Undergraduate Program in German
Program Overview

The undergraduate program in German is designed to provide students with a high degree of language proficiency, as well as an in-depth knowledge and understanding of German-speaking cultures, their arts and letters, stories and histories. Students may choose from a wide range of courses that explore different aspects of German culture and society through the lens of literature, film, news media, popular culture, business, politics, and history. From beginning language courses to upper level seminars, students may explore important issues such as identity and nation, gender and culture, multiculturalism, science and technology, the role of Germany in the European Union, legacies of the holocaust, trauma and memory, myth and modernity, and gain a historical perspective that extends back to the middle ages and beyond.

Although the study of language, literature, and culture forms the core discipline of Department faculty, many of its members are engaged in interdisciplinary research and scholarship, and integrate materials and insights from such fields as history, music, art history, film studies, philosophy, science and technology, women's studies, and psychology in their courses. Department course offerings thus fulfill many of the modes of inquiry required by the Duke University curriculum: in addition to the foreign language requirement, many German Department courses engage the modes of cross-cultural inquiry, science, technology, and society, ethical inquiry, as well as the research and writing modes designed to foster critical and expressive skills.

Students often choose to double major, combining their study of German with that of another discipline or pre-professional course of study. German is in fact an appropriate companion for professional careers in international business or law, engineering, government and international affairs, economics and finance, and education, as well as for academic careers in such fields as history, religion, philosophy, art history, political science, literature, and music.

The Department also offers a number of opportunities for students to study abroad, and has developed relationships with several German universities, scholarship agencies, and other institutions and funding sources to help students pursue further work and/or study opportunities in Germany both before and after graduation. Many of our students have studied at the Humboldt and Free Universities of Berlin, the Technical University in Berlin, and the University of Erlangen. Our recent graduates have received DAAD, Fulbright, and Congress Bundestag fellowships, as well as work opportunities in Germany sponsored by the Bosch foundation and the Landheim Schondorf.

Because German Department classes are generally small, Department faculty give students close individual attention and guidance throughout their course of study. They are happy to recommend courses and opportunities based on individual student interests and needs.

Students have many opportunities to get to know our faculty and graduate students on a personal, informal level, through coffee hours (Kaffeestunden), film evenings, lectures, fall and spring festivals, and other Department events. The Department also sponsors a very active German Club and German Honors Society, student groups that help plan and organize these extra-curricular events. Students may also elect to live in the German Hall of the Language Dorm, to get more of an immersion experience with the German language and culture on a daily basis.