Master of Arts Degree Program

The M.A. degree is designed to be meaningful in itself and a foundation for further progress toward the Ph.D.

Prerequisites for admission to the M.A. Program include a relevant bachelor’s degree (or equivalent such as Vordiplom or Zwischenprüfung) and indication of ability to do successful graduate work in German studies. Deficiences in background and insufficient command of spoken or written German must be remedied before the M.A. is granted.

The three-track Master of Arts degree is dedicated to providing a sound background in the field of German and Scandinavian studies with broad opportunity for interdisciplinary work. Reflecting faculty research strengths in the department, the University and the Five College consortium, the three tracks are Gender Studies, Film Studies, and Literary and Cultural Studies.

Language Requirement
For the M.A. degree, proficiency in German is required.

Program of Study
Ten courses (30 credit hours) with at least a 3.0 grade average are required of all M.A. candidates by university regulation. Full-time students are normally expected to take a minimum of three courses in each semester. (Courses taken as audits are not counted among the minimum three.) Those holding teaching assistantships are expected to complete their course requirements for the M.A. within four consecutive semesters of the regular academic year. Of the ten courses required for an M.A. degree, six must be taken in German and Scandinavian Studies. Outside courses must be approved by the student’s adviser and the Graduate Program Director.

To provide a solid basis in the tools of the profession and the foundations of scholarship in German studies, M.A. students are required to take the following courses:

583 Methods of Teaching German

585 Structure of German

601 Middle High German

Additional courses should be selected in consultation with the student’s adviser to form the basis for the Master’s exams. By end of the first semester in the program, a student should have arranged for a faculty member qualified in the appropriate track above to serve as adviser for the M.A. The adviser assists the student in designing a program of study and selecting courses. Within the student’s track (gender studies, film studies, or literary and cultural studies), the M.A. exams are to cover three mandatory areas: the history of the student’s area of concentration, methods applicable to its analysis, and analysis of works appropriate to it.