FAS - Germanic Languages and Literatures

Graduate students may pursue an MA or PhD degree. On the MA level the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures offers tracks in combination with the following programs:

These cooperative degrees typically can be completed in two calendar years and require 24 credits in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures plus additional work in the cooperating department, programs or schools. The German portion must be approved by the department's Director of Graduate Studies. The external portion must be approved by advisors from the participating programs.

Contact Information

Department Chair: Sabine von Dirke

Main Office: 1409 Cathedral of Learning

Phone: (412) 624-5909

Fax: (412) 624-6318

E-mail: germanic+@pitt.edu

Web site: http://www.pitt.edu/~germanic

Admissions

Applicants must indicate which degree they wish to pursue. Students seeking admission to the MA program with a BA in German need a minimum quality point average of B (3.00). Students seeking admission for a PhD are expected to have completed an undergraduate degree in German with a minimum quality point average of A- (3.75). Students with undergraduate training in other fields will be considered for full graduate status if their background in German language and culture is sufficient to compete successfully in graduate level courses.

For admission to the PhD program, students completing their MA at the University of Pittsburgh must pass a preliminary evaluation consisting of a one-hour oral examination and the submission of two research papers (one in English and one in German) which, according to the student's judgment, represents his/her best scholarly work. For students entering with an MA from another institution, this evaluation takes place by the end of their first year of study at the University of Pittsburgh.

Financial Assistance

Students with a high proficiency in oral German are eligible for teaching assistantships or teaching fellowships. Students may also apply for graduate tuition scholarships, Andrew Mellon Predoctoral Fellowships, the Lillian B. Lawler Scholarship/Fellowship, the Provost's Humanities Fellowships, the Fellowships in Cultural Studies, and Exchange Fellowships with the Universities of Augsburg and Bonn. A number of these fellowships are available for first-year graduate students. Interested candidates should submit their completed applications to the department by the beginning of January. See Fellowships and Traineeships for further details.

Degree Requirements

The minimal requirements established by the Graduate Faculty of the University, as described under General Academic Regulations, and any additional requirements of FAS Graduate Studies described under FAS Degree Requirements, should be read in conjunction with department-specific degree requirements described in the following sections.

Requirements for the Master's Degree

The Master of Arts degree normally requires two years of study. In certain exceptional cases the department may admit students intending to complete their MA degree in one academic year. (This is not an option for the MA in German with TESOL or Pennsylvania teaching certification.) The requirements for the MA degree consist of 24-30 credits of graduate seminars (depending on the MA track chosen) and an MA project (up to three credits of GER 2000). GER 2970 (Teaching of German) is mandatory for all Teaching Assistants/Fellows. All seminars counting toward the MA must be taken for letter grades and students need to maintain a B-average in their course work. With the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies, six of the thirty seminar credits may be taken outside the department.

For their MA project, students should select an advisor by the end of their second term. The completed MA paper (about 35-50 pages) should be submitted to the chosen faculty advisor during the week following the Spring Term recess. (MA students who wish to continue for the PhD may petition the faculty to be exempt from the MA project and take three additional credits of course work in lieu of the MA project.)

Students must demonstrate a high level of proficiency in written English and German by submitting at least one paper written in each language. In addition, students must also demonstrate reading proficiency in an additional language by the end of their last term of study. The language may be one taught in secondary schools, one relevant to the German cultural traditions, or one related to a student's research interest.

Requirements for the PhD Degree

The requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy comprise 72 credits, 60 of which must be completed in organized course work. The 72 credits include 30 from MA studies at the University of Pittsburgh or 24 from MA studies at other institutions. Up to 18 of the course credits beyond the MA may be completed in graduate courses offered by other academic programs and departments at the University of Pittsburgh. These courses should comprise a coherent unit of work that has been developed in consultation with the department.

Courses completed outside of the department may be designated to fulfill requirements for established certificate programs in cognate programs (for example, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Cultural Studies, Film Studies, Women's Studies, West European Studies), or they may be used to develop a subspecialty in connection with German (for example, in another language, Second Language Acquisition, History, History of Art and Architecture, Jewish Studies, Music, or Philosophy). The department defines course requirements for appropriate subspecialties in consultation with other departments and programs.

In addition to the satisfactory completion of courses with an overall A- average, students must demonstrate a high level of oral and written proficiency in both spoken and written English and German. They must also submit for departmental approval at least one seminar paper written in German and one in English and acquire reading proficiency in a third language that complements their research interests.

The PhD comprehensive examination, which cannot be retaken, is typically taken within one academic year. It consists of six written sections, each three hours long, as well as a one-hour oral examination. Two of the six written sections may be passed by taking final examinations in departmental seminars that have been approved for this purpose. The topics of the comprehensive examination are developed by the student in consultation with an examination committee of three faculty members appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies. They should include one period of German cultural history, one literary genre, a theme or topic that can be developed across the centuries to the present, and one theoretical or methodological issue. Two additional topics may be defined by the student or passed by course work and final examination. The oral section of the comprehensive examination offers opportunities to pursue issues raised in the written sections, including possible connections between topics.

With the formal approval of a thesis prospectus (10-15 pages) by the doctoral committee, students are admitted to PhD candidacy. Students writing their dissertation thesis must meet with their full doctoral committee once a year.

For completion of the PhD degree, the doctoral thesis must be approved by the doctoral committee after a public defense.

A more detailed synopsis and timetable of the PhD requirements is available from the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures.

Course Listings

GER 2110 Proseminar in Literary Theory

GER 2111/3111 Postmodernism in Germany

GER 2120 Introduction to German Studies 1: 1870-1945

GER 2121 Introduction to German Studies 2: 1945 to the Present

GER 2140 Proseminar in Literary History

GER 2144/3144 Intellectual History: Lessing to Freud

GER 2148/3148 History, Memory, and Narrative

GER 2150/3150 Folklore in Literature

GER 2200/3200 Lyric Poetry

GER 2600/3600 Age of Goethe

GER 2601/3601 Sturm Und Drang

GER 2608/3608 Romanticism

GER 2610/3610 Goethe

GER 2611/3611 Goethe's Dramas

GER 2613/3613 Goethe's Poetry

GER 2660/3660 Classical Drama

GER 2700/3700 Literature and Culture 1800-1900

GER 2702/3702 Double Outcasts

GER 2703/3703 Jewish Contributions to German Literature

GER 2808/3808 Germany at the Turn of the Century

GER 2810/3810 Weimar Culture

GER 2812 Culture of Exile: German Emigres in U.S.

GER 2820/3820 Kafka

GER 2830/3830 Modern Poetry

GER 2840/3840 Modern Drama

GER 2850/3850 The Modern Novel

GER 2860/3860 Post-war Literature and Culture

GER 2865/3865 Contemporary Literature and Culture

GER 2870/3870 GDR Literature

GER 2882/3882 Topics in German Cinema

GER 2884/3884 Weimar Cinema

GER 2886/3886 Film in the Third Reich

GER 2902 Directed MA Study

GER 2970 Teaching of German