The Department of Central, Eastern and Northern European Studies offers Honours, Major, and Minor programs in German Studies, made up of courses on Germanophone culture, film, history, language, linguistics, literature, media, philosophy, society and thought. None of our programs require previous knowledge in German. Our programs represent the historically and socially diverse lives and communities that make up the German-speaking world in and beyond Europe—from Switzerland to Namibia to Hungary and elsewhere. Students can find our Program Outcomes here.
Courses with a GMST course code have “English-plus” as their language of instruction. Courses with a GERN course code have “German-plus” as their language of instruction. By “plus”, we mean that no classroom is ever monolingual; students bring all of their languages to class with them and use those languages implicitly to help improve their German knowledge.
Some German Studies courses at or beyond the 300 level are co-located, with one GMST (English-speaking) and one GERN (German-speaking) course code, so that students with differing language repertoires may participate fully and multilingually in the assignments and materials.
For further information on these programs, see the CENES website.
Major in German Studies
Students who complete this program will achieve at least B2 proficiency in German based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. B2 proficiency is equivalent to the successful completion of GERN 302.
The foundation of the major in German Studies is our language course sequence of GERN 101, 102, 201, 202, 301, 302. Students with prior knowledge of German can enroll later in the sequence following a language assessment with the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Lower-level Requirements
12 credits:
- GERN 101, 102, 201, 202
Upper-level Requirements
6 credits:
- GERN 301, 302
24 credits:
- Any combination of GERN or GMST courses at the 300-level or above with the exception of GERN 304 and GERN 404
At the discretion of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, a maximum 6 credits (two courses) of German Studies-themed classes with a different course code may be recognized for the Major.
Honours in German Studies
Students who complete this program will achieve at least B2 proficiency in German based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. B2 proficiency is equivalent to the successful completion of GERN 302.
The Honours program requires the same courses as the Major, with the difference that at least 18 of the 48 credits at or above the 300-level are courses instructed in “German-plus”, i.e., GERN coded courses.
Honours students in German Studies will complete an Honours Research Capstone in German-plus, GERN 492 (6), or in English-plus GMST 492 (6), or another six-credit Capstone Project in an appropriate course approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Lower-level Requirements
- 12 credits:
- GERN 101, 102, 201, 202
Upper-level requirements
6 credits:
- GERN 301, 302
12 credits:
- Any combination of GERN courses at the 300-level or above with the exception of GERN 304 and GERN 404
24 credits:
- Any combination of GMST or GERN courses at the 300-level or above with the exception of GERN 304 and GERN 404
At the discretion of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, a maximum 6 credits (two courses) of German Studies-themed classes with a different course code may be recognized for the Honours.
6 credits:
- GERN 492 (6) Honours Research Capstone or GMST 492 (6) Honours Research Capstone
Minor in German Studies
Students who complete this program will achieve at least B1 proficiency in German based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. B1 proficiency is equivalent to the successful completion of GERN 202.
The foundation of the Minor in German Studies is our language course sequence of GERN 101, 102, 201, 202. Students with prior knowledge of German can enroll later in the sequence following a language assessment with the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Lower-level Requirements
12 credits:
- GERN 101, 102, 201, 202
Upper-level requirements
18 credits:
- Any combination of GERN or GMST courses at the 300-level or above with the exception of GERN 304 and GERN 404
At the discretion of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, 6 credits of German Studies-themed upper-level classes with a different course code may be recognized for the Minor in German Studies.
Minor in German Studies (Anglophone)
The German Studies Minor (Anglophone) is intended for students who wish to focus on German Studies topics taught in English translation. German language courses are not required.
Lower-level Requirements
3 credits:
- Any GMST or GERN course at the 100 or 200-level.
Upper-level requirements
18 credits:
- Any combination of GMST or GERN courses at the 300-level or above with the exception of GERN 304 and 404
At the discretion of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, 6 credits of German Studies-themed upper-level classes with a different course code may be recognized for the Minor in German Studies (Anglophone).