Freiburg Study Group

Director Spring 2014: Professor Matthew Miller, Assistant Professor of German

The Freiburg Study Group is affiliated with the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in Freiburg, Germany. It is designed to:

1. Give students — who have previously studied German in the unavoidable artificiality of the classroom — the opportunity to develop and polish their skills through immersion in a German-speaking environment;


2. Provide students with firsthand experience of German culture in all its variety; and


3. Help students integrate their German-language skills into their broader intellectual life by providing them with an opportunity to pursue their major together with native German students in courses at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität.

The group will travel together with the director during the first weeks of the program and settle in Freiburg in early April. During this travel period, students will begin their first two courses: the composition and culture courses. The semester at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität begins on April 28, 2014, and ends August 2, 2014. In the week immediately preceding the start of the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität’s semester, students participate in orientation activities. During the semester, students will complete the director’s two courses started during the travel segment and take two more courses from the regular offerings of the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität.

Prerequisites and Selection Criteria

Satisfactory completion of German 351 or the permission of the director is required for participation in the Freiburg Study Group. Students will be selected based on their German-language preparation and their general intellectual and personal maturity.

Courses

GERM 341 Advanced Conversation and Composition (Miller)
This course addresses the needs of American students studying and living in a German environment. It focuses on the language skills needed for coping as a student at a German university. A first part is taught by the director while the group travels; a second part is taught in Freiburg by the director and tutors in accordance with the specific needs of the individual student.

GERM 457 German Culture and Literature (Miller)
This course is designed to give students a sense of Germany that goes beyond the university setting. Students are presented with a survey of German culture that draws on their immediate experience abroad. In addition to a study trip to several areas of German-speaking Europe, the course includes museum visits, theater and opera performances, and concerts. As with German 341, this course has two components: the pre-semester weeks (in March), which are devoted to travel, and the semester at Freiburg, during which regular class sessions are held.

GERM 400, 403 Electives Abroad
Courses of the students' choice at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität. They may be chosen from any field, the only restrictions being the prerequisites for each specific course and in some science courses, the availability of lab space.

Living Arrangements

Students are housed in the dormitories of the University of Freiburg. The director will arrange for these accommodations. We make every effort to see that Colgate students are housed with Freiburg students and not with other study group members.

Extracurricular Opportunities

Students may participate in various university and community extracurricular activities such as sports, choruses, or orchestras, etc.

Educational Journeys

In the first weeks of the program, students will travel with the director to several cities chosen to illustrate important aspects of the political, economic, and cultural development of German-speaking Europe. This travel is an essential part of German 457: German Culture and Literature.

Calendar

Mid-March through August 2, 2014. Students may remain in their dormitory rooms until August 15.

Travel Arrangements

Students do not travel as a group either to or from Europe. Students make their own travel arrangements and will meet in Germany at the beginning of the group activities, at a time and place arranged by the director.

Orientation

Three orientation sessions in the fall prior to departure help to prepare students for their experience at a German university. Previous study group participants and one or more native German students in residence at Colgate will serve as resource persons for the new study group.

Costs

For details of student expenses on this study group, please see student cost estimate sheet.

Calendar and Deadlines

The deadline for applications has already passed.

Passports and Visas

You must confirm that your passport is valid through February 2015. With participation on this study group comes the responsibility of understanding and complying with the German government’s visa requirements. If you will not be traveling on a U.S. passport, it is imperative that you contact an adviser in Off-Campus Study/International Programs, 101 Lathrop, and International Student Services, 103C Lathrop, to learn as much as you can about the visa requirements. For some students there may be significant requirements to be met that take time, advance planning, and incur extra costs.

Program Dates

Freiburg Study Group Program Dates: mid–March through August 2, 2014.

Informational Sessions

All information sessions for this program have already passed.

More Information

For more information contact Matthew Miller at mdmiller1@colgate.edu or 315-228-6181.

Helpful Links

• Admitted Study Group Participants: required forms
• Colgate Off-Campus Study Policies 
• U.S. Department of State Consular Information Sheet for Germany

General Information

• Tourismus Info Internet
• Freiburg Online
• Albert-Ludwig-Universität Freiburg

Field Trip Information

• Czech Republic FAQ
  Geschichte der Stadt Berlin
• Berlin
• Die Koln-Seite

Course-related Materials

• Der Spiegel
  German Electronic Texts - UVA
• German Studies Trails on the Internet
• 19th-Century German Stories
• Deutsche Datenquellen