The PhD requires 52 hours of courses (including 30 MA credits) in Germanic Languages and Literatures. Students who complete interdisciplinary graduate certificates will be required to enroll in additional units as specified by the certificate-granting department or program. Note: Students may not exceed 72 hours of course credit.

These rules regarding required courses taken at Washington University apply to students joining the program with a bachelor’s degree, who will earn an MA in the process of obtaining the Ph.D. Students entering with a master’s degree may already have fulfilled some of these requirements. The fulfillment of Washington University requirements with courses completed elsewhere should be discussed with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), who will determine the transfer of credits.

Students are encouraged to take courses covering the full historical and thematic range of German-speaking literature and culture, to be chosen in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS). In addition, the following courses are required of all students:

Theory and Methods:

• One seminar addressing theories of literary and cultural analysis (COMPLITTHT 5050 Theory and Research Methods in the Humanities [3 units] or equivalent)

Pedagogy:

• GERMAN 5020 Teaching Practicum (1 unit) 
• GERMAN 5030 Theory and Practice of Foreign Language Pedagogy (2 units)

Thematic and Methodological Areas:

At least one seminar must be taken from any three of the following four categories. In rare cases, subject to the approval of the department chair and the Director of Graduate Studies, a course from outside of German might fulfill one of these categories. Course descriptions for each seminar offered in the department will indicate which of these categories is covered in the seminar.

• Category I: Translation Studies
• Category II: Media Studies and Digital Humanities
• Category III: Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Race
• Category IV: Critical Theory and Intellectual History

Students admitted in the International Writer's Track take four semesters of COMPLITTHT 5210 Literature in the Making (3 units) or the equivalent. 6 of these 12 units will count toward the 39-unit total.

Examinations

Master’s Examination

Students who enter with a bachelor's degree must complete an oral and written master’s examination at the end of their second year. A student's performance in both the oral and the written exams serves the faculty as one important element for deciding whether the student will receive permission to proceed with his or her graduate studies.

Qualifying Examinations and Dissertation Prospectus

Students taking qualifying exams should display general knowledge and understanding of the primary materials, historical contexts, scholarly questions, and theoretical frameworks that are likely to drive their future dissertations. Usually taken in the fourth year for students entering with a bachelor's degree and in the third year for students entering with a master's degree, the qualifying exam process consists of four phases:

• Phase 1: development of a bibliography for the exams;
• Phase 2: preparation for and completion of two exams, each of which consists of a written portion and an oral portion;
• Phase 3: creation and defense of a dissertation prospectus;
• Phase 4: preparation and circulation of dissertation abstract and filing of Title, Scope and Procedure Form (the latter of which must be submitted to the Graduate School no later than at the end of the fourth year of graduate study)

In the first exam, the student is required to situate his/her primary materials and their author(s) in their respective historical contexts and periods, with specific points of emphasis to be determined together with his/her exam committee. The second exam serves to frame the student’s primary materials in theoretical terms; it is meant to discuss in general terms the methodological approaches for the planned dissertation.

Mentored Teaching Experiences

The German Program at Washington University provides graduate students with exceptional training and mentoring for their teaching both here at Washington University and in their future careers. Our students have an opportunity to assist with and teach a wide variety of courses, including introductory through advanced German, as well as courses in Comparative Literature, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Film and Media Studies. At the beginning of their teaching experience, students work in close collaboration with the Foreign Language Pedagogy specialist, as well as other faculty members, who serve in a variety of capacities as mentors and advisers. As they gain more experience and prove themselves, students have the opportunity to teach their own courses under the supervision of a faculty mentor.

As part of their training, all graduate students take a series of 1-2 unit seminars that facilitate and reinforce their development as teachers over the course of their graduate studies. These courses familiarize students with current and past strategies and theories of second language acquisition, with available materials on the market today and with the practices and approaches of German-language programs around the country. A unique, two-semester apprenticeship allows advanced graduate students to observe literature and culture classes taught by professors in the German Program as well as professors in other departments, to teach model classes themselves, and to develop draft syllabi.

Mentored Professional Experiences

The German Program also offers its graduate students an opportunity to do semester-long internships (Mentored Professional Experiences, or MPEs) to help them develop skills that translate across professional fields. MPEs may take place on or off campus in the St. Louis area. Recent placements include Arts & Sciences College Office, Olin Library, Special Collections, Center for the Humanities, Public Scholarship, Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri History Museum. Students will be matched according to their scholarly interests and/or the professional skills they are looking to develop.

For more information about our pedagogy program for graduate students and the MTE and MPE requirements for the degree, please contact our Director of Graduate Studies.

Detailed program requirements can be found in the Bulletin.