Skip to main content
Skip to main menu Skip to spotlight region Skip to secondary region Skip to UGA region Skip to Tertiary region Skip to Quaternary region Skip to unit footer

Slideshow

Banner Image:
Environmental portrait of graduate Amazing Student Victoria Barker (2nd from left) working on a project with other second-year law students (L-R) Maria Kachniarz and Wheaton Webb in the Sohn International Law Library at ...

German - A.B.

About this Degree

The German major is designed to provide students with communicative proficiency in the German language and competency in the interpretation of German culture. Following the completion of basic requirements, the program offers optimal flexibility to the individual student who can choose from a variety of courses and devise a curriculum geared towards his or her specific career goals and intellectual interests. The department is comprised of specialists in the major areas of German Studies who integrate language teaching with the teaching of German literature, linguistics, film, and culture studies, as well as important aspects of contemporary German society, business, and politics.

What you will learn

The study of German in the United States has undergone significant changes in recent years. The German program at the University of Georgia reflects those changes by offering intermediate and advanced German courses that cover broad subject areas but generally are not literary survey or genre courses. Instead, the focus may be on a specific issue or a topic that students learn to investigate in depth or from a particular perspective. Through such courses, students acquire the critical tools to undertake independent inquiries into the field of German and form their own questions about cultural specificity and difference. While either German literature or linguistics constitutes the core of these courses, they are frequently interdisciplinary and include materials and methods from other fields such as history, film and media studies, sociology, philosophy, or art history.

The University and the department strongly encourage study abroad and offer numerous opportunities for its pursuit (summer program in Freiburg; semester or year-long exchanges in Rostock, Bamberg, Munich, as well as other partner universities). However, we recognize that many students will not be able to stay in Germany for extended periods of time during or after their course of study. Our program is therefore not limited to analyzing specific aspects of German culture, but generally intended to sharpen students’ critical skills and strengthen their ability to express themselves. It is also designed to raise students’ cross-cultural awareness, to help them realize the uniqueness of their own background and understand it as socially and historically constructed.

Almost one thousand American companies do business with Germany, and over one thousand companies based in German-speaking countries have subsidiaries in the U.S. In all of these firms there is a need for workers with an understanding of both languages and of the differences between the two cultures. Knowledge of German not only helps one get a job, but often is a significant factor in advancement within a company. In a number of high-tech companies (in automotive engineering, optics, medical instrumentation, etc.) German is the language named as the foreign language they would most like job applicants to know. A good knowledge of German, especially if combined with the business vocabulary and practice you get by taking Business German offered in our department, would make your application stand out from the crowd.

Associate Coordinator

Bilingual Instructor

Cast Member

Chief Operating Officer

CIA/FBI Special Agent

Civil Service Worker

Communications Specialist

Community Relations

Copy Editor

Corporate Specialist

Customer Service/Web Support

Customs Official

Development Assistant

Diplomat

Editor

Flight Attendant

Foreign Correspondent

Foreign News Journalist

Foreign Services Worker

Historian

Immigration Specialist

Import/Export Agent

Information Management Officer

Intelligence Specialist Interpreter

Language Researcher

Linguist

Project Manager, Translation Services

Recruitment Coordinator

Regional Director

Sales Associate

Study Abroad Advisor

Translator

Used Car Sales Manager 

A major in German Studies with its twofold emphasis on linguistic proficiency and cultural competency is excellent preparation for a variety of professional careers in business, government, and academia. The comparatively small size of the department allows faculty members to pay close attention to the individual student, to help students advance in their studies, and to guide them in the pursuit of their professional career choices. Whether you are interested in a career in business, foreign service, or law, or if you are looking to become a teacher in primary or secondary education, or to pursue German as an academic subject in graduate school, there are copious ways in which you could apply your knowledge of German to the profession of your choice.

ALTA Language Services

AmeriCorps VISTA

Athens Dodge Chrysler Jeep

Bunim Murray Productions

Chambers of Commerce

COERLL

Delta Airlines

Dept. of Justice, Office of Immigration

Embassies

ETS

German School of Atlanta

GlobaLinks Learning Abroad

Government Agencies

Import / Export Companies

Investment Firms

Ketchum International

Kimberly Clark

Linguarama

National Archives

News Bureaus

Padnos International Center, Grand 

Valley State University

Peace Corps

Premiere Technologies

Print Graphix

ProCorps

Public Relations Firms

Public Service Organizations

savvyTravel™

Stancuna Import/Export

Theodor Storm Gesellschaft

Travel Agencies

U.S. Embassy To Germany

ValueJet Airlines

Visitors Bureaus

Wipro Technologies

Support Franklin College

We appreciate your financial support. Your gift is important to us and helps support critical opportunities for students and faculty alike, including lectures, travel support, and any number of educational events that augment the classroom experience. Click here to learn more about giving.