German Studies (GERM)

German Studies Web site

The Department of German Studies offers a program that promotes an understanding of the connections between language and its larger cultural contexts, including economics, science, history, politics, film, art, music, and philosophy in addition to literature. Language learning in our program emphasizes at all levels the interrelationship between language and culture. We encourage students to integrate their interest in other subjects with their study of German.

All department members participate in a wide range of interdisciplinary programs. Our courses contribute to such programs as African American and African studies, critical social thought, European studies, film studies, gender studies, and Jewish studies. Our entire curriculum, then, supports the study of the German language within its cultural and historical contexts and is adapted to the individual student’s background, style, and pace of learning. To facilitate such learning, the department creatively employs the use of technology throughout its curriculum, from elementary courses to advanced seminars.

Courses focus on interpersonal communication among students and with the instructor, and among students and peer assistants from Germany. All courses are conducted in German, except first-year seminars and German Studies 231.

German studies majors graduating from Mount Holyoke College have used the analytical, cultural, and linguistic competence they acquired to pursue a wide range of careers in international affairs, banking, business, publishing, journalism, radio and television broadcasting, law, government, education, and medicine and other sciences. A loyal network of alumnae helps current students acquire internships and enter career paths in these fields, both in German-speaking countries and the United States.

Join us! Students with no previous training in German should elect German Studies 101 (Elementary German, 4 cr.) or 103 (Intensive Elementary German, 8 cr.). Students with more than one year of previous training should continue reading for more information about placement and other courses.

For more detailed information visit our German Studies Web site or contact Professor Karen Remmler, Chair.

The Department of German Studies will review the course selection of all entering students, taking into consideration school and AP records together with the answers to the German Placement questionnaire.

All students who plan to elect German in either semester must complete this questionnaire carefully. Final course placement will be based on the following considerations: the student’s specific training in German, the results of the student’s online placement exam, and scheduling possibilities. Students should take the online placement exam by August 31, 2008 for fall entry, and by January 15, 2009 for spring entry, if possible. 

Students contemplating spending all or part of their junior year in Germany should elect German in the first semester of their first year, since two continuous years of German in college are normally required for junior-year programs in Germany.

Courses that satisfy the College language requirement only are designated as such. Other courses can satisfy either the language requirement or fulfill a Humanities I-A distribution requirement.

German Studies 100, Politics of Memory in Postwar German and Japanese Cultures the first-year seminar offered in the spring this year, and German Studies 231, Topics in German Studies, are writing-intensive courses taught in English.  Both courses are open to first-year students. This year’s 231 topic is Introduction to Nineteenth-Century Critical Social Thought. Both courses are speaking and writing-intensive courses taught in English, no prior knowledge of German is required. However, students can take the two-credit course, German Studies 232, and complete reading, writing, and speaking in German for credit toward a German major or minor.

Course Selection:
The following courses are especially appropriate for first-year students with no prior knowledge of German: