The Major

The German Department offers a major and a minor in German Studies. German Studies is an interdisciplinary approach to the history, language, literature, and contemporary culture of the German language-speaking areas.

The major consists of eleven to fifteen courses beyond the beginning level. All students first complete two courses in Intermediate German and one course in Advanced German: Texts and Contexts.

Students in German Studies complete one course in German Society and Culture, taught in English, that focuses on various themes in German cultural history, and Kulturkunde: Introduction to German Studies taught in German, a survey of the cultural history of the Germanspeaking world. Majors must also take two of the four literature/culture courses in German. Because German Studies emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach, students are also asked to select a minimum of one additional course from a broad range of European history and German literature and theater courses.