Languages: German

Berlin cityscape.

Overview

The German Program at the School of Modern Languages offers a minor in German, as well as undergraduate and graduate degrees in German. We provide students with an integrative academic education that emphasizes linguistic and cultural proficiency, intercultural studies, and applied language use. A close-knit combination of language and culture courses, faculty-led study abroad programs, and extracurricular events and opportunities facilitate the opportunity for our students to make German an integral part of their academic studies and professional careers. We offer our students an educational experience that combines intellectually rigorous, interdisciplinary approaches reflecting faculty research agendas with an intercultural education that prepares our students as citizens and leaders on the international job market as much as in their local communities. German language skills are valued in many areas, such as manufacturing, logistics, agriculture, software and communications, and transportation.

Students can choose from a wide breadth of classes. They can study German at all levels ranging from beginning language courses, to advanced language acquisition courses, to courses focusing on a variety of cultural and theoretical topics. Our courses cover linguistics, intercultural studies, cultural history, literature, film and media studies, and race and gender studies. They explore, for example, the role of memory, migration, or technology in German-speaking countries, and challenge students to think about the significance of humanities for their everyday lives in the 21st century; a civic, democratic society; as well as the globalized, international job market. Our program offers interdisciplinary curricula; student-focused, research-oriented assignments; and emphasis on professional application and development. The German Program also wholeheartedly endorses the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030) and understands them to be at the center of our pedagogic and research mission.

Our signature German Language for Business and Technology (LBAT) Program provides our students an intellectually rigorous, interdisciplinary, and immersive summer study abroad experience in Vienna. In collaboration with OIE, the German Program also supports students interested in studying a semester abroad and/or completing an internship in Germany. We are proud to support our students’ abroad experiences via scholarships from The Barry and Gail Spurlock Scholarship and The Halle Foundation.

Georgia Institute of Technology offers a wide variety of internship opportunities in fall, spring, and summer. Most of all international internships completed by our students are in Germany. Students have interned at companies like Deutsche Bahn, Grenzebach, Lufthansa, and others. Additionally, Atlanta is a great place to study German. Many major German companies such as Mercedes, Porsche, Siemens, BMW, Grenzebach, Thyssenkrupp, Deutz, Rödl & Partner, and AGCO Corp can be found in the Atlanta area and there is $11.5 billion of total trade between Germany and Georgia every year.

We are excited about your interest in the program and look forward to working with you in interdisciplinary and cross-cultural ways on completing your minor, undergraduate degree, or graduate degree. We also look forward to meeting you at our many cultural events and German Club activities. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions!

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Programs of Study

Graduate Degrees in German

Undergraduate Degrees in German

Minors and Certificates in German

To earn a minor in German, students must complete 15 credits of upper-division (3000- & 4000-level) coursework. To earn a certificate in German, students must complete 12 credits of coursework at the level of GRMN 2002 or higher. Taking part in the German Languages for Business and Technology (LBAT) Program is a great way to complete nearly all of the minor coursework during the summer through study abroad. Upon completion of the LBAT, students only need to complete 3 credit hrs (one course). Completing the LBAT will fulfill all requirements of the certificate.

Study Abroad

German Language for Business and Technology (LBAT)

The German Language for Business and Technology (LBAT) program provides an academically rigorous and culturally exciting experience for students who have completed a minimum of GRMN 2001 or have provided evidence of equivalent credit. The five-week-long German LBAT program introduces students to two major cities and the surrounding regions of Germany: Berlin and Munich. The program explores regional perspectives in lifestyles, history, and traditions as well as from an industrial point of view. Together with numerous visits to German companies, historic sites, and cities, the program provides students with an integrative, in-depth experience of different cultural and professional settings in Germany.

The coursework of the German LBAT Program consists of two upper-level courses:

  • GRMN 4693 Technology and Heimat: Societal Changes through High Tech and Media (taught in Munich)
  • GRMN 4691 Berlin: The Capital in the 20th Century (taught in Berlin)

During the German LBAT, students complete the coursework for 6 credits and make significant progress toward a German minor.

For detailed information on the logistics, cost, and academic coursework of the program, please see the LBAT Germany page.


Early Immersion: German in Vienna

Discover the city where the waltz, the mocha, the psychologist’s couch, quantum physics, and abstract art got their start. Vienna is a global leader in science, politics, music, and cuisine, and is a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site. Vienna’s coffeehouses are protected under UNESCO because they were the site of so many conversations that changed the world. Now it’s your turn to talk: Join Mozart, Beethoven, Freud, Schrödinger, Wittgenstein, and Klimt for a summer in one of the world’s “most livable cities,”1 and discover where your conversations can take you.

One year of Language in 6 Weeks

Early Immersion: German in Vienna offers an intensive immersion experience. The program covers the entire 2nd-year language curriculum in 6 weeks, accelerating students into the advanced level of German after less than one year of study. Students complete GRMN 2001 and GRMN 2002, making them eligible to join the final portion of the German LBAT and fast-track to complete a minor or major as early as Sophomore year.

In this program, you will build advanced language, leadership skills, and career preparation alongside unparalleled opportunities to experience global culture and history. Students are expected to speak German throughout the program and take every opportunity to experiment with the language to improve their skills. Early Immersion offers a supportive and fun environment that will transform your speaking ability.

Courses:

  • GRMN 2001: May 18-June 03
    Kathrin Köppe
    3 credits

  • GRMN 2002: June 08-June 24
    Kathrin Köppe
    3 credits