The German Studies Curriculum
Undergraduate majors and minors in German Studies acquire language proficiency in German and a broad background in German culture, history, and literary studies. As early as their fourth semester, students can choose from several different subject areas according to their interests, including German for professional purposes, German contemporary media, conversation about current events, cultural history from the Middle Ages to the present, fairy tales, music, applied linguistics, and language teaching.
"Don’t be afraid to try unique classes and branch out from what you already know. There's so much to learn about different cultures around the world!"
Louise Taylor, German Major
How to Get Started?
Students with no knowledge of German start from scratch with German 101. Students with some (or a lot of) German experiences filter in through the UofA placement process (including AP, CLEP, and IB credit) with additional advising support as needed.
Requirements
Here is the roadmap of undergraduate requirements for a German Studies major:
The first step is to take German 101 and 102 for a total of 8 units. If you test in at the 200 or 300 level, proceed to the next step.
The major requires a minimum of 32 units beyond the two 100-level language courses and includes taking GER 201 and 202 (or the intensive course GER 211 instead). Please note that 211 is only 6 credits instead of 8 for 201 and 202, so we recommend taking an additional German core course to fulfill your requirements.
*Resident requirement: 12 units of upper-level (300- and 400- level) courses in German Studies
Take 9 units from our 300-level core courses (3 units per course, taught in German). At least 3 of these units should come from GER 301, 303, or 311.
- GER 301 German Cultural and Literary History
- GER 302 German Conversations
- GER 303 German through Contemporary Media
- GER 310 Present Day German: Its Structure and Uses
- GER 311 German through Performance
- GER 315 German for Professional Purposes
The remaining 12 units can be chosen from the following list and any 300-level courses not taken for the core requirements (including up to 6 units taught in English; note that 18 units of the major, including core and capstone, need to be on the 300-level or above):
- GER 312 War, Death, and the Hero: Medieval Epics: Beowulf, Nibelungenlied, and Rolandslied (Gen Ed)
- GER 320 History of Tolerance from the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century and Beyond (Gen Ed)
- GER 325 History of German Cinema (Gen Ed)
- GER 327 Recycling Culture: Environmentalism Made in Germany (Gen Ed)
- GER 371 Contemporary German Culture (Gen Ed)
- GER 373 Women's Fictions in Twentieth-Century Germany (Gen Ed)
- GER 375 The Birth of the Modern: Culture and Politics in turn-of-the-century Vienna (Gen Ed)
- GER 376 German-Jewish Writers (Gen Ed)
- GER 379 Religion in German Culture (Gen Ed)
- GER 380 The Middle Ages: The Enigmatic Precursor to Modern Europe (Gen Ed)
- GER 392 Directed Research
- GER 393 Internship
- GER 399 Independant Study (as appropriate)
- GER 411 Dealing with the Past
- GER 412 Tales of Love
- GER 416 "Minority" Views in German Culture
- GER 420 Topics in German Culture
- GER 422 When African Americans Came to Berlin (taught in English)
- GER 430 Crossing Borders/Crossing Cultures
- GER 440 Images of Jews and Judaism in German Culture (taught in English
- GER 450 Constructions of Identity
- GER 455 Music and German Literature (taught in English)
- GER 459 German Politics (taught in English)
- GER 475 Advanced German Usage
- GER 480 Applied Linguistics for German as a Foreign Language
- GER 494A Practicum: German Studies
- GER 499 Independent Study (as appropriate)
In the spring of senior year, take the capstone, GER 496C: Milestones in German Literature and Culture (3 units, co-convened with graduate students).
German Major Complete! Hurra! Du hast's geschafft!
Ready to Declare?
Not sure about the major quite yet?
Start with the minor! Most courses in the minor can be used in the major too.