Ijtihad Network Being Wise and Faithful Muslim in the Contemporary World
The aim of the MA Intellectual Encounters of the Islamicate World is to provide international graduate students with a thorough understanding of the deep and diverse links between the Muslim, Jewish and Christian.
Intellectual richness and unparalleled variety characterize the world of Islam throughout its history. From the 9th century CE onwards, Muslims, Christians and Jews shared a common every day and cultural language, Arabic, which they used to circulate ideas, concepts and texts. The ensuing exchange was mutually enriching. For centuries, individuals belonging to the three religious communities read a very similar canon and thus equally contributed to its development. This dynamic was multi-dimensional in character: Christian and Jewish authors influenced Islamic thought, while the writings of Muslim thinkers had a major impact on non-Muslim thinkers.
The blended-learning MA program Intellectual Encounters of the Islamicate World is dedicated to the study of this extremely rich and diverse intellectual heritage. Unlike traditional academic approaches, that tend to study the intellectual history of the Muslim world according to separated and rather monolithic disciplines, our MA program systematically crosses disciplinary, religious, cultural and philological boundaries in order to gain new and innovative insights.
The overall goal of the one-year, English spoken MA program is to provide its international graduate students with a thorough understanding of the deep and manifold interconnections between the Muslim, Jewish and Christian intellectual output during Medieval times. The program is therefore characterised by a strongly research-driven and interdisciplinary approach. Students will become acquainted with a broad spectrum of aspects of the Islamicate world, such as rational theology and philosophy, law and legal methodology as well as material culture and social history with an emphasis on primary texts in the original language (Arabic). They will be trained and mentored by internationally renowned guest lecturers who are counted among the leading experts in their respective fields of research. The primarily web-based MA program also includes three face-to-face sessions per academic year during which the students and teachers will actually come together for several days/a couple of weeks for discussion, teaching and examination.
Freie Universität Berlin acts as degree awarding university and constitutes the academic, strategic and organizational heart of this unique and innovative MA program that is realised in close collaboration with its bilateral regional partners in Israel and Palestine. Freie Universität Berlin offers the one-year full-time MA program of 60 ECTS to an expected number of 20 students, many of whom from the Middle East.
Application
Preparation of your application
Before completing and submitting the online application form, you should thoroughly check and make sure to meet the entry requirements of our MA program. Furthermore:
- Check that you have the relevant required supporting documents (e.g. transcripts, CV, motivation letter etc.) in pdf format ready to upload. We are asking you to provide officially certified copies of your diploma and transcript of records. For more information on certification, please refer to the following instructions (pdf).
- For your academic and/or professional referees, you should ensure you have their consent before you apply.
- All applications must be completed in English.
- The application form has to be filled in and sent in one step. It cannot be saved and re-opened. If you want to make changes or add new documents, we will consider the latest application nearest to the deadline date we have received from you. In any case: Incomplete applications will not be evaluated.
Application Process
When you have completed the necessary preparation, and you are ready to begin your online application, make sure to apply through the correct channel. Israeli and Palestinian applicants are to apply directly to the program through our online application form of the respective year you wish to start your studies. All other candidates please apply through Freie Universität or UniAssist. For more details, check the below information.
The application period is from 15 April until 31 May of the respective year you plan to start your studies. The application form for Israeli and Palestinian candidates will be online on this website from 15 April (00:01 am) until 31 May (23:59 pm). We strongly recommend to apply early! Technical difficulties cannot be taken into account.
For more information Click here.
For direct enquiries: ieiw@geschkult.fu-berlin.de
