Welcome to Our Department!
Our mission is to teach German and Russian, and to research and teach the rich cultural history and present of the people who speak these languages, no matter where they may live. About a decade ago, the Report of the Presidential Humanities Commission of the University of California noted that the humanities “can help … students learn how to negotiate our culturally diverse contemporary world in ways that are both knowledgeable and sensitive.” We believe that studying past and present cultures—with all their contradictions and complexities—can influence our lives in the present, and that studying foreign languages, films, literatures, philosophy, and visual arts can help us better navigate our own globalized world. We passionately believe that studying foreign languages in particular is and remains vital in our hyper-connected world, both professionally and for our own personal growth and enrichment.
Sven Spieker, Chair, Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies
GSS News & Events
February 6, 3-5 pm: Research Focus Group Roundtable with Prof. Elisabeth Weber! Prof. Weber will be in conversation with Prof. Bishnupriya Ghosh (USCB, English) and Dr. Lana Latour (UNSW Sydney) on "Race and the Question of Palestine" (Buchanan Hall 1930). For more information see here.
February 20, 12-1.30pm: Lecture by this year's visiting Kade Professor Karin Harrasser (University of Art and Design, Linz/Austria). Phelps 6230.
February 20, 1pm: German Club volleyball game. For details, please contact Kelsey White.
February 21, 2-7pm: Screening of Marcel Ophul's monumental documentary about the Nuremberg Trials, The Memory of Justice at UCSB's Carsey Wolf Center (free; reservation recommended). With Andréas-Benjamin Seyfert.
February 25, 4.30-5 pm: GSS faculty participate in Leap Into Languages, an exciting campus-wide event designed to highlight the many opportunities attached to language study. Everybody is welcome! (Library Room 1312).
February 26, 2-4 pm: First GSS Undergraduate Student Research Day. GSS undergraduates share their research with students and faculty (Phelps 6230). Everybody welcome! Refreshments will be provided. To sign up, go here.
The video you can see below was created by our student Yaqi "Lucy" Wang for a class on the famous Bauhaus school of design, taught by Prof. Christina Vagt (GER 117/Bauhaus (Special Topics in German Culture). Enjoy!