About the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies

• German Studies accomplishments
• Russian Studies accomplishments
• Czech and Polish Studies accomplishments

The Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies at the University of Florida focuses on the study of Germanic and Slavic Languages and cultures and their relation to various art forms. Germanic and Slavic Studies is committed to developing students’ oral and written proficiency in contemporary Germanic and Slavic languages and providing students with a strong foundation in the rich and diverse literary and cultural traditions associated with these languages. We are committed to helping students acquire the critical, analytical, and interpretive tools essential both for academic excellence at the University of Florida, and for intercultural competence in today’s increasingly global environment. The department offers a rigorous language study component in a number of target languages in tandem with area studies courses that involve one or more linguistic and cultural configurations. In particular, Germanic and Slavic Studies focuses on the way in which individual nation states define themselves and interact within the broader context of Europe and the European Union. The Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies operates as an integrated unit which strives to underscore the connections among all languages and cultures represented in the department.

German Studies Accomplishments

• The Undergraduate and Graduate Programs in German Studies provide students with a rigorous training in the German language, and with a solid and broad knowledge of German literary and cultural history. This includes film and media studies as well as the theoretical foundations of the studies of literature, intellectual history, critical theory, media, and visual studies. German Studies faculty members are very committed to interdisciplinary work with other units at UF.
• In keeping with the mission of a research university, the Graduate Program in German Studies trains and prepares future scholars and teachers of German Studies for careers in higher education.
• The German Studies faculty has a high degree of national and international recognition as evidenced by publications, presidency of professional organizations, membership on executive committees in professional organizations, close cooperation with international cultural institutions (Goethe Institute), editorship of journals, participation in peer-review conferences, invited lectures, service on editorial boards, and numerous prestigious research grants.
• German Studies faculty members have played a pioneering role nationally and at UF in the development of a web-based language-culture curriculum, and recently played the principal role in obtaining a major grant for the development of “A Model Immersive Cultural Learning Environment,” which represents a major accomplishment for web-based initiatives in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
• German Studies will continue to develop its interdisciplinary work in teaching and research, and to explore innovative ways of employing new technologies and media both to reach a broader spectrum of students and to embellish language-culture learning.
• German Studies has a new intensive summer abroad program in Intermediate German in Mannheim, Germany, and students participating in the Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS) in Mannheim program also have the opportunity to take German.
• Learn More about  Germanic Studies at UF

Russian Studies Accomplishments

• The Russian Studies Program is committed to providing its students with a thorough, well-balanced and practical proficiency in contemporary spoken and written Russian while explicating the rich and diverse literary and cultural traditions that make Russia such a fascinating and complex nation today.
• The Russian program is known for its consistently high retention rate beyond first-year Russian, despite its classification as a less commonly taught languages (LCTL).
• Russian enrollments and majors are growing and currently meet or exceed national averages among peer- and top-10 programs in Russian. The Russian Studies faculty has developed a comprehensive plan for further boosting enrollments and has begun pursuing private and federal funds for further program development at the undergraduate and graduate level. It should be noted that Russian language enrollments already meet or exceed the national average.
• The faculty plans to work closely with the Graham Center, and with campus- and state-level initiatives in web-based distance learning.
• Russian Studies is working towards a cutting-edge M.A. program specializing in advance-level training in language, literature, and cultural studies. The program will feature a unique, cross-cultural immersion component at its partner institute in Moscow, and will draw on the strong research productivity of the Russian Studies faculty, on resources in Czech and Polish Studies and in the Center for European Studies.
• Russian Studies maintains a very successful summer abroad program in Moscow.
• Learn more about Russian Studies at UF

Czech Studies and Polish Studies Accomplishments

• Polish (since 2004) and Czech Studies (since 2005) have established themselves not only as nationally competitive programs, but as cutting edge ones, by virtue of their interdepartmental and interdisciplinary profiles (housed in the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies and the Center for European Studies).
• Polish and Czech Studies have developed some twenty new courses on the language (both designated as “Less Commonly Taught Languages”), literature, politics, and film of Eastern Europe, these courses enjoy steadily increasing enrollments, and two faculty members have been awarded CLAS Teaching Awards.
• UF now offers both Certificate and Minor programs in East-Central European Studies (ECES), allowing students to combine their interest in Czech and Polish with any number of disciplines. For more information, please visit the ECES website.
• Polish Studies maintains a Summer Study Abroad Program in Kraków and Wroc?aw, and Czech Studies is working on a Summer Study abroad program in Prague.

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