Degree and Diploma Programs by Graduate Unit
2014-15 SGS Calendar
Germanic Languages and Literatures
Faculty Affiliation
Arts and Science
Degree Programs Offered
Germanic Languages and Literatures—MA
Fields:
 German Literature, Culture and Theory
 Yiddish Studies
German Literature, Culture and Theory—PhD
Field: German Literature, Culture and Theory
Collaborative Programs
The following collaborative programs are available to
students in participating degree programs as listed below:
1. Book History and Print Culture
 German Literature, Culture and Theory, PhD
 Germanic Languages and Literatures, MA
2. Diaspora and Transnational Studies
 German Literature, Culture and Theory, PhD
 Germanic Languages and Literatures, MA
3. Jewish Studies
 German Literature, Culture and Theory, PhD
 Germanic Languages and Literatures, MA
4. Women and Gender Studies
 German Literature, Culture and Theory, PhD
 Germanic Languages and Literatures, MA
Overview
The Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures
at the University of Toronto is the oldest and largest
department of German in Canada. In addition to our
traditional strength in literary and intellectual history,
faculty and students are conducting research in German
cinema, critical theory, language pedagogy, Yiddish
studies, medieval studies, travel literature, as well as postcolonial, psychoanalytic, and transnational studies.
The department offers a graduate program of study
leading to two degrees: Master of Arts and Doctor of
Philosophy. The MA degree usually takes eight months
(September to April) to complete, while the PhD degree is
normally completed in four to five years.
Contact and Address
Web: http://german.utoronto.ca
Email: german@chass.utoronto.ca
Telephone: (416) 926-2321
Fax: (416) 926-2329
2014-2015 School of Graduate Studies Calendar
www.sgs.utoronto.ca/calendar
Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures
3rd Floor, 50 St. Joseph Street
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario M5S 1J4
Canada
Degree Programs
Germanic Languages and Literatures
Master of Arts
The MA degree in Germanic Languages and Literatures is
offered in two fields:
 German Literature, Culture and Theory
 Yiddish Studies
Field: German Literature, Culture and
Theory
Minimum Admission Requirements
 Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations
of the School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must also
satisfy the Department of Germanic Languages and
Literatures' additional admission requirements stated
below.
 Applicants to the one-year MA program in the field
German Literature, Culture and Theory must have
completed an appropriate bachelor's degree from a
recognized university that includes at least 6.0 fullcourse equivalents (FCEs) in German language,
literature, and culture, with an average grade of at least
a B+.
 Applicants should arrange for three supporting letters to
be sent to the Associate Chair of Graduate Studies of
the department, preferably on forms available from the
department.
 Admission is based upon the applicant's academic
record and upon the evidence of the supporting letters.
Program Requirements
 Complete 3.5 full-course equivalents (FCEs), including
GER 1000H German Studies Seminar: Culture, Theory,
Text. At least 1.5 FCEs of the additional 3.0 FCEs must
carry a GER designator.
 The remaining course selection is made in consultation
with the Associate Chair of Graduate Studies of the
department and must be approved by the department.
 Pass a German language competence test at the
beginning of the program. Only one attempt is permitted.
Germanic Languages and Literatures
1
Degree and Diploma Programs by Graduate Unit
Program Length
2 sessions full-time (typical registration sequence: F/W);
5 sessions part-time
Time Limit
3 years full-time;
6 years part-time
Field: Yiddish Studies
Minimum Admission Requirements
 Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations
of the School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must also
satisfy the Department of Germanic Languages and
Literatures' additional admission requirements stated
below.
 Applicants to the one-year MA program in the field of
Yiddish Studies must have completed an appropriate
bachelor's degree from a recognized university that
includes at least 2.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) in
Yiddish language and 2.0 FCEs in Yiddish literature and
culture or another area of Jewish Studies, with an
average grade of at least a B+.
 Applicants should arrange for three supporting letters to
be sent to the Associate Chair of Graduate Studies of
the department, preferably on forms available from the
department.
 Admission is based upon the applicant's academic
record and upon the evidence of the supporting letters.
Program Requirements
 Complete 3.5 full-course equivalents (FCEs), including:
o GER 1000H German Studies Seminar: Culture,
Theory, Text
o CJS 1000H Core Methods Seminar in Jewish Studies
o GER 1050H Methods and Texts in Yiddish Studies
o GER 2050Y Research Paper in Yiddish Studies
o The remaining elective courses (1.0 FCE) are selected
from a course list approved by the department.
 Pass a Yiddish language competency test at the
beginning of the program. Only one attempt is permitted.
Program Length
2 sessions full-time (typical registration sequence: F/W);
5 sessions part-time
Time Limit
3 years full-time;
6 years part-time
German Literature, Culture and Theory
Doctor of Philosophy
Minimum Admission Requirements
 Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations
of the School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must also
satisfy the Department of Germanic Languages and
Literatures' additional admission requirements stated
below.
2014-2015 School of Graduate Studies Calendar
www.sgs.utoronto.ca/calendar
 Admission to the PhD program requires either:
o an appropriate bachelor's degree from a recognized
university that includes at least 6.0 full-course
equivalents (FCEs) in German language, literature,
and culture, with an average grade equivalent to at
least a University of Toronto B+ in the applicant's
overall program and of at least an A- in the applicant's
German courses; or
o an appropriate master's degree in German from a
recognized university, with an average grade
equivalent to at least a University of Toronto A- in the
applicant's overall program.
 Applicants must satisfy to the department that they are
capable of independent research in German at an
advanced level.
 Applicants should arrange for three supporting letters to
be sent to the Associate Chair of Graduate Studies of
the department, preferably on forms available from the
department.
 Admission is based upon the applicant's academic
record and upon the evidence of the supporting letters.
Program Requirements
 Applicants admitted on the basis of a bachelor's degree
must take a minimum of 7.0 FCEs, including GER
1000H German Studies Seminar: Culture, Theory, Text
with an average grade of at least an A-. The department
may recommend to the School of Graduate Studies the
termination of the registration and eligibility of a student
who fails to complete at least 3.5 FCEs, with an average
of at least an A-, during the first year of the program. The
student is required to complete the remaining courses
required for the degree, with an A- average by the end of
the second year.
 Applicants admitted on the basis of a master's degree
must take a minimum of 4.0 FCEs including GER 1000H
German Studies Seminar: Culture, Theory, Text with an
average grade of at least an A-. The student is required
to complete at least 3.5 FCEs by the end of the first year
of registration and any remaining courses required for
the degree by the end of the second year.
 Course selection may include 1.5 FCEs in a department
other than Germanic Languages and Literatures.
 Course selection is made in consultation with the
Associate Chair of Graduate Studies of the department
and must be approved by the department.
 Students must:
o give evidence of reading knowledge of French, or, in
exceptional circumstances, of another language
approved by the department;
o pass a general examination in German literature;
o pass a thesis field review;
o make an oral presentation of their thesis; and
Germanic Languages and Literatures
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Degree and Diploma Programs by Graduate Unit
o submit a thesis on an approved subject and pass a
Doctoral Final Oral Examination on this subject.
 The department may permit a candidate to write the
doctoral thesis in German when the candidate's advisory
committee so recommends and when the candidate has
satisfied the School of Graduate Studies' conditions (see
13.1.3.8 Thesis section in Degree Regulations, Doctor of
Philosophy).
Program Length
GER 1690H
Theatre in the Weimar Republic
GER 1710H
Weimar Cinema
GER 1730H
Travel Writing
GER 1752H
Germany's Colonial Imaginary
GER 1770H
Reviewing the 50s: German Cinemas
under Reconstruction
GER 1771H
Topics in German Cinema Studies
GER 1772H
The Politics of the Non-fiction Film
GER 1775H
Cinemas of Migration
GER 1777H
Locations of East German Cinema
GER 1780H
Topics in German Visual Culture
GER 1785H
Remaking the Movies in German
Cinemas
4 years full-time; 5 years direct-entry
Time Limit
6 years full-time; 7 years direct-entry
Course List
Not all courses are offered every year. The department
should be consulted each session as to actual course
offerings.
GER 1000H
German Studies Seminar: Culture,
Theory, Text
GER 1050H
Methods and Texts in Yiddish Studies
GER 1051H
Yiddish for German Speakers
GER 1820H
The Learning and Teaching of German
GER 1200H
Middle High German
GER 1830H
Topics in German Intellectual History
GER 1300H
Cultural History of the German Language
GER 1860H
Introduction to Critical Theory
GER 1400H
From Real to Virtual Shtetl: Jewish
Culture in Russia, 1917–2010
GER 2000H,Y Reading Course in Approved Field
GER 2050Y
Research Paper in Yiddish Studies
GER 3000H
Trends in German Literature
GER 1470H
Goethe in Context
GER 1480H
Goethe's Faust
GER 6000H
Reading German for Graduate Students
GER 1490H
Bildung und der Roman der
Spätaufklärung
JGC 1660H
Modernism and the Other
GER 1505H
Romanticism
JGC 1750H
Modernity and Its Discontents
GER 1530H
Heine and Critical Theory
JGC 1850H
Derrida, the German, the Jew
GER 1540H
Revolutions
JGC 1855H
Critical Theory in Context: The FrenchGerman Connection
GER 1550H
Origins: Myths of Beginning in German
Literature and Thought
JGF 1733H
Autobiographical Documentary: History,
Alterity, and Performativity
GER 1580H
Vienna at the Turn of the Century
MST 2010Y
Old Norse
GER 1615H
The Early Theatre of Bertolt Brecht
MST 2015Y
Studies in Old Norse Texts
GER 1661H
Modernism in Context
MST 2019H
Icelandic Family Sagas
GER 1665H
Modernism and the Other
2014-2015 School of Graduate Studies Calendar
www.sgs.utoronto.ca/calendar
Germanic Languages and Literatures
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