Unusual Majors: From Yoga to “The Chaos of the Present”

If you don't want to squeeze into overcrowded lecture halls during your studies, you don't necessarily have to give up on college. In addition to traditional majors like law, business, and medicine, Saxony's colleges offer many smaller degree programs. And some of them are truly unique. Here’s an overview of the most unusual programs as the semester begins. 

Musical Instrument Making: Studying Until the Beams Bend

At the West Saxon University of Applied Sciences in Zwickau, students in the Musical Instrument Making program don’t just focus on surface aesthetics—as one of the program’s modules is called. They also pay close attention to acoustics. In the past, there was a project as part of the program in which the bass bars were bent to alter the sound of a violin.

One of the more recent projects involves building a violin with a carbon top. Admittedly, this is only a prototype, as research assistant Hannah Weidauer explains. In principle, however, the goal is for seminar participants to ultimately develop products that are “ready for the market.” Each student builds their own instrument each semester. A total of 27 students are currently enrolled across all semesters.

Many had previously completed an apprenticeship, for example as a violin maker, says Weidauer. Through the program at the Markneukirchen campus, they then deepen their knowledge and choose between the specializations of plucked-string and bowed-string instrument making. According to Weidauer, about 80 percent of graduates take the plunge into self-employment.

Exploring Yoga and Meditation in Leipzig

The 16 new students in the “Cultures of South Asia and Tibet” program can already look forward to the yoga lecture in their second or fourth semester. According to the course catalog, they will learn about “various Brahmanic and Buddhist yoga and meditation traditions.” The lecture will also address the “interplay between concentrated stillness” and “analytical insight.” When asked whether students meditate during the seminar, Institute Director Jowita Kramer says that “mindfulness-based and dyadic exercises” are integrated into the courses. The aim is to explore “central concepts through experiential learning.” 

With the Institute for Sorbian Studies, Leipzig offers another regional focus that, according to the university, looks back on a history spanning more than 300 years. Today, a total of 39 people are studying the Sorbian language in Leipzig, 27 of whom are women, according to a spokesperson. The Sorbs are a recognized Slavic minority in Germany that has been settled in Lusatia for about 1,500 years. 

Researching Artworks from the GDR in Dresden

Anyone wishing to study “Art Technology, Conservation, and Restoration of Art and Cultural Heritage” in Dresden will need perseverance. Admission to the ten-semester diploma program requires a ten-month internship, in addition to an aptitude test.

The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts places a special emphasis on mural painting and architectural surfaces. This includes the study and restoration of artworks from the GDR, such as murals on buildings. Students from the university were also involved in the restoration of glass figures from the German Hygiene Museum. The work is not limited to centuries-old pieces, such as the restoration of a Rococo confessional in a church. “We’ve even restored a five-year-old artwork,” says a spokeswoman. 

Becoming a Bitcoin and Blockchain Expert in Mittweida

The “Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies” degree program is currently still a male-dominated field. All 23 students are men, and more than half are over 30 years old, according to Andreas Ittner, director of the Blockchain Competence Center Mittweida.

Blockchain is a tamper-proof database that stores information in a chain of data blocks. The students in Mittweida learn to develop and manage such decentralized systems. The cryptocurrency Bitcoin is also based on this technology. The students are now focusing heavily on the security and traceability of transactions, says Ittner. Graduates go on to work, for example, as project managers at startups or large corporations. 

Understanding the “Chaos of the Present” in Freiberg

Founded in 1765, the TU Bergakademie Freiberg is, according to its own information, the world’s oldest university specializing in mining science. Alexander von Humboldt studied here. Today, the university offers modern degree programs such as space technologies. 

But historical research is also firmly established in Freiberg. In the Industrial Archaeology program, students learn to understand the “chaos of the present,” as the university promotes its program. The focus here is on recent economic, social, and technological history. A spokeswoman explains that the program explores raw material flows, social movements, and “cultural interpretive frameworks.” According to her, career prospects are diverse. Industrial archaeologists could work in museums and archives, but “creative professions in social media” are also an option.