The programme, which is unique in Germany and integrates a large part of the Cologne university landscape, on the one hand enables the acquisition of truly interdisciplinary scientific expertise, and on the other it offers excellent perspectives in a field of work of particular social relevance.
Especially today it is necessary to think differently about differences, about questions of alienation and community, about possibilities of an egalitarian divided world. Gender & Queer Studies are an important part of these thought movements - that is why I am so happy that we are starting the Master!
The introduction of the Master's programme offers the opportunity to train students for research and development in the face of pressing issues of our time and the need for social innovation. Gender & Queer is also associated with multidisciplinary competences for shaping change processes in society, business and technology.
Gender & Queer Studies do not view differences as oppositions and otherness as threats, they question the seemingly normal and assertions of “the natural”, they enable and expand dialogues. I am very happy that we are now offering a course of study in Cologne in which the great diversity of perspectives and complex science(s) can be experienced.
Since the winter semester 2017/18 it is possible to study for a Master in Gender and Queer Studies at the University of Cologne.
The Master's programme 1-Subject-Master Gender & Queer Studies is an interdisciplinary programme that addresses the challenges of change and complexity in its teaching concept and builds on the skills and interests of its students with their diverse previous experiences and orientations.
The Master's programme Gender & Queer Studies is embedded in the excellent university landscape of Cologne and offers the special opportunity to acquire a joint Master's degree at the University of Cologne and the Cologne University of Technology, with the participation of the Cologne University of Music and Dance. The programme therefore offers students a unique opportunity to pursue their own interests in a wide range of subjects.
The thematic subject of the Master's programme is the negotiation of concepts of gender and sexuality with the aim of understanding "gender" and "sexuality" as central categories that generate and structure reality and of recognising and critically questioning their significance for socially relevant fields such as science, politics and culture. The theoretical frame of reference is spanned by Gender & Queer Studies, which are characterized by international debates and interventions, and at the same time extended by application-oriented knowledge. The international orientation of the programme is supported on both university and faculty level. In addition, international and practical projects are integrated into the programme.