German Studies
The field of German Studies encompasses the study of German language, literature, and culture, past and present. It includes a wide range of topics, of which the following is just a small sample: The German Classical Heritage, Tales of Love, Studies in Genre, Medieval Answers to Modern Problems, German Romanticism, German for Business, Fin-de-Siecle Vienna, The Weimar Republic, German Literature and Music, German-Jewish Writers, Men and Women in Contemporary Germany, German Cinema, Minority Views in German Culture, Issues in Foreign Language Acquisition and Teaching, and Applied Linguistics for German as a Foreign Language.
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High School Preparation Some prior study of German will give you a head start, but it is not required. Many of our majors began their study of the German language in college.
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The German Studies Curriculum Undergraduate majors in German Studies acquire language proficiency in German and a broad background in German literature and culture. As early as in the fourth-semester course (202), students can choose from several different subject areas, including some of the following: Contemporary Culture, Current Events and Issues in German-Speaking Countries, German Poetry, Fairy Tales, Germany from a Business Perspective, Operas in German, Sounds of German. Following 202, and after consultation with our advisor, students enter into what we call the "gateway" sequence of classes, consisting of German 300, Encounters in Language and Culture (6 units), and German 301, Voices Past and Present (3 units). These courses give students the opportunity to develop their oral and written proficiency in German, while offering at the same time an introduction to the cultural history and contemporary life of the German-speaking world.
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Teaching emphasis Students interested in the German Studies major with a teaching emphasis follow the curriculum shown above, except that their advanced courses must include German 479 (Issues in Foreign Language Acquisition and Teaching) and German 480 (Applied Linguistics for German as a Foreign Language).
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Students have the opportunity to study with members of one of the leading German Studies faculties in the US. They include recent winners of the Five Star Faculty teaching award and of the El Paso Natural Gas Foundation Faculty Achievement Award, and several who have received national and international recognition for their research and publications in the areas of literary and cultural studies and applied linguistics and pedagogy. The entire faculty of German Studies is committed to teaching excellence and to student mentoring; our majors and minors receive close personal attention from faculty members.
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Honors Opportunities In addition to various honors and awards offered through the College of Humanities and the university as a whole, students are eligible for induction into Delta Phi Alpha, the national German honor society. |
Study Abroad
Students can choose from several opportunities for study abroad in the German-speaking world. For over twenty years, students from the U of A have participated in an exchange program sponsored by the Federation of German-American Clubs, which allows students to choose from over 30 participating universities in the Federal Republic of Germany. Each year two students are awarded scholarships, supported by the Oskar Grunow Endowment, which enable them to spend a year studying in Germany for about the cost of a year's study in Tucson. We also have exchange programs with the Universities of Freiburg and Leipzig in the Federal Republic, for which scholarship support is also available.
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Thanks to the generosity of the Tucson area German Heritage Klub, several students each year have been able to study at the Deutsche Sommerschule in Taos, New Mexico. In the future, the department is planning a summer program to take place at the University of Freiburg.
Work abroad
The Seefeldt Program (International Cooperative Education Program) has enabled many of our students to spend time working in a German-speaking country in a variety of jobs ranging from banking to retail sales to farming and many others. Pay varies from job to job, but it is always sufficient to cover the cost of living and allow for travel while abroad. |
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Careers A degree in German Studies will prepare students for a number of career paths, including international business, the foreign service, the travel business, teaching language and culture, international law, and a variety of government positions. |
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