News

From today onwards until November 30th you can apply online for the 2024 intake for the Global Studies Programme!

All information on the application process can be found here. The application platform HISinOne is available via this link. Please also take a look at our step-by-step guide to the application platform.

We look forward to your application! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us via gspinfo@mail.uni-freiburg.de.

Save the date: On September 27th, 2023 and November 8th, 2023, at 5pm German time we will host online information events for everyone interested in applying to the Global Studies Programme! Come and join us! This is a great opportunity to speak to current students and staff. We look forward to seeing you there.

Further information and Zoom-link here: https://www.gsp.uni-freiburg.de/application

You are cordially invited to join the public guest lecture by Prof. Christian Moraru on July 18th, 2023, 4.15 pm, at the Kollegiengebäude IV (5th floor, Übungsraum 1), at the University of Freiburg.

Prof. Moraru will speak about "'Society' and Critique after New Materialism: Sociology and Its Objects"

The application deadline for the GSP intake of 2024 is November 30^th 2023 (online application)

The Global Studies Programme, initiated in 2001, is a two-year master’s degree programme. The main objective of the programme is to study various cultures and regions within the social sciences, focusing on the Global South. The GSP is conducted jointly by the University of Freiburg (Germany), the University of Cape Town (South Africa), Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi, India), FLACSO Argentina (Buenos Aires) and Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok).

Within the GSP, students learn to approach the world and globalization from various regional perspectives and disciplines, comprising sociology, political sciences, anthropology, and cultural geography. The programme’s global and multicultural experience is enhanced by the diversity of its students who study at different places around the world together. Each group comprises students from all parts of the world.

The programme received many high-ranking awards including the BMW Group Award for Intercultural Learning (2004) and the Top Ten International Master’s Programme title by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (2006). In 2011 these successes were confirmed again with the reaccreditation of the GSP in Germany. Since 2001, more than six hundred and fifty students from over sixty countries on all the continents have participated in the programme.

From mid-April the programme begins every year with the summer semester in Freiburg. In their second semester, students can choose between FLACSO Argentina in Buenos Aires or Cape Town University, while for their third semester students have the choice between Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi or Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. In the fourth semester, students return to Freiburg for their MA thesis and final examination.

The application deadline for the GSP intake of 2024 is November 30^th, 2023. The online application portal is only open from September 15^th 2023 to November 30^th 2023. Between September and November there will be two virtual information events for everyone interested in the programme, more information and the exact dates will be published on our website.

For further information on the programme and the application requirements please check the GSP-website www.gsp.uni-freiburg.de or send an email to gspinfo@mail.uni-freiburg.de.

Please note: There have been some changes to the application requirements and the costs associated with the programme. Please check our website to stay updated.

We are happy to announce that the recent publication by Manuela Boatcă und Anca Parvulescu, "Creolizing the Modern: Transylvania across Empires" (Cornell University Press, 2022), received two more awards.

The American Sociological Association announced that the book will receive the Barrington Moore Award of the Comparative and Historical Sociology Section, as well as a honorable mention from the Immanuel Wallerstein Memorial Book Award. Both awards will be officially handed over at the annual congress of the American Sociological Association in the United States in August.

Congratulations to the authors!

We invite everyone to attend our online series of Career Talks, which will take place from June 15th until August 3rd of 2023. All information and the line-up of speakers can be found here: https://www.gsp.uni-freiburg.de/students/career-talks

We are very happy that 8 former GSP students will be joining us to talk about their career paths, their current employers, and the advice they have for students in the area of Social Sciences.

We are very sad to inform everyone that the public lecture by Prof. Pande on May 22nd, 2023, at 12:15, unfortunately needs to be cancelled due to sickness.

We will announce it in case we can arrange an online version of the talk at a later point.

We are proud to announce that the recent publication by Manuela Boatcă and Anca Parvulescu, "Creolizing the Modern. Transylvania Across Empires" (Cornell University Press 2022), was awarded the René Wellek Prize for the best book in the field of comparative literature. The prize is awarded by the American
Association for Comparative Literature, ACLA. The laudation on the book can be read here.

Congratulations to Manuela Boatcă and Anca Parvulescu!

We are very happy to welcome our new students of the 2023 Batch to the Global Studies Programme. As always, the group of students is very diverse and has travelled to Freiburg from all over the world. Lectures start today, on April 17th, and we were able to get to know everyone at our "KickOff-Meeting" this morning.

We wish all students a good start into their classes and into their GSP experience!

Congratulations to our recent graduate Minna Kilumets (Batch 2020), whose Master thesis was just awarded the Lennart Meri Prize for remarkable work in the Humanities! The title of the thesis was: "'At Least We Belong To Our Religion': Negotiations of Young Muslim Women’s Religious Identities in Freiburg, Germany”

You can read more here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/minnakilumets_very-honored-and-excited-to-be-this-years-activity-7053460947826290689-JbU0/

We are happy to announce that on April 17th, 2023, at 3 pm c.t., Dr. Adrián Beling from FLACSO Argentina will deliver a public lecture on the topic "Circular politics: Politicizing the cultural performativity of politics".

The lecture takes place in Kollegiengebäude 1, room 1132, and is open to all university members. The event will be in person only.

In this talk, Dr. Beling presents ongoing theoretical reflections on an effective politics of the Anthropocene.

Dr. Beling is the Director of the Global Studies Programme at FLACSO Argentina. He holds a Canada Research Chair in Transition to Sustainability at The King's University (Edmonton, Canada). His work explores the conditions for a successful sustainability transition and how  governance is transformed as a result of sustainability imperatives.

We are happy to announce that on May 22nd, 2023, at 12:15, Prof. Amrita Pande from the University of Cape Town will deliver a public lecture on the topic "Global Fertility Markets: (Re)Producing Babies, Reproducing Whiteness".

The lecture takes place in Kollegiengebäude 1, room 1098, and is open to all university members. The event will be in person only.

Cross-border reproductive flows involve clients traveling across the world to fulfil their dreams of having a genetically related baby or a baby tailor-made to their expectations. In this presentation, based on a decade-long multi-sited ethnography of such reproductive flows and the global fertility industry, Prof. Pande argues that parental desires about their offspring cannot be discussed merely as intimate or private choices, but are a critical frame for analysing racialisation of reproduction. Prof. Pande uses an intersection of feminist studies of race and reproduction, critical race studies and critical whiteness studies from the south, to argue that, on the one hand, these choices bring attention to the need to understand reproductive desires as cosmopolitan, traveling and affective. On the other hand, these choices mask stark instances of “flexible eugenics” (Taussig, Rapp and Heath 2008)– wherein whiteness is reaffirmed as a universal and worthy choice

Prof. Pande is an academic, writer, and performer. Her research revolves around globalisation and the intimate, with a focus on reproductive labour and new reproductive technologies. Her latest book "Birth controlled: Selective reproduction and neoliberal eugenics in South Africa and India" appeared in 2022 with Manchester University Press. Prof. Pande is also the head of the Global Studies Programme at the University of Cape Town.

On May 5th, 2023, 4 pm German time, award-winning journalist and GSP-Alumnus Essa Azad will present his new book “Hostile Homelands: The New Alliance between India and Israel” (2023, Pluto Press). The event will take place via Zoom (link below) and is hosted by the Global Studies Programme and the Arnold-Bergstraesser-Institut.

ABI researchers Dr. Benjamin Schütze and Dr. Amya Agarwal will discuss the book with the author. The event is chaired by GSP-lecturer PD Dr. Ercüment Çelik.

Hostile Homelands puts India's relationship with Israel in its historical context, looking at the origins of Zionism & Hindutva; India's changing position on Palestine; and the countries' growing military-industrial relationship. Essa demonstrates that the India-Israel alliance spells significant consequences for democracy, the rule of law and justice worldwide.

Zoom link:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://uni-freiburg.zoom.us/j/65996809793?pwd=dmFMRmp5aWFhendlanI3M2szTGdjUT09

Meeting ID: 659 9680 9793
Passcode: Essa-2023

Join by SIP
65996809793@fr.zmeu.us

Join by H.323
213.244.140.110 (Germany)
Meeting ID: 659 9680 9793
Passcode: 506683521

Since February 2023, Prof. Michaela Haug is the official successor of Prof. Judith Schlehe at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology. We congratulate her on her new position and welcome her to the steering committee of the Global Studies Programme.

More details on her research focus and publications can be found on this website.

The GSP office in Freiburg will be on winter break from December 20th onwards until January 9th. We will be answering your emails upon our return.

We wish everyone a restful winter holiday and a good start into the new year.

The application period for the 2023 intake is now over. Over 150 people from around the globe started an application and we look forward to selecting a diverse batch of students. All applicants will receive feedback on their application by the middle of December.
The next application period will start on September 15th, 2023, and last until November 30th, 2023.

There are only two weeks left to apply for the next intake of the Global Studies Programme in April 2023!
You can apply via the university's online application platform.
For help on how to apply, please check out our "How to apply"-document. If you encouter any problems or if you have any questions, you can reach us via email (gspinfo@mail.uni-freiburg.de).
The application platform closes on November 30th.

On November 4th, 2pm (German winter time), we will hold an online information event for everyone interested in applying to the Global Studies Programme. It will be a great opportunity to meet current staff and students and ask all the questions you have about GSP. More information is provided here.

From now on you can apply to be part of our next GSP batch via the university's online application platform.
For help on how to apply, please check out our "How to apply"-document. If you encouter any problems or if you have any questions, you can reach us via email (gspinfo@mail.uni-freiburg.de).
The application platform closes on November 30th.
We look forward to your application!

On September 2nd, 2022, we hosted an online information event for applicants where they could speak to current staff and students and ask all their questions about the programme. The PowerPoint slides from the meeting can now be downloaded here. Thank you to all the applicants who joined us!

We are thinking about potentially having another online event at the beginning of November. If you would be interested in attending, please write us an email, so that we can get an overview whether there is need for another information event or not. If another event is scheduled, details will be provided on our website and on Twitter.

On September 2^nd, 2pm (German summer time), we will hold an online information event for everyone interested in applying to the Global Studies Programme. It will be a great opportunity to meet current staff and students and ask all the questions you have about GSP. More information is provided here.

The Global Studies Programme bids farewell to our dear colleague, Prof. Dr. Judith Schlehe, professor and head of the department for Social and Cultural Anthropology, who will be retiring after the current summer semester.

Judith Schlehe was one of the founding members of the Global Studies Programme at the University of Freiburg, and has served as part of its steering committee ever since its inception in 2002. She has accompanied the programme through many developments, for example the increase of student numbers, the change of partner universities, or the switch to online instruction in the wake of the global pandemic.

During her long involvement with the Global Studies Programme she has reviewed numerous applications for the programme, has regularly taught the methods class in the first semester, has supervised and evaluated a host of master’s theses, and has accompanied so many students throughout their academic journeys.

Topics that Prof. Schlehe has supervised over the years include: The changing religious identity of Muslim immigrants in Germany, the socioeconomics of education in Guyana, anthropology and sociology of Thai food, women and HIV/AIDS in Africa, migrants along the Balkan route, the perception of Syrian refugees in Germany towards the German culture of marriage, the role of YouTube politics in the current political polarisation of South Korea, and many others.

We are more than grateful for every minute Judith Schlehe has invested in the programme and we are sure that her influence will continue to be visible even after her retirement. We wish her all the best for the years to come.

The GSP team

The application deadline for the GSP intake of 2023 is November 30^th 2022 (online application)

The Global Studies Programme, initiated in 2001, is a two-year master’s degree programme. The main objective of the programme is to study various cultures and regions within the social sciences, focusing on the Global South. The GSP is conducted jointly by the University of Freiburg (Germany), the University of Cape Town (South Africa), Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi, India), FLACSO Argentina (Buenos Aires) and Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok).

Within the GSP, students learn to approach the world and globalization from various regional perspectives and disciplines, comprising sociology, political sciences, anthropology, and cultural geography. The programme’s global and multicultural experience is enhanced by the diversity of its students who study at different places around the world together. Each group comprises students from all parts of the world.

The programme received many high-ranking awards including the BMW Group Award for Intercultural Learning (2004) and the Top Ten International Master’s Programme title by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (2006). In 2011 these successes were confirmed again with the reaccreditation of the GSP in Germany. Since 2001, more than six hundred and fifty students from over sixty countries on all the continents have participated in the programme.

From mid-April the programme begins every year with the summer semester in Freiburg. In their second semester, students can choose between FLACSO Argentina in Buenos Aires or Cape Town University, while for their third semester students have the choice between Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi or Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. In the fourth semester, students return to Freiburg for their MA thesis and final examination.

The application deadline for the GSP class of 2023 is November 30^th 2022. The online application portal is only open from September 15^th 2022 to November 30^th 2022. On September 2^nd, 2022, we will host a virtual information event for everyone interested in the programme, more information can be found on our website.

For further information on the programme and the application requirements please check the GSP-website www.gsp.uni-freiburg.de  or send an email to info@global-studies.com.

Please note: There have been some changes to the application requirements and the costs associated with the programme. Please check our website to stay updated.

Save the date: on September 2^nd, 2pm, we will hold an online information event for everyone interested in applying to the Global Studies Programme. More information is provided here.

On July 8th, 2022, we are celebrating the graduation of our GSP Batch of 2020 in our first-ever hybrid graduation ceremony!
We congratulate all students for completing the programme despite the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic had on their lives. All students can be immensly proud of their achievement and we wish them all the best for their future careers.

The Global Studies Programme at the University of Freiburg is mourning the death of its former lecturer and director, Prof. Dr. Boike Rehbein, who has passed away unexpectedly on June 11^th, 2022.

Boike Rehbein studied philosophy, sociology, and history in Freiburg, Göttingen, Frankfurt, Paris, and Berlin. In 1996 he received a Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of Freiburg, his postdoctoral degree was completed in 2004, focusing on the impact of globalization in Laos. He has taught as a visiting professor at Jawaharlal University (Delhi), FLACSO Argentina (Buenos Aires), the University of Zürich, and the National University of Laos. From 2006 until 2009, he was the director of the Global Studies Programme at the University of Freiburg. His latest position was as a full professor of society and transformation in Asia and Africa at the Humboldt-Universität in Berlin.

We will keep his memory alive. Our heartfelt sympathy and condolences are with his family and with his colleagues at GSP Berlin and its partner locations.

Prof. Dr. Manuela Boatcă

Prof. Dr. Judith Schlehe

Prof. Dr. Annika Mattissek

Prof. Dr. Sandra Destradi

Ass. Prof. Dr. Ercüment Çelik

Dr. Caroline Janz

Hanna Mahler

We are honored to host Prof. Adrian Favell on May 30th to talk about his new book "The integration nation: Immigration and colonial power in liberal democracies". The talk will take place at 6 pm in room HS 3042 (Kollegiengebäude III), the event language will be English. Everyone interested in the topic is welcome to join us! Please find further information here.

You are all cordially invited to attend the following in-person event at the Arnold-Bergstraesser-Institute in Freiburg:

Lunch-Talk with Ambassador to Thailand Georg Schmidt.

Title: "Thailand in the run-up to the elections: upturn after the pandemic - downturn in the war in Ukraine."

Thailand has been through turbulent years. The pandemic was accompanied by heavy protests against the monarchy and the government in 2020. After a hard lockdown in 2021, Thailand abandoned its zero-Covid strategy and has been opening the country ever since. With the tourism, the hope for a better future returns. At the same time, the recovery is hindered by soaring prices for resources and food. Where does the country stand in the last year of the government led by PM Prayut? How does the country view the war in Ukraine and in Myanmar?

Location: ABI, Windausstraße 16
Date and time: 17.5.2022, 12:15-13:45
Host: Andreas Mehler
Event language: English

We are delighted to welcome our new students of the 2022 batch to the Global Studies Programme. As every year, the batch consists of a diverse group of students coming from various disciplines and from all over the world.
After two years of digital and hybrid teaching, the current Covid-19 regulations of the University of Freiburg (which can be found here) now allow us to start the summer term of 2022 with in-person teaching once again (with mask mandates remaining in place for now).
We very much look forward to getting to know our new students at our KickOff-event in the first week of the term.
Updates on the teaching format in the following semesters will be provided to the students as soon as possible.