German Studies
at Saint Mary’s
Department of Modern Languages
& Classics
__________________________________________
DEUTSCH MACHT SPASS!
Why Study German?
 Almost 3 million Canadians are of German origin.
 Germans have made major contributions to every
field of study: science, engineering, sociology,
history, politics, psychology, philosophy, music, art,
literature, business …
 Germany is Canada’s fifth largest export market.
 German is spoken by over 120 million people
worldwide.
 Germany has a great cultural heritage and is home to
more than 3,000 museums, 400 theatres, 41
professional orchestras, 60 theatre festivals,
numerous film festivals, 300 classical music festivals,
and the world’s largest pop music festival.
 It’s fun to speak German!
PROGRAMS AT A GLANCE
There are three degree programs in German Studies:
Minor in German Studies
(24 credit hours; 12 of these must be at the 3000
level or above)
Concentration in German Studies
(24 credit hours)
Certificate in German Language & Culture
(24 credit hours)
What Do I Learn When I Study German?
A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE
Studying German means learning one of the world’s most
widely spoken languages and getting to know a culture that
has had a very significant impact on the world. By studying
German language and culture, you will broaden your
knowledge of others and gain a greater appreciation of the
cultural differences and similarities that lead to deeper
understanding between cultures. You will be able to
communicate across cultures and become globally aware.
GERMAN LANGUAGE COURSES
We offer a range of German language acquisition courses,
which integrate oral and written communicative practice.
In these courses, students develop linguistic and
communicative competence in German. Students acquire
knowledge of the German language, become articulate
and expressive in German, develop analytical skills, and
become acquainted with various aspects of everyday
German culture.
GERMAN CULTURE COURSES
We also offer a range of courses taught in English or
German on German literature, culture, and cultural history.
In these courses, students develop cultural and intercultural
competence. Students acquire interpretive and critical
skills and gain an appreciation for the world beyond
their immediate sphere of reference. You could learn about
what the Romans thought about the Germanic tribes, how
to woo a courtly maiden, how Luther argued against the
Vatican, what Kant meant by daring us to think for
ourselves, why Hänsel and Gretel were left in the forest,
what it means to be Kafkaesque, how the World Wars were
depicted on the other side, what it felt like to topple the
Berlin Wall and put an end to Communism, why Lola runs
…
STUDY ABROAD
SMU students can receive transfer credits toward a degree
in German by taking part in study abroad programs in
Germany.
Especially popular is our 6½-week Canadian Summer
School in Germany <cssg.ca> located in the city of
Kassel, the capital of the German Fairy Tale Route.
<http://www.kassel.de/englisch/>. The CSSG offers
German language and culture immersion courses at the
second-, third-, and fourth-year undergraduate levels, a
German-language Community Service Learning course,
and a course for Teaching German as a Foreign Language.
Students live with a German family, hang out with a
German tandem partner, visit other German cities, go to the
theatre, symphony, opera, a Bundesliga soccer match, and
a whole lot more!
SMU also offers exchange programs with institutions in
Giessen, Constance, and Frankfurt.
INSTRUCTORS
Dr. John L. Plews is the program coordinator. His
research interests include second language curriculum
and pedagogy, study abroad for second languages,
nineteenth-century German culture from Germanspeaking lands.
Frau Katrin Jacob’s special interests include comparative
grammar, second language acquisition and learning, and
life after the Berlin Wall.
WHAT STUDENTS SAY ABOUT GERMAN AT SMU
“My best experience at SMU by far has been with
German.”
(Management major)
“The professors in German go out of their way to help
you learn and help accommodate any difficulties you
might have.”
(Political Science major)
“The German culture course showed many of my negative
outlooks on Germany were wrong. Because of this course,
I have a whole new look on Germany!”
(Second-year student)
For more information contact:
Dr. John L. Plews
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (902) 420 5813
Web site:
http://www.smu.ca/academics/
departments/mlc-programs-german-options.html
Pictures
Fortress Marienberg in Würzburg
Cologne Cathedral
Ludvig van Beethoven
Porsche Boxster
A used Kölsch beer mat
Germany’s national women’s soccer
team after winning the 2007 Women’s
World Cup of Soccer