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While the German Section offers effective preparation for graduate study in German language and literature - alums of our program are currently attending graduate programs at Columbia and University of Pennsylvania - its primary aim is more broadly humanistic and cross-cultural. With courses ranging from Goethe to contemporary German bestsellers, from the urban modernity of Vienna and Berlin to representations of the Holocaust, the section offers a pervasive exposure to German culture at large.

Students who major in German Literature or German Studies should enroll in at least one German course per semester, and are encouraged to consider a semester or a year of study at a German-speaking university. For both concentrations, the Section's faculty will help majors develop individual reading lists as they prepare for a Comprehensive Examination administered during each student's final semester.

The German Section supports a variety of activities that help to increase familiarity with German culture, such as film series, guest speakers, trips to German cultural events (museums, theater and opera performances, local Oktoberfest etc.), sit-down end-of-semester dinners, and a weekly German-language lunch table. The Department awards prizes annually for individual initiatives benefiting German studies at Swarthmore or abroad.