A successful German major will:
- Demonstrate advanced German linguistic skills in speaking, writing, reading and listening:
- Demonstrate cultural competence:
- Ability to communicate with a native speaker in a nuanced manner;
- Ability to read and understand a German text or cultural product within its cultural context;
- Ability to function in a German-speaking culture and to understand and appreciate their uniqueness;
- Demonstrate critical thinking:
- Demonstrate the ability to conduct close readings and critical interpretations of a variety of cultural products from German-speaking lands;
- Demonstrate an awareness of social and historical contexts from geographic areas where German is spoken;
- Demonstrate the ability to make connections between German-speaking cultures and other disciplines.
- Demonstrate research competency:
- Demonstrate ability to do independent research using German-language sources;
- Produce a senior thesis in German that adheres to proper scholarly format, develops a clear thesis, properly uses secondary sources, and develops a convincing argument;
- Present a coherent oral presentation of the research for the senior thesis in German before an audience;
- Demonstrate knowledge of major concepts in literary and cultural studies.