Bielefeld University’s international range of study courses extended

Two new double degree programmes make it possible to obtain an international double degree from Bielefeld University and a university in Mexico or Italy. Starting next winter semester, students can enrol in the German-Mexican Master's programme InterAmerican Studies/Estudios InterAmericanos in cooperation with the Universidad de Guadalajara, and in the German-Italian Master's programme in Literary Studies in cooperation with the Sapienza Università di Roma. The German-Italian partnership contract was presented at a ceremony at Bielefeld University yesterday (4/6/2018).

“This is a new milestone on the way to the further internationalisation of our university,” said Professor Dr Angelika Epple, Bielefeld University’s Vice-rector for International Affairs and Diversity at the ceremony. In this connection, she welcomed Dr Gabriele Guerra, programme officer of the Sapienza Università di Roma, and Dr Frank Duwe and Maddalena Agliati Werner of the Deutsch-Italienische Gesellschaft Bielefeld e. V. [German-Italian Society Bielefeld].

The German-Italian Master’s in Literary Studies is the first double degree cooperation between the universities in Bielefeld and Rome. “This study programme serves to further develop long-standing academic contacts and the Erasmus cooperation between our universities,” explains Professor Dr Wolfgang Braungart, Bielefeld University’s programme coordinator. This study course is aimed at graduates of a Bachelor's programme in literature, humanities or cultural studies. Bielefeld students spend their third semester studying in Rome, and students from Rome come to Bielefeld for their second semester. This means that they study together in the same place during their second and third semesters. The course languages are German, English, and Italian.
More information on the German-Italian Master’s programme:
http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/lili/studium/faecher/literaturwissenschaft/MA_studienverlauf_neu.html (in German)

The second new double degree is being launched in cooperation with the Universidad de Guadalajara (Mexico). The German-Mexican Master's programme was created through a cooperation between the Master’s in InterAmerican Studies/Estudios InterAmericanos and the Maestría degree course in Literaturas Interamericanas. “We are particularly pleased to be able to establish the first non-European double degree programme at Bielefeld University with this double degree,” says Bielefeld’s programme officer Professor Dr Joachim Michael. The double degree option is aimed at prospective students of the regional studies programme who wish to focus on literature and cultural studies. Students spend the first two semesters of the Master's programme together at Bielefeld University, and the third and fourth semesters at the university in Guadalajara. Students study in English and Spanish. The Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst [German Academic Exchange Service] (DAAD) supports three study places each on the German and Mexican side with scholarships and travel allowances.
More information on the German-Mexican Master’s programme:
http://uni-bielefeld.de/ias/doubledegree.html (in German)

Bielefeld University’s international range of degree programmes now comprises nine double degree study courses. There are already two cooperations at Bachelor level:
•    the German-French Bachelor degree courses in Chemistry and History with the Université Paris-Diderot
Five double degree study courses are available at Master level:
•    the German-French Master’s in History with the Université Paris-Diderot
•    the German-Italian Master’s programmes in History, Intelligent Systems, Philosophy and Sociology with the Università di Bologna

Double degree courses are attractive for students, as they study at least bilingually at several locations and simultaneously obtain a degree from two universities. As a rule, the volume of study corresponds to that of a single degree programme.

Further information:
Short interview with a graduate of one of Bielefeld University’s double degree programmes:
https://ekvv.uni-bielefeld.de/blog/uniaktuell/entry/der_doppelabschluss_hat_mir_zwei (in German)