The Department of German entertains a lively network of research connections with several universities abroad, offering graduate students the possibility to work with acclaimed faculty at other research institutions and to develop their own international networks early in their careers.
Humboldt University, Berlin
The Department of German is a founding member of the PhD-Net Das Wissen der Literatur established at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin in 2008. The network includes the departments of German at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, UC Berkeley, Harvard University, and Princeton University. It offers graduate students the possibility to study for one or two semesters at a partner institution and to participate in the shared thematic emphasis on the relationship between literature and forms of knowledge. The international collaboration offers students the possibility to work with renowned scholars at several research institutions and to engage in theoretical discussions about recent work in Europe and in the US.
University of Konstanz
The Department of German is a founding partner in the MA program Kulturelle Grundlagen Europas at Universität Konstanz. The program offers students who specialize in questions of literature, migration, and globalization the possibility to pursue their studies and research projects with expert faculty at both universities and through student exchange.
Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich
An agreement of cooperation between UC Berkeley and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München offers graduate students and faculty at both universities a new platform for international cooperation and exchange.
Cambridge University, UK
The German Department at UC Berkeley currently is working on a cooperation with Cambridge University in the UK. Research areas in this cooperation include literature and film of the Weimar period and Medieval studies.
Berkeley-Tübingen-Vienna-Harvard (BTWH) Working Group
Graduate students in the Department of German are members of the Berkeley-Tübingen-Wien-Harvard working group, an international cooperation of graduate students supported by the Townsend Center at UC Berkeley. This working group focuses on specific topics in literary theory and history, and organizes an annual international conference.
“Aesthetic Possibilities: Literature, Rhetoric, Philosophy” – Berkeley-Köln Summer School
The Berkeley-Köln Summer School, established by the Anneliese Maier prize, offers graduate students the opportunity for intensive discussions focussed on aesthetics, rhetoric, and literary criticism with an international team of professors from Philosophy, Cultural Studies, Literary Studies, and Media Studies. The goal is to work cooperatively on theoretical questions beyond disciplinary boundaries.
The five-day summer school will alternate between the Universität zu Köln and UC Berkeley. In the mornings there will be a seminar directed by one of the experts, in the afternoons there will be project presentations by participants. The discussion will be based on pre-distributed texts. The summer school will be conducted in both English and German.
Max Kade Foundation
The Max Kade Foundation takes pride in sponsoring various programs that encourage the exchange of academic ideas. The Max Kade Foundation has generously provided support to the German Department for graduate fellowships, graduate and undergraduate travel exchanges, and they provide funding for a Distringuished Professor to participate yearly in German 204, a 5-week compact seminar offered by the Department of German, taught in German, primarily by Distinguished Visiting Professors from German speaking universities. The compact seminar is designed to introduce new perspectives on canonical German texts. The seminars are open to graduate students and advanced undergraduates for intellectual stimulation and reading pleasure, sprich: Leselust!