GERMANIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES

Head of the Department: U. Henry Gerlach

Correspondence and Admission Information: Head, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, 3072 Foreign Languages Building, 707 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801; E-mail: ugerlach@uiuc.edu

URL: www.german.uiuc.edu

GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS

The Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures offers graduate programs leading to the degrees of Master of Arts in German, Master of Arts in the Teaching of German, and Doctor of Philosophy in German.

ADMISSION

Applicants for graduate degree programs must take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and have the ir scores reported to the department. Applicants are also asked to submit a sample of their written work in English or German or both. For admission to the master of arts program, the writing sample might be a term paper, and for admission to the doctoral level, a master's thesis or seminar paper. International students must demonstrate a sufficient knowledge of English by taking the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

graduate teaching experience

Experience in teaching is considered a vital part of the graduate program and is required as part of the academic work of all Ph.D. candidates in this program.

MASTER OF ARTS

Applicants should have completed undergraduate studies similar to the concentration in German at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, have a grade point average of 3.0 (A = 4.0) for the last 60 hours of undergraduate coursework plus any graduate work completed, and be able to follow lectures in the German language. Acquaintance with Germa n history and culture in their relation to the general European background is desirable. Admission to the program is on a competitive basis.

Candidates for the master of arts degree may emphasize either German or Scandinavian literature or linguistics. All candidates must take coursework in both literature and linguistics.

The master's degree requires eight units of graduate work (six of which must be from courses in Germanic Languages and Literatures), although deficiencies in undergraduate preparation may necessitate more than eight units to meet the requirements. Residence and other requirements of the Graduate College must be met. Candidates for the master's degree must demonstrate proficiency in reading one language other than English and German (usually French). Required courses (or approved equivalents) are GER 410-Introduction to Graduate Study, GER 415-Middle High German, GER 420-History of the German Language, and two graduate literature courses at the 400 level, one in German literature before 1800, the other in German literature after 1800. Electives may be chosen from within or from outside the department with the approval of the graduate adviser. The degree is awarded upon the successful completion of three 3-hour written examinations and a 2-hour oral comprehensive examination, or upon successful defense of a thesis. More detailed information may be obtained from the departmental office.

MASTER OF ARTS IN THE TEACHING OF GERMAN

Applicants must meet the same admission standards as those for the Master of Arts in German. Candidates for the M.A.T. degree must earn 5.25 units in German studies, including GER 410 and 420; 1.5 units

chosen from GER 370, 371, 372, 373, and 374; two additional courses in German literature or linguistics (at least one at the 400 level); one unit in educational policy studies, one unit of studies in educational foundations, and one unit in foreign language education. Candidates must also c omplete all undergraduate requirements for a teaching certificate, although no graduate credit is given for undergraduate courses. In some cases, with proper advance approval, graduate courses may be applied to the teaching certification requirements. Contact the certification officer of the Council on Teacher Education (130 Education Building, 217-333-2804) for information pertaining to pursuing certification while enrolled in the graduate program. Residence requirements are those of the Graduate College. The degree is awarded after the successful completion of three 90-minute written examinations and a 1-hour oral examination. More detailed information is available from the departmental office.

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Applicants must meet the admission standards outlined for the master of arts and, in addition, hold a Master of Arts in German (or equivalent) with a graduate grade point average of 3.5 (A = 4.0). Admission to the program is on a competitive basis.

Candidates for the Ph.D. in German may specialize in older German literature, modern German literature, Germanic linguistics, or Scandinavian literature.

Students working toward the Ph.D. degree must have completed all requirements for the master of arts degree given above and must complete an additional ten units of coursework approved by the graduate adviser. At least eight units must be for courses in Germanic Languages and Literatures. Residence requirements are those of the Graduate College. Candidates must demonstrate proficiency in reading two languages other than English and German that are considered useful in their area of specialization.

After passing the written preliminary examinations (three 4-hour comprehensive examinations), the student is admitted to the oral examination, the successful completion of which admits the student to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. The candidate must then complete eight units of thesis research and successfully defend the thesis in an oral examination. All candidates for the Ph. D. degree must have taught the equivalent of three one-semester courses on the college level (i.e., teaching one-half time for one academic year) before being admitted to the final oral examination (thesis defense). Candidates for the Ph.D. in German may additionally obtain a Certificate of Advanced Study in Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education (SLATE Certificate). Ph.D. Candidates are required to complete two courses in linguistics, one in psycholinguistics/sociolinguistics, two in second language studies, and two in research methods. More detailed information is available from the departmental office.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

The department faculty includes nationally and internationally recognized scholars in all areas of research within the field. These areas include older and modern German literature, Scandinavian literature, Yiddish language and literature, comparative literature, medieval studies, American-German relations, historical and synchronic Germanic linguistics, German civilization, and German language pedagogy. The University Library has one of the nation's outstanding collections of works pertaining to study and research in Germanic literatures of all periods and in Germanic and general linguistics.

FINANCIAL AID

Teaching assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis to promising candidates with strong academic records. Preference may be given to students who have lived in a German-speaking country or have had some teaching experience. Teaching assistantships are usually awarded at one-half time for the academic year. Each year the department may nominate one or more outstanding students for a University fellowship. Full details on amounts of financial aid and time limitations for eligibility may be obtained from the departmental office.

Each year the department selects one graduate student to study for a year at the University of Regensburg, Germany, with a fellowship stipend; two graduate students to study for a year with assistantship stipen ds at the universities of Göttingen and Heidelberg, respectively; and one graduate student to serve as administrative assistant to the program director in the Austria-Illinois Exchange Program in Vienna. The stipends for these fellowships and assistantships are comparable to those for students serving in the department as half-time assistants.

For continuing graduate students, the awarding of financial aid of all types is contingent upon the maintenance of satisfactory progress toward a degree.