Preparatory Course

Each year in October, the IOCM team warmly welcomes its new students to Jena with a two-day preparatory course — traditionally held on the Friday and Saturday before the start of classes with a field trip on the second day.

The course serves as both an academic and social introduction: an opportunity to form first connections within the cohort, and reflect together on the intercultural contexts that will shape our shared learning environment. As an international and interdisciplinary programme, we see this exchange as both a distinctive strength and a meaningful starting point for exploring intercultural theory and practice.

In the course, participants receive an overview of the Master’s programme, and its structure. The entire IOCM teaching and coordination team introduces itself and is available for questions and informal exchanges. The intercultural focus of the course includes explorations of academic cultures, collective memory, and national identity from a comparative perspective, with particular attention to the German context. It encourages students to connect these theoretical perspectives with their own lived experiences. Moreover, the course offers practical insights into campus life, as well as into the broader cultural and historical landscape of the city and the Thuringia region, known for its rich intellectual and artistic heritage.