Honors Majors & Minors

Requirements

Majors and minors in the Honors Program are expected to fulfill the minimum requirements for course majors and be sufficiently proficient in spoken and written German to complete all their work in the language. All majors and minors in honors are strongly advised to spend at least one semester of study in a German-speaking country. Candidates are expected to have a B average in coursework both in the department and at the College.

Honors Major

Honors majors in German Studies participate in:

  • The external examination process required of all Swarthmore honors students.
  • The written examination lasts 3 hours, covering each seminar or course combination and the associated SHS preparation.
  • The oral examination follows the written exams:
    • Majors: 1-hour oral exam based on all three written exams.
    • Minors: 30- to 45-minute oral exam based on the written exam.
  • The Senior Honors Study (SHS) process, described below.

Honors majors complete three double-credit “Preparations.” Each Preparation can be fulfilled in one of two ways:

  1. By taking one advanced seminar, or
  2. By combining two advanced courses.
  3. Out of these three Preparations, two must be from a class or classes taught in German, while one can be from a class or classes taught in English—either from an affiliated program or a cross-listed course.

Example Sequence

  • Preparation 1: GMST 091 + GMST 054
  • Preparation 2: GMST 092 + GMST/LITR 038
  • Preparation 3: GMST 100

Honors Minors

Honors minors fulfill the minimum course minor requirements in German Studies and must:

  • Take one seminar taught in German or two advanced courses taught in German for their honors preparation.
  • Complete the Senior Honors Study requirements (see below).

Senior Honors Study (SHS) and Mode of Examination

Annotated Bibliography

  • Students submit an annotated bibliography of scholarly articles or books covering at least five of the texts in each seminar or advanced course offered for external examination.
  • They must meet with the instructor(s) of these seminars or courses by February 15 to discuss their proposed bibliography, and again by March 20 to submit the approved version.
  • The bibliography, which carries no separate credit, will be added to each seminar’s syllabus in the student’s honors portfolio.