Academics at Hanover:
At Hanover, you can develop your own pathway with German based on your interests. With major and minor options in German and German Studies, you can focus on advanced language acquisition and study abroad, or take interdisciplinary courses in the History, Music, and Philosophy Departments toward your degree.
If you would like to become a P-12 teacher, you can double major in German and Education and complete a teaching internship at a local school. The new “SPARK for German” program allows Hanover students to teach German to K-12 students in the Hanover/Madison area for credit or community service. German classes also count as electives in the Business Program and the International Studies Program. Connect German with your own interests! Our curriculum is based on an anti-racist approach and focuses on inclusive, intercultural and interdisciplinary topics to prepare you for global citizenship.

The German Department collaborates with faculty across campus to offer current and innovative co-curricular activities and courses. In recent projects, students have translated letters by a German-American settler for use in a history class, and teamed up with the Theatre Department to put on a fairy tale play adaptation in German with English supertitles. In May 2024, students can take “ART 260 The Art and Design of German Life” or “CHE 243 Brewing and Fermentation” with faculty from Art and Design and Chemistry in Germany! Join the faculty-led German Club to participate in co-curricular language and cultural activities! German-speakers from across campus and our greater communities are welcome to attend events.
Come learn about the German language and cultures through films, fairy tales, literature, music, plays, poems, translations and more… and write and perform your own!
STUDY ABROAD
Eat, sleep and drink German for a full semester at Philipps Universität Marburg in Marburg, Germany. Short-term opportunities for language and culture study in Germany are also available during May Term.
ON-CAMPUS IMMERSION
A number of extracurricular activities provide opportunities for you to enrich your language and social experiences at Hanover. The German Club offers cooking events, coffee hours, walks on campus for German conversation, hiking days in German, German Immersion Weekends, a Reading Group and more. Collaborate with other student groups on campus to put on intercultural and cross-cultural events. Come share your ideas and interests in the German-speaking cultures.
WHAT DO GERMAN MAJORS STUDY?
- German language
- German conversation and culture
- German literature and film
- And other topics that interest you, including translation and German for the professions
Previous graduates’ career and professional placements have included:
- Assistant to Director, Deutsche Telekom Incorporated (Chicago)
- Secondary Language Teaching throughout the Midwest
- English Teacher (Prague, Czech Republic)
- McKinley Explorer (Holland)
Graduate school placements have included:
- University of North Carolina
- Brandeis School of Law
- University of Louisville
- College of William & Mary
- New York University
- University of Cincinnati