As a first semester student, we would like to welcome you to the Department of History at Ruhr-Universität Bochum! In the first few weeks you will have numerous opportunities to get information and ask questions. At the beginning, you must attend one of two obligatory information events for first semester students. The dates can be found on the facebook page of the Department of History.
In the following days, individual student counseling will take place with lecturers of the Department of History. The appointments for this counseling will be made immediately after the central information event. You should also be able to present an initial timetable that you have drawn up yourself for the individual consultation. You will receive information on the technical creation of the timetable at the eCampus information events directly following the obligatory information events and - if desired - from members of the History Student Council.
All official documents relevant to you can be found on this homepage of the Institute in the “Study and examination regulations” section. In the “Studies” section, you will also find information on our full range of advisory services, study exchanges and much more.
If you would like to transfer from another university to the RUB Department of History, please refer to the information sheet on transferring credits from other universities.
The first year of study is essentially dedicated to learning the basics of academic historical work, e.g: What questions determine historical work? How do you deal with analog and digital source material? How is research literature on a specific topic first found and then analyzed? In addition to learning working techniques, great importance is attached to presenting the results of historical work in various forms (e.g. in oral presentations, thesis papers, written assignments).
Integrated Proseminars (IPS) serve as an introduction to academic work as part of the History degree course. To ensure that as many participants as possible can successfully complete these fundamental and time-consuming seminars, they are regularly combined with an IPS tutorial led by advanced students. The tutorial offers the opportunity to ask questions and practise working techniques during the seminar. IPS and tutorial take up six hours a week in the first year of study. There is also a two-day excursion during the summer semester.
In the 1970s, historians from Bochum produced a brochure entitled 'Hinweise für Anfänger im Studium der Geschichte an der Ruhr-Universität Bochum' (Notes for beginners studying history at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum), which was usually referred to as the 'Lukis-Fibel' after its main author Helmut Lukis. The new brochure presented by a team of historians from Bochum concentrates entirely on his main concern of providing practical advice and explanations for academic work in history studies and the work to be done in this context. The brochure is intended as an accompanying aid to the acquisition of historical work techniques in the proseminars, which students (and teachers) can always refer to. The rules set out in the brochure are binding at the Department of History. As these techniques will be required in the further course of studies when writing papers, the instructions for beginners - sometimes also referred to as the 'blue wonder' - will also find a readership among advanced students.
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Last update: Oct 08, 2024
