Master’s in Border Studies and Architecture start from September

Students will be able to study two new Master programmes at the University of Luxembourg from September.

One of the new courses is Border Studies, which deals with one of the most challenging questions of the 21st century – borders.

The other is a two-year English-language Master in Architecture, which combines a traditional architectural curriculum and European urbanisation and globalisation.

Border Studies

The new Border Studies course is a two-year joint international study programme taught in German, French and English and is limited to 20 students.

It is designed for students with different disciplinary backgrounds who wish to develop the necessary skills and competencies to work in intercultural and cross-border settings and prepares for a career in cross-border and intercultural working settings, especially in border regions of Europe and beyond.

A University of Luxembourg spokesperson said: “With a focus on the complex economic, political, social and cultural topics of border regions, it will enable students to get a deeper understanding of borders, (de-, re-) bordering processes in Europe as well as in other border regions in the world.”

“The study programme allows students with different disciplinary backgrounds to receive a broader approach of territorial, social, cultural and political borders and border processes.”

The University of Luxembourg is one of four universities to offer the programme, along with the University of Lorraine, Saarland University and the University of Kaiserslautern.

Applicants must have a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in the field of social or spatial sciences, cultural studies, linguistics, literature, intercultural communication.

Master in Architecture

The Master in Architecture provides specific additional skills in research and knowledge in the field of urban design particular to European urbanism and globalisation.

The programme focuses on three main areas:

– Architectural and urban design on different scales in a European context, with an emphasis on the strategic aspects of design
– Architectural and urban research with architectural means focusing particularly on European urbanisation
– Research on the impact of globalisation on cities and regions as well as on comparative analysis of typologies in architecture and urbanisation worldwide.

Florian Hertweck, Course Director of the Master in Architecture, said: “First, this is one of the first Master study programmes dedicated to globalization and its effect on city planning and architecture.

“Secondly, architecture is usually taught at specific schools for architecture, but in order to fully understand this complex field of globalization and its impact, students and future researchers need to have access to interdisciplinary field of research.

“At the University, they have access to a number of interdisciplinary research and teaching fields, including geography, GIS, sociology, sustainable engineering. This helps to understand the impact of globalization and be able to build synergies between architecture and other areas.

“This interdisciplinary research and teaching is combined with the design studio, the standard architectural studies programme.

“Finally, our students learn more than just building a part of the landscape, they learn to combine the ideas of research by design and design by research.”

New lifelong learning programmes

Two new lifelong learning programmes specially designed for professionals from the fields of social work will also be introduced from September.

The Bachelor en Sciences Sociales et Educatives en cours d’emploi (Bachelor in Social and Educative Sciences)and Formation continue en Coaching d’apprentissage dans les processus de professionnalisation (lifelong learning in coaching in the professionalisation process), taught in French and German, have been added.