Man stands in front of a screen and blackboard with students in a horseshoe around him

German Studies

Immerse yourself culturally, intellectually, globally.

You have a need to feed your intellectual passion for how complex civilizations advance and evolve. Language is not only key to accessing a deep understanding of a culture and its people, it is fundamental to understanding the world and your relationship to it. Through the study and research of German, you will immerse yourself both on campus and abroad in the significance of Europe’s most widely-spoken first language. An integral part of a globally informed curriculum, language studies will give you the ability to articulate ideas and communicate with confidence across intellectual disciplines and geographical boundaries. With expert faculty mentors at your side, you will explore rich study abroad opportunities as well as limitless graduate and professional pathways in interpretation, media, law, economic development, government, tourism, and finance.

Why Study German?

  • German classroom

    Inclusive Education

    Learn from expert faculty and visiting scholars.

    You’ll be part of a program that embraces inclusive teaching methods, offering plenty of research and independent study opportunities to ensure that you can explore the areas of most interest to you. You can present your research beyond Grinnell at an undergraduate research conference or as a published work in a peer-edited journal. Our close learning community, with readily available faculty members, will introduce you to international scholars, artists, and filmmakers who visit campus. You will learn about the multicultural complexities of Germany, Austria, and German-speaking Switzerland through language, literature, art, music, media, and popular culture. You will develop your creative side as well with our digital storytelling project or our writer-in-residency program. You can live in the German House with other students and attend weekly events held in German to get regular practice as you work toward fluency.

  • GLP class in Berlin

    History and Culture

    Master a language that opens doors to the world.

    You’ll learn the language spoken by more Europeans as a first language than any other. German speakers are a global presence in business, politics, diplomacy, NGO work, and tourism. German authors and artists will enrich your learning, especially through our writer-in-residency program, which will allow you to develop your creative writing skills in German. Our curriculum will let you explore all aspects of German culture today and in the past, teaching important lessons about civilizational values and their precariousness. We address urgent topics of racism and xenophobia, the legacies of colonialism and the memory of the Shoah — issues made more compelling as these countries remain destinations for refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Central and Northern African countries, and Eastern Europe. German Studies will help you to explore, question, and grow, giving you the skills to communicate effectively, interact socially, and broaden your appreciation of culture in ways that open your world to new possibilities.

  • GLP class in Berlin

    Study Abroad

    Develop the skills to succeed academically and professionally.

    We encourage students to travel abroad, with off-campus learning opportunities during the academic year, the summer, and as part of our course offerings. We have offered course-embedded travel opportunities to Berlin, Dresden, and Weimar, and we regularly support summer language study in Leipzig. Independent research projects in our department have taken students to Vienna, Berlin, and other European countries, or closer to Grinnell College, to see exhibitions in Kansas City or Chicago. These opportunities will give you a distinct advantage, as fluency in German is essential for many professions and careers and required for many areas of graduate study.

Featured Courses

Outside looking into a classroom taught by Dan Reynolds

Contemporary German through Media

Throughout the course, students apply a multimedia focus to study current events in Germany and its neighboring countries. Through this multimedia lens, you will cultivate an understanding of how those events shape your thinking about similar trends in the United States.
Students in German class

Feminist Literatures from the German-speaking World

Intersectionality examines the interconnected nature of social groups such as race, class, and gender, which often overlap with other marginalized groups to create an individual experience of discrimination and oppression. It is within this context that German Feminist Literature (GRM 295) explores feminist writings with a focus on Black and Jewish writers.
Dan Reynolds teaches in classroom

Remembering the Holocaust

German Studies 270 examines the ways the Holocaust is remembered through works of literature, film, memorials, and personal testimony, both privately and collectively.

Events

Mon
Nov. 4

German Table

Rosenfield Center 224A - Day Dining Room
Monday, November 4, 2024, 12 – 1pm
Fri
Nov. 8

Curating Memory

HSSC S1325 - Presentation Room
Friday, November 8, 2024, 4 – 6pm
Fri
Nov. 8

Europop Gardner

Main Hall Gardner Lounge
Friday, November 8, 10pm – Saturday, November 9, 2024, 1am
Mon
Nov. 11

German Table

Rosenfield Center 224A - Day Dining Room
Monday, November 11, 2024, 12 – 1pm

German Career Outcomes

First Destinations

  • 61% Employment
  • 22% Graduate School
  • 0% Post-Graduate Service
  • 6% Fellowships
  • 6% Continuing Education
  • 6% Other

Employment

86%
Positions related to Career Goals

Positions Related to Career Goals

This graph illustrates the extent to which our graduates' first job is aligned with their career goals. It's one thing to find a job; it's an entirely different thing to land the job you want!

Employer

  • Arctic Wolf Networks
  • Dorsey & Whitney
  • IBM
  • U.S. Department of Treasury

Graduate Schools

80%
80% Accepted to 1st- or 2nd- choice programs

Graduate School Acceptance Info

Of those who applied to and were accepted to at least one program, this chart illustrates the percentage of admitted students who were accepted to either their first or second choice program and institution.

Institutions

  • University of California
Explore More Graduate Outcomes

Department Chair

Daniel P. Reynolds

Contact Information

Phone
641-269-3173

Humanities and Social Studies Center
1226 Park St
Grinnell, IA 50112
United States

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