Justice and Inequalities: Comparative Cultural Studies / Justicia y desigualdades: Estudios comparativos culturales Justus Liebig University Giessen

Courses are held entirely in Spanish.

"Justicia y desigualdades: Estudios comparativos culturales” is a consecutive interdisciplinary Master programme with a cultural studies focus. It is taught entirely in Spanish on campus (some online sessions are possible) and has an international profile. It addresses access to justice or overcoming injustices and reducing historically persistent intersectional inequalities as global issues for the future, at the interface between the humanities, social sciences and law.

The programme is directed at students from all over the world, primarily students from Latin America who are interested in its thematic orientation. The highly relevant subject area explores thematic areas such as peace and conflict research, global health, gender studies and development research as well as sustainable development.

Justice and inequalities are analysed from different perspectives in the following fields:             

• Representations of justice, social inequalities and human rights violations     
• Social policy (work, education, health, pensions, transport, housing, social rights) and the transformative potential of law in contexts of extreme social inequalities  
• Political economy of development processes, alternative concepts of development and alternatives to development; glottopolitics and social justice, discourses of justice, the role of language in social participation and in the democratisation of access to social resources  
• Intersectionality, gender studies and struggles for social justice; democratic participation mechanisms and authoritarian movements; human rights violations and their treatment by transitional justice or the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and collective memory processes
• North-South asymmetries and global solidarity         
• Extractivism, just energy transition, socio-ecological conflicts and climate justice
• Social, political and cultural determinants of health as well as the interactions between health, equity/justice and sustainable development.

• 1 June until 15 August for applicants with a first university degree from a university outside of Germany
• 1 June until 1 September for applicants with a first university degree from a university in Germany

The study programme is worth a total of 120 credits (ECTS) and consists of:

• Four compulsory basic modules (Basic Module I: Justice, Fundamentals from a Cultural Studies Perspective, Basic Module II: Social Justice from a Cultural Studies Perspective, Basic Module III: Justice and Human Rights, Module IV: International Justice) amounting to 40 ECTS credits
• Compulsory elective area: two of four modules (North-South Perspectives and Issues of Gender/Intersectionality, Social Justice II, Justice and Human Rights II, International Justice II) amounting to 20 credits
• A compulsory module “Internship” amounting to 20 credits
• The Extracurricular Skills / Employability compulsory elective module, which can be completed either through Extracurricular Skills modules or through modules from the field of Intercultural Communication offered by the Institute of Romance Studies, amounting to 10 credits
• A “Master's thesis” compulsory module amounting to 30 credits

PDF Download

Our students benefit from strong international networks of Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) with partners in Latin America. Funded by the German-Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the cooperation of the German-Colombian Peace Institute (CAPAZ) under the directory of Prof Dr Stefan Peters from the Chair for Peace Studies with political and civic actors in Colombia allows a close knowledge transfer into the programme. The programme is further linked to academic networks and research opportunities at our International Graduate Center for the Studies of Culture (GCSC) as well as the "Transformations of Political Violence" TraCe – Research Center and the Center for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU).

The first cohort profited from a lecture series with international guest lecturers from Germany and worldwide, with academic networks transcending geographical borders and fostering shared knowledge.

The programme includes a compulsory internship module, which foresees an internship either in Germany or elsewhere, such as in international political organisations, non-governmental and civil society organisations (NGOs), cultural institutions, or private enterprises related to topics like policy-making, development cooperation, (inter-)cultural diplomacy, education and sustainability.

The Centre for Competence Development (ZfbK) and the Career Service at JLU offer assistance services for students to prepare for finding an internship.

No tuition fees

402 EUR (winter semester 2025/26, varies slightly with each semester)

The current semester contribution can be found here: https://www.uni-giessen.de/en/org/admin/departments/b/5/studoffice/sc.

Approximately 900 EUR

• A recognised Bachelor's degree in a relevant subject equivalent to at least 180 ECTS, such as in Law, Political or Social Sciences, Education, History, Anthropology, Geography, Environmental Sciences, and others is required. The Examination Board may recognise other degrees as equivalent based on a case-by-case assessment.

If the applicant has not yet graduated from his or her previous studies, a preliminary report with all modules should be presented, along with written information on the expected graduation date, which must be before the start of the semester at JLU.

• Spanish skills at level C1
• English skills at level B1
• German skills are not required.

• 1 June until 15 August for applicants with a first university degree from a university outside of Germany
• 1 June until 1 September for applicants with a first university degree from a university in Germany

• Financial Aid for International Students (Bachelor's, Master's or State Exam programmes) at JLU in the closing phase of their degree: A partial scholarship of 300 to 450 EUR per month for three to six months is available (funding phase starting April or May every year). A presidential commission will decide on the awarding of the scholarships based on academic achievements, indigence, social or intercultural commitment, recommendations from academic staff and compliance with formal requirements. See: https://www.uni-giessen.de/en/international-pages/study/grants/closingphase?set_language=en
• DAAD Scholarships for More Equity and Opportunity, see https://www.uni-giessen.de/en/international-pages/study/grants/equalopportunities

Students may apply for a room in a shared flat or a single room in the halls of residence or search for private accommodation. More information via www.uni-giessen.de/acc

Career Service and special opportunities for international students: www.uni-giessen.de/en/faculties/research-centers/zfbk/career_services/

The International Office offers confidential online and in-person counselling free of charge on topics such as visa, financing options, health insurance and finding accommodation as well as individual issues. Counselling services are also available in Spanish.

International exchange and degree-seeking students as well as doctoral students and researchers at JLU can enrol in German courses during the semesters, ranging from levels A1 for beginners to C1 for advanced learners. The courses are free of charge for students below PhD level.

Founded in 1607, Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU), Germany, is a comprehensive university with a longstanding tradition which attracts around 26,000 students. JLU offers the full range of traditional and modern subjects with top-level teaching and research ‒ extending from classical natural sciences, law and economics, social and educational sciences, linguistics and cultural studies to a unique selection of life science subjects such as human and veterinary medicine, agricultural, environmental and nutritional sciences and food chemistry. The leading personae who carried out research and taught at JLU include a number of Nobel Prize winners, such as Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (Nobel Prize for Physics in 1901) and Wangari Maathai (Nobel Peace Prize in 2004). Since 2006, research at JLU has received continuous funding from the Excellence Initiative schemes and the Excellence Strategy of the German Federal Republic and Federal States.

With around 94,000 inhabitants, Giessen has one of the highest student densities throughout Germany. Four higher education institutions with altogether 40,000 students provide a unique college-town atmosphere. The city offers plenty of leisure options for students, such as canoeing on the Lahn river, walks and picnics in its multiple green areas, cinemas with student concession tickets, the municipal theatre with a programme consisting of plays, opera and ballet as well as swimming pools and sports facilities, and a variety of pubs, restaurants and night life venues. The great thing about Giessen is that it's an easy place to navigate and, when the mood takes you, to escape into the picturesque surrounding countryside or the metropolis of Frankfurt am Main, which is about 60 kilometres away.