German, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese Studies
About Us
We are a dynamic, student-oriented Department that offers a broad and innovative range of world language, literature, and culture courses. The aim of the Department of German, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese Studies is to impart a deeper understanding for important modern languages and cultures in the context of a liberal and humanistic education. The educational mission centers on providing students with transcultural experiences that highlight literacy and critical skills to enable them to reflect on their own heritage and communicate with international frameworks.
The Department of German, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese Studies offers undergraduate level programs within the College of Arts and Sciences. The Department offers four language programs in Chinese, German, Japanese, and Russian for students seeking intermediate level cultural literacy and critical skills, as well as courses for German Majors and Minors. Russian Studies Majors and Minors, and Asian Studies Minors and Majors take most of their courses in this Department but are enrolled in the International and Global Studies Program (IGS).
The Department contributes to an active study abroad program administered by the International Programs Center (IPC). Students who wish to spend their junior year studying a broad range of subjects at Baden-Wurttemberg Universities in Germany, or with other programs in Austria, must have completed intermediate language courses. Similar exchanges are available with Slavic and Asian universities. Students with second-year language proficiencies may study Russian language, literature, and culture programs at Kazan State University, while the University of Tartu in Estonia and Wroclaw University in Poland offer Russian language and Eastern European Studies exchange programs. Our Honor students may study-abroad participating in International Honors College (HSS) programs in Central and Eastern Europe. Opportunities for Asian Studies Majors and Minors offer study-abroad and exchange programs at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Beijing Normal University, Yuan Ze University in Taiwan, Seinan Gakuin University in Japan, as well as Nagoya University of Foreign Studies and Nara Women's University.
One of the important and distinguished features of this Department involves our faculty and program alliances with other units in the College of Arts and Sciences. These inter-disciplinary networks help solidify as well as expand our curricular programs and research projects. The Department’s lecturers and tenure-track and tenured faculty members embrace and implement the teacher-scholar model that emphasizes superb teaching and pedagogical innovation coupled with committed research activities and strong service. Departmental faculty scholarship focus on modern Russian Literature and Culture, German Film Studies, Pre- and Post Cold War German Literature and Culture, German and European Modernism, Exile Studies, Carolinian Immigrant Literature, Asian Postcolonial Literature and Culture, Nietzsche and Modern Chinese Literature, Chinese Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, ESL Pedagogy, and applied research projects aimed at the enhanced use of distance learning and teaching technologies.