Program of Study
Our MA and PhD programs allow students to dive deeply into the rich space of German-speaking cultures past and present. At the same time, they grant our student the freedom to explore diverse intellectual interests, using the methods and knowledge of other disciplines to devise their own approaches to German Studies. Throughout this process, you will enjoy individual mentoring from a faculty with expertise in a wide variety of time periods, media, and theoretical approaches.
Program Overview
- Fulfill MA requirements
- Complete two years of coursework, including seminars in German and other departments
- Write at least three research seminar papers
- Demonstrate advanced German proficiency
- Take an MA exam at the end of their second year or work with an advisor to write an MA thesis
- Fulfill PhD requirements
- Complete three semesters of coursework, including seminars in German and other departments
- Write at least three research seminar papers
- Demonstrate reading proficiency in a third language
- Take a candidacy exam at the end of their second year, comprising a reading list and dissertation prospectus that prepares them to write the dissertation
- Write a dissertation during the final two years of guaranteed funding support
Our faculty is widely published and internationally active in the major fields of German Studies. As a department, we are committed to both the core of the German tradition and to the innovative power of interdisciplinary work.
JJ Aupiais: Post- and decolonial German Studies, transnational literary studies, translation studies
Mathew Birkhold: Law, culture, and the humanities, environmental humanities, German literature 1750- 1945, Indigenous studies
Katra Byram: Narrative theory, environmental humanities, gender studies, cultural memory, German literature and culture 1848-present
John Davidson: Film aesthetics and history, German feature and avant-garde, adaptations
Anna Grotans: Medieval Studies, Latin and German Paleography, Medieval Education, Language Contact in the Middle Ages
Merrill Kaplan: Old Norse-Icelandic literature, folk legend and rumor, folklore on and off the internet
May Mergenthaler: Poetry (17th century-present), literary and aesthetic theory, criticism, ecocriticism
Cynthia D. Porter: Body Studies, Comparative Media Analysis, German and African Diaspora Studies
Paul Reitter: German-Jewish culture, history of higher education, fin-de-siècle Europe, translation studies
Carmen Taleghani-Nikazm: Applied linguistics, conversation analysis, interactional competence in second language
Budimka Uskokovic: interactional competence in second language, video-mediated interactions in second language, technology-mediated language learning, intercultural communicative competence
Saul Zaritt: Yiddish literature, Modern Jewish Literature, Translation Studies, World Literature, Popular Culture, Jewish Studies
We believe that, in today's academic landscape, interdisciplinary exploration, collaboration, and research are essential. Our students are encouraged to take one course outside of the German program each semester so that they may pursue and deepen their broad interests. The College of Arts and Sciences also offers several recognized graduate minors and interdisciplinary specializations, and our students regularly choose to earn this additional credential. These programs include:
Graduate Interdisciplinary Specializations/Minors [ full listing ]
- Film Studies
- Second Language Studies
- Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
- Folklore Studies
- Medieval and Renaissance Studies
- Comparative Cultural Studies
- Disability Studies