Course summary

German Studies is taught by the Department of Languages and Cultures. Through our approach we can enable you to acquire high-level language skills and a thorough understanding of German cultures and societies within a global context. This programme includes an international placement year where you will study abroad. Your first year comprises an exploration of the German language and its cultural context. Alongside this, you will study two minor subjects that complements your degree, one of which may be another language. Building on your language skills in Year 2, you will also study Germany’s culture, politics and history in more depth, as well as selecting modules which are international in scope and promote a comparative understanding of Europe and beyond. Spending your third year abroad in a German-speaking country makes a major contribution to your command of the language, while deepening your intercultural sensitivity. You can study at a partner institution or conduct a work placement. In your final year, you consolidate your German language skills, and study specialist culture and comparative courses, such as Images of Austria: National Identity and Cultural Representation, and Autocrats, Caudillos and Big Men: Understanding Dictatorship and its Cultural Representation in the 20th Century. You will also develop a particular topic from your second year studies into your specialist dissertation.