German

Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt.
("The boundaries of my language are the boundaries of my world.")
--Ludwig Wittgenstein

Learning a language is at the heart of a liberal arts education. Understanding the connections between a language and larger contexts is a gateway to living, working, and communicating successfully in an increasingly globalized world. Students explore the rich and complicated history of German-speaking cultures, and with an emphasis on student-centered teaching and on preparation for learning abroad, German and German studies is dedicated to helping students acquire cultural knowledge across the disciplines through intensive study of the German language. Students may complement their majors in music, philosophy, history, chemistry, economics, international relations and biology, to name a few, with a major or minor in German studies. German studies alumnae have gone on to professions in higher education, music, journalism, engineering, and positions at the American Embassy, among other fields.

Our campus in Vienna provides German for beginning, intermediate and advanced study.Faculty members combine use of cutting-edge technology with a passion for critical and creative thinking based on a global perspective of German-speaking cultures. Seminars include the works of historically significant collections, like the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, to authors and thinkers such as Christa Wolf, Nietzsche, and Kafka, as well as films and music. Check out these links for the answers to any of your questions, or contact our section coordinator, Paula Hanssen -- hanssen@webster.edu.