masterarbeitsmodul], these modules consist of different courses, and an exam. In Advanced Modul (AM) 1 and 2, students write a term paper as their module exam; in AM 3, students do an oral exam; in AM 4, students do a combination exam [Kombinatorische Prüfung] which means that they present their MA thesis project and turn in an exposé afterwards; and in SM 1, students write a report on their internship. The exams of AMs 1, 2, 3 and 4 factor into students’ overall grade; the exam of SM 1 does not.
Suggested Study Plan
Course Requirements (Studienleistungen)
In order to successfully complete a course, students have to provide a type of course requirement determined by the lecturer (for instance, essays, oral presentations, portfolios etc.). The deadline for the course requirement is set at the discretion of the lecturer. The specific course requirements are usually announced in the first class of the semester.
Exams in North American Studies
Advanced module 1 Literary and Cultural Studies: Written exam in form of a term paper consisting of 20 to 25 pages (60,000 to 70,000 characters, including blank spaces and footnotes). The module exam factors 25% into the overall grade. The term paper has to be written in conjunction with one of the module’s courses. The exam date, i.e. the deadline for the term paper submission is March 15 in the winter semester or September 15 in the summer semester. Students must register for the exam via KLIPS. Exam registration starts 12 weeks prior to the exam date mentioned in KLIPS and ends 6 weeks prior to this exam date. Exam de-registration ends two weeks prior to the exam date. Further information on the module exam in AM 1 can be found here (German version). Please make sure to use the cover sheet of the English Seminar in your submission.
Advanced module 2 History and Society: Written exam in form of a term paper consisting of 20 to 25 pages (60,000 to 70,000 characters, including blank spaces and footnotes). The module exam factors 25% into the overall grade. The term paper has to be written in conjunction with one of the module’s courses. The exam date, i.e. the deadline for the term paper submission is March 15 in the winter semester or September 15 in the summer semester. Students must register for the exam via KLIPS. Exam registration starts 12 weeks prior to the exam date mentioned in KLIPS and ends 6 weeks prior to this exam date. Exam de-registration ends two weeks prior to the exam date.
Advanced module 3 Postcolonial Studies: Oral exam lasting 45 minutes. Students prepare two topics in conjunction with one of the module’s courses. The module exam factors 25% into the overall grade. Students must register for the exam via KLIPS. Exam registration starts 12 weeks prior to the exam date mentioned in KLIPS and ends 6 weeks prior to this exam date in KLIPS. Exam de-registration ends two weeks prior to the exam date mentioned in KLIPS. Please note that the exam date mentioned in KLIPS is a technical dummy - the exact date for your oral exam must be arranged with the professor teaching the class (for instance Prof. Ortlepp or Dr. Hackenesch). Please bring the Anmelde - und Protkollbogen with you to the exam. You can find it here.
Advanced module 4 Research: Combination exam in form of a 30-45 minutes presentation of the MA thesis project, followed by a 30-45 minutes discussion. After your presentation you are required to write and hand in an exposé about your research project of 10 pages in length. The module exam factors 25% into the overall grade. Students must register for the exam via KLIPS. Exam registration starts 12 weeks prior to the exam date mentioned in KLIPS and ends 6 weeks prior to this exam date in KLIPS. Exam de-registration ends two weeks prior to the exam date. Please note that the exam date mentioned in KLIPS is a technical dummy - the exact date for your presentation in the Research Colloquium must be arranged with Dr. Silke Hackenesch.
The exams must be taken in conjunction with a specific course from the respective module. This is possible for three semesters, the semester in which the class was taken counts as the first semester. If the course was taken more than three semesters ago, students cannot be examined about its topic anymore.
Specialization module 1 Internship: Written exam in form of an internship report consisting of 10 to 15 pages (40,000 to 45,000 characters, including blank spaces and footnotes). The internship itself has to be at least six weeks long. The module exam does not factor into students’ overall grade. The exam date, i.e. the deadline for the report submission is March 15 in the winter semester or September 15 in the summer semester. Students must register for the exam via KLIPS. Exam registration starts 12 weeks prior to the exam date mentioned in KLIPS and ends 6 weeks prior to this exam date in KLIPS. Exam de-registration ends two weeks prior to the exam date.
Sample internship reports in German and English can be found here.
Exam Registration
The overall grade is composed of the cumulative grade of the module exams (2/3), and the grade of the master thesis (1/3). The exams of AMs 1, 2, 3 and 4 are of equal weight.
Students have to register for module exams in KLIPS. Students have to be registered for exams in KLIPS in order to receive grades; for legal reasons, belated registrations for exams are not possible. In addition to that, students need to contact their lecturers in a timely manner in order to arrange exam topics and dates. In case of students failing a module exam, they can repeat it as often as needed.
Exam registration on KLIPS: Exam registration starts 12 weeks prior to the exam date mentioned in KLIPS and ends 6 weeks prior to this exam date in KLIPS. Practical information regarding exam registration on KLIPS can be found here.
Exam de-registration: Exam de-registration ends 2 weeks prior to the exam date mentioned in KLIPS. If students de-register from their exam, they must inform their examiner.
Exam cancellation: If students are unable to take an exam and need to cancel the exam during the 2 week period before the exam after the de-registration period has ended, they have to inform their examiner, at the latest, by the day of the exam.
Grades are registered in KLIPS by the examiners and activated at the earliest by the date of the exam registered in KLIPS. This means that grades for term papers will not appear on students’ transcripts prior to March 15, the exam date in the winter semester or prior to September 15, the exam date in the summer semester. Individual proofs of exam grades cannot be issued. Students are advised to consider this in the planning of their studies.
Exams in Advanced Module 2
Exam: Term Paper in North American History and Society
| Type and length of exam: | Written exam in the form of a term paper in English. 20 - 25 pages / 60.000 - 70.000 characters (number of characters +/- 3.000, including blank spaces & footnotes; excluding title page, table of contents, bibliography, and appendix. |
| Relevance for final grade: | 25% of the final grade. |
| Examiners: | Teachers of the lecture or seminars. |
| Content: | Related to the topic of the lecture or seminar. The exam should take place in the same semester as the class it is related to. Exams related to the topic of a class are possible for three semesters, the semester in which the class was taken counts as the first semester. After the three semesters, the students cannot be examined about the course’s topic anymore. In special cases, the period can be extended if the examiner agrees. The subject of the exam is arranged upon consultation with the examiners in the course / in the office hours. |
| Dates and deadlines: | Exam date/Due date: 15.03. (winter semester) / 15.09. (summer semester), unless the examiners set an earlier deadline for handing in the term paper. Exam registration begins 12 weeks prior to the exam date via KLIPS. Exam registration ends 6 weeks prior to the exam date. Exam de-registration ends 2 weeks prior to the exam date. |
| De-registration and withdrawal: | De-registration is possible up to 14 days prior to the exam date that is set on KLIPS. Withdrawal from the exam after the de-registration period ends is only possible with good reason, verified for example through a doctor’s note. If you de-register in time and if you withdraw from the exam with good reason, you can do the exam another time without having to arrange a new exam topic with your examiner. |
| Results: | The examiners enter the grade of the exam on KLIPS around 8 weeks after the exam date. The grade is only visible for students once the examination office has activated the grade. In special cases, the exam element can be closed on KLIPS before the correction deadline, so that the grade can be activated earlier. This, however, can only happen after the exam date set on KLIPS. In case the exam is failed, the insufficient grade is entered on KLIPS and will show on the transcript of records. The candidates must register for the following exam date and must arrange a new exam subject with the examiner. An exam is failed when it is graded with a 5.0 (‚mangelhaft‘), or when the candidate failed to hand in the term paper in time (or failed to show up in case of an oral exam). There is no need to agree on a new topic if you have de-registered or withdrawn from the exam with good reason (e.g. a doctor’s note). Students may arrange with their examiner to inspect the exam documents. After that, the exam documents are forwarded to the examination office and are filed there. |
| Further information: | Exam candidates must register for the exam element of Prof. Ortlepp or Dr. Hackenesch, also if another teacher supervises and grades the term paper. Further information on Modulabschlussprüfungen can be found on the website of the Department of History.
|
Bonn Exchange of Advanced Module 3
The Universities of Bonn and Cologne have an established cooperation, which gives NAS-students the opportunity to exchange the Postcolonial Studies module (AM 3) in toto with a module from the University of Bonn. The Bonn modules offered are either North American Politics or Economics. The Bonn module must be fully completed in order for it to be recognized for AM 3 in the NAS Master's program in Cologne. Individual classes at the University of Bonn cannot be recognized for AM 3.
If students wish to do the exchange with Bonn, they do not have to register as “kleine Zweithörer” at Bonn University. They have to contact the lecturers of the classes they wish to take. They then participate in the courses, pass the module exam in Bonn, and receive a certificate that they submit to the University of Cologne, so that AM 3 can be marked as completed in the Transcript of Records in Cologne.
To find out what classes are offered to NAS Students at the University of Bonn, see here.
Contact Person for the Politics Module: Holger Janusch (hjanusch(at)uni-bonn.de)
Contact Person for the Economics Module: Sine Kontbay Busun (skontbay(at)uni-bonn.de)
Language Courses at the University of Cologne
For the registration of the master's thesis, students must show proof of one modern foreign language - other than English - at B1 level of the CEFR. The University of Cologne offers several options for language courses and certificates.
German Courses
The Department German as a Foreign Language offers free German language courses up to B1 level to NAS-students. When registering for the courses, students only have to state their study program as 'North American Studies' to avoid fees.
Other Language Courses
Students at the University of Cologne can take part in one language course (English, French, Italian and Spanish) in cooperation with the language school Berlitz.
Moreover, it is possible for master's students to take part in the language courses that are part of the extracurricular offers [Extracurriculare Angebote] by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Which languages are offered can be seen on KLIPS, where students can also register for the classes. Please note that general studies courses [Kurse des Studium Integrale] are not open for master's students.
Certificates
Students at the University of Cologne can attain language certificates free of charge for English and Spanish via the Sprachlabor of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. More information on dates and registration can be found here.
Master Thesis
The master thesis is worth 30 credit points. It is proof that students are able to academically treat and reflect a topic relevant to the study program within a fixed timeframe. The thesis’ topic cannot be identical with any exam topic. The thesis has to be completed within 26 weeks and has to be 60 pages long.
The examination office of the Faculty of Art and Humanities is responsible for the administrative handling of master theses. Students need to register their thesis there after consultation with the lecturer supervising their thesis.
For this registration, students must also show proof of one modern foreign language - other than English - at B1 level. See above for more information on language courses at the University of Cologne.
Further Information for Students
Useful Links and Contacts
An overview of the program can be found here.
The program flyer (German language version) can be found here.
The module handbook can be found here.
Information on services for enrolled international MA students by the International Office,, for instance on funding options, can be found here.
The website of the Department of English I can be found here.
Subscribe to the NAS Newsletter and visit Facebook and/or Instagram to stay updated.
You can also join the ILIAS-Group of the NAS Students' Union to get in touch and exchange information with your peers.