MA (German/English) and MA Double Degree (English only) in Political, Economic, and Legal Philosophy, University of Graz, Austria
The Institute of Philosophy at the University of Graz, Austria, offers a two-year full (120 ECTS) master’s program in Political, Economic, and Legal Philosophy (PELP). The interdisciplinary program centers on the relation of normative theory and social practice. Social structures and problems – whether economic, political or legal – are interdependent and inescapably normative, both in their presuppositions and in their implications. The aim of the MA program PELP is to enable students to understand and investigate this interdependence and underlying normativity, in order to help them to deal appropriately with a wide range of political, legal, economic and social problems. Strong emphasis is laid on interdisciplinarity and the connection between theoretical and practical issues in science and philosophy. Courses are taught in German and English by the Institute of Philosophy’s working units Practical Philosophy and Political Philosophy in cooperation with colleagues from the social sciences, economics and law, many of them internationally renowned scholars in their fields of research.
Starting in the fall of 2016, the MA PELP can also be studied as a double degree in cooporation with the Universities of Bern (Switzerland) and Bochum (Germany). The double degree, which is fully taught in English, is focusing on the pressing topics of “Poverty, Migration, and Climate Change” and broadens the academic offerings of the MA PELP even further, enabling its students to take full advantage of a network of leading institutions in the normative research of poverty alleviation, global migration, and climate justice. Faculty at the University of Bern includes Anna Goppel and Markus Stepanians, at Bochum Corinna Mieth and Klaus Steigleder.
Studying the MA PELP enables its graduates to analyze precisely and critically complex social, political, legal, and economic phenomena that include both normative and non-normative dimensions. As a result, the program increases the employability of its graduates in fields such as educational institutions (universities, colleges, applied education), administration and public services, politics (political parties and organizations, NGOs), business, publishing, literature and journalism, information and knowledge management, (inter) cultural communication: cultural politics and management, and consulting.
Access to the higher education system is free in Austria for EU students. Accordingly, there are no tuition fees for EU citizens. Tuition fees for non-EU students are currently at € 744 per semester.
Teachers in the program include Lukas Meyer (philosophy, lead author of the IPCC), Harald Stelzer (philosophy), Birgit Bednar-Friedl (economics), Karl Steiniger (economics, both also at the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change), Richard Sturn (economics, member of the executive committee of the European Society of the History of Economic Thought), Wolfgang Benedek (international law), Christian Hiebaum (legal philosophy), Matthias Klatt (legal philosophy) and Stephan Moebius (sociology and history of ideas). Cooperation within the University of Graz exists with the European Training Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (ETC), the Institute of Systems Sciences, Innovation and Sustainability Research (ISIS), the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change and the inter-faculty Doctoral College “Climate Change: Uncertainties, Thresholds, and Coping Strategies“.
The Institute of Philosophy offers its students a friendly and research-oriented atmosphere and a large number of additional study and research opportunities such as colloquia, a weekly research seminar for graduate students, workshops and support in participating in conferences. Upcoming events include conferences on “Justice and Legitimate Expectations” with, among others, David Miller, “Autonomy and The Morality of Freedom” with, among others, Joseph Raz, “Politics, Science, History: Dimensions of Hobbes’ Philosophy” with, among others, Stephen Darwall, and a talk by Thomas Pogge.
For more information please see the websites of the MA PELP (pelp.uni-graz.at) and of the Institute of Philosophy’s working unit (http://philosophie-gewi.uni-graz.at/de/praktische-philosophie/).
Further details
Duration and structure of the program
The program is a full (120 ECTS) two-year master’s program with the first three semesters focusing on coursework with the last semester being dedicated to writing the master’s thesis. In case of studying the double degree, one semester (preferably the third) is spent with one of the collaborating partners with part of the thesis work being carried out abroad and under supervision of a professor who will then co-supervise the final thesis.
Academic requirements
For the regular MA PELP, every BA or equivalent degree suffices to enrol as a student. Students who are qualified by anything other than a BA Philosophy may be required to take up to 28 ECTS in courses from the BA Philosophy curriculum before finishing their MA PELP. Regular application deadlines apply (for more information, see studienabteilung.uni-graz.at/en/dates-deadlines/).
For the double degree, students will be selected based on their degree, strength of their motivation as expressed in a personal statement. The deadline for application to the committee is June 30th for the following winter semester (2016/17). Students are requested to send
· a personal statement on why they would like to be selected as a student for the MA PELP double degree
· a CV
· a transcript of records regarding their BA studies
· a proof of language proficiency unless English is native language
Please send submissions to Dirk Brantl (dirk.brantl(at)uni-graz.at).
Language requirements
The MA PELP is offered in English and German but can be fully studied in English. The double degree is offered in English only. Accordingly, English proficiency C1 (excellent) is required. Master’s theses may be written in German or English.
Funding
There is no tuition fee for EU-citizens. Non-EU students will have to pay a tuition fee of € 744 per semester. The Faculty of Arts and Humanities advertises student assistantships for the second year.