Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, Politics & Economics | SPE
Problem solvers wanted for today’s societies!
FAO: The analysts and the speculators, the starry-eyed idealists and the pragmatists, the disciplined and the irritated, the yeasayers and the naysayers, the determined and the hesitant.
Is there more to national debt than just an economic aspect? Can political science sufficiently explain the influence of citizens' initiatives? Do sociologists always know best in the end? Drawing on such topics as urbanity, sustainability and migration, the SPE syllabus correlates perspectives from the disciplines of Sociology, Politic Science and Economics. SPE students work using an interdisciplinary approach to find comprehensive solutions to society's important questions.
How do you define basic concepts such as power, money, justice, war and peace, playing and scheming? How does society distinguish itself from the political system and the economy?
“Taking classical theories from Sociology, Politics and Economics and applying these to current problems – that is the academic approach of the SPE program. Outside of the curriculum I have the luxury of finding out about the topics that interest me.”
Marie Jacobs | BA SPE, enrolled spring semester 2012
How do policy and law shape the conflicts of global society? How do migration and urbanization change people's living conditions? How abstract can scientific findings be? And how abstract do they need to be? How does the market economy develop under the conditions of international policy coordination? How does a democracy function under the conditions of multinational companies, speculative capital markets and fluctuating protest movements? To what extent do social inequality, poverty and exclusion compromise social harmony?
SPE delves into these and other weighty issues. It comprises the testing of theories, methods and models that aid the understanding of complex systems and networks and that allow for the creative exploration of these systems and networks.
Description of SPE study program
Our program produces graduates who can turn their hand to internal and external diagnostics, designing and providing advice on political schemes, entrepreneurial investments, social and technological innovations, organizational developments, ecclesiastical issues, scientific research and journalistic reporting.
Course facts and information
- Qualification: Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
- Standard period of study: 8 semesters (= 4 years)
- ECTS points: 240
- Course language: German and English
- Language skills: Good knowledge of English is necessary
- Course begins: Spring (January) and fall semester (September)
- Faculty: Faculty of Political & Social Sciences
- Fees per semester: 4,350 euro
Interested? Please note the language requirements
Although quite a few courses at ZU are offered in English, it is not possible to complete a degree program entirely in English. Language skills in English are preferred, while German is an absolute necessity. ZU requires very good proficiency in German language on C1 level for all degree-seeking applicants.
Team Admissions
Application Advice Undergraduate and Graduate Programs
Phone: +49 7541 6009-2000
Write an Email
Do you have any questions about the study programs and the application process? Then please contact our team Admissions.
Team Admissions
| Phone: | +49 7541 6009-2000 |
| Room: | FAB 3 | 0.31 |
Executive and Academic Program Director
Academic Program Director SPE |
Speaker of the research cluster Computational Social Science |
Chair for Political Sociology
| Phone: | +49 7541 6009-1369 |
| Fax: | +49 7541 6009-3009 |
| Room: | FAB 3 | 1.81 |
Program advisory board
The critical assessment of our study program by third parties is a key part of our quality assurance concept. Political and economic experts are involved as external appraisers on all aspects of improving and reconfiguring our study and exam regulations.
The current members of the program advisory board are: