Theater Studies (B.A.)

The most important facts at a glance:

Degree:

Bachelor of Arts (Two-subject Bachelor)

Standard period of studies:

6 semesters

Start:

Winter and summer semester
Applicants with foreign certificates:

Language of instruction: German
Required language certificate: DSH-2
Required course for the Assessment Test (Feststellungsprüfung):
S/G- or G-Course. To find out if you are required to take the Assessment Test, check your Certificate of Recognition.

Admission restrictions:

Open admission

Please note that a combination of Theater Studies as a major is not possible with Film Studies or Cultural Anthropology as a minor.

Application:

You find information on the application procedure for international students here.

Deadlines:

Please keep in mind that you need a certification of recognition for all foreign certificates. The recognition process takes up to six weeks and the certificate must be included in your application.

Winter semester: June 1 - September 1

Summer semester: December 1 - March 1

If you combine a Two-subject Bachelor whose admission is open with one whose is restricted, the deadlines are:

Winter semester: June 1 - July 15

Summer semester: December 1 - January 15

Master:

Theater Studies (M.A.)

Cultural Anthropology (M.A.)

under certain conditions (depending on courses taken)
Film Studies/Media Dramaturgy; Film Studies major (M.A.)
Film Studies/Media Dramaturgy; Media Dramaturgy major (M.A.)

Homepage:

Department of Film, Drama, and Empirical Cultural Studies

Faculty:

Faculty 02: Social Sciences, Media, and Sports

Accreditation:

The accreditation of study programmes for Bachelor and Master Degrees constitutes as a precondition for the granting of state approval.

Subject Matter

Theater Studies examines theater in its various forms (drama, opera, dance, performance, ritual play, festival and everyday culture) as a cultural practice in the past and present. In doing so, it combines historical and theoretical knowledge with dramaturgical and analytical topics. Diverse forms of theater (within art, everyday life and festive culture) are examined, compared and evaluated in regard to their social and theatrical function. There is special focus on the cultural analysis of theater and its social relevance as well as the comparative analysis of its media-specific methods of analysis between theater and audiovisual media, the internet, the performing arts, opera and dance. At Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, there are three main focuses within theater studies. The first focus is on theater studies as the science of aesthetics within contemporary and historical performances. The second focus is on theater within the media sciences, reflecting on the significance of historical media changes for the history of theater as well as the importance of various forms of media, such as books, painting, film and video, for the conceptualization of performances and the design process. The third focus is theater studies as a part of cultural studies. These three varying focuses with an emphasis on the interdisciplinary nature of the subject between media and culture makes theater studies the mediating interface between the studies of culture, theater and film. Theater studies can also draw on the interdisciplinary cooperation that exists with other neighboring subjects in Faculty 05 (literature, book studies, philosophy) as well as subjects (art history, ethnology, sociology, history) in the Faculties 02 and 07. This cooperation is reflected in the interdisciplinary drama and theater working group, the research centers historical cultural studies and media convergence, the Graduate School for Social and Cultural Studies (SOCUM) and international doctoral program Performance and Media Studies.

As part of the integrated study area between culture, theater and film, theater studies students take classes in cultural anthropology and film studies and are introduced to the interdisciplinary aspects of theater research.

Information

The International Office offers counselling for international students about the application process and general information.

The Academic Advisory Office offers specific information on the subject (List available in German only).

The Student representatives give information from a student perspective (List available in German only).