- Degree
- Master of Arts (Double Degree)
- Course location
- Potsdam
- In cooperation with
- University College Dublin (https://www.ucd.ie/) (UCD)
- Teaching language
- • English
- Languages
- The programme can be studied completely in English. Some courses may be taken in German as well.
- Full-time / part-time
- • full-time
- Programme duration
- 4 semesters
- Beginning
- Winter semester
- Additional information on beginning, duration and mode of study
- Classes during UP's winter semester start in mid-October and run through February. The summer semester is taught from April to July. Students then go up to UCD in early September to spend their second academic year in Dublin.
- Application deadline
- Rolling application process, admission only for winter semester
Information about the application deadlines can be found here (https://www.uni-potsdam.de/en/studium/application-enrollment/application-master).
- Tuition fees per semester in EUR
- Varied
- Additional information on tuition fees
- No tuition is charged for studying at the University of Potsdam.
For the University College Dublin, the following fees apply:
• approx. 4,000 EUR per year for EU students
• approx. 10,000 EUR per year for non-EU students
- Combined Master's degree / PhD programme
- No
- Joint degree / double degree programme
- Yes
- Description/content
- The International War Studies degree programme examines the causes, dynamics, and contexts of violent conflicts at a national and international level as well as their pre-history, course of events, and consequences. The programme focuses primarily on military history, the cultural history of political violence, and military sociology, with each field's respective methodologies and theories. The interrelationships between the state, society, and military are analysed from the beginning of the Early Modern period to the present day. The programme concentrates on modern history (the 19th and 20th centuries).
Students will acquire abilities and competences that enable them to analyse historical and current conflicts. They will deepen and expand their subject-specific competences to include essential content from military sociology, the history of violence, and military history. Students will refine their use of methodologies in the social sciences and humanities, become capable of discussing various subjects in a critical manner, and learn how to present the findings of their work in an appropriate way.
The international orientation of the programme and the location of studies in Dublin and Potsdam offer students global career opportunities. There are also no limits when it comes to fields of work. Opportunities abound in international organisations and NGOs, academia, the media, subjects related to politics and policy, think tanks, museums, foundations, and the area of cultural management and communications.
The international orientation of the programme enables a broad array of scholarly opportunities for creating your own profile. Dublin and Potsdam, as places to do research, offer diverse cultural and political institutions that constitute a unique environment for research and teaching.
The programme offers an international environment for university studies and global career opportunities. By working together with several partners in Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, there are established cooperative agreements for internships in German ministries, media firms, museums, and think tanks.
- Current information
- Join our online Master's Info Day (https://www.uni-potsdam.de/en/studium/prospective-students/masters-info-day) on 13 March 2026 to learn about the Master’s programmes, career prospectives, and life in Potsdam.