Studying a foreign language broadens your understanding of other cultures and opens the door to a variety of careers. Knowledge of a second language is a valuable asset; language fluency helps you qualify for many positions when it is combined with other marketable skills in business, economics, computer science, or political science.
Transylvania offers a German minor, and a special major can be arranged with permission of the academic dean. Putting together this special major has become quite routine over the last several years, with an average of two to three students declaring each year. The major does require, however, either a summer or semester of study in a German-speaking country. To facilitate such study, the German program maintains close ties to the summer and semester Germany programs of the Kentucky Institute for International Studies. The college also awards summer study-abroad scholarships and allows students to apply some of their Transylvania scholarship money to semester study-abroad programs. Taken together with the reasonable costs of the Kentucky Institute programs, both Transylvania initiatives reduce substantially, and can even eliminate, the additional costs that mandatory study abroad traditionally brings.
The German curriculum focuses on culture studies. By weaving together language instruction, cultural history, adolescent and canonical literature, courses combine for students progress in learning the language with an in-depth examination of historical epochs or current aspects of the German-speaking world. Instruction is enhanced by videotapes, CDs, use of the Internet, and a broad range of German films.
Some of the positions held by our German graduates:
- Programmer for German computer game company
- International marketer
- Attorney with specialization in international law
- Psychology researcher
- Professor of psychology
- High school German teacher
- Graduate teaching assistant
Some of the graduate or professional schools our German students have attended:
- University of Kentucky
- Thunderbird-The American Graduate School of International Management
- University of Chicago
