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Head of the Department: U. Henry Gerlach Department of Germanic Languages
and Literatures 3072 Foreign Languages Building
707 South Mathews Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
E-mail: ugerlach @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 their 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
German 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 32 graduate hours of graduate work
(24 of which must be from courses in Germanic Languages and Literatures),
although deficiencies in undergraduate preparation may necessitate
more than 32 graduate hours 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 510–Introduction to
Graduate Study, GER 515–Middle High German, GER 520–History
of the German Language, and two graduate literature courses at the
500 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
21 graduate hours in German studies, including GER 510 and 520; 6
graduate hours chosen from GER 470, 471, 472, 473, and 474; two additional
courses in German literature or linguistics (at least one at the 500
level); 4 graduate hours in educational policy studies, 4 graduate
hours of studies in educational foundations, and 4 graduate hours
in foreign language education. Candidates must also complete 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
40 graduate hours of coursework approved by the graduate adviser.
At least 32 graduate hours 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 32 graduate hours
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
stipends 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.
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