Germanic Languages and Literatures

Welcome to the Future of German Studies 
 
The Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures is committed to 21st Century skills crucial for navigating the realities of a complex, increasingly intertwined, and rapidly changing world. 

Our department offers innovative undergraduate programs and learning pathways in German, Yiddish, Global Studies, and Business German, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in German Literature, Culture, and Theory, including a unique M.A. concentration in Yiddish Studies. Students are mentored by inspiring faculty with extensive training in German and Yiddish languages and literature, Comparative Literature, Film Studies, Philosophy, Jewish Studies, Medieval Studies, and Environmental Humanities, and we maintain vibrant connections to other departments, interdisciplinary centres, and international networks. 

We see the classroom as a launch pad. Our iPRAKTIKUM experiential learning and internationalization infrastructure creates opportunities for students to extend and deepen academic and professional knowledge and competencies in local and global contexts. We are particularly proud of our sustainability and social innovation-focused futurGenerator program in Freiburg, where U of T students engage in rewarding work in areas like migrant integration, environmental education, and food security. 

We strive for inclusive excellence. This means appreciating the potential of people of diverse backgrounds in terms of their ethnicity, race, socio-economic status, religious belief, national heritage, gender identity and sexual orientation, age, and ability. We are sensitive to the history of the traditional lands on which we carry out our educational mission and the ongoing impact of colonial settlement on indigenous peoples. 

This is 21st Century German Studies at the University of Toronto.