There is much to learn in our German and Scandinavian academic programs, but we also offer a variety of scholarly and informal community-building activities outside the classroom. Join our community!
The German Coffee Hour (Kaffeestunde) meets weekly during the semester at Espresso Royale (on Goodwin in Urbana). Speakers at all language levels are welcome. Extra credit for attendance is offered by instructors of our language and culture courses. For more information, please contact Andrew Schwenk.
The German Film Night (Filmabend) happens once a month during the semester in Lucy Ellis Lounge, Foreign Languages Building. We show the films with English subtitles. Watch our Instagram and department website home page for announcements.
The German Club (Deutschklub) meets regularly during the semester, and plans excursions and other activities. Follow our Instagram and department website home page for information.
Our graduate students have their own lecture series, the German Colloquium. Students use this opportunity to get feedback on upcoming conference papers, seminar papers, or segments of dissertations in progress.
Our department lecture series showcases visiting speakers during the year. Recent lecture series themes included "Making a Difference in German and Scandinavian Studies," and focused on diversity initiatives, inclusivity, and decolonization efforts.
The Scandinavian Program sponsors a weekly Swedish Conversation Group and Coffee Hour. Students, faculty, and native speakers in the community speak Swedish in a relaxed environment, get to know others who share their interest in Scandinavia, and sometimes also converse in Danish and Norwegian, depending on the participants.
Members of the Department also participate regularly in reading groups on special texts and topics reflecting the interests of students and faculty.
The University of Illinois' Humanities Research Institute offers a wide program of regular reading and project groups. Past groups devoted to topics related to our fields include:
- "The Role of Study Abroad in Higher Education"
- "Populism and Narrative"
- "The German Colloquium" (an interdisciplinary forum for discussion of topics related to Germany past and present)
- "The Lacanian Reading Group"
- "Language and Social Interaction"
- "Migration and Language"
- "Queer Studies: Sexualities, Races, Nations"
- "Theoretical Approaches to Otherness in the Early Modern Period"