German Studies

BA German Studies is open to complete German language beginners (ab initio) and post-A-level standard German speakers.

The language element of this course is complemented by a variety of other subject areas, including linguistics, and a wide range of cultural and historical units that use German-language sources to improve your language competence, as well as your wider knowledge of German-speaking countries.

Specialisms in German include historical and contemporary linguistics, literary studies, screen studies, gender and sexuality, modern cultural history, minority cultures and Holocaust studies.

The third year includes a period spent in a German-speaking country. You can choose a work placement, teach English in schools as part of the British Council's assistantship scheme, or study at our prestigious partner institutions in Berlin, Freiburg, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Leipzig, Basle, Innsbruck and Vienna.

Our teaching, praised in the Teaching Quality Assessment and by external examiners, is backed up by an innovative Independent Language Learning Programme, enabling you to take control of your own learning experience.

You will benefit from our strong links with the Goethe Institute and the Austrian Cultural Forum, which sponsor a varied programme of cultural events.

The course unit details listed below are those you may choose to study as part of this programme and are referred to as optional units. These are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this programme. Although language units may show here as optional, they are a mandatory part of your modern languages degree and you will take the units relevant to your level of language in each year of study. It is compulsory to study language at all levels of your modern languages degree.