Active and Regular Participation: You are required to participate actively and regularly in classes to recieve credit for the program. Regular participation means coming to class regularly and not exceeding the accepted number of missed classes. In addition to participating in class discussions, Active Participation could also include group work, presentations or the submission of reading responses. What counts as regular and active participation should be outlined by your lecturer at the start of your course. 

Hochschullehrer*innen: Generally, Hochschullehrer*innen (Prof. Dr.) are eligible to supervise an MA thesis.. This category refers to full professors, junior professors and temporary/ honorary professors.

Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter*innen: The non-tenured academic staff – research associates; Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter*innen (Dr.) - are usually not eligible to supervise your thesis as a primary supervisor, despite being authorized to teach classes and supervise and grade research papers. They may be able to be your second supvervisor for a thesis depending on their circumstances. 

ECTS: German universities generally follow the European Credit Transfer and Accululation System (ECTS) and award credits within this system. 60 ECTS credits are the equivalent of a full year of study or work. See here for more information.

Regelstudienzeit: Standard period of study. This is the expected time period it would take to complete the program when studying full-time. In the German system, it is not compulsory to complete the program within this 'standard' period.

However, students who are scholarshipo holders and/or have a student residence permit to reside in Germany should take this into account. Scholarship-holders need to be aware if their scholarship requires them to complete the degree within the standard period of time and what the policy of their awarding body is towards this. Students in Germany on a student residence permit are usually given an initial permit that covers the Regelstudienzeit (2 years), after this point they would then need to request an extension of their residence permit, this is only possible if "the purpose of the permit has not yet been achieved and is achievable within a reasonable period of time." See here for more information.

Course Plan: This is a recommendation for organizing classes within the Standard period of study within the two-year period and does not outline a mandatory sequence. Students can extend the time to complete their degree and may take modules in a different order.

Modul: Module - in our program, a module consists of two courses. On the FU and HU course catalogue, you might see different types of courses listed - these are broadly similar in format, but different institutions or departments. In brackets we have listed the abbreviation of each Course Type, which you may require when filling out forms to have courses credited - see here. 

• Vorlesung (VL) -  Lecture: a lecturer presents the subject matter, students can take notes and might prepare for or expand on the topic through further reading.
• Seminar (SE)/ Hauptseminar (HS)/ Übungen (UE) - Group work: students read and study texts in preparation for group discussion supported by their lecturer.
• Kolloquium - Colloquium : provides an opportunity for students and academics to share and discuss recent research. On our program, you have the opportunity to participate in the Global History Colloquium, where visiting academics share their research. Participation in the Masters Thesis Colloquium (for Module 12) is also a compulsory part of the program, where students share and discuss proposals for their final thesis. 
• Sprachkurs - Language Course: Students have the opportunity to take classes at the Sprachenzentrum (Language centre) at Freie University, Humboldt University or the Technische University (TU) as part of their interdisciplinary elective area. These usually consist of around 3-4 hours of classes per week, with homework and often a test at the end of the class. Make sure to check well in advance if an Einstufungstest (Placement test) is required to participate in a class. 

Please note: each module has a part a and part b listed in campus management for each of the courses taken to complete a module. In order to complete your studies, each part (a and b) need to be completed in campus management, with confirmed active/regular participation and/or an examination grade as applicable. 

Modules 2-5 and 12 are graded. Completing the module requires active and regular participation in both of the two classes comprising the module. For one class in the module, you will need to take an exam (usually a written term paper, or for module 3, there is the option to do an oral exam) which is graded. See here for an explanation of grades. For module 12, this means actively attending the Master's Colloquium and then completing the graded thesis. 

Modules 6-11 are ungraded, meaning you still need to gain active and regular participation in both classes, but do not need to take an exam in this class. 

The interdisciplinary elective module is ungraded. This means that any grade achieved would not contribute to your final (numerical) grade, but you would still need to pass in any classes you take. If you take two language courses, this simply means you need a passing final grade, and to have attended actively and regularly. However, for modules taken in other departments, in order to obtain credit points one must meet the requirements according to the corresponding study and examination regulations of the respective program. If the module of the other program requires a graded examination, then you must undertake that exam in order to be able to complete the module (but this grade does not contribute to your final grade on your transcript.) However, if the chosen module does not provide for a graded examination, students do not have to take an exam and it is a participation module without a grade. Please see here for more information