Chemnitz UT: Faculty of Humanities: English and American Studies: British and American Studies
British and American Studies
Teaching Philosophy
The Chemnitz Department of Anglistik/Amerikanistik stands out for its comprehensive approach to English Studies. Although a rather small department, it is one of the few places in Germany where English Language and Linguistics and Literary Studies are complemented by British and American Social and Cultural Studies as an academic subject of its own. Hence, the programme offers regular courses on the social, economic, political and cultural development of Britain and the United States and occasionally also of other English speaking countries.
Students who are mainly interested in social and cultural studies may concentrate on these fields as an alternative to a linguistic or literary approach to the study of British and US-American society and culture. Those who are mainly concerned with linguistics and literary studies are encouraged to take part in the British and American Studies programme in order to get a thorough understanding of the historical, social and political contexts of language and literature.
British and American Studies are part of an interdisciplinary field (which, in Germany, has been predominantly shaped by Linguistics and Literary Studies), but they are themselves a multifaceted and interdisciplinary enterprise, integrating theories, methodologies and insights from a series of social and cultural disciplines. The complexity of national configurations of society and culture cannot be analysed within the boundaries of a single academic discipline restrained by its specific set of topics, theories and methods.
British and American Studies at Chemnitz University provide students with broad access to the study of British and US-American society. The programme is based on historical overviews of both countries which lead to analyses of relevant aspects of their contemporary development. So far, a series of courses as well as students' dissertations for their MA or teaching examinations have concentrated on national, regional, ethnic, social, economic and cultural divisions in Britain and the United States.
