Interested in pursuing German at the University of Arizona? Learn more about what our department has to offer and find out how studying German pays off. Start your academic career in German today by declaring a German major or minor.
Herzlich willkommen im Department of German Studies an der University of Arizona
Our undergraduate program offers an exciting curriculum, which fosters students' linguistic and cultural competence in German, while introducing them to the interdisciplinary field of German Studies.
Courses in the department are designed to familiarize students with the forms, usage, and meanings of the German language, the cultures, literatures, and histories of German-speaking countries; as well as issues in teaching, learning, and acquisition of German and other foreign languages. Students in German Studies at the University of Arizona have been honored with the university-wide Outstanding Senior Award and induction into Delta Phi Alpha, the national German honor society.
A Bachelor of Arts with a major in German Studies, by itself or in combination with another field, can open the door to careers in education, international business, marketing, the sciences, travel business, foreign service, and many other professions. Our students have gone on to pursue graduate study in German, Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition and Teaching, as well as professional degrees in Science, Medicine, and Law.
Students in our program have the opportunity to study with members of one of the leading German Studies faculties in the US. The entire faculty of German Studies is committed to teaching excellence and to student mentoring; our majors and minors receive close, personal attention from faculty members. Our professors have been recognized for their research and publications in the areas of literary and cultural studies and applied linguistics and pedagogy. Professors in the Department of German Studies have been awarded the Five Star Faculty teaching award, the El Paso Natural Gas Foundation Faculty Achievement Award, and the ACTFL Nelson Brooks Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Culture. Two of our professors have been Research Fellows of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and two were honored with the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Band from the German government.
The German Studies Department offers a number of scholarships for study abroad and works closely with the Study Abroad Office to accommodate a variety of student needs and interests. During the summer, many of our students participate in the intensive Arizona in Leipzig Program or travel through Europe on the Medieval Studies Program. For over twenty years, students from the U of A have participated in an exchange program sponsored by the Federation of German-American Clubs, which allows students to choose from over 30 participating universities in the Federal Republic of Germany. For engineering students who wish to attain hands-on experience in research, we host the Research in Munich Program in collaboration with the University of the Armed Forced in Munich (UniBW Munich). We now also have exciting opportunities to find internship positions for our advanced students with another major or minor in any fields of social sciences, humanities, sciences, engineering, or business.
Our student-led Deutscher Studenten Club/German Student Club actively promotes the study of German language and culture, as well as a sense of community among students in the program. The Club organizes a number of regular activities, including a weekly conversation table (Stammtisch) and Fisch Out of Water*, an open-mic event where students and professors from across the humanities recite, sing, and perform in the many foreign languages that they speak. Our students have been hosting the Deutscher Studenten Cup, an intramural soccer tournament, which raises funds to support study abroad scholarships.
If you enter our program with previous experience in German, such as coursework from high school or another institution, you may be eligible to test into our intermediate or advanced level courses. We also offer credit through AP, CLEP, and IB exams.
For students in the Honors College, we offer a special honors pathway.
If you are interested in majoring or minoring in German Studies and would like to learn more about our program, please contact our Director of Undergraduate Studies and make and make an appointment today.
Why study German?
Better job opportunities are available to those with German knowledge interested in business, science, technology, and culture.