Incoming Exchange Students

Welcome to the Department of British and North American Studies (IfAA) at the University of Greifswald.

This page provides department-specific academic information for incoming exchange students who wish to take courses offered by IfAA. For university-wide administrative matters, including nomination, enrolment, accommodation, health insurance, visas, semester dates, and transcripts, please consult the International Office.

The current IfAA course list for Winter Semester 2026/27 is available in HIS.

Students looking for courses offered by other departments should consult the complete University course catalogue for Winter Semester 2026/27 and contact the responsible department or coordinator.

Course registration for Winter Semester 2026/27 opened on 1 September. Course titles, instructors, rooms, times, and content may still change. Courses may occasionally be cancelled, and additional courses may be added. Please check HIS again before registering and before the first class.

Register only for courses that you genuinely intend to attend. Admission is subject to available places and any prerequisites stated in HIS. The lecturer confirms places in the first class, so attendance at the first meeting is important.

Incoming exchange students may generally take courses offered by IfAA, subject to capacity and prerequisites. We particularly recommend seminars in literature, cultural studies, and linguistics.

IfAA English language-practice courses are designed primarily for students enrolled in our degree programmes. They may be particularly demanding because they are connected to module prerequisites and assessments. We therefore do not normally recommend them to incoming exchange students.

Before choosing a course, open its individual HIS entry and check the course description, prerequisites, notes, and assessment information. Detailed course materials are usually provided through Moodle after enrolment. If the assessment is not specified, please contact the lecturer before finalising the course and ECTS information in your Learning Agreement.

Degree programmes at German universities normally organise courses into modules. ECTS credits are generally awarded for completing the module and its required assessment rather than for attending an individual class.

If you complete an entire module, use the credits specified in the applicable study and examination regulations.

If you take only one IfAA course rather than a complete module, the following general guidance applies:

• Language-practice course: 3 ECTS for one course plus the relevant part of the module assessment.
• Foundation course or lecture: 3 ECTS for one course plus the required course assessment.
• Seminar: 5 to 10 ECTS, depending on the agreed assessment, workload, and length of the course essay. This must be agreed with the lecturer.

These are general guidelines, not automatic credit awards. ECTS credits are not awarded for attendance alone. The required assessment must be completed successfully.

Course titles alone are not sufficient to confirm ECTS credits. For seminars in particular, the assessment and workload must be agreed with the lecturer before the final number of ECTS credits is entered in the Learning Agreement.

Before submitting your Learning Agreement, discuss your course choices and their recognition with your home university.

If changes become necessary after arrival, they can normally be made during the first four weeks after the semester begins. Please follow the International Office guidance on Learning Agreements.

When requesting academic advice or ECTS confirmation, please provide:

• the course number and title;
• the course type;
• the intended assessment, if known;
• the proposed number of ECTS credits.

Final recognition of courses and credits is decided by your home university.

Most two-hour classes marked c.t. follow the academic-quarter convention. For example, a class listed as 08:00-10:00 c.t. normally runs from 08:15 to 09:45. A following class listed as 10:00-12:00 c.t. normally begins at 10:15, leaving a 30-minute interval between the two classes.

If HIS specifies s.t. or gives exact times, follow those times. Further information is available in the University’s explanation of c.t. and s.t..

General English courses offered by the University Language Centre are administered by the Language Centre.

German language courses for exchange students are administered by the Department of Teaching German as a Foreign Language.

Please contact these units directly regarding course availability, placement, registration, assessment, and ECTS credits. The IfAA coordinator cannot confirm these details.