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Master Global Futures

Specialized Master "Global Futures: Development, Sustainability, Social Justice"

  • Herders on high mountain pastures of the Tajik Pamirs

    Herders on high mountain pastures of the Tajik Pamirs collect goat dung to sell it to city dwellers that since independence do not have electricity anymore. Photo: Norman Backhaus

  • Artisanal seaweed production in Lembongan/Indonesia

    Artisanal seaweed production in Lembongan/Indonesia produces for the global food industry. Photo: Norman Backhaus

  • City of Ho Chi Minh

    The city of Ho Chi Minh, photographed from Landmark 81, the second tallest building in Southeast Asia. A symbol of progress and modernity, as the city envisions its future. Photo: Kathrin Eitel

  • Bullet holes in the prayer hall of the Kattankudy Mosque

    Bullet holes in the prayer hall of the Kattankudy Mosque after a massacre in 1990. Photo: Christine Schenk

  • Large-scale housing development in Zumpango, Mexico

    Large-scale housing development in Zumpango, Mexico. Photo: Hanna Hilbrandt

  • Ethnic minority farmer in upland Vietnam

    Ethnic minority farmer in upland Vietnam. Photo: Annuska Derks

  • Electrical networks in Hanoi

    Electrical networks in Hanoi. Photo: Annuska Derks

  • Cows in the semi-arid landscape of Rajasthan

    Cows in the semi-arid landscape of Rajasthan. Photo: Nicolas Martin

Global futures matter!

The future of our globe is fraught with major challenges: Climate change, violent conflict, rising socio-economic inequalities and marginalization, displacement and migration, environmental degradation, expanding cities and rapid technological changes shape the multiple futures of people across the globe. Poor and marginalized people are often most affected and least equipped to respond to these global challenges.

“Global Futures: Development, Sustainability, Social Justice” is an interdisciplinary program that equips you with the skills to analyze, understand and articulate the complexities and interdependencies of contemporary global challenges. You will learn how these global challenges impact local life worlds, examine the underlying drivers of inequality, conflict and ecological transformation, critically assess the effects of policy interventions, and discuss possible pathways toward more sustainable futures.

“Global Futures” is a joint program in Social Anthropology and Geography, with contributions from Area Studies, Sociology and other relevant disciplines. The program provides training in qualitative methods that can be combined with quantitative approaches and Geographical Information Systems. Furthermore, it provides possibilities for collaboration with partner universities globally and with organizations in the humanitarian and development sectors.