German
The German section is a leading institution in the field of German studies and has always achieved excellent results in successive national research assessment exercises, as well as sharing in the outstanding rating awarded to the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics in the last Teaching Quality Assessment.
The German-speaking world has a rich and fascinating culture, and Germany is the UK's second-biggest trading partner. A degree in German offers very strong career prospects.
Our academic staff bring expertise across the full breadth of the discipline, including literature, linguistics, philosophy, film, and cultural history, ensuring students benefit from both rigorous scholarship and a rich, research-led learning experience.
German at Cambridge promotes international excellence in research over the widest range of language, literature, thought, history and culture from the Middle Ages to the present day. Committed to individual and collaborative endeavour, its emphasis is on innovation within the discipline's traditional sub-fields and on the exploration of new domains as the subject changes nationally and internationally. The section has continued to embrace new initiatives, approaches and methodologies. Its world-class research environment is evident in the quality and achievements of its staff and research students, the breadth and interdisciplinary character of the research community, the range and diversity of library and research resources, and the national and international networks in which its researchers are engaged.
The section has well-established links with the Schlegel School at the Freie Universität Berlin and the Dept. of Germanic Studies at the University of Chicago. The three institutions take it in turn to host a joint biennial colloquium for doctoral students.
Cultural Production & Social Justice was founded as a research group in 2019.
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See details of our German papers.
The Section of German very much welcomes applications for the MPhil and PhD. It is the only German department in the UK which has always been placed in the top grade in research assessment exercises and can fairly claim to be the best in the country. The collegiate structure of the University also makes for a supportive environment.
We work on outreach events with the wider Faculty as well as organising our own events and visits. German outreach activities include:
- The annual Cambridge Undergraduate Conference in German Studies (Years 11-13)
- Participation in Faculty and University Open Days (Years 12-13)
- Visits to schools both nearby and further away (all years)
- Visits from schools to Cambridge (all years)
- School German Clubs (primary)
- Adopt-A-Class (Years 8-9)
- German Film Day (Years 7-11)
The German section has its own part-time Outreach Coordinator, so email germanoutreach@mmll.cam.ac.uk if you’d like to visit us, or if you'd like us to visit you, participate in an event you’re involved with, or collaborate in any other way!
Communications
We’d like to stay in touch. Each month we send out a newsletter with information about upcoming German outreach events and reports on our recent activities. We also have a more occasional mailing list for invitations to special events.
Newsletter: Sign up here
Each month, the newsletter features information about upcoming and recent outreach events, an introduction to a member of the Cambridge German Section, and a 'Spotlight' focus on an aspect of German culture. We also have an archive containing all of our Spotlight topics.
Events Mailing List: Sign up here
This is an occasional mailing list which sends out individual first-look announcements for our main outreach events.
You can also visit our archived resource page, Cambridge Online German for Schools (COGS).