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Postgraduate Study

About the Department of German

Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics (MMLL)

Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics is the home of language and linguistics teaching and research at the University of Cambridge. With more than 770 undergraduate students, approximately 100 MPhil students and 190 PhD students we are one of the largest humanities Faculties in the University and one of the largest languages Faculties nationally. Numbers of staff and students are approximate as numbers fluctuate.

The Faculty comprises of six sections, which cover a range of languages and subject areas, and is also home to the Centre for Film and Screen Studies. The Faculty regularly tops a number of university and research rankings, and is home to a number of groundbreaking projects and initiatives.

The Section of German

The Section of German is one of the six Sections within MMLL.  This Section is a leading institution in the field of German studies and has always achieved excellent results in successive national research assessment exercises, as well as sharing in the outstanding rating awarded to the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics in the last Teaching Quality Assessment. 

The Section of German at Cambridge promotes international excellence in research over the widest range of language, literature, thought, history and culture from the Middle Ages to the present day. Committed to individual and collaborative endeavour, its emphasis is on innovation within the discipline's traditional sub-fields and on the exploration of new domains as the subject changes nationally and internationally. The Section has continued to embrace new initiatives, approaches and methodologies. Its world-class research environment is evident in the quality and achievements of its staff and research students, the breadth and interdisciplinary character of the research community, the range and diversity of library and research resources, and the national and international networks in which its researchers are engaged.

1 course offered in the Department of German

The German Section is one of the very few departments in the UK that can offer postgraduate supervision in literary and cultural topics across the full historical range from the medieval period to the present day. It also has significant coverage of topics in intellectual, social, and political history and the history of the German language.

Many members of the section also have comparative and interdisciplinary interests, and combinations of German studies with other disciplines are welcomed. The section has a dynamic research culture, with lecture and seminar series, many invited speakers, and a lively postgraduate research seminar.

The section also has partnerships with the Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School (Freie Universität, Berlin) and the German department of the University of Chicago, with joint events and exchanges. It offers generous funding for postgraduate research travel, conference participation, and the organisation by its postgraduate students of research activities and events.

More Information

Department Members


Prof Sarah Colvin
Director of Section

Dr Leila Mukhida
Postgraduate Teaching and Examining Officer

  • 8 Academic Staff
  • 1 Postdoctoral Researchers
  • 24 Graduate Students
  • 326 Undergraduates

http://www.mmll.cam.ac.uk/german/

Research Areas