German Studies and History

Lancaster’s joint German Studies and History degree is taught by the Department of Languages and Cultures in conjunction with the Department of History.

Your German Studies programme gives you the opportunity to acquire high-level language skills and gain a thorough understanding of the country’s historical, cultural, social and political background in a global context. In History, we will help you to develop your critical abilities studying modules in British, European and American world history.

Your first year comprises an exploration of the German language and its cultural context as well as the core History module ‘From Medieval to Modern: History and Historians’. Alongside this, you can choose the History module ‘People, Places, and the Past’ or a minor subject that complements your degree.

Building on your language skills in Year 2, you will study the culture, politics and history of Germany and Austria in more depth, as well as selecting modules which are international in scope and promote a comparative understanding of Europe and beyond. You will combine these with the core module, ‘The Nature and Practice of History’, and select options such as ‘The Making and Unmaking of Heroes in German History: from Warriors and a People’s Queen to Film Stars and a Football Team' and 'Restless Nation: Germany in the 20th Century'.

Spending your third year abroad in a German-speaking country allows you to make a major contribution to your command of the language, while deepening your intercultural sensitivity. You can study at a partner institution or conduct a work placement.

In your final year, you consolidate your German language skills, and study specialist culture and comparative modules, such as ‘Imagining Modern Europe: Post-Revolutionary Utopias and Ideologies in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century’. You will also select History modules such as ‘Europe’s Age of Extremes, 1914-45: Film and Memory’ or ‘The Shock of the New - Modernity and Modernism in American Culture, 1877-1919’.

Beginners Languages
Studying a language from beginners level is somewhat intense in nature so we only allow students to study one language from beginners level. Please bear this in mind when looking at our first year module options. If you apply to study a degree with a language from beginners level, your optional modules will only include higher level languages and modules in other subject areas.