WCAS Department of German: Welcome

Our department offers a broad spectrum of courses either in German or in English in an effort to serve not only potential majors or minors but also a variety of students from different fields within the college and from other schools across campus, such as engineering or communication. It is our goal to expose students in our classes to a variety of learning approaches (including learning with technology), content areas, and a broad range of texts so that they may gain a thorough understanding of the language, the history, and the culture of the German-speaking world. We believe it is difficult for our students to understand contemporary literature or theater without Brecht, science without Einstein, education and the liberal arts without von Humboldt, the human mind without Freud, and diversity and multiculturalism without German philosophers, such as Kant, Hegel, and Nietzsche. German is also essential for being able to comprehend the artistic productions of great composers, architects, and artists like Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Händel, Mozart, Schönberg, and Wagner; Gropius, Van der Rohe, Dürer, Klee, Kandinsky and Kollwitz. The German Bauhaus school has revolutionized modern design, as evidenced by the skyline of Chicago.

The research interests of the department's faculty encompass German literature and culture from the 18th century to the present, literary theory, philosophy, and second language acquisition. We are a small department but all faculty members share a strong commitment to teaching. Faculty members regularly meet with students outside the classroom: they serve as faculty associates in the residential colleges and meet students during the weekly Kaffeeklatsch in the department. Each quarter, the department sponsors an informal lunch-talk for their students. The academic year is capped off with a departmental awards ceremony and a reception for graduating majors and their families. If you send us your e-mail (german@northwestern.edu), we will inform you regularly via our list-serv of all departmental activities: visiting guests, keynote lectures, literary readings, showings of German films, and plays, and other cultural events in Chicago.

Peter Hayes, Chair, Department of German