The Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies offers graduate programs which lead to the following degrees:
MA (Master of Arts)
MA (Master of Arts in Intercultural German Studies)
PhD (Doctor of Philosophy)
The graduate programs in the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies succeed undergraduate Honours programs in German. In order to assure meaningful participation in the learning process and a balanced approach to teaching and research, the Department emphasizes, in addition to the coursework and other scholarly activity, supervised teaching of elementary courses by graduate students. The "Applied Language Didactics" course enables students to participate in a teaching practicum.
During their studies, graduate students will be exposed to various research techniques and will acquire a firm footing in the several aspects of their discipline. With more than 120 learned journals on German literature and philosophy, the library of the University of Waterloo has one of the best collections of periodicals in Canada, thus facilitating research activities and reflecting the wide range of interests among students and faculty.
Special part-time study programs leading to MA degrees in German are also offered.
MA candidates enrol for three terms during which they normally finish their degree (a fourth term might be necessary in some cases). During the Fall Term (September to December), and the Winter Term (January to April) the students complete their course work and do research on their thesis (if the thesis option is chosen). During the Spring Term (May to August) students finish up any uncompleted course work and, as the case may be, complete their thesis.
Financial assistance is normally available to our full-time MA candidates in the following forms:
- Full-time graduate students are normally given a departmental assistantship, either teaching (i.e., taking over a section of a beginner's language class under faculty supervision) or non-teaching (i.e., marker, tutor, etc.). Please contact the Department for further details.
- Scholarships are normally available to full-time graduate students with an overall average of at least 80% to be eligible. Please contact the Department for further details.