Germanic Languages and Literatures

Germanic Languages & Literatures News

Congratulations to Emeritus Prof. Stephen Jaeger on his new book!

The worldly culture of northern Europe in the two centuries between the end of the Carolingian Empire and the “renaissance of the twelfth century” is, in the words of Claudio Leonardi, an “age without a name.” The difficulty of naming the period might be a lack of coherence among its parts and, at...

Congratulations to Marie Jensen and Macy Sherwood on their ICTFL awards!

Marie received the ICTFL Award for College World Language Teaching Majors from the Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Macy received the ICTFL Award for New Teachers of a World Language from the Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Congratulations...

Congratulations to Prof. Stephanie Hilger on her new book!

Exploring 18th-century medicine's construction of individuals with non-standard sexual anatomy as “hermaphrodites”, this book focuses on the genre of the case history from three different languages and national contexts-British, French, and German. Medicalizing Difference...

Prof. Hunt, Work-in-Progress Workshop

Please join us for the inaugural meeting of the Work-in-Progress Workshop on Dec 6, 2024 at 4pm. This forum is designed to gather members and friends of the Germanic department together to support innovative research and provide a collaborative space to work through new ideas. Grad...

Felix Ayanbode’s Defense

We’re pleased to announce the Final Examination of Felix Ayanbode as he presents the oral defense of his thesis. The Representation of Biracial Occupation Children Please feel free to join us! Monday, November 18, 2024 10:00 am – 12:00 pm...

Remembering 1989

This account of the “laboratory of radical democracy” in the months before East Germany’s absorption in the West challenges memories of Germany’s reunification. For many, 1989 is an iconic date, one we associate with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. The...

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Career Paths in Germanic Languages and Literatures

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Comprehensive curriculum in language, culture, and linguistics

In addition to courses in German for the complete immersion experience, we offer numerous classes in English, most of which fulfill General Education requirements. Undergraduates can also pursue study abroad in Vienna or elsewhere in the German-speaking world via Illinois Abroad and Global Exchange, and our graduate students regularly win fellowships to do research at a wide range of universities and libraries in Germany, Austria, and Scandinavia. Join us!

Illinois in Vienna Graduate study and research

GER 465 - Die deutsche Sprache in Österreich

Explore the German language in Austria from a sociolinguistic perspective.

GER 465

GER 473 - Protest Memory: Post-1989 Literature, Film, and Theory

We will discuss a diverse archive of post-1989 literature, film, and memorials in order to reexamine the so-called Peaceful Revolution and the interval year of ’89-90.

GER 473

GER 396 - Babylon Berlin

In 1929, Berlin was known to be a hedonistic city of extremes: corrupt wealth existed alongside destitute poverty and an underground world of wild parties and glamour.

GER 396

GER 201 - German Popular Culture: Tales of Horror

It is hard to overstate how central vampires and zombies, doppelgänger and killers, ghosts and artificial humans—haunted hybrids—have been to the construction of German identity.

GER 201

GER 261 - Holocaust on Film

We investigate literary and filmic representations of the Holocaust.

GER 261

Germanic Department Courses Spring 2025

Check us out in Spring 2025! Some of our courses are highlighted here, and contact Charlie Webster (cwebste@illinois.edu) for more information about our full range of GER and SCAN offerings!

2025 Course Offerings