Studies

These are some files that will help organize your course work and guide you through class descriptions and names for modules etc. 

• The model curriculum shows an ideal order in which to take individual classes, which is meant to serve as an orientation to help you set up your own schedule each semester. 
• The module overview shows how the classes combine into individual modules and indicates what types of exams you need to take in order to complete a module. 
• The module catalog is the official documents that regulates the modules you have to complete, their content, and the exams that go along with it. 
• Click here for an English translation of the module catalog. 

The "Prüfungsordnung" (often also shortened to "PO") is the official document to regulate all exams in the Advanced Anglophone Studies program. The official (German) version can be found here - click here to download an English translation. 

• Certificates that document the completion of a class ("Studienleistungs"- or "SL"-Certificates, usually referred to as a "Schein") in German can be found here. 
• Click here for a translation of the SL-Certificate - however, please print and fill out the German document. 

Most modules will conclude with a written term paper. Here are some guidelines for American Studies and British Studies, respectively: 

• American Studies: Please consult the Guidelines for Term Papers and MA Theses. Term papers are graded according to this rubric. 
• British Studies: Please consult the Guidelines and Reading Material for British and Postcolonial Studies. 
• When submitting a term paper, make sure to enclose a signed plagiarism statement. This is a sample statement that you can copy. 

Students are supposed to engage actively in looking for a placement for an internship or research stay. The module aims at disclosing perspectives for future careers and to establish a professional network and practical experiences. Internships and research activities should cover a period of at least four weeks, but can be broken up into smaller units. Internships should be conducted in areas of work related to a student's individual career plans. Here are some guidelines and inspirations for possible internship employers in the area of Hannover. You may also apply for a scholarship to help fund a stay abroad. Information about funding can be found here.

Please remember to register for an examination performance (Prüfungsleistung) in the exam registration period when concretizing the module. Afterwards you should hand in a 10-page report to Prof. Mayer (pdf file). The report should be 1.5-spaced, and otherwise adhere to the MLA style. It can comprise work samples, and should delineate a) how you found your internship or research place, b) what motivated your choice, c) what exactly you were doing, d) who supervised your work, e) whether and how this activity contributed to your career planning and whether you would recommend it to other students. 

One possible option for this module is to attend one or more summer/winter school(s). If you are interested in this, please check beforehand with the program coordinator what requirements should be met. Here are some suggestions for summer or winter schools. 

• Admission to the Master Thesis: Please note: if you’re planning to write an interdisciplinary master thesis or if there are other reasons for getting an external examiner involved, please get written approval of this procedure by your board of examinations (Prüfungsausschuss) BEFORE you apply for admission to the exam.The approval by the board then has to be added to the application for admission to the master thesis.
  
  1. How to apply:
  1.1 Please complete page 1 of the application for admission.
  1.2 Print the form and submit it to Anna-Lena Bauer at the examinations office.
  1.3 To certify that all personal data (all (!) first names, last name, birthdate and place) have been entered correctly in the form, your entries will have to be verified by the academic examinations office. Please bring a personal ID. 
  
  2. How to get a topic:
  2.1 After the examinations office confirmed that all prerequisites have been met to be admitted to the exam, you hand page 3 of the application form (which will be issued by the examinations office) to your first examiner (Erstprüfer/in), so that he or she can issue a topic. Please note that both first and second examiner have to sign the form.
  Please note that during the pandemic, topics are issued by email. Please contact your instructors or the examinations office to find out about the procedure.  
  
  2.2 After the topic has been issued make sure to return the form immediately to the examinations office in its original version. If parts of the topic contain italics, special characters, etc., or are hard to read, please inform the person in charge in the examinations office through an additional email in English and German.The deadline for the master thesis will be determined by the examinations office and can be checked via the online service for students.
  
  3. Declaration of originality
  Please note that you have to confirm in writing when handing in your master thesis that
  a)  the thesis has been written independently,
  b)  no sources or tools have been used other than the ones indicated and cited,
  c)  all parts of the thesis that have been taken verbatim or in paraphrases from other sources have been marked as such and
  d)  the thesis has not been submitted in this or similar form to another institution of examination.
  This declaration has to be bound together with both copies of the thesis.
  
  4. Number of copies that have to be handed in and place of submission
  Please submit two copies of your final thesis to the secretary’s office of the English Seminar and send an email with a pdf-version of the thesis to officeengsem.uni-hannover.de. Please note: for ecological and practical reasons, the English Seminar prefers softcover hot-glue binding for the theses. Please do not use hardcover binding! The hard copies will then be distributed to the two examiners. Make sure to have the secretary sign and stamp the form Confirmation of the Submission of the Final Thesis. This confirmation then has to be passed on immediately to the academic examinations office.
  
  
• Defense/Oral Exam: Your master thesis is concluded with an oral exam - a defense of your thesis. In this exam you get the chance to respond to your supervisors' evaluation, to reflect and possibly to expand on some aspects of your work. The exam takes 30 minutes, and you will be asked to represent the main points of your thesis to start with for about 10 minutes. Don't go too much into detail and do not go overtime with your presentation. No powerpoint, please. In preparation for the exam, please prepare a Thesenpapier - formulating a number of propositions (i.e. discussion points or claims) based on your thesis. These do not have to be controversial but they should give material for discussion. You should formulate no more than three propositions, and move from general to specific aspects (i.e. from the context or historical background or theorical frame to specific and selected aspects of your case study and material). Here's a sample proposition paper. Please submit this a week before the exam to both examiners. (This information applies to the practice of American Studies only. If you write your thesis in the British Studies section, please talk to your examiner.)