Graduate Programs
Dear Prospective Graduate Students...
On behalf of the Graduate Association for Germanic-Language Students (GAGLS) and the Germanic Studies graduate students at large we would like to thank you for your interest in studying with us in Austin. We would also like to take this opportunity to briefly introduce you to our unique department in the hope of finding like minds.
The Department of Germanic Studies at UT Austin is one of the largest and most historied departments in the field this side of the Atlantic. Situated in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, the Austin area has a strong German heritage that has long supported thriving German language programs and offered an unexpected range of German cultural events. To this day there are small German-speaking communities in some of the outlying towns like Fredericksburg and Serbin. This leads to relatively large enrollment in German, as well as Dutch, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian, at the undergraduate level – some nine hundred students in a given semester – and a vibrant graduate community.
The Department
The Department of Germanic Studies here at UT Austin was founded on and continues to support a balanced approach to the field, combining strong research in linguistics, pedagogy, and cultural and literary studies. This generalist approach is reflected in both the curriculum of the department and the demographics of its graduate students. While every student brings his or her unique interests and background to the department, we are all expected to take courses in and become proficient scholars in all aspects of Germanistik. This makes UT PhDs in a sense unilateral interdisciplinarians who are able to make connections between their own specialized research and broader trends in the social sciences that would normally be addressed strictly in history, linguistics, philosophy, anthropology, or various other departments. Additionally, this generalist approach has lead to an impressive rate of placement in what is generally considered a gradually shrinking professional community where the trend is to develop highly specialized niche-academics.
Interest Groups
To this end the graduate students in the department have founded “Fachschaften” - Fachschaft Germanic Literatures and Cultural Studies (GLACS) and Fachschaft Germanic Applied Linguistics and Linguistics (GALAL) – to supplement the other student-run opportunities for professional development. The "Fachschaften" are area-specific student forums: a space to critically engage and discuss fields of interest to become professional and competitive in the job market. In addition to the support we receive from our mentors, we can offer each other support by offering peer-review for those preparing for conferences, interviews, etc. In the future, we also would like to collaborate with professors who specialize in the respective fields to arrange lectures which keep us up-to-date on current events, cutting-edge topics and give us a feel of the latest trends and topics in the field. The monthly meetings of the Fachschaften are open to any graduate student from our department who wants to attend; not only those specializing in the field, but also those specializing in other areas of Germanic Studies who would like to expand their professional knowledge, and hence their resumes, by displaying familiarity with the topics and thinkers considered most relevant in the field of Literature/Culture or Linguistics/Applied Linguistics, respectively.
Student Activities
Graduate students in the department have also run three free film series, giving students in the department and members of the UT community an opportunity to see German, Dutch, and Scandanavian films, respectively. On the theme of acting as ambassadors of Germanic culture in the university community, the department also organizes an annual German immersion Deutsches Wochenende retreat in Bastrop State Park that gives students an opportunity to use their new language skills outside a classroom setting. Of course the grad students here at UT also help each other out. GAGLS, or any other interested party, organizes various workshops and other professional development opportunities throughout the year – from mock-MLA interviews in the fall to graduate conferences in the spring.
TA/AI-ships
Our department also offers Teaching Assistant and Assistant Instructor (TA/AI) assistantships. You will need to apply for these positions if you have not done so already. If you receive either position, you will be working for the department 20 hours a week. Usually, you start out as a TA/AI for the beginning German courses and then work through the normal progression of courses, eventually teaching first through fourth semester German. Non-native speakers of German who do not hold an MA begin as TA’s working with an AI as they develop their teaching techniques and become familiar with the materials. Once they have earned their Masters they become eligible for an AI position where they will be responsible for their own sections. Once a graduate student is dissertating, he or she is also eligible to propose new content courses based on their own syllabi or specialized sections of the fourth semester language course (GER 312L). Aside from the financial support these positions offer, entering the job market with five years of real teaching experience at a variety of levels and spanning both language and content courses is a significant advantage. For more information, please contact Dr. Zsuzsanna Abrams.
A little about Austin...
Life in Austin is also worth mentioning. Between the large university community and the proliferation of high-tech business in the area, Austin is a young town that more than lives up to its nickname “The Live Music Capital of the World.” Aside from the larger South By Southwest and the Austin City Limits fests there is always something going on downtown on 6th Street or in the Warehouse District. Shopping and dining in the area are also influenced by the motto “Keep Austin Weird,” which roughly translates into an eclectic mixture and fusion of restaurants and boutiques around campus and downtown that go far beyond the cowboy kitsch and barbecue one would expect (though we have that, too -- Find out more about Austin [PDF, 30K])
Finding an apartment in Austin generally isn’t difficult, given the high turnover of the student population, but it is important to do a little research to find the right area of town. Where one person would feel at home in trendy but expensive Hyde Park just north of campus or the short walk to class from West Campus, another might prefer the quieter Far West neighborhood or less expensive South Austin… even if it means taking the free university shuttle bus in the morning. The easiest way to get oriented in the city is to ask current graduate students! But www.capmetro.org will give you a good idea of the public transportation options. So, please don’t hesitate to contact us at anytime. We are always happy to help you and answer your questions as good as we can. Another person to contact for any info is our Graduate Coordinator Shery Chanis. You can reach her at schanis@mail.utexas.edu.
Thank you for choosing UT and the Germanic Studies Department. We are looking forward to meeting you all.
Your friendly GAGLS and Fachschaft reps,
GAGLS:
Carla Ghanem, Robert Kohn, Jennifer Perkins, Vince Vanderheijden
gagls@gmc.utexas.edu
Fachschaft GLACS:
Martin Kley, Berna Gueneli
Fachschaft GALAL:
Travis Boudreaux, Carla Ghanem