Undergraduate
Why Major in German?
DID YOU KNOW?
- Most graduate programs require knowledge of two foreign languages.
- Business and law schools value proficiency in a foreign language.
- Knowing German allows you to continue your studies in Germany.
- Most German degrees and certificates count in Europe and in the U.S.
- Foreign language skills provide opportunities in the job market.
- Learning a foreign language fosters creative and analytical thinking.
- Knowing another language casts new light on your own.
- Understanding a foreign culture through its language expands your horizon.
- Over 100 million people speak German as a first language.
- Enjoy reading literature in German and catch the nuances lost in translation
WE OFFER . . .
- An intellectually stimulating liberal arts education through the lens of a major European language.
- Small classes, personal attention, and a sense of community.
- A nationally top-ranked faculty and outstanding Graduate Student Instructors.
- An innovative approach to language learning that is challenging and fun. –Find out more about the history and dialects of Germanic languages! Compare linguistic structures of Middle High and modern German, English, Dutch, and Yiddish!
- Courses in English focus on German philosophy (Arendt, Benjamin, Freud, Hegel, Heidegger, Kant, Marx, Nietzsche), German political culture (Weimar Republic, fascism, exile, Cold War, post-Wall European integration, migration and multiculturalism), or German cinema and popular culture.
- Courses in German center around classic literary authors, including Brecht, Goethe, Kafka, Kleist, Thomas Mann, Rilke, as well as movements such as Classicism, Romanticism, and Expressionism. We also offer a course on contemporary digital literature in German. Discover the many works not available in translation or become an actor in a cabaret performance!
- A lively calendar of special events such as guest lectures, performances, conferences and informal gatherings where you can meet fellow students and practice speaking German. – Meet distinguished visiting speakers from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria!