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      The German Department at Augustana College seeks to educate its students in the language, literature, history, and culture of the German-speaking countries in Europe. While the focus in the first two years of instruction is on grammar, reading, speaking, and writing, efforts are made to bring students into touch with contemporary events, customs, places, and people. After the second year the curriculum becomes more thematic, with courses such as Grammar and Composition, Linguistics, Conversation, Literature and Culture, Business German, and Film. Students are seriously urged to participate in one of the college’s three exchange programs with universities in Bavaria, in Eichstätt, Passau, and Regensburg. Students can study at one of these institutions for a semester (fall or spring) or a year. Students can also take part in the annual four-week summer program at the University of Eichstätt. The German Department expects its graduating seniors to write well in German, communicate fluidly, have a firm understanding of literature and culture—the latter including history, politics, and the arts—and to feel at home in a foreign culture. Classes are small, and the experienced faculty members are eager to share with their students their love of the German language, of the countries where it is spoken, and of these countries’ rich history and culture.

Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt,
weiß nichts von seiner eigenen.
-Goethe