Main Content

Career Paths in Cultural Studies

Art, literature, media, music: all culture – so are all part of the labor market? No, unfortunately it’s not quite that simple, or framed differently: fortunately, it’s not that easy!
In the system used here, “culture” is the more general term and “art” is a specific form of culture. Written, spoken, and designed works can be art, but they don't have to be. The medium, on the other hand, is first and foremost the vehicle for cultural expression. However, media can be so sophisticated in their production and application, so finely intertwined, that they can form their own art form. They are always culture.

Art and media scholars, art historians, literary and textual scholars, and visual artists can draw inspiration from the fields of cultural studies but deserve to have their career opportunities considered separately.

This results in the following career paths in Cultural Studies as it is understood here:

- Cultural Research
- Intercultural Communication
- Cultural Education
- Consulting, Training, and Coaching
- Cultural Management
- Cultural Preservation and Mediation
- International Affairs

Culture is what remains or should remain when we communicate. The topics of cultural studies are as diverse as the different aspects of culture itself: objects, texts, ideas, songs, drawings, rituals, customs, traditions, worldviews, and even religions. Cultural Studies deals with the comparative view of cultures and the dialogue between internal and external perspectives on cultures.

The subjects and courses offered at Marburg University that deal with the cultural process from this perspective (including Comparative Cultural and Religious Studies, European Ethnology/Cultural Studies, Cultural and Social Anthropology) always provide their students and graduates with a very special approach to their future careers: the in-between, the “inter-something.”

If culture arises between people, there must also be a space between cultures. Those who have learned to step out of a cultural context in order to observe, analyze, and compare it are able to become professional border crossers, bridge builders, and mediators. They are the masters of the “inter-,” especially the “intercultural.” Their outstanding methods – comparison, participant observation, and field research – are important in many areas of social life in order to generate social, economic, cultural, and perhaps even political “added value.”

This information is based on information provided by the BERUFENET of the German Federal Employment Agency and surveys conducted with graduates of Marburg University. We would like to thank Edgar Losse from the Marburg branch of the Federal Employment Agency for the suggestions and support.