We offer a rich selection of challenging and rewarding seminars in German culture, addressing both urgent contemporary and live historical issues through literature, film and visual culture. Seminar themes include: identity, gender, violence, justice, memory, revolution, resistance, trauma, and love, all approached through a wide range of materials drawn from various periods of German history.
In practical language classes, students engage with authentic materials and contemporary issues while strengthening their grasp of spoken and written German across a spectrum of skills including presentation, debate, translation, and interpreting.
Studying German ab initio at Durham has been amazing! I loved the course so much and felt so supported by the teachers here that I changed my degree. I can safely say that it was the right decision!
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All our lecturers are research experts in what they teach. Durham's teaching philosophy is to share the lecturers' own learning experience with students in class, so that students are always at the centre of the action. Our research-led teaching culminates in close collaboration between students and expert researchers on the final-year dissertation.
Having only studied the language at school, I’ve loved having the chance to explore various aspects of German culture whilst at Durham. From Enlightenment era philosophy to Weimar cinema and pop-feminist fiction, you can truly find what interests you, and in my case finding that passion has now even led me to applying for postgraduate study.
Students welcome the fact that we teach many of our modules, including our cultural seminars, through the medium of German. This means students are using their German actively from day one of their studies, and can operate in the target language at a high level in a range of contexts by the time they graduate. This pays dividends in future professional life. All of our lecturers have native or near-native German.
As a student new to German, I have a language class where we work on reading, listening, speaking and grammar – not only have we all become fast friends, it’s also a really safe learning environment.
According to the Complete University Guide (2025), German at Durham ranks in fourth place nationwide. Students particularly like the regular contact with their lecturers to monitor academic progress, the fact that many of our cultural modules are taught in German, the extensive written and spoken feedback on their assignments, and the strong sense of community among students and staff in German.
Languages as a subject can be daunting, but everyone is in the same boat. I started German from scratch last year, and my amazing teachers have taught me so much. Our class has always felt like a safe space where you’re free to make mistakes without judgement
Our students spend the third year of their degree abroad, often splitting their time between a German-speaking country and a country speaking their other main language of study. Some students teach English as a British Council language assistant; others work in the private and cultural sectors, in translation companies, or in theatres, galleries and museums. Other students take university courses in a German-speaking academic environment. We currently have exchanges with the Universities of Tübingen, Köln, Freiburg, Regensburg, Konstanz and Heidelberg in Germany.
At the start of the degree, the year abroad seemed so distant – but before I knew it, I was out there learning invaluable lessons and having the time of my life! From doing a British Council Assistantship in Lüneburg to interning at a consulting firm in Paris, I enjoyed the change of pace from university life, as well as the ample off-hours to explore the surrounding areas to my heart’s content.
Find out more about teaching staff in German studies, other language courses, employability, study abroad and scholarships.
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