German Studies, B.A.

FACULTY:
Mareike Herrmann, Chair
Beth Ann Muellner
 

The German Studies Department offers a program of courses that help students to attain a high level of proficiency in German, to understand and appreciate the history, literature, and cultures of German-speaking countries, and to develop critical thinking and analytical skills. Beyond the acquisition of speaking facility, language and culture courses can foster better understanding of how language both reflects and shapes consciousness of the world. In the best liberal arts tradition, language and culture study enhances our ability to deal with ambiguity and cultural pluralism.

The German Studies Department offers a major and minor in German Studies. A major in German can lead to careers in teaching, research or translation work, foreign service, international business, or work in international service organizations. A minor in German can enhance one’s preparation for professions in communications, journalism, the natural and social sciences, or any work involving trans-cultural communication. In recent years, graduates who have majored or minored in German have entered graduate programs in the U.S., in Germany, or in Austria in areas such as astrophysics, chemistry, anthropology, transcultural communications, and gender studies, or embarked on careers in international business, publishing, education, law, and the sciences. Numerous German majors and minors have earned Fulbright teaching awards abroad in the year after graduation.

In considering a major or minor in German Studies, students should consult early in the first year or sophomore year with a member of the department about how best to plan meaningful sequences of courses, ideally including at least a semester of study abroad.

The curriculum as described below is intended to expose students at the intermediate level to varieties of spoken and written styles; to encourage active development of one’s written and spoken facility with German in a broad range of topic areas; to exercise skills in intercultural thinking and communication; to introduce students to the methods and questions central to the study of German literature and cultural history, and to foster critical inquiry into a number of specific areas prior to Independent Study. The German Studies major encompasses inquiries into literary, artistic, historical, and everyday cultural aspects of German-speaking areas. It includes the study of periods, genres, major themes of German culture, including film and literature.