Home / Majors

German - A.B.

General Information

Degree & Major:

German - A.B.

College Name:

Franklin College of Arts and Sciences

Department Name:

Germanic and Slavic Studies

Contact:

Brigitte Rossbacher
Associate Professor of German
rossbach@uga.edu

Find Out More

Degree Requirements

College-wide Requirements

University-wide Requirements

Description:

The German major is designed to provide students with communicative proficiency in the German language and competency in the interpretation of German culture. Following the completion of basic requirements, the program offers optimal flexibility to the individual student who can choose from a variety of courses and, under the guidance of a faculty mentor, devise a curriculum geared towards his or her specific career goals and intellectual interests. The department is comprised of specialists in the major areas of German Studies who integrate language teaching with the teaching of German literature, linguistics, film, and culture studies as well as important aspects of contemporary German society, business, and politics.

The study of German in the United States has undergone significant changes in recent years and the German program at the University of Georgia reflects those changes by offering intermediate and advanced German courses that cover broad subject areas but generally are not literary survey or genre courses. Instead, the focus of a course may be a specific issue or a topic that students learn to investigate in depth or from a particular perspective. Through such courses students acquire the critical tools to undertake independent inquiries into the field of German and form their own questions about cultural specificity and difference. While either German literature or linguistics constitutes the core of these courses, they are frequently interdisciplinary and include materials and methods from other fields such as history, music, film, philosophy, art history, and sociology.

Although the University and the department strongly encourage study abroad and offer opportunities for its pursuit in Bamberg, Erlangen, Heidelberg, and Rostock, we recognize that many students will not be able to stay in Germany for extended periods of time during or after their course of study. The program of study is therefore not limited to analyzing specific aspects of German culture, but generally intended to sharpen students' critical skills and strengthen their ability to express themselves. It is also designed to raise students' cross-cultural awareness, to help them realize the uniqueness of their own background and understand it as socially and historically constructed.

Details

Career Opportunities:	A major in German with its twofold emphasis on linguistic proficiency and cultural competency is excellent preparation for a variety of professional careers in business, government, and academia. The comparatively small size of the department allows faculty members to pay close attention to the individual student, to help students advance in their studies, and to guide them in the pursuit of their professional career choices. Whether you are interested in a career in business, foreign service, or law, or if you are looking to become a teacher in primary or secondary education, or to pursue German as an academic subject in graduate school, there are copious ways in which you could apply your knowledge of German to the profession of your choice. Students often choose double-majors, combining their study of German with a second field such as International Affairs, International Business, Finance, Political Science, History, Linguistics, Sociology, Art History, or Education. Many of our majors move on to work in various capacities for American companies that do business with Germany, or for companies based in German-speaking countries that have subsidiaries in the U.S. Knowledge of German not only helps graduates to get a job, but often is a significant factor in professional advancement. In many high-tech companies (in automotive engineering, optics, medical instrumentation, etc.) proficiency in German is highly desired. A number of recent graduates have spent one or two years as assistant teachers of English in German high schools through a program funded by the Fulbright Commission, in order either to deepen their knowledge of German and prepare for a teaching career, or simply to broaden their professional background before embarking on another professional or academic career.
Expectations of Transfer Students:	Expectations of Transfer Students Students transferring as third-year students must have completed four semesters of German study equivalent to UGA courses GRMN 1001-2002 before beginning upper-division work.
Special Requirements:	Students must earn a minimum grade of C in each course to receive credit toward the major. No more than one directed study course (of 3 credit hours) and one upper-division GRMN course taught in English translation may count toward the major. All upper-division courses fulfilling the major requirement must be taken in residence with the exception of a maximum of 9 hours of transfer credit earned in an approved study abroad summer program, provided that credit for GRMN 2002 (or an equivalent course) was earned before participation in the program. Transfer credit for courses taken in a year-long study abroad program and/or at a German university may be applied on a case-by-case basis.
Scholarships:	Travel and related assistance for study abroad.
Student Organizations:	German Student Organization at UGA
Available Graduate Programs:	Recent graduates have also been admitted to highly esteemed Master's and Ph.D. programs in German including those at the University of Virginia, the University of Pennsylvania, Indiana and Washington University. Others have been accepted to prestigious law programs.