Master’s in Sociology

The Master’s course in Sociology in Jena offers you the opportunity to study topical research issues that are in line with your own interests while benefiting from close contact with nationally and internationally networked research projects, including the DFG Research Group “Post-Growth Societies”.

Your studies will enable you to further extend your knowledge of qualitative and quantitative methods of empirical social research while also giving you an opportunity to gain research experience of your own as part of the compulsory “Research Practice” module.

You can also opt to specialize in a certain area and/or to undertake interdisciplinary study by taking courses from other departments. In this way you can tailor your studies to your own interests in a flexible way.

• "Work, economy, welfare" option

Here, students extend their knowledge by studying the structures of and changes to modern work-based societies. This involves the interlinked study of analyses relating to work, the economy, (labour) markets and welfare-state regulations, including the mutual interplay between production regimes, statehood, gender relations and social reproduction. Issues such as labour relations, organizational membership as well as conflicts around work are also part of this set of topics. Research-based teaching contributes to this study profile by providing insights into the day-to-day practices of business organizations, management, state institutions and advocacy groups from the perspective of the sociology of work, economics and organizations.

• "Sustainability and societal transformation" option

In this option, students have the opportunity to engage critically with current research in selected areas of Sociology concerned with processes of societal transformation and social as well as institutional change, against the background of ecological and social challenges (e.g. the sociology of organizations, economics, markets, scientific knowledge, and the environment). Opportunities are provided for advanced specialization in specific areas of sociology (e.g. discourses of sustainability, ecological design, theory building in environmental sociology, transition management, sustainable environmental management, Corporate Social Responsibility, social and ecological sustainability on the financial markets, sustainable / green markets / businesses / growth).

• "Gender relations in modern societies" option (available from Winter Semester 2019/2020)

Here, students extend their knowledge of structures and changes in gender relations in modern societies, one key emphasis being on the crisis of social reproduction.  A further focus – involving a flow of knowledge from and to Queer Studies – is on critical engagement with current international debates around the category of gender as well as analysis of the organization and reorganization of care work in neoliberal capitalist societies.

• A basic university degree in Sociology or a related subject from a university in Germany or abroad
• Adequate proficiency in the English language (demonstrated by an Abitur report or a certificate corresponding to the European Framework of Reference Level B2; registrations from 2019 onwards: Common European Framework Level B1!)
• Demonstrated academic study corresponding to 60 credit points in Sociology (or equivalent points in another discipline) and including 20 credit points in methods of empirical social research
• There is no limited quota of registrants for the course

It is possible to gain admission upon fulfilment of certain requirements or later acquisition of the necessary qualifications.