The language of some of history’s greatest philosophers, composers and poets, German is universally regarded as one of the world’s most precise and descriptive languages. One of the great languages of Europe, German is bridge between western and the eastern culture, and a doorway into some of the most intricate literature and thinking of the past 500 years.

Seeing the World with New Eyes

The German program provides students with the tools and opportunities to become competent, confident, culturally literate citizens of our increasingly global society. We seek to form strong thinkers and writers who excel in their careers nationally and internationally thanks to the flexibility and quickness of mind gained from the close study of language, literature, culture and film.

German majors and minors at Southwestern are expected to acquire a strong grasp of language and a working general knowledge of literature, culture and film, and greater analytical facility in the language. The German program’s curriculum is composed of a mixture of courses focused on the spoken and written language, as well as German literature and culture. Students of German are strongly encouraged to study abroad as part of their education.

As with other language and literature programs at Southwestern, the German program aims to build diverse perspectives. Through the Capstone experience, students bring together the knowledge, insights and perspectives from their German courses and develop a further grounding for sophisticated original work in many fields. The German program also enhances student learning through the use of multimedia teaching aids, both in the Language Learning Center and in special course materials tailored to Southwestern students' specific needs.