German Studies Major Concentration (B.A.) (36 credits)
Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)
Degree: Bachelor of Arts; Bachelor of Arts and Science
Program credit weight: 36
Program Description
The Major Concentration in German Studies provides students with a rigorous and broad inquiry into the major features that have defined German cultural life since the eighteenth century. Knowledge of the German language is a core component of the major concentration and normally courses towards the major concentration will be taught in German. Courses will include the study of major works of literature, philosophy, film, theory, and visual art that have made a defining impact on German and European culture. Students will acquire the skills of critical reading and viewing that allow them to interpret complex works of art and evaluate their social and cultural significance.
Degree Requirements — B.A. students
To be eligible for a B.A. degree, a student must fulfil all Faculty and program requirements as indicated in Degree Requirements for the Faculty of Arts.
We recommend that students consult an Arts OASIS advisor for degree planning.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Complementary Courses (36 credits)
6 credits must be in pre-20th century literature and culture.
A minimum of 9 credits of literature, culture, and film courses taught in German.
A maximum of 6 credits of LLCU courses, with prior departmental approval.
Language Courses
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| GERM 200 | German Language, Intensive Beginners. | 6 |
German Language, Intensive Beginners. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An intensive language course designed to develop communicative skills; covers the first level (GERM 202D1/GERM 202D2) in one term. Required for program students. | ||
| GERM 202 | German Language, Beginners'. | 6 |
German Language, Beginners'. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A comprehensive first-level course designed to develop communicative skills. | ||
| GERM 202D1 | German Language, Beginners'. | 3 |
German Language, Beginners'. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A comprehensive first level course designed to develop communicative skills. | ||
| GERM 202D2 | German Language, Beginners. | 3 |
German Language, Beginners. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. See GERM 202D1 for course description. | ||
| GERM 300 | German Language Intensive Intermediate. | 6 |
German Language Intensive Intermediate. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Continuation of GERM 200; covers the second level (GERM 307D1/GERM 307D2) in one term. | ||
| GERM 307 | German Language - Intermediate. | 6 |
German Language - Intermediate. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Review of grammar, further development of basic skills; literary and cultural readings. | ||
| GERM 307D1 | German Language - Intermediate. | 3 |
German Language - Intermediate. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Review of grammar, further development of basic skills; literary and cultural readings. | ||
| GERM 307D2 | German Language - Intermediate. | 3 |
German Language - Intermediate. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. See GERM 307D1 for course description. | ||
| GERM 325 | German Language - Intensive Advanced. | 6 |
German Language - Intensive Advanced. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course aims at developing post-intermediate proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, with emphasis on oral and written expression. Special attention is given to word formation and to the proper choice of grammatical structures, vocabulary, and phraseology. | ||
Literature and Culture Courses
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| GERM 259 | Introduction to German Literature 1. | 3 |
Introduction to German Literature 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to the major authors, genres, and topics of German literature from the Middle Ages to the Age of Goethe, including the Nibelungenlied, Faust, classical tragedy, and the rise of the novel. | ||
| GERM 260 | Introduction to German Literature 2. | 3 |
Introduction to German Literature 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to the major authors, genres, and topics of German literature from the 19th century to the present. | ||
| GERM 326 | Topics: German Language and Culture. | 3 |
Topics: German Language and Culture. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course aims to both improve students’ speaking and writing skills at the intermediate and advanced levels and to deepen their understanding of German culture through contemporary short texts and films. Topics include migration and national identity, memory and history, gender roles, and intergenerational conflicts. Students develop their transcultural competencies through critical engagement with the course materials. Selected grammatical topics will be reviewed. | ||
| GERM 331 | Germany after Reunification. | 3 |
Germany after Reunification. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The events which led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the reunification of Germany in 1990 and the changing cultural, social, political and economic landscape of the 'New Germany'. Highlighting issues of cultural and social politics, texts discussed include historical, literary and film material. | ||
| GERM 332 | Topics in Eighteenth-Century German Literature and Culture. | 3 |
Topics in Eighteenth-Century German Literature and Culture. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Study of specific topics as they relate to eighteenth-century German literature and culture. | ||
| GERM 335 | Science and Literature. | 3 |
Science and Literature. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course examines the complex exchanges between science and literature across German literature and culture. | ||
| GERM 336 | German Language, Media and Culture. | 3 |
German Language, Media and Culture. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to German culture through literary and non-literary texts, film, multimedia, commercials, painting and photography. By learning how to read these cultural productions, students will refine their communication skills, expand reading strategies, build vocabulary, and review selective grammatical structures. | ||
| GERM 337 | Literature and Revolution. | 3 |
Literature and Revolution. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Seminar on the relationship between literature and political, social and aesthetic change. | ||
| GERM 340 | Romanticism. | 3 |
Romanticism. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course examines one of the pivotal moments of cultural transition in German literary history. | ||
| GERM 344 | Realism. | 3 |
Realism. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. What are the different ways social life has been represented in German literature and culture? | ||
| GERM 348 | Nature and Ecopoetics. | 3 |
Nature and Ecopoetics. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course examines how German literature and culture engage with and construct an understanding of nature and the environment | ||
| GERM 350 | Modernism and the Avant-Garde. | 3 |
Modernism and the Avant-Garde. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course will focus on the variety of German modernisms and their schools of thought. | ||
| GERM 351 | Berlin. | 3 |
Berlin. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Interdisciplinary study of the quintessential modern centers within Germanic speaking Europe. | ||
| GERM 355 | Nietzsche and Wagner. | 3 |
Nietzsche and Wagner. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course examines the relationship between the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and the composer Richard Wagner. It explores their intellectual kinship, their view of art, music, and philosophy in the context of Nietzsche's critique of modernity and decadence and analyzes the Third Reich's and Hollywood's appropriation of Nietzsche and Wagner. | ||
| GERM 357 | German Culture in European Context. | 3 |
German Culture in European Context. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A comparative examination of selected moments in German literary, artistic and cultural history in relation to broader European movements; focus on influences, exchanges and dialogues across national boundaries. | ||
| GERM 358 | Franz Kafka. | 3 |
Franz Kafka. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course will look at the works on Franz Kafka, a "classic" modernist author, in three characteristic genres: the story, the novel, and the short prose piece. A selection of Kafka's letters and diary entries as well as critical approaches to his work will also be studied. | ||
| GERM 360 | German Drama. | 3 |
German Drama. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course will survey the theatrical tradition within German. | ||
| GERM 362 | 20th Century Literature Topics. | 3 |
20th Century Literature Topics. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to selected topics and genres in twentieth century literature and culture. | ||
| GERM 364 | Gender and Society in German Literature and Culture. | 3 |
Gender and Society in German Literature and Culture. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. In connection with notions of identity, nationhood, political change, and cultural difference, this course investigates concepts and issues of gender in contemporary German Society. The readings include critical essays and literary texts by writers, scholars, philosophers, journalists, politicians, and political activists. | ||
| GERM 365 | Modern Short Fiction. | 3 |
Modern Short Fiction. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A study of short prose forms in German throughout history. | ||
| GERM 366 | Lyric Poetry. | 3 |
Lyric Poetry. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to the study of German Poetry from the Middle Ages to the present. | ||
| GERM 368 | Fin-de-Siècle Vienna. | 3 |
Fin-de-Siècle Vienna. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Interdisciplinary study of one of the formative periods of modern European culture; examination of literature, art, thought, culture and politics in Vienna around 1900. | ||
| GERM 369 | The German Novel. | 3 |
The German Novel. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Sustained engagement with the major texts of the German novel from Grimmelshausen to the present. | ||
| GERM 371 | German Cinema. | 3 |
German Cinema. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Survey of German cinema from its inception to the present | ||
| GERM 372 | Topics in German Cinema. | 3 |
Topics in German Cinema. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course investigates a special topic related to the history of German cinema. | ||
| GERM 373 | Weimar German Cinema. | 3 |
Weimar German Cinema. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Weimar Cinema brought to the screen a world populated by monsters, lunatics, workers, vamps, strangers, and doubles. These figures embodied the tensions and fears of the Weimar period (1919-1933) in a manner that continues to attract audiences today. This course explores the cultural and political history of the Weimar period through Weimar cinema. It aims to introduce the student to the fundamentals of film analysis, especially formal analysis and textual analysis. | ||
| GERM 375 | German Media Studies. | 3 |
German Media Studies. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to the history of German media studies. | ||
| GERM 379 | German Visual Culture. | 3 |
German Visual Culture. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course engages with the different strands of German visual culture across media. | ||
| GERM 381 | Topics in German Thought. | 3 |
Topics in German Thought. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Special topics on German intellectual history and its contributions to major philosophical traditions. | ||
| GERM 385 | Critical Theory. | 3 |
Critical Theory. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Engagement with the history of critique from Kant to Adorno. | ||
| GERM 388 | Post-Wall Culture. | 3 |
Post-Wall Culture. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Upper level seminar exploring topics in German culture after unification. | ||
| GERM 390 | Topics in 21st Century German Literature and Culture. | 3 |
Topics in 21st Century German Literature and Culture. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Study of pressing contemporary themes within German literature. | ||
| GERM 397 | Individual Reading Course 01. | 3 |
Individual Reading Course 01. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Given solely at the discretion of the instructor. | ||
| GERM 401 | Advanced Topics in German Literature and Culture. | 3 |
Advanced Topics in German Literature and Culture. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced research course on special topic of German literature and culture. | ||
| GERM 580 | Topics in German Literature and Culture. | 3 |
Topics in German Literature and Culture. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Topics in eighteenth-century German literature. | ||