Undergraduate
Bachelor's Degree Programs
German
Major in German
The IUPUI German program trains students to achieve linguistic proficiency and intercultural competency in German. Linguistic proficiency is the ability to communicate orally and in writing about subjects of common knowledge in the target language. A step-by-step systematic progression of language courses aids students to achieve fluency in German and allows them later to concentrate on chosen areas of linguistic specialization.
To gain intercultural competency, students acquire a solid knowledge of contemporary life in the German speaking countries and learn to compare their institutions, customs, and mentalities with contemporary U.S. culture. Students also gain intercultural competency through critical knowledge of the historical and cultural movements and personalities that have had the most impact on contemporary culture in the German-speaking countries, especially Germany.
In addition, all students in the program have the option to study in Germany or Austria for a limited or extended period of time, or to gain practical career experience in business or technology by working as an intern overseas or in a local international corporation.
Courses in German not only broaden students’ cultural horizons by giving them immediate access to a key region of central Europe, but also prepare students for a variety of careers in international business communication, translation, travel, education, and technology exchange. By combining the study of another discipline with specialization in German, students can also prepare more thoroughly and adequately for interdisciplinary graduate studies.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to communicate at an Advanced Low level of proficiency as defined by the ACTFL proficiency guidelines in German in all areas of Presentational Speaking, Presentational Writing, Interpretive Listening, Interpretive Reading, Interpersonal Communication and Intercultural Competence, which includes informed intercultural communication and written and oral communications that evidence critical thinking skills. Specifically, this means students will be able to:
- develop and deliver well-organized oral presentations that exhibit critical thinking skills in academic, intercultural, and professional areas
- create written products that exhibit critical thinking skills in academic, intercultural, and professional areas using major tenses and moods and linking paragraphs into composition length products
- when listening, demonstrate understanding of main facts and supportive details of conventional narrative and descriptive discourse in most genres including those in various time frames in many familiar and unfamiliar academic, social, and professional contexts
- when reading, demonstrate understanding of conventional narrative and descriptive texts in major tenses and moods on a variety of familiar and unfamiliar topics of general and professional interest
- when talking with others, converse fully on topics including matters of public and community interest in an organized way with appropriate detail using paragraph-length discourse in various time frames
- explain the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the cultures studied and their own
- integrate and apply methods of analyzing language, literature, and cultural products and practices
- operate with civility in a complex world
- A minimum of 120 credit hours is required for a B.A. degree from the IU School of Liberal Arts.
- A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 (C) is required for graduation.
- A minimum of 26 credit hours must be completed after formal admission to IUPUI.
- A minimum of 21 credit hours of major coursework must be completed in residence in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. Course work completed on an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program counts as residential credit.
- A minimum grade of C (2.0) is required in each major course.
- Once a course has been applied toward one requirement, it cannot be used to satisfy a second requirement, except where explicitly stated otherwise. In addition, except in cases of variable title courses, internships, and other special courses, no course will be counted more than once toward graduation.
IUPUI General Education Core
A list of accepted courses in the IUPUI General Education Core can be found at http://go.iupui.edu/gened.
Core Communication (6 credits)
- ENG-W 131: Reading, Writing, and Inquiry I (3 credits) or ENG-W 140: Reading, Writing, and Inquiry: Honors (3 credits) completed with a grade of C (2.0) or higher
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) sections of ENG-G 131 have been designated for students whose first language is not English.
- COMM-R 110: Fundamentals of Speech Communication (3 credits)
Analytical Reasoning (6 credits)
- College math from List A (3 credits)
- List A or List B (3 credits)
Cultural Understanding (3 credits)
- A world language course is recommended
Life and Physical Sciences (6 credits)
- A laboratory science component is required
Arts/Humanities and Social Sciences (9 credits)
- Arts & Humanities (3 credits)
- Social Science (3 credits)
- Additional Arts & Humanities or Social Science (3 credits)
Transfer students entering IUPUI from another public university in Indiana who have completed the transferable general education core at their home campus will not need to complete the IUPUI General Education Core.
Liberal Arts Baccalaureate Competencies
First-Year Experience (1-3 credits)
- SLA-S 100: First Year Success Seminar
- Other: First Year Seminar from another school at IUPUI
Transfer students with 18 or more credit hours are not required to take this course.
Writing Proficiency (3 credits), completed with a grade of C (2.0) or higher, chosen from the following:
- ENG-W 230: Writing in the Sciences
- ENG-W 231: Professional Writing Skills
- ENG-W 270: Argumentative Writing
Transfer students may satisfy the writing proficiency by completing course work equivalent to ENG-W 231, ENG-W 230, ENG-W 270, or GEWR-UN 200 with a grade of C (2.0) or higher at another campus or institution.
Transfer students with 80 or more transfer credits may petition for exemption from the Writing Proficiency requirement. Petition available in the Miriam Z. Langsam Office of Student Affairs, Cavanaugh Hall room 401.
Analytical Proficiency (3 credits), chosen from the following:
- ECON-E 270: Introduction to Statistical Theory in Economics and Business
- PHIL-P 208: Causality and Evidence
- PHIL-P 265: Introduction to Symbolic Logic
- PHIL-P 365: Intermediate Symbolic Logic
- POLS-Y 205: Analyzing Politics
- SOC-R 359: Introduction to Sociological Stats
Analytical Proficiency is in addition to the Analytical Reasoning area in the IUPUI General Education Core. Analytical Proficiency courses may be shared with major requirements if applicable.
Life and Physical Sciences Laboratory
One laboratory science course is required, but may be part of the coursework taken in the IUPUI General Education Core.
Arts and Humanities (3 credits) - Courses in one’s first major field of study cannot be used to fulfill this requirement
100 or 200 level course chosen from the following disciplines
- Africana Studies (AFRO)
- American Studies (AMST)
- American Sign Language (ASL) excluding World Languages courses
- Classics (CLAS) excluding World Languages courses
- Communication Studies (COMM-R, excluding COMM-R 110, and COMM-T only)
- East Asian Languages and Cultures (EALC) excluding World Language courses
- English-Creative Writing or Writing and Literacy (ENG-W), excluding courses in the Writing Proficiency area.
- English Literature (ENG-L)
- Film Studies (FILM)
- Folklore (FOLK) excluding FOLK-F 101
- History (HIST) excluding HIST-H 105, HIST-H 106, HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, HIST-H 114
- Latino Studies (LATS)
- Medical Humanities and Health Studies (MHHS)
- Museum Studies (MSTD)
- Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS)
- Philosophy (PHIL)
- Religious Studies (REL)
- Spanish (SPAN) excluding World Language courses
- Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WOST) excluding WOST-W 105
- World Languages and Cultures (WLAC)
Social Sciences (3 credits) - Courses in one’s first major field of study cannot be used to fulfill this requirement
100 or 200 level course chosen from the following disciplines
- Africana Studies (AFRO)
- Anthropology (ANTH)
- Communication Studies (COMM-C and COMM-M only)
- Economics (ECON)
- English-Linguistics (ENG-Z)
- Folklore (FOLK)
- Geography (GEOG)
- Global and International Studies (INTL)
- History (HIST) only HIST-H 105, HIST-H 106, HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, HIST-H 114
- Journalism and Public Relations (JOUR)
- Latino Studies (LATS)
- Medical Humanities and Health Studies (MHHS) excluding MHHS-M 201
- Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS)
- Political Science (POLS)
- Psychology (PSY)
- Sociology (SOC)
- Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WOST)
World Language and Perspectives (0-14 credits)
Completion of second-year proficiency in a single world language.
Second-year proficiency is demonstrated by passing the full second-year sequence of courses in a single language or completing a third or fourth-year course1
Courses in World Language and Perspectives may also satisfy General Education Core Cultural Understanding.
1 Students interested in receiving credit for lower-division language courses, see the section ‘‘Special Credit for Foreign Language Study.’’
Advanced Courses
Students are required to have 42 credit hours in 300-400 level coursework including courses in their major. Of the 42 advanced credits, 9 credit hours must be 300-400 level coursework outside the first Liberal Arts major field of study and from the School of Liberal Arts. Students seeking dual degrees are exempt from completing 9 credits hours in 300-400 level coursework outside their major and from the School of Liberal Arts.
Major Requirements (29 credits)
- GER-G 203: Second Year German I (3 credits)
- GER-G 204: Second Year German II (3 credits)
- GER-G 300: Fifth Semester German (3 credits)~fall only
Contemporary culture course
- GER-G 365: Deutsche Kultur Heute (3 credits)
400-level historical culture and literature course,
choose one of the following:
- GER-G 407: Knights, God, and the Devil (3 credits)
- GER-G 408: Love, Nature, and the Age of Romanticism (3 credits)
- GER-G 409: German Myths, Fairy Tales, and Social Transformation (3 credits)
- GER-G 410: Language and Identity in Modern German Literature (3 credits)
- GER-G 490: Das deutsche Kolloquium (3 credits)
400 level language course, choose at least one of the following:
- GER-G 401: Deutsche Kultur in Amerika (3 credits)
- GER-G 423: The Craft of Translation (3 credits)
- GER-G 431: Advanced Business German (3 credits)
- GER-G 445: Oberstufe: Grammatik (3 credits)
- GER-G 465: The Structure of German (3 credits)
Capstone: Portfolio
- GER-G 498: Individual Studies in German (1-6 credits)
Other courses may also be selected on the basis of placement level by test or course work, and/or focus of interest. They include all 200-, 300-, 400- level courses, except courses taught in English. Besides those listed previously, other courses include:
- GER-G 331: Business German (3 credits)
- GER-G 333: German Translation Practice (3 credits)
- GER-G 340: Deutsch: Schreiben und Sprechen (3 credits)
- GER-G 355: Theater Spielen (3 credits)
- GER-G 371: Der deutsche Film (3 credits)
- GER-G 493: Internship in German (1-6 credits)
Open electives
Candidates for a degree in the IU School of Liberal Arts must complete the IUPUI General Education Core requirements, the baccalaureate competencies, and the requirements of their major department. Usually, students will still need to complete additional hours in order to reach the graduation requirement of 120 credit hours. These remaining credit hours are known as open electives.
Accelerated Second Degree: The Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies are waived for undergraduate students whose first major is outside the School of Liberal Arts and whose second major is a Bachelor of Arts degree from the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. Students are only required to complete the courses in their major of choice in Liberal Arts. The IUPUI General Education Core or the Indiana transferable general education core must be successfully completed. Students must complete the degree outside Liberal Arts in order to have the Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies waived for degree completion. The Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies are only waived for students who actively pursue and complete another degree program outside of Liberal Arts.
Program for International Engineering
Students majoring in biomedical, mechanical, electrical, or computer engineering can also earn an applied German major. German language requirements and School of Liberal Arts requirements are modified for this major. The dual degree program includes a one-semester internship in Germany. Students may formally enter into the program after completion of the Freshmen Engineering program. For further information, contact the director of the Program in German and refer to the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology section of this bulletin.
Teacher Certification for Secondary School
Teaching certification can be acquired after completion of the B.A. degree with a major in German through successful completion of the Transition-to-Teaching Program in the School of Education. Please contact the School of Education regarding details and the application process.
