FGR_BA - German

About this Program

• College: Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Degree: Bachelor of Arts
• Credits for Degree: 120
• More Info

To graduate with this major, students must complete all university, college, and major requirements.

The BA in Foreign Languages and Literatures (FLL) provides students with a comprehensive knowledge of a specific language (or languages) and advanced familiarity with the cultural practices and traditions associated with the language(s) of specialization. The major in FLL enhances critical thinking and communication skills and provides students with a cross-cultural understanding of our contemporary world. The program allows students the flexibility to explore a single or dual language specialization as well as the opportunity to study culture through interdisciplinary fields of critical concentration, such as Comparative Cultural Studies, Film and Visual Culture, Intensive Area Studies, Literary Studies, and Medieval and Early Modern Studies. A major in FLL offers an excellent basis for a variety of careers, including graduate study in an area of foreign language and culture and/or in the humanities and social sciences, as well as careers in education, international development, diplomacy and government, national security, communications, law, journalism, arts and culture, publishing, and global business. Participation in UF study-abroad programs or a UF approved program is highly encouraged.

The German specialization of the Foreign Languages and Literatures major is not limited to knowing the language, but instead helps the student achieve multiple literacies. In the major, the study of language merges with the study of culture and includes:

• The works of German literature as well as German culture and civilization from the Middle Ages through the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century
• German cinema
• The writings of ethnic minorities in German-speaking countries
• The terminology of business, economics, and the European Union
• Summer studies or full-semester studies at a German or Austrian university.

For many students, the curriculum is an enriching discovery of their own past: more than 60 million Americans are at least partly of German heritage. More Americans can trace their ancestry to Germany than to any other foreign country, and since the middle of the 20th century more Americans have lived and worked in Germany than in any other foreign country.

Requirements for the Major

The German specialization in Foreign Languages and Literatures consists of foundational language study at the lower division (1000 and 2000 level), and 33 credits of advanced language, theory, and culture study in the upper division (3000 level and above).

All coursework for the major must be completed with minimum grades of C. Up to 15 credits of 3000/4000-level courses can be transferred from another institution.

Ordinarily, students will need to have completed GER 2200 Intermediate German 1 by their fifth semester at UF to be able to complete the German major.

Required Foundation Coursework

Total depends on placement in language courses

Required Major Coursework

No more than 3 credits can be earned in independent studies courses such as GEW 4905.

Overseas Study

The program recommends its summer program in Mannheim, Germany. Students can complete nine credits at the intermediate or advanced level depending on prerequisites met.

Placement

Students without prior German should take the GER 1130 and GER 1131 sequence (five credits each). An alternative manner of completing the basic language sequence in a single year is by taking the online German sequence GER 1125 and GER 1126, Discover German. These 10 credit sequences fulfill the college's language requirement.

Students with previous training in one of the languages should speak with the department.