Perspectives on Studying European Ethnology as a Minor Subject

From Sophie

European Ethnology broadens your horizons and enriches your general knowledge.

Like probably no other discipline, European Ethnology offers the possibility to explore all aspects of everyday life (both historical and contemporary). One challenge here is that, in contrast to other disciplines in the humanities, we do not approach this from a quantitative perspective, but from a qualitative one. This enables us to not only explain aspects of everyday life, but also to understand them. 

European Ethnology changes your own perspectives of day-to-day life or even of everyday occurrences that you don’t normally pay any attention to. Last semester, I had the chance to deal with topics such as Advent wreaths, love & digitalisation, and the Brothers Grimm fairy tales in the field of disciplinary history. This semester, for example, I’m taking a seminar on the history of Hamburg in comics, looking into woodland cemeteries and exploring modern cultural magazines like Landlust. As part of a seminar, I’m also researching selfie culture in Bamberg, which is a new experience for me.

This discipline often gives you the opportunity to look at your own interests from an ethnological perspective and learn the methodologies and foundations of the subject on the basis of topics that interest students. Personally, I always find the European ethnological perspective a challenge but, above all, also an asset for my general knowledge. I’ve developed a new perspective on many areas of life, as well as gaining a broader understanding of cultural phenomena. This means I go through my day-to-day life with more awareness than before my studies. I can only recommend this subject; it’s a lot of fun and will always surprise you in new ways!

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Sophie studied a combination of Communication Studies, European Ethnology and Business Administration.

From Jona

European Ethnology challenges established perspectives.

How you view your own everyday life changes enormously through studying European Ethnology because it places topics in their wider contexts. For example, my thoughts in changing rooms when I’m shopping have changed noticeably thanks to my studies. When I’m trying on a pair of jeans, I think about interesting trouser styles worn over the last centuries.

I remember what significance jeans had for the generation of the 1968 protests and the women’s movement and what they now symbolise for me and society. Trousers are no longer an inanimate object, but a culture-laden subject. Things have a history and