Department of German Studies

The Department of German Studies offers a program that promotes an understanding of the connections between language and its larger cultural contexts worldwide through exploration of the rich and complicated history of German-speaking cultures.

Students typically combine work in German studies with other fields, including architectural studies, the arts, economics, film and media studies, history, international relations, literature, music, philosophy, politics and the sciences.

We have a number of student assistants and liaisons, as well as an array of language resources, to help you learn German. The Language Living-Learning Community usually has a native speaker from Germany as one of the live-in language assistants. Language assistants also lead in-class conversation sessions and are present at the weekly Language Table, which offers more opportunities to practice speaking German through lively discussions and dinner conversations.

Upcoming events

Happening at ��ý

German Studies in the news

Flanked by Interim President Beverly Tatum and Provost Lisa Sullivan, Katie Berry, Renae Brodie, Karen Remmler and Iyko Day received Faculty Awards.

Four faculty members honored for teaching and scholarship

In what has become a signature College tradition, four Mount Holyoke faculty members were honored for their scholarship and teaching at a March 2 ceremony.

Flag of Ukraine blowing as if on a flagpole

Collective trauma in Ukraine

Mount Holyoke Professor Karen Remmler spoke to the New York Times about turning a school that was used as a prison in Ukraine into a memorial and about the tensions that can arise when creating memorials where trauma has occurred.

Instructions for incoming students

If possible, you should take the before registering for a German class.

We review the course selection of all entering students, taking into consideration school and AP records together with the results of the placement exam.

Final course placement will be based on the following considerations: your specific training in German, the results of your placement exam, and scheduling possibilities.

If you are contemplating spending all or part of your junior year in Germany you should be sure to take German in the first semester of your first year. Two continuous years of German in college are normally required for junior year programs in Germany.