Please note that students not enrolled in the Political Science program are generally allowed to attend only lectures and first- and second-year B.A. courses, as well as the special course designed for incoming Social Sciences students. These students may earn a maximum of 15 ECTS credits in Political Science.

The final list of courses is published about one month before the semester begins. However, you can get a good idea of what to expect by checking the course archive from the previous academic year—only minor changes are usually made.

For incoming students with limited proficiency in German, we offer a variety of advanced Bachelor’s and Master’s courses conducted in English. Please see the list below.

You can find the complete list of courses in the Social Sciences in Jogustine Course Catalogue [LINK Jogustine Eng).

A list of courses in English and intermediate level German is available at JGU Courses for International Students.

In the Summer term of 2026, the faculty of Social Sciences offers a range of courses especially for incoming students ( Registration: SoWie?So!):

• FB02.01 Undestanding Errors and Justice: The Role of Political Thought in Political Conversations
• FB02.02 Unrecognised States
• FB02.03 SoWi?So! Hausarbeiten Basics: Erfolgreich zur ersten Hausarbeit
• FB02.04 SoWi?So! Fit für Statistik
• FB02.5 SoWi?So! Term Papers: Academic Writing for Internationals

Find German Language Classes here (register in Jogustine!):

Note: In Summer 2026 lectures and classes start on April 13 and end on July 11. Send your registration form to the Erasmus Coordinator in Poltical Science.

• Sem (BA). Introduction to International Relations ( GROUP C ; Biel)
• MA/BA-MEd-Seminar Political Efficacy – A classical concept renewed (Fitzpatrick)
• Sem (MA) European Models of Capitalism (Callaghan/Hancké)
• Sem (BA/MEd) Multilateralism in Crisis in Europe and beyond. A new world order (Muntschick)
• BEd/MEd-Seminar Bilinguale Fachdidaktik (Rapp)
• MA/Europa-MA  Sem China’s foreign policy and EU-China Relations (Hackenesch)
• Sem (BA/MEd/MA-EU) Democratic public discourse and free speech (Ferretti)
• MA PÖiB/MEd EU External Relations (Niemann)
• Sem (MA/MA-EU) Methodology of the Social Sciences: Qualitative methods (Plank)
• Europa-MA/BA-Seminar EU-Institutions and Decision Making/EU-Simulation Niemann)

Seminars, as a rule, are completed with a term paper or a take home assignment. The amount of ECTS credit points depends on the exam. For seminars you will have the choice between a shorter term paper (10 pages/ 5 ECTS) or a longer term paper (20 pages/ 9 ECTS). Please note that the LP for Mainz students listed in Jogustine may differ from the ECTS credit points for Erasmus students:

• take-home assignments: 3 ECTS
• short term paper of roughly 10 pages: 5 ECTS
• long term paper of roughly 20 pages: 9 ECTS

Lectures are completed with an oral exam, a written exam or a take home assignment (4 ECTS each).

Further information on ECTS for classes in the SoWie?So! program and for language courses can be found in Jogustine.

In order to participate in our classes, a minimum of B1-level proficiency in the language of instruction is essential.

You can register for classes in political science by sending your request to Dr. Ferretti (ferretti@politik.uni-mainz.de) and using the registration form that you can also find in the „Documents Download.“

1,0 (outstanding performance without errors)

1,3 (above the average standard but with minor errors)

1,7 / 2,0 / 2,3 (generally good work but with some errors)

2,7 / 3,0 / 3,3 (fair but with significant shortcomings)

3,7 / 4,0 (performance meets the minimum criteria)

5,0 (failed)