German Studies

Brandenburger Tor with Quadriga in Berlin at sunset

*Photographs of Berlin by Julie Stoermer

Founded in 1900, the program in German Studies offers a BA, minor, MA, and PhD. German Studies provides a comprehensive introduction to German language, literature, and culture, offering something for students ranging from those new to the study of the language to native speakers. Regularly-taught courses address German culture, cinema, literature, and folk tales.

Graduates from our program have gone on to teach in elementary schools, high schools, and universities throughout the region and around the world. They have found work in embassies and cultural institutions, in film production companies, and as museum curators, translators, and computer programmers. Students in fields such as engineering and business frequently minor in German Studies and co-op and work at German companies in Europe and North America. The German Studies major and minor pair well with several other degrees across the university.

See the adjacent pages for information on our degree programs, study abroad opportunities, the journal Focus on German Studies, and additional resources.

Core Faculty: The primary faculty contacts for our graduate and undergraduate programs are Graduate Director Tanja Nusser and Undergraduate Director Evan Torner. Other core faculty in German Studies are Todd Herzog, Peter Rehberg, and Matthew Bauman.

The UC German Studies graduate program has name recognition for its strengths in language pedagogy and intercultural competency, graduate student professionalization, and top-tier faculty research. Our faculty and their primary research areas include:

  • Todd Herzog: European Modernism, German-Jewish Culture, Contemporary European Cultural Politics, Film Studies, and Austrian Studies.
  • Tanja Nusser: Literature Since the Early 19th Century, Visual and Performance Studies, Film and Media Studies, Gender Studies, History of Science, Disability Studies, and Animal Studies.
  • Evan Torner: Game Studies, Film Studies, Performance Studies, Multimedia Narrative Studies and Literacies, Transnational German Studies, Politics and Culture.
  • Peter Rehberg: Queer Studies, Media Studies, Visual Culture Studies, Museum Studies, Theory, and Continental Philosophy.
  • Matthew Bauman: Coordinator for German language classes; documentary film in East and West Germany; Weimar period film and literature; adaptation theory.