German Studies Graduate Program

All Ph.D. students admitted to the Ph.D. program in German Studies receive 5 years of 12-month funding. This financial support is provided through a combination of fellowship stipend and tuition, and research and teaching assistantships. Additional funding is provided to support academic and research expenses. Core faculty in German Studies represent a broad spectrum of approaches to literature and culture including philosophy and literature, political discourse, Jewish studies, Frankfurt School, literary theory, and visual culture. The historical scope spans from the Middle Ages to the present. For bios of the German Studies faculty, click here

German Studies at Stanford is an integral part of a vibrant intellectual community of literature and language departments that are combined in the Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages. Cross-disciplinary work within the division is fostered and encouraged by team-taught seminars, focal groups, research groups, lecture series, graduate conferences, and various other on-going opportunities for intellectual exchange. The many affiliated faculty members in other departments working on German culture, history, performance, politics, and art are also a valuable resource for graduate students wanting to work within a more broadly conceived German Studies model. One of the unique features of our five-year Ph.D. program is thus the range of areas of expertise among the faculty that graduate students are able to draw on in creating their own courses of study and developing their dissertation projects. 
 
The intellectual climate at Stanford is characterized by its vibrancy, it innovative programs, and its emphasis on achieving the highest standard in research and teaching. Stanford is regularly voted the top university in the world in the humanities. (Times Higher Education). Within German we foster our own intellectual community by offering a graduate colloquium in which all grad students participate and present their work, a lecture series that features invited scholars working in a broad spectrum of fields that pertain to German Studies, and various workshops. The Stanford Humanities Center also brings in international scholars and sponsors numerous events.
 
Graduate students in German Studies at Stanford also receive excellent training in second language, and have the opportunity to teach for at least five quarters. Language courses are taught within the acclaimed Stanford Language Center. Further training and experience in teaching literature and culture is available in the department by designing your own course or working with faculty as a teaching assistant, and outside the department within one of the cross-disciplinary programs. Our Ph.D.'s graduate with excellent skills and qualifications that enable them to flourish in a wide variety of academic and non-academic positions. 
 
In addition, graduate students have the opportunity to take advantage of the resources available in Stanford’s Center for Teaching and Learning. Here highly qualified staff provide support and training in public speaking and presentations, dissertation writing, effective teaching, and many other areas of professional life that are crucial to any profession.
 
Our Ph.D.'s have been successful in achieving their professional goals. They hold positions in top research institutions, small liberal arts colleges, community colleges, university administration, as well as a host of positions outside the university. In conjunction with helping our graduate students to professionalize themselves for their chosen career path, we provide exposure and access to both academic and alternative careers. Of course we also offer career counseling. 
 
For more detailed information on our program, please see the corresponding pages in the Stanford Bulletin:
 

 

Graduate Program Application Details


Elizabeth Bernhardt

Elizabeth Bernhardt-Kamil
Director of German Studies
Bldg 30, Rm 110
(650) 723-7013
ebernhar [at] stanford.edu (ebernhar[at]stanford[dot]edu)

John Giammalva - Profile Photo

John Giammalva
In Memoriam, Student Services Manager
Pigott Hall, Bldg 260, Rm 127
(650) 279-3630
dlclstudentservices [at] stanford.edu (dlclstudentservices[at]stanford[dot]edu)