GERST-MA - German Studies (MA)
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Program Overview
The department provides students with the linguistic and analytic ability to explore the significance of the cultural traditions and political histories of the German-speaking countries of Central Europe. At the same time, the interdisciplinary study of German culture, which can include art, economics, history, literature, media theory, philosophy, political science, and other fields, encourages students to evaluate broader and contradictory legacies of the German past, the history of rapid modernization and the status of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland today.
The German experience of national identity, political unification, and integration into the European Union sheds light on broader issues of cultural cohesion and difference and on the causes and meaning of phenomena such as racial prejudice, anti-Semitism, and the Holocaust. In general, education in German Studies encourages the student to consider the impact of German-speaking thinkers and artists. It provides a lens through which the contours of the present and past, in Europe and elsewhere, can be evaluated.
The department offers students the opportunity to pursue coursework at all levels in the languages, cultures, literatures, and societies of German-language traditions. Whether interested in German literature, the influence of German philosophy on other fields in the humanities, or the character of German society and politics, students find a broad range of courses covering language acquisition and refinement, literary history and criticism, cultural history and theory, history of thought, continental philosophy, and linguistics.
Minimum Units in the Program
Minimum University Units
This program is designed for those who do not intend to continue their studies through the PhD degree at Stanford. To complete the MA degree, students must complete a minimum of 45 units of graduate work. If students enroll for three quarters for a minimum of 15 units per quarter, they can fulfill the MA requirements in one year.
The MA program requires students to take the three graduate core courses (course, course, and course). These courses cover texts from our core reading lists in three areas of German Studies: pre-1700. 1700-1900, and post-1900. The student may select the remaining courses, but they must be graduate-level courses in German and/or approved courses in related fields such as art history, comparative literature, linguistics, history, or philosophy.
MA candidates must take an oral examination toward the end of their last quarter. In preparation for the oral exam, students are expected to compile a reading list of 30 texts comprised of:
10 items from each of the three core; lists (pre-1700, 1700-1900, 1900-2000)
Ten items from the film/opera lists
Five additional items of their own choice
This MA reading list must be compiled in consultation with the advisor.
Coterminal Program
Students may apply to combine programs for the BA and MA degrees in German Studies. Coterminal students in German Studies may count eligible courses taken up to one academic year before enrollment in the first graduate quarter. Students are reminded that course transfer is subject to the approval of the undergraduate and graduate departments.
University Coterminal Requirements
Coterminal master’s degree candidates are expected to complete all master’s degree requirements. Coterminal Master's Degrees describes university requirements for the coterminal master’s degree. See Graduate Degrees for university requirements for the master’s degree.
After accepting admission to this coterminal master’s degree program, students may request a transfer of courses from the undergraduate to the graduate career to satisfy the requirements for the master’s degree. Transferring courses to the graduate career requires review and approval of both the undergraduate and graduate programs on a case-by-case basis.
In this master’s program, courses taken during or after the first quarter of the sophomore year are eligible for consideration for transfer to the graduate career; the timing of the first graduate quarter is not a factor. No courses taken before the first quarter of the sophomore year may be used to meet master’s degree requirements.
Course transfers are not possible after the bachelor’s degree has been conferred.
The University requires that the graduate advisor be assigned in the student’s first graduate quarter even though the undergraduate career may still be open. The University also requires that the Master’s Degree Program Proposal be completed by the student and approved by the department by the end of the student’s first graduate quarter.
The MA program requires students to take the three graduate core courses (course, course, and course). These courses cover texts from our core reading lists in three areas of German Studies: pre-1700. 1700-1900, and post-1900. The student may select the remaining courses, but they must be graduate-level courses in German and/or approved courses in related fields such as art history, comparative literature, linguistics, history, or philosophy.
MA candidates must take an oral examination toward the end of their last quarter. In preparation for the oral exam, students are expected to compile a reading list of 60 texts comprised of:
15 items from each of the three core; lists (pre-1700, 1700-1900, 1900-2000)
Ten items from the film/opera lists
Five additional items of their own choice
This MA reading list must be compiled in consultation with the advisor.