Department of History

Bielefeld University’s interdisciplinary 2-years-program “World Studies: Orders, Politics, Cultures” combines scientific perspectives of Law, History, Sociology and Cultural Studies and provides students with in-depth knowledge of global structures and interactions. It prepares them for an international career in academia as well as in other professional fields with interdisciplinary and international requirements.

The MA program is jointly carried out by the faculties of Law, Sociology, History, and Literature. Accordingly, we address global processes and structures from diverse perspectives including social sciences, history, literary and cultural studies. The Master's Program aims at an enhanced understanding of structures and processes as globally interdependent and interconnected relationships. We understand ‘orders’ as stable settings connecting the parts and a whole (e.g., in the sense of multi-level governance and international legal systems). ‘Politics’ is concerned with the regulation of societies in transnational contexts. ‘Cultures’ refers to contested interpretations, practices, and values pertaining to these orders and politics.

The MA “World Studies” is linked to two of Bielefeld University’s global research facilities, the “Institute for World Societal Studies” and the Research Training Group “World Politics: The Emergence of Political Arenas and Modes of Observation in World Society”.