Overview
The School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (SLLC) offers the only Master of Arts degree in German from a state university in Missouri.
We attract a diverse range of M.A. candidates from across the United States and around the world; most incoming cohorts include both domestic and international students.
The M.A. program prepares students interested in German language, literature, and culture for a variety of future careers:
- teaching, both in the United States and abroad
- Ph.D. study in German Studies, Jewish Studies, Applied Linguistics/Second-Language Acquisition, and other interdisciplinary fields
- international business, journalism, and law
- hospitality and tourism
- government and foreign service
Over the course of the two-year program, students usually take three graduate seminars each semester. Some of these courses cover professional issues; these include our seminar on language-teaching pedagogy and our introduction to graduate studies in foreign-language cultural studies. Most of the coursework, however, focuses on specific intellectual concerns located over the chronological spectrum of German Studies, from the medieval to the postmodern periods. Through courses examining literature, film, and various theoretical and philosophical texts, students gain familiarization with current questions driving intellectual inquiry in the field while also acquiring a firm base in the German cultural canon.
Our graduate seminars are quite small (usually between 8-10 participants), which allows for sustained contact and collaboration between professors and students. These mentoring relationships frequently take the form of independent study and/or research opportunities. Students who elect to write an M.A. thesis work closely with a faculty advisor.
With rare exceptions, all of our M.A. candidates teach in our undergraduate German language and culture program as GIs (graduate instructors), and the development of pedagogical skills is an important aspect of the M.A. curriculum. Students are supported in their teaching through coursework in pedagogy as well as sustained individual and group mentoring.
Financial Support and Teaching Assistantships
Each year, the German program offers a limited number of Graduate Instructorships (GIs). GIs teach in our language and culture sequence, and receive a tuition waiver, a health care plan, and a salary. This package covers the costs of living and studying in Columbia. Finally, both the German program and the Graduate School offer competitive grants and awards, as well as funding designated for conference travel, research acquisitions, and certain course materials in order to support graduate students’ professional development.
Requirements for Admission to the Program
1. An undergraduate B.A. degree (or its equivalent) in German (or a related field) from an accredited college or university. You must have earned your degree by the time you would begin the M.A. program in August.
2. An average grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher on the last 60 credit hours of the undergraduate course of study. The transcripts of international students are assessed differently on a country-by-country basis. In general, your coursework should have been graded “good” or “above average.”
3. Excellent language skills in both German and English.
4. International students must submit a TOEFL, IELTS, PTE, Cambridge C1 Advanced, or Duolingo English test score for admission to the University. An additional language test (the MACCS) is required for international students applying for a Graduate Instructorship.
5. The GRE is not required for application.
6. The German faculty reserves the right to evaluate the work presented for admission and to determine how the student may make up for any background deficiencies.
Please direct your questions to the Director of Graduate Studies in German:
Dr. Sean Ireton: iretons@missouri.edu