The Department of German Studies at Warwick offers a high-calibre intellectual community for postgraduate students. We welcome applications from UK, European Union, and overseas students, including native speakers of German.

The department is renowned nationally and internationally for its ‘cultural studies’ approach to the study of literature and film. This means that we characteristically look at cultural production in the context of historical, social, and political developments, and have an interest in theoretical models which promote understanding of the relationship between cultural artefacts such as literary works and films and their social and historical environment.

The specialist research interests of the department’s staff range across the whole of the modern period, from the eighteenth-century Enlightenment to the present day, with notable areas of expertise in German Romanticism, the culture of the Weimar period, constructions of nation, gender and ethnicity, antisemitism, post-Holocaust culture, German cinema (including the cinema of the former GDR), and diasporic writing and cinema (including a particular emphasis on German-Turkish literature and film). The Library holdings in our subject area include a major research collection of German-language literature of the post-1945 period, as well as the Harmssen collection of film memorabilia from the period 1933-1945.

Our long-standing interdisciplinary collaborations with the Departments of Film and Television, Philosophy, and History, as well as French, Italian, English and Comparative Literature, and the Centre for Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies enable us to offer a flexible study environment and excellent opportunities for expanding your field of knowledge beyond the discipline of German Studies and into inter-disciplinary fields.

Taught MAs

Currently we offer three taught MA courses (available both full-time and part-time), two in collaboration with other departments. Click on the links below for further details:

• MA in German Cultural Studies (not running in 2012-13)
• MA in Pan-Romanticisms
• MA in Translation, Writing and Cultural Difference

For those wishing to update their subject knowledge, but not wishing to take the full MA course, we offer the qualifications of PGCert (postgraduate certificate) and PGDip (postgraduate diploma) as variants on the MA in German Cultural Studies course. These types of course tend to suit people who - perhaps because they are professionals - cannot study full-time, or who do not want to commit as yet to the full MA course. However, it is possible to upgrade to the full MA over a period of time.

The MA by Research

For those who are not necessarily interested in a taught programme, but who want to pursue a specific research project to MA level, we offer the possibility of an MA by Research (one-year full-time; 2 years part-time).

It may be that you already have a research project in mind, but do not necessarily want to commit yourself at this stage to a PhD programme. The MA by Research involves a period of research training followed by a period investigating a topic of your choosing under the guidance of a supervisor within the department. A number of students have successfully used their MA by Research to launch a full-blown PhD project. Candidates for this MA should consult the department's Director of Graduate Studies about their proposed project before submitting an application.

PhD programmes

We always welcome applications from suitably qualified graduates wishing to pursue a programme of research leading to the award of a doctorate. Essentially this involves three years (full-time) or five years (part-time) intensive research into a topic of your choosing. Staff in our department are qualified to supervise doctoral dissertations in a wide range of areas. Your dissertation can be written in either English or German. A number of our staff are also involved in the Doctoral Programme in European Cinema and we particularly welcome projects of an interdisciplinary kind. It may be that you are somewhat uncertain as to what might be a suitable topic; although the initial impulse should come from you, we are always pleased to advise you on how best to focus your project.

Enquiries about any of these courses should be addressed in the first instance to the department’s Director of Graduate Studies, Christine Achinger. Copies of the University’s Postgraduate Prospectus or printed information on the department’s different postgraduate degree courses can be obtained by emailing your request to the Departmental Secretary Marie Lucas

Applications are considered on a rolling basis throughout the academic year; information on the application process can be found here. Funding is avilable from the university-wide Chancellor's Scholarships scheme (NB., the closing date for this year's university-wide competition is the 31 January 2012; if you would like to apply, please contact us by 12 December 2011) and from other sources. Before applying for a place on our PhD programmes or for a Chancelor's Scholarship, please contact the Director of Graduate Studies, Christine Achinger, at c.e.achinger@warwick.ac.uk.

See our current postgraduate research

Ingeborg Bachmann und Paul Celan 1952 bei der Tagung der "Gruppe 47" in Niendorf

German Studies Postgraduate Handbook 2011-12

General information about Postgraduate Study at Warwick