Study for higher degrees in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literature is intended as preparation for a career in teaching and research. The program emphasizes literature, literary history, and cultural studies, rather than the language itself. For complete information on the requirements for the Older Germanic Languages, Literatures, and Cultures track, please consult the director of graduate studies.

Advising

• The department assigns each incoming graduate student a faculty advisor, matching the student’s scholarly interest. Both the advisor and the director of graduate studies counsel and assist students prior to the dissertation. When students start working on their dissertations, the dissertation director becomes the principal advisor. The director of graduate studies approves and signs all study cards.
• Students choose the director and two readers of their dissertations, in consultation with the director of graduate studies and the prospective director. They advise the student during the writing of the dissertation.
• Students who wish to change their advisor or dissertation director may consult with the director of graduate studies or the chair of the department.

Master of Arts (AM)

All students, except those admitted with the AM degree from another university, take the master’s examination at the end of their third term. Permission to proceed to the PhD is granted on the basis of coursework, performance in the AM examination, and scholarly potential as judged by the department. A student denied permission to proceed terminates graduate study with the AM degree.

The requirements for the AM degree are as follows:

• A minimum of three terms of full-time study. For financial residence requirements, see the GSAS Guide to Admission and Financial Aid or this handbook.
• The satisfactory completion of an approved program of eight half-courses or the equivalent. Four of these courses must be in the group designated in Courses of Instruction as “Primarily for Graduates.” Two of the half-courses must consist of German 226r (the Proseminar) and a seminar. One half-course must be wholly or partly philological or linguistic in character, normally German 200 (Middle High German) or German 225 (History of the German Language). Students may substitute Linguistics 168 (Introduction to Germanic Linguistics) or Linguistics 247 (Topics in Germanic Linguistics) for German 225. Germanic Philology 280 (Introduction to Current Methods in Teaching German) and courses taken to fulfill language requirements or deficiencies are not included in the minimum requirement.
• A four-hour written examination, administered at the end of the student’s third term, in which the student demonstrates an ability to interpret literary texts and to place them in their historical contexts. A one-hour oral examination, which includes a brief presentation in German, is required. The AM examinations are based on a departmental reading list. No master’s thesis is required. In the event of unsatisfactory performance, the student may, if the examining committee so recommends, take a two-hour oral examination at the end of the fourth term.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Academic Requirements

• A minimum of six terms of full-time study, which includes reading courses and teaching. Credit for graduate work done elsewhere may be granted in accordance with procedures detailed in this handbook. For financial residence requirements, see the GSAS Guide to Admission and Financial Aid or this handbook.

Course Requirements

• The satisfactory completion of an approved program of eight half-courses beyond the AM degree. All graduate students are required to take German 226r (the Proseminar). PhD students must also take at least two half-courses in philology or linguistics, normally German 200 (Middle High German) and German 225 (History of the German Language). Students may substitute Linguistics 168 (Introduction to Germanic Linguistics) or Linguistics 247 (Topics in Germanic Linguistics) for German 225. Not more than two half-courses from the group “For Undergraduates and Graduates” may be counted, including courses taken for the AM degree, unless the student arranges with the instructor to upgrade the course; all others must be “Primarily for Graduates.” With the permission of the chair or the director of graduate studies, students may take courses in other departments that relate to their program of study. Germanic Philology 280 (Introduction to Current Methods in Teaching German) and courses taken to fulfill language requirements or deficiencies are not included in the minimum requirement.
• Participation in a seminar taught in the department by a department faculty member for at least three terms, with a grade of A- in at least one of the seminars.
• A grade record showing more As than Bs, and no grade lower than B-. A grade of Incomplete must be converted into a letter grade before the end of the next registration period or it will become permanent, unless the student has successfully petitioned the GSAS Dean’s office for an extension.

Foreign Language Requirements

Graduate students normally must satisfy the requirement in French and, where applicable, in Latin before they can be admitted to the PhD general examination.

• Reading proficiency in French. This requirement can be fulfilled by passing French Ax (Reading Modern French), offered by Harvard’s Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, with a grade of A or A-, or by passing a French Ax final examination, administered by the instructor of the course, with a grade of A or A-. Any student failing the language examination must consult the chair in order to plan satisfactory remedial steps to remove the deficiency.
• Considerable reading ability in Latin only for those students wishing to specialize (i.e., to write their dissertations) in philology (historical linguistics) or in the literature of the earlier periods (medieval, sixteenth century, the Baroque). This requirement may be fulfilled by a department examination. The texts to be translated or summarized will be taken from Latin works of literary merit written by German authors, mainly during the medieval period. The requirement may also be fulfilled by an honor grade (B- or higher) in any course in medieval Latin or in any intermediate course of readings of classical authors given by Harvard’s Department of the Classics. Any student failing the language examination must consult the chair in order to plan satisfactory remedial steps to remove the deficiency.

Teaching

• Teaching experience, either at Harvard or elsewhere. All students must meet this requirement before receiving their PhD.

General Examinations

• The satisfactory completion of a written examination taken after the student has completed coursework and met the language requirement(s). Students entering the program with an AM degree or its equivalent from another university take the examination at the end of their second year; students taking the AM degree at Harvard take the examination at the end of their third year of residence. The written examination consists of two four-hour sessions a week apart. The first examination covers any one of the following periods: (i) medieval literature, (ii) 1500–1750, (iii) 1750–1830, (iv) 1830–1910, (v) 1890–1945, (vi) 1945–present. Students are responsible both for the principal literary texts in their chosen period and for the pertinent scholarship. The second examination covers any one of the following fields: (i) lyric poetry, (ii) drama, (iii) narrative fiction, (iv) a special topic defined by the student in consultation with the examination committee, (v) Germanic philology (linguistics). Final reading lists for the examination are due four months before the date of the examination.
• The satisfactory completion of a two-hour oral examination within two weeks after passing the written examination.
• For more specific information regarding the general examinations, see the department’s “General Examination Schedule and Guidelines.”

Dissertation

• After consultation with the advisor, a dissertation prospectus submitted for approval three months following completion of the qualifying examination. PhD candidates are urged to think about a dissertation topic before their general examination and to start work on the dissertation soon after passing the examination. The dissertation subject normally falls within the area where the student’s special period and special field converge. The object of the dissertation is to show the candidate’s ability to pursue independent research and to present the results of this research in a cogent and convincing form.

Candidates first devise a topic in rough outline and discuss it with one or more members of the faculty with the goals of developing the topic further and finding a director. When a member of the faculty has agreed to serve as a director, the candidate informs the department of this arrangement in writing; he or she also lists two other faculty members, one of whom must be a member of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, who may serve as second and third readers.

The prospectus (1,500 to 3,000 words plus bibliography) lays out the main question(s) that the dissertation sets out to address, along with a tentative chapter-by-chapter description of the work. The candidate presents the prospectus to the faculty.

Once the prospectus is approved, the candidate and dissertation director design a writing schedule with two goals: 1) that the project be completed within three years, and 2) that sections comprising approximately one-fifth of the anticipated whole be submitted every six months. Candidates must adhere to this timetable in order to remain in good standing.

• A dissertation directed by a department faculty member, and read and approved by the director and by two additional readers, one of whom must be a member of FAS. Two copies of the completed and approved dissertation must be submitted to the registrar by the deadline set by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
• A dissertation defense only if the student wishes it or there is some doubt in the department about the dissertation.

For the possibility of a secondary field in Film and Visual Studies, in conjunction with the German Department, please see the listing under Secondary Field at the end of Chapter VI.