In order to graduate you will have to obtain a total of 180 ECTS credit points. Through your dissertation and defense, you will earn 135 credit points. The remaining 45 points are awarded after passing the Graduate School’s curriculum, which is divided into two different parts - obligatory courses (27 points) and elective options (18 points).

• Obligatory Courses: 27 ECTS

  Lecture Series and Workshops/Master Classes: 3 x 3 ECTS

  These courses revolve around current theoretical developments in the humanities and social sciences and their 'applicability' in literary studies. Other central issues include the social and political function, or cultural work, of literary practices and their continuous renewal and reinvention. Course topics are related to the profile of the graduate school, which has three dimensions: (1) literature and society, (1) theories of literature, and (3) literary studies and (professional) practices.

  The curriculum is taught by professors from the GSPoL and visiting scholars from Germany and abroad. Usually, the curriculum consists of a lecture series or workshops/master classes. Master classes are workshops where students prepare a selected topic and discuss it with an expert from Münster or another university in Germany or abroad.

  Colloquium: 3 x 3 ECTS

  The colloquium is taught by faculty members from different departments and provides students with the opportunity to discuss their work-in-progress.

  Project Groups: 3 x 3 ECTS

  The project groups are formed each semester according to the students' needs. They usually take the form of a reading group where students with similar projects and interests discuss theoretical texts. Teams may also focus on planning conferences or other projects. They are expected to meet every other week and to submit a report at the end of their project.

• Elective Options: 18 ECTS

  Elective options are meant to give students the opportunity to improve their professional skills and to gain practical experience in academic or non-academic settings. Options include internships, teaching, academic publications, conference papers, practical and professional skills courses, and committee work.

Select Workshops

• February 2026 – Dr. Lis Hansen (Klassik Stiftung Weimar), Literaturvermittlung heute
• December 2024 – Prof. Dr. Vera Nünning & Dr. Corinna Assmann (Universität Heidelberg), Queering Narrative: Debates, Concepts, and Examples
• January 2024 – Prof. Dr. Heike Gfrereis (Literaturarchiv Marbach), Paare und Teilchen: (Frauen-)Literatur im Archiv
• June 2023 – Prof. Timothy Bewes (Brown University), The Novel in a Postfictional Age
• May 2023 – Prof. Eugenie Brinkema (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), The American Academic Job Market
• January 2023 – Prof. William Watkin (Brunel University), Multiplicities of Silence
• November/December 2022 – Prof. Irina Dumitrescu (Universität Bonn), Introduction to Public Writing
• February 2021 – Dr. Anna Poletti (Utrecht University), The Role of Media in Making Lives Matter
• June 2020 – Prof. Dr. Peter Fenves (Northwestern University), Benjamin and Derrida
• June 2019 – Prof. Dr. Theo D’haen (KU Leuven), A World of Translation
•  July 2018 – Dr. Jan Behrs (Northwestern University), Models and Practices of Literary Innovation

Elective Options: Practical and Professional Skills Courses

Practical and professional skills courses at the GSPoL focus on topics such as third-party funding and publishing opportunities. Here are a few selected examples:

• Frederike Jakob, Situativ, kreativ, innovativ: Von der Kunst ein gehaltvolles Literaturgespräch zu gestalten
• Dr. Sonja Vandenrath, Literaturausstellungen
• Dr. Martin Stobbe, Online Publishing

The GSPoL also cooperates with the initiative Germanistik im Beruf, which offers a workshop every semester.