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Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
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Course content
The Freshman years
There are approximately 10 hours of classes per week in the
Junior Freshman (first) year. The course covers three key areas:
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Language programme:
this builds on the written, oral
and aural skills you acquired at school and develops both
fluency and accuracy in expression. Your language learning
is supported by a specially developed e-learning programme
on the departmental website: try it at
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Area studies
provides an introduction to society, political
and cultural issues and current affairs in modern Germany,
Austria and Switzerland.
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Literature and textual studies
introduces you to key
aspects of modern German literature and to reading and
analysing literary and non-literary texts in German.
In addition to your on-going language classes, the Senior
Freshman (second) year introduces you to German cultural
history (exploring topics such as the development of the
nation, the role of religion and religious difference, militarism
and pacifism, and Nietzsche and Freud as key thinkers of
modernity). You can also begin to develop your own special
fields of interest within the programme, choosing from a range of
seminars with a literary, linguistics, cultural or historical focus.
The Sophister years
In the Junior Sophister (third) year, alongside your language
classes, you will follow a module in the social history of German
literature and choose from a number of seminars in specialist
areas of literature, linguistics, cultural and historical studies.
If you elect to study German in your Senior Sophister (fourth)
year the scope for developing these specialist interests is
extended through
advanced options that link undergraduate
study to the research expertise of staff.
In the Senior
Sophister year, you will also research and write a dissertation
on a topic of your own choice. This can be drawn from literature,
intercultural communication or some other aspect of the course
that you have particularly enjoyed and is an exciting opportunity
to develop your interests in depth.
Assessment
At all levels, you will be assessed by a combination of project and
essay work and end-of-year written, oral and aural examinations.
Senior Sophister students also write a dissertation.
Study abroad
As a TSM German student, you must spend at least two months
in a German speaking country, but in practice you are likely
to spend longer, typically an academic year. Options include
studying at a German university within an Erasmus or similar
exchange programme in your second year or between third and
fourth year (our links include Cologne, Göttingen and Konstanz,
but you can also make individual arrangements), or taking a year
out to work in a company or as a language assistant in a school.
Career opportunities
People with languages degrees are found up to senior level in
all kinds of rewarding careers. Employers value not only the
language skills of German graduates, but also their ‘transferable
skills’: the mix of accuracy and creativity, confidence and
sensitivity which marks the advanced linguist, and the maturity,
flexibility and broadened understanding that comes from engaging
with another culture and from the experience gained abroad.
Recent graduates are working for employers such as Google,
Deutsche Bank and Enterprise Ireland as well as in telecoms, IT,
education, public service, the media, and universities in Ireland,
Europe and North America. Germany is a major export destination
for Irish goods as well as being the second most important source
of Foreign Direct Investment for Ireland. Therefore, competence in
German can give you a competitive advantage in the job market.
Graduate Profile
Susan O’Malley,
TSM German and Economics; Associate
Manager, Global Advertiser Operations with Google Ireland
“I chose German at Trinity College since I had always
been fascinated by German cultural studies and history
and wanted to take a broad range of courses which would
stretch my thinking; the excellence of the staff was also
an important factor in my decision. The critical thinking,
research and communication skills which the TSM degree
helped me to develop have since proven invaluable in my
career. I attended the University of Potsdam during my
year abroad and because of my strong interest in media,
technology and advertising, I completed an internship
with KPMG prior to graduating. After graduating, I joined
Google and worked in the company’s online advertising
solutions. From this, my role moved to focus on industry
analysis and business planning for the Dublin operations.
I currently work in a strategy, policy and communications
role. I’ve also spent some time working at the company’s
global headquarters in California.”
Did you know?
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Trinity College’s Department of Germanic Studies
has won four prestigious awards in recent years:
The European Award for Languages (2005, 2010),
the Kuratorium award of German-Irish Chamber of
Industry and Commerce (2007) and the Ireland Fund
of Germany Prize (2008).
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We offer Peer tutoring and a networking website
‘GradLink’ where you can link up with our graduates
from all over the world and learn from their experiences.
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If you are considering studying German, but want to be
sure,
you are welcome to sample some lectures
in
the department during teaching terms. You may also
discuss your options with a member of the teaching
staff. Contact us by e-mail or phone (see below).
Further information
E-mail:
Tel: + 353 1 896 1373
