Content of the Master's Program
The Master's program "Book and Reading Studies" is offered as a consecutive, research-oriented course of study which requires a bachelor's degree in "Book and Reading Studies" or a closely related bachelor's degree.
In the first year of study, students are intensively familiarized with current research problems in the extension phase, dealing with research areas from book history (e.g. incunabulum and early printing research) as well as current problems (e.g. publishing houses as media enterprises). Individual courses offer a combination of historical and current research fields (e.g., the seminar "Publication Processes" can address author-publisher relationships in a historical context as well as current open access processes). The program also offers courses that focus on the analysis of concrete phenomena of the book market.
In the project phase, students focus on research topics that are at the center of current academic discussion (e.g. media upheavals) while receiving intensive support. In the module "Project Discussion", they are guided to frame their own research ideas and to carry out research projects.
In addition, students are given the opportunity to gain knowledge about book-related topics in an additional qualification by choosing courses from a neighboring discipline of book studies.
Additional Module "Digital Methodology in the Humanities and Cultural Studies" in the Master's Program Book and Reading Studies
The module provides an overview of digital methods in the humanities and cultural studies. The focus is on forms of analysis and publication of digital information, as well as on common data structures and processing technologies. Attending the module does not require any specific programming knowledge, but in-depth computer knowledge that clearly goes beyond the usual web and office applications is strongly recommended or must be acquired in self-study, since in the exercise, practical work is done with common software libraries that not only have to be used on the computer, but also administered. The focus will be on markup languages (XML) as well as SQL and noSQL databases. After successfully completing module, students will have gained in-depth knowledge of the structuring, modeling and representation of information in the humanities and cultural studies.
Additional Qualification Module “Literature for Children and Young Adults” in the Master's Program Book and Reading Studies
Please note that the courses in this module take place at Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main. You must register independently for these courses in Frankfurt. For more information on the courses, please consult the Übersicht KJL (overview KJL) Frankfurt or the study office of Book Studies and here. Please also pay attention to the deadlines given, which differ from the course registration period in Mainz.
Admission Requirements:
Bachelor's degree in Book and Reading Studies (BA) or a closely related bachelor program.
Overview of modules
This module manual is currently in effect for the Master's program in book and reading studies: Modulhandbuch MA BuWi_2021.
It informs you about the study contents, the course forms and the structure of the study program.
Application
Please send applications directly to the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz. You can find more information on the university website.