Justicia y desigualdades: Estudios comparativos culturales (M.A.)

Providing access to justice or overcoming injustices and reducing historically persistent intersectional inequalities are global issues for the future. They are also included in the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda, where its 17 Sustainable Development Goals address the three dimensions of sustainability: social, economic and environmental. Our Master’s degree programme focuses on this subject area, and, in addition, addresses North-South asymmetries and discusses postcolonial perspectives. It qualifies graduates for senior employment opportunities in social transformation processes in one of the world’s largest language areas. This orientation is our programme’s unique selling point since other degree courses on justice usually focus on individual or specific perspectives.

What makes the programme special?

We offer students an interdisciplinary programme on a highly relevant subject area which explores the interface between the cultural, social and legal sciences and such thematic areas as peace and conflict research, global health, gender studies and development research as well as sustainable development.

The programme focuses on justice and inequalities, analysed from different perspectives in the following fields:             

• representations of justice, social inequalities and human rights violations       
• social policy (work, education, health, pensions, transport, housing, social rights) and the transformative potential of law in contexts of extreme social inequalities  
• political economy of development processes, alternative concepts of development and alternatives to development;
  glottopolitics and social justice, discourses of justice, the role of language in social participation and in the democratisation of access to social resources  
• intersectionality, gender studies and struggles for social justice;           
  democratic participation mechanisms and authoritarian movements;
  human rights violations and their treatment by transitional justice or the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and collective memory processes
• North-South asymmetries and global solidarity;                                                                               
• extractivism, Just Energy Transition, socio-ecological conflicts and climate justice;
• social, political and cultural determinants of health, as well as the interactions between health, equity/justice and sustainable development.

What will I learn?

The international, interdisciplinary and theoretically and methodically pluralistic nature of this Master’s programme enables students to reflect on key issues of justice of our time from multiple perspectives and in their respective cultural contexts and to present their own points of view in a scientifically sound manner. They learn about political and social means of promoting different aspects of justice and they critically discuss the political and social feasibility of these options. They also acquire the skills to formulate solutions relevant to practical policies but also to make (constructive) criticism. Students learn about theoretical and conceptual approaches, but they also improve their methodological skills, analyse current empirical case studies as well as apply and reflect on the knowledge they have acquired in the context of a compulsory internship.

In addition to academic training, emphasis is placed on the development of intercultural competencies, various soft skills (academic presentations; writing different types of text; preparing work for a broad target audience) and on the transfer of professionally relevant knowledge (event organisation; project management; didactics of adult education). The degree programme enables students to focus on research as well as prepare for careers in a wide range of professional fields (science, development cooperation, international organisations, NGOs, ministerial bureaucracy, political education, cultural work, etc. ). The heterogeneous nature of the student body and integration of teaching staff from partner universities or with practical backgrounds enable students to build international and transdisciplinary networks that benefit their future academic and professional careers. This is enhanced by active alumni work.

Further Information

All applicants need to present English skills at B2 level. For students whose first language is Spanish, a buddy programme is being piloted to provide support in all administrative processes (consultation, enrolment, registration for courses and examinations).

The programme is directed at students from all over the world, primarily Latin America, North America and Europe, especially Spain and Germany. It welcomes all students who are interested in its thematic orientation and have appropriate language skills (non-native speakers should have C1-level Spanish). In terms of academic, geographical, social and cultural background and professional experience, the programme is open to students who are at different stages of their lives, either directly after they have completed their Bachelor’s degree or after several years of professional activity.

The Spanish-language Master’s degree programme “Justicia y desigualdades: Estudios comparativos culturales” provides graduates with a further qualification for a profession.

The study programme worth a total of 120 credits (ECTS) consists of

(a) four compulsory basic modules (Basic Module I: Justice, Fundamentals from a Cultural Studies Perspective, Basic Module II: Social Justice from a Cultural Studies Perspective, Basic Module III: Justice and Human Rights, Module IV: International Justice) amounting to 40 credits,

(b) compulsory elective area: two of four modules (North-South Perspectives and Issues of Gender/Intersectionality, Social Justice II, Justice and Human Rights II, International Justice II) amounting to 20 credits,

(c) a compulsory module “Internship” amounting to 20 credits,

(d) the compulsory elective module Extracurricular Skills/Employability, which can be completed either through Extracurricular Skills modules or through modules from the field of Intercultural Communication offered by the Institute of Romance Studies, amounting to 10 credits,

(e) a compulsory module “Master's thesis” amounting to 30 credits.

(d) the compulsory elective module Extracurricular Skills/Employability, which can be completed either through Extracurricular Skills modules or through modules from the field of Intercultural Communication offered by the Institute of Romance Studies, amounting to 10 credits,

(e) a compulsory module “Master's thesis” amounting to 30 credits.

Information on the programme and modules

You will find the detailed study plan and module descriptions in the special regulations.

There is a need on the part of state institutions, international and civil society organisations as well as in the private sector and the cultural sector to recruit highly qualified young professionals with international experience who can tackle the various current challenges in the context of social justice. In this context, graduates of the Master's degree programme will have knowledge that will enable them to enter the current labour market on the basis of their academic and professional qualifications and social soft skills.

The programme qualifies students for professional employment in various areas of public and private institutions as well as NGOs in Germany and abroad (science, development cooperation, international organisations, NGOs, public service; political education; cultural work, etc.). In addition to professional expertise, key competences include the ability to reflect on intercultural communication, to process complex contexts and to quickly familiarise oneself with new issues, taking into account their North-South dimensions.

At the same time, the Master's programme imparts important theoretical and methodological knowledge of scientific work for those who want to do a doctorate in the future and work in science, whether at universities or non-university research institutions.

The Master's degree programme encourages students to seek and take advantage of work opportunities in Germany and abroad through a compulsory internship during their studies. In addition, students have the opportunity to take part in courses at the university's Centre for Foreign Language and Professional Skills (ZfbK) in order to further develop their professional skills. 

Co-operation networks

• CAPAZ - German-Colombian Peace Institute
• International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC)
• TraCe - Research Centre ‘Transformations of Political Violence’
• Centre for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU)
• NISANSA - Joint project ‘Social Climate Change Impacts and Sustainability Innovation in Southern Africa and Northern South America’

After completing your Master's degree, you will have the opportunity to pursue a doctorate at JLU. 

Gießener Graduiertenzentrum Kulturwissenschaften (GGK)