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Ph.D. Requirements

German Studies at the University of Michigan is one of the most innovative Ph.D. programs in the country, unmatched in our commitment to transdisciplinarity. The department offers a program of study rich in breadth, depth, and disciplinary scope. The graduate program is designed to satisfy a set of core competencies in German Studies. Students are required to take courses from an array of curricular rubrics designed to give them deep exposure to several different subdisciplinary discourses.

The department offers all students in the Ph.D. program a five-year package of full funding support. This comprises a combination of fellowships, graduate student instructor positions, graduate school stipends, and summer funding. In addition, we provide health insurance, an excellent library, and a vibrant atmosphere conducive to sustained intellectual development. The department actively provides assistance in securing additional external and internal grants.

Students are encouraged to satisfy course requirements within the German Department before exploring course options elsewhere. However, students can pursue Graduate Certificates in a number of interdisciplinary areas including LGBTQ Studies, Museum Studies, Film, Television, and Media, and Women’s and Gender Studies. Joint Ph.D.s in German and another field are possible in principle at the University of Michigan. Such degrees can be negotiated ad hoc at any time after the end of the first semester, if the other discipline agrees to admit the candidate. Several students originally admitted to the Ph.D. in German Studies have succeeded in negotiating such programs over the years, but this possibility cannot be guaranteed in advance.