African Languages and Cultures / Afrikanische Sprachen und Kulturen (M.A.)
Standard period of study: 4 semesters
Degree: Master of Arts African Languages and Cultures
Admission requirements and application: info document (PDF)
Contact:
For any questions regarding the program, application and deadlines please contact: afrikanistik"AT"uni-hamburg.de
Short program description:
program structure (PDF)
The Master African Languages and Cultures is a research-oriented program with a strong link to applied issues focusing on theories and methods in linguistics of African languages, language in African cultures and Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies. Graduates with an M.A. in African Languages and Cultures are well prepared for a position in research, education and consulting. By developing language skills in Swahili, Hausa or Amharic, or learning another African language, you will extend your linguistic comprehension from local ‘doing things with words’ to traditional knowledge and philological methods in order to develop your own capacity of working independently with primary sources of language data, oral and written history, literatures, cultures, and religions in their relevant context.
The study programme envisages an obligatory thematic concentration on the following study profiles:
- Applied African Linguistics: Language Education and Language Planning
- Linguistic Analysis and Language Documentation
- Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies
- Language in Culture
Course themes and goals
The study profile Applied African Linguistics: Language Education and Language Planning offers advanced courses in all areas of language management, status and corpus planning and related field of language in education. While a strong focus is placed on the aspect of societal multilingualism in Africa and its relevance to the educational sector, the informal educational background of people coming from African countries is also considered. Graduates acquire the appropriate qualifications for Africa related responsible jobs in education, governmental or non-governmental cooperation and international organizations.
The study profile Linguistic Analysis and Language Documentation offers advanced courses in all areas of formal grammar and linguistic field methods. Topics include elicitation, transcription, annotation and analysis of linguistic data from un(der)described African languages. It also covers aspects of documentary linguistics, the production of linguistic-ethnographic records through annotated audio and video data.
The study profile Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies develops and deepens the graduates’ knowledge of Ethiopian and Eritrean languages, literatures, cultures and religions. It gives the opportunity to learn the philological method and to apply it to the texts transmitted in manuscripts. The students will be able to analyse texts in Ethiopian and Eritrean languages, both linguistically and philologically, and thus gain insight into such areas of knowledge as history with focus on ancient and premodern history, historical linguistics, religious history of Ethiopia and Eritrea, literature, and manuscript studies. Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies is primarily oriented to the study of linguistics, philology, history, and literature. It considers the oral as well as the manuscript traditions of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The study profile Language in Culture allows students with a B.A. in African Languages & Cultures or a degree in a similar program to improve their methodological skills and theoretical knowledge in the field of mono- and multilingual communication, language use and knowledge transfer in Africa. Language in culture and communication in African societies are treated from a broad perspective based on the insight that social interaction and collective transmission of knowledge in African cultures can only be captured adequately by a deeper understanding of language and codifications of verbal interaction. A focus of this study programme is placed on communication in multilingual settings and the construction of social meaning in culturally diverse societies. Graduates acquire the appropriate qualifications for Africa related responsible jobs in the media, education, and in the field of documenting or communicating African cultures.