Education

Harvard University: Arts & Sciences: Germanic Languages and Literatures

Category Art and Social Sciences, English Literature, Harvard University, USA, Undergraduate
Tags Arts, Germanic, Harvard University, Languages, Literatures, Sciences

Study for higher degrees in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures (this designation was instituted in 1897) is intended as preparation for a career in teaching and research. The emphasis is on literature and cultural studies rather than on the language itself. However, Germanic philology may be studied in conjunction with medieval literature. The resources of the department make it possible for students interested in German literature, but with a secondary interest in comparative literature, art, philosophy, history, or film, to include those disciplines in their dissertation and in their program of courses. A PhD program in Older Germanic Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, which combines the medieval literatures and cultures of Germany, England, and Scandinavia, is also available.

German was first taught in Harvard College in 1825 when Carl (Charles) Follen, a young -anti-monarchist and poet, who had fled from Giessen to escape political persecution, became an instructor in German. The impetus for this appointment came, in part, from George Ticknor and Edward Everett (later to become president of Harvard College), who had just returned from studies at the University of Göttingen. By 1850, several instructors were teaching German and by the 1860s, all sophomores were required to study the language. After such Harvard notables as George Ticknor, H. W. Longfellow, and J. R. Lowell had given some coverage to major German poets (from Walther von der Vogelweide to Goethe) in their lectures, a graduate program in German was organized in the 1870s, with the first PhD granted in 1880.

The most eminent scholar in the early years was Kuno Francke, professor of the history of German culture (d. 1929), who in 1903 established the Germanic Museum, now the Busch-Reisinger Museum. Its collections, particularly strong in 20th-century painting and sculpture, are a unique resource for the study of German literature and culture within the broader context of German and Central European art.

The library holdings in German literature had an auspicious beginning when Goethe, in 1819, presented to Harvard College an autographed copy of his Werke. Through informed selection and support by the University and generous donors (Karl Viëtor among them), these holdings, housed mainly in Widener Library, have now grown into what many scholars consider the best German studies research collection in North America. It is supplemented by extensive holdings in Scandinavian and Dutch. This scholarly resource is augmented by manuscripts and rare printed books in Houghton Library, which, next to a number of medieval manuscripts and incunables, contains the Nachlässe, papers, and letters of such major German poets as Hofmannsthal, Rilke, Brecht, and Heine.

The Harvard Film Archive houses an extensive and unique collection devoted to German cinema, which includes 35- and 16-millimeter films, videocassettes, press booklets, and photographs.