About This Guide

This page explains the official Study and Examination Regulations (Studien- und Prüfungsordnung) for the Master's program Interdisciplinary Studies of the Middle East (ISME) at Freie Universität Berlin, in plain, easy-to-understand English. It is not a literal translation of the legal document — it is a friendly explainer covering the same essential rules, requirements, and numbers you need to know as a student. The legally binding version remains the official German-language regulation published in FU-Mitteilungen 29/2023, available here. If anything here seems to conflict with the official text, the official regulation always takes precedence.

Program at a Glance — §§ 6–7

ISME is a Master of Arts (M.A.) program worth 120 credit points (LP), designed to be completed in 4 semesters (2 years) of full-time study. One credit point represents about 30 hours of workload, so the whole degree represents roughly 3,600 hours of study, including classes, reading, writing, and exams.

The 120 credits are split across four building blocks:

Area	Credits	What it covers
Core area (Kernbereich)	50 LP	Foundational and interdisciplinary training in interdisciplinary studies of the Middle East
Consolidation area (Vertiefungsbereich)	30 LP	Deeper specialization — pick two thematic modules
Complementary area (Komplementärbereich)	15 LP	Flexible options: research skills, internship, or outside modules
Master's thesis	25 LP	Final research project

Core Area — What Everyone Must Take — § 7(2)

The core area (50 LP total) has two parts. First, three modules are mandatory for everyone (35 LP combined):

• Studying the Middle East (15 LP) — a one-semester ungraded module that ends with a written paper of about 5,000 words.

• Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Middle East (15 LP) — spans 1–2 semesters, examined with a shorter written paper of about 3,000 words (graded).

• Communicating Research in ISME (5 LP) — a practical, ungraded module where you produce either a short project outline (~1,200 words) or give a poster presentation (~10 minutes).

Second, students choose one additional 15 LP module (this fills the rest of the 50 LP core requirement) from:

• Reading the Middle East, or

• Reading the Middle East through its Languages

Both are ungraded, run over 1–2 semesters, and have no formal exam — just active, regular participation.

Consolidation Area — Choose Your Specialization — § 7(3)

Students pick two modules (15 LP each, 30 LP total) from a menu of four thematic options:

• Histories and Societies of the Middle East

• Traditions of Texts and Knowledge in the Middle East

• Languages of the Middle East

• Literatures of the Middle East in their Social Dimensions

Each of these modules runs 1–2 semesters and is examined with a written paper of about 5,000 words (graded).

Complementary Area — Flexible 15 Credits — § 7(4)

This 15 LP block gives students room to build practical or cross-disciplinary experience. Options include:

• Research Perspectives (15 LP, ungraded) — culminates in a project design of about 2,000 words.

• Internship, available in three sizes depending on length worked:

  • 5 LP: at least 3 weeks full-time (about 120 hours), reflection report ~400 words

  • 10 LP: at least 6 weeks full-time (about 240 hours), reflection report ~700 words

  • 15 LP: at least 9 weeks full-time (about 360 hours), reflection report ~1,000 words

• Modules from other Master's programs, or sequential language courses, adding up to 15 LP total.

Students may also mix and match these options as long as they total 15 LP.

Also see the recommended semester structure in Annex 2.

What Each Module Actually Covers — Annex 1

The regulation's module descriptions (Modulbeschreibungen) spell out the content and learning goals behind each title. Here's what to expect from each one:

Module	What it's about	What you'll learn
Studying the Middle East	A broad, interdisciplinary intro to the Middle East as a research field and site of cultural production — covering language, cultural history, religion, knowledge traditions, identity, gender, memory, nationalism, modernization, and exile	Overview of the disciplines involved, critical engagement with secondary literature, and analysis of complex questions presented orally and in writing
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Middle East	Comparative, global perspectives on major themes — gender, human rights, imperialism, nationalism, identity, language, and literature in relation to the region	Advanced independent research skills and inter/transdisciplinary methods, applied to written and oral analysis
Communicating Research in ISME	A colloquium format for presenting and discussing your Master's thesis concept, approach, and early findings	Planning and justifying a research project, its methodology, and its presentation to peers
Reading the Middle East	Key texts and concepts that go beyond the Middle East as well as its studies from a transregional angle — postcolonialism, nationalism, gender and sexuality, sustainability, AI, data, art, architecture,  Orientalism, global literatures,	Analyzing most recent scholarship and debates from beyond Middle East studies, thinking through "the Middle East" as a concept from perspectives outside of the area studies framework
Reading the Middle East through its Languages	The relationship between text and knowledge using original-language sources in Arabic, Armenian, Kurdish, Ottoman, Persian, Syriac-Aramaic, and Turkish	Critical analysis of primary-language texts and the theories used to interpret them
Histories and Societies of the Middle East	Historical and social developments in the region from Late Antiquity to the present — statehood, power, mobility, identity, and minorities	Working with historical sources independently and applying historical/social-science methods to original research questions
Traditions of Texts and Knowledge in the Middle East	The history of knowledge and textual traditions from early Islam to today — philosophy, mysticism, exegesis, ethics, ritual, and Jewish/Christian/Islamic scholarly traditions	Understanding how knowledge traditions form, gain authority, and shape identity
Languages of the Middle East	Linguistic developments across the region's language families — classification, dialectology, sociolinguistics, and language politics	Applying linguistic methods and analyzing how language and society interact
Literatures of the Middle East in their Social Dimensions	Selected periods, authors, genres, or literary phenomena in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Kurdish, Ottoman, Syriac-Aramaic, and Turkish literature	Analyzing literary production and reception, and sharpening interpretive and contextualization skills
Research Perspectives	Current research projects, debates, and methodological issues in Middle East studies, via research colloquia from participating disciplines	Preparing for thesis-level research and articulating the broader relevance of your topic
Internship (self-organized)	Hands-on work in a relevant institution — universities, archives, museums, NGOs, media, or cultural organizations	Applying academic knowledge in a professional setting and reflecting on that transfer of skills

How Courses Are Taught — § 8

The regulation defines several teaching formats used across modules, including lectures (Vorlesung), advanced seminars (Vertiefungsseminar), methods exercises (Methodenübung), elective courses (Wahlveranstaltung), external internships (Externes Praktikum), and colloquiums (Kolloquium). Courses may also be run as blended learning, combining in-person sessions with online components.

Attending class regularly matters: where "regular participation" is required for a module, you need to attend at least 75% of scheduled class sessions to earn the credit.

Individual attendance requirements and workload are then specified in Annex 1

Exams and Grading (from the Framework Study and Examination Regulations)

Most graded modules are assessed with a single exam — typically a written paper of a specified length — rather than multiple smaller tests. Where a module lists alternative exam formats, your instructor must confirm which format applies no later than the first class session. Some modules (marked "ungraded" above) don't carry a numeric grade — you simply pass or fail based on completing the required task and attending regularly. Ungraded modules are simply marked "BE" (bestanden/pass) or "NB" (nicht bestanden/fail).

As per the framework study and regulation examinations of Freie Universität Berlin (section 18), the following grades shall be used for the evaluation of examinations:
1 = very good – an outstanding performance
2 = good – a performance significantly above average
3 = satisfactory – performance that meets the average requirements
4 = sufficient – performance that, despite flaws, still meets the requirements
5 = insufficient / fail – performance that, due to significant problems, does not meet the requirements

For a differentiated assessment of a student’s performance, intermediate values between 1.0 and 4.0 can be formed by lowering or raising the grade numbers by 0.3. The following grades are allowed: 1.0; 1.3; 1.7; 2.0; 2.3; 2.7; 3.0; 3.3; 3.7; 4.0 and 5.0.

The grading scale used for the final grade, whoch is then also indicated on your diploma is:

Grade range	Meaning
1.0–1.5	Very good (sehr gut)
1.6–2.5	Good (gut)
2.6–3.5	Satisfactory (befriedigend)
3.6–4.0	Sufficient (ausreichend)
4.1–5.0	Fail (nicht ausreichend)

Retaking a Failed Exam — § 10

If you fail an exam, you generally get more chances:

• Regular coursework/module exams can be retaken up to three times.

• The Master's thesis can be retaken twice if it fails the first time.

• Once you've passed something with a 4.0 or better, you cannot retake it just to improve your grade.

The Master's Thesis — § 9

The thesis is worth 25 LP and is the final major component of the degree.

Eligibility: To register, you must have last been enrolled at Freie Universität Berlin in the ISME MA and have completed at least 45 LP from the core area plus one 15-LP module from the consolidation area.

Supervision: When you apply to register your thesis, you should normally submit confirmation from an eligible examiner who has agreed to supervise your thesis. This confirmation must be no more than four weeks old. If you apply without such confirmation, the examination committee appoints a supervisor for you.

Examiners: Your thesis is assessed by two examiners appointed by the examination committee. Your supervisor should normally be one of them. At least one of the two assessments must be provided by an eligible member of academic staff employed primarily by the Department of History and Cultural Studies at Freie Universität Berlin.

Since the 2025 amendment, professionally experienced persons who hold a doctorate and have relevant qualifications may also be appointed as examiners. This expands who may examine a thesis, but does not remove the requirement concerning at least one assessment from the Department of History and Cultural Studies.

Topic: You may propose your own topic, but there is no formal entitlement to have that exact topic approved. The examination committee formally assigns the topic in consultation with the supervisor. Please note that the topic will appear on your diploma and the same title that you submit with your application for the master's thesis must be the title of the thesis that you eventually submit; you can add a subtitle to your thesis.

Length: 15,000–18,000 words, written in English.

Time allowed: 20 weeks, beginning on the date the examination committee formally assigns the topic.

Submission: The thesis is submitted electronically as a PDF.

Declaration: When submitting, you must formally declare that you wrote the thesis independently and used no sources or aids other than those stated in the thesis.

Evaluation: The two examiners normally have six weeks to assess the thesis and provide written evaluations. You need a grade of 4.0 or better to pass.

Studying Abroad — § 11

A semester abroad is recommended, ideally in the third semester. Before you go, you and the exchange advisor sign a Learning Agreement specifying which courses taken abroad will count toward your ISME credits, so the work transfers smoothly into your degree once you return.

Advising and Support — § 4

General study counseling is available through FU Berlin's central Student Advisory Service, while subject-specific guidance on module choices comes from ISME's own teaching staff. It's a good idea to consult your program's academic advisor early — particularly when it comes to transfering outside qualifications and before starting your internship or thesis — since some decisions (like thesis eligibility) depend on having met prior credit thresholds.

Completing the Degree — § 12

To graduate, you must accumulate all 120 credit points across the four areas described above and pass your thesis. Successful graduates receive the academic degree Master of Arts (M.A.), along with a certificate, diploma, diploma supplement, and transcript of records — issued in English.