German Studies

German connects you with German speakers throughout Europe. It is the most widely spoken mother tongue in Europa and the official language of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Also, the Germans have made an important contribution to the development of South Australia.

german-studies-university-of-adelaide
  • Our teaching

    Use your emerging language skills to explore the German-speaking world in all its cultural and literary manifestations, both past and present. Whether you’re a beginner or a more advanced student, build an engaging pathway into a Minor, Major or Diploma, or choose German as a stimulating elective. x supplement your Adelaide German experience by participating in the German in Germany program in Stuttgart, Freiburg or Berlin. Spanning three learning levels, our student-focussed program will guide you in developing cutting-edge communications skills, cultural competence and intercultural awareness.

    Study German

  • Our people

    Academic Staff
    Name Role
    Associate Professor Benjamin McCann Head of Department of European Languages and Linguistics

    Dr. Stefan Hajduk

     

     

    Senior Lecturer in German Studies, Program Advisor, Teaching of culture and language courses, Honours coordinator. Researcher in Literary Theory and History, Philosophy, Aesthetics and Interculturality.

    Dr Simon Walsh

     

    Lecturer in German Studies, Teaching of language and culture courses, Researcher in German Studies.


    Tutors/visitors
    Name Role
    Laura Geuting (visiting faculty from University of Cologne, B.A.) DAAD Language Assistant for Teaching the German Language in Australia in 2022
    Helena Weyland (visiting faculty from University of Cologne, B.A.) DAAD Language Assistant for Teaching the German Language in Australia in 2023

    Vanessa Kreusch

    PhD candidate and tutor of German language. Her doctoral research looks at foreign language learning in Australia.

    Marion Morningstar

    Teaching of German language courses, tutor of beginners’ workshops (at the German Department since 2010)

    Marie Hankel

    Teaching of German language courses, tutor of beginners’ workshops (at the German Department since the beginning of 2018)

  • Our research

    The Department of German Studies has published research on a large range of discipline and subject areas from the eighteenth-century Enlightenment/Romanticism to nineteenth-century Realism, to Modernist and Postmodernist constellations from the twentieth century to the present.

    Our program is distinguished by its multidisciplinary specialisations in literature and philosophy, film and psychology, and Austrian Studies. Current postgraduate work being carried out in the Department with a focus on language learning and identity.

    Our academics work on a variety of areas of research.

    Stefan Hajduk’s research spans the Literary History from around 1800 to the present; its distinctive feature is a focus on transitions between philosophical aesthetics and poetic configurations of space and time. This core field of research includes knowledge, emotions and moods in literature and leads across to theatre and film as well as to the theory of culture and interculturality.

    Simon Walsh’s broad research is on 20th century Austrian and German culture and literature. His current work focusses on the representation of musical Austria within contemporary Austrian literature against the backdrop of Austria’s encounter with its National Socialist past. He also has an interest in holistic discourses (including Gestalt Theory) in twentieth-century German thought.

    Sofia Gruca is interested in research topics such as learning and teaching German as a foreign language, comparative linguistics, and German in cultural comparison.

    Mary Quigley’s current research focus is in Applied Linguistics and her current PhD project is titled 'Learning German in English-Speaking tertiary contexts: Identity, social strategies and language use'.

    HIGHER DEGREES BY RESEARCH

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