FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

To ensure that the process of changing your degree programme runs smoothly, we recommend consulting the Student Advisory Services website. The exact procedure for changing your degree programme or subject is described there.

The standard period of study is six semesters. You need time to understand the course content and to review it at your own pace. This is because taking advanced modules only makes sense if you have genuinely grasped the complex concepts covered in the introductory modules. Due to the duration of the introductory modules, which are a prerequisite for taking the subject-specific didactics modules, it is not possible to complete the degree in fewer than three semesters if starting in the winter semester, or four semesters if starting in the summer semester (even if you are only studying this subject and do not take any modules in a second (teaching) subject).

Due to the increased organisational workload involved in courses offered by the Institute for the Study of Religion, this is no longer possible.

For students with the academic focus of study ‘Study of Religion (Values and Norms)’ who also take courses from the other related disciplines, it may be possible to bring forward the timing of these courses under certain circumstances. To do so, students must consult the academic advisory boards of the Institutes of Philosophy and Sociology on an individual basis.

Just as languages come into being and fade away, specific historical religions, religious traditions and religious communities are constantly emerging and disappearing. As with languages, this results in a vast number of religions, making it impossible to familiarise students with every single one. Furthermore, the Study of Religion is concerned, amongst other things, with explaining fundamental patterns and recurring phenomena. Examples from a limited number of religious traditions are sufficient to illustrate these.

At the Institute of Religious Studies, you will also develop a critical perspective on ‘religion’, enabling you to recognise how problematic it can be to speak of a single religion or of many religions at all.

In addition to teaching the subject of Values and Norms in schools (requiring a relevant master’s degree), museums, universities and publishing houses are potential employers for researchers in religious studies. Employment opportunities also exist in adult education, the media sector, the Foreign Service, documentation centres, archives, libraries, the tourism sector and international organisations.

Unfortunately, this is not possible. Module allocations are carefully determined by the timetable planning team and are binding.

The courses for the subject Values and Norms in the Master of Education can be found in the course catalogue of the Institute of Philosophy.

The courses for the subject Study of Religion / Values and Norms in the Interdisciplinary Bachelor’s Programme and for the minor subject Values and Norms in the Certificate Programme are listed by the Institute for the Study of Religion.

If you have studied the Study of Religion/Values and Norms as a second (teaching) subject, you are free to choose whether you wish to take the module ‘Educational Systems and Socialisation Processes’ or ‘Global Society and Comparative Culture’.

There are currently (as of July 2023) two scenarios for recording coursework:

1. Coursework for courses within modules in teacher training degree programmes that were taken for the first time in the summer semester of 2023 or later is recorded digitally by lecturers in QIS. During each course, lecturers will ask which students the digital recording applies to and for which module the academic credit is to be recorded.
2. Coursework in modules that were taken for the first time prior to the summer semester 2023, or in modules from non-teacher training degree programmes, will continue to be confirmed via the familiar module certificates and recorded by the Examinations Office. In these cases, the Examinations Office remains solely responsible for recording academic and assessment achievements; this is not the responsibility of lecturers, the secretariat or similar bodies. If you have submitted a module certificate to the secretariat or to individual lecturers, please allow two to three weeks. If your module certificate has not been recorded by staff at the Examinations Office by then, we can only inform you whether and when we have sent your module certificate to the Examinations Office. If you have any questions regarding study achievement certificates, please contact the following address: scheine@irw.uni-hannover.de.

No. As a general rule, courses and modules run by the Institute of Philosophy are also signed off there. Please contact the relevant module coordinators there.

You can post forms, term papers (HA) and so on outside office hours in the department’s postbox, which is located outside the building, to the left of the main entrance to Building 1211, Schlosswender Str. 1.

No. Even though there are no attendance registers, you have chosen a face-to-face degree programme rather than a distance learning course; therefore, your attendance is not merely encouraged but is a prerequisite for acquiring the knowledge needed to sit exams and/or complete coursework. However, if you are ever unable to attend, this is not a problem. As a rough guideline, you should not miss more than three sessions.

The content of the subject-specific teaching methodology modules builds on the subject knowledge covered in the introductory sessions. Without successfully completing these modules, the necessary background knowledge for subject-specific teaching methodology cannot be demonstrated.

This is not a recommendation, but a requirement laid down in the examination regulations, and should be taken into account in your study plan from the outset if you wish to avoid delays.

‘Values and Norms’ is a school subject construct. There is no university subject that corresponds to this constantly evolving school subject. Nevertheless, in two of the three disciplines relevant to the subject of Values and Norms (Study of Religion, Philosophy), specific subject-specific didactic approaches have emerged, with which students come into contact during their teacher training.