Major and Minor Requirements

Major Requirements

The German and German studies major consists of 10 units. All courses at the 200 or 300 level count toward the major requirements, either in a literature concentration or in a German studies concentration. A literature concentration normally follows the sequence

• 201 and/or 202;
• 209 or 212, or
• 214, 215;
• plus additional courses to complete the 10 units, two of them at the 300 level;
• and finally one semester of Senior Conference.

A German studies major normally includes

• 223 and/or 224 or 245;
• one 200- and one 300-level course in German literature;
• three courses (at least one at the 300 level) in subjects central to aspects of German culture, history, or politics; and
• one semester of GERM 321 (Advanced Topics in German Cultural Studies).

Within each concentration, courses need to be selected so as to achieve a reasonable breadth, but also a degree of disciplinary coherence. Within departmental offerings, GERM 201 and 202 (Advanced Training) strongly emphasize the development of conversational, writing, and interpretive skills. German majors are encouraged, when possible, to take work in at least one foreign language other than German.

Minor Requirements

A minor in German and German studies consists of seven units of work. To earn a minor, students are normally required to take GERM 201 or 202, and four additional units covering a reasonable range of study topics, of which at least one unit is at the 300 level. Additional upper-level courses in the broader area of German studies may be counted toward the seven units with the approval of the department.

College Foreign Language Requirement

The College’s foreign language requirement may be satisfied by completing GERM 101 and 102 with an average grade of at least 2.0 or with a grade of 2.0 or better in GERM 102

Honors

Any student who has completed a senior thesis and whose grade point average in the major at the end of the senior year is 3.8 or higher qualifies for departmental honors. Students who have completed a thesis and whose major grade point average at the end of the senior year is 3.6 or higher, but not 3.8, are eligible to be discussed as candidates for departmental honors. A student in this range of eligibility must be sponsored by at least one faculty member with whom she has done coursework, and at least one other faculty member must read some of the student’s advanced work and agree on the excellence of the work in order for departmental honors to be awarded. If there is a sharp difference of opinion, additional readers will serve as needed

Study Abroad

Students majoring in German are encouraged to spend some time in German-speaking countries in the course of their undergraduate studies. Various possibilities are available: summer work programs, DAAD (German Academic Exchange) scholarships for summer courses at German universities, and selected junior year abroad programs.