Research Abroad

Both Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have strong, long-standing partnerships with German universities and students are strongly encouraged to study and conduct research abroad as an integral part of their graduate work.

Duke University offers student exchanges with the Free University of Berlin and the University of Potsdam, programs in which graduate students in German Studies regularly participate, and the UNC Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures runs a graduate-level exchange with the University of Tübingen.

UNC Exchange with the University of Tübingen

The UNC Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures runs a bilateral exchange with the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen. Each year, a Carolina-Duke graduate student goes to Tübingen, generally during the research and writing of the dissertation, and has the opportunity to cultivate relationships with Tübingen faculty who may later serve on the dissertation committee. A graduate student from Tübingen comes to CDG each year as well, taking courses in the Carolina-Duke Graduate Program in German Studies and teaching German courses in our undergraduate program.

Application Procedures

In order to apply for these programs, you must submit the following to the Directors of Graduate Study by February 15. Please list your first and second choices. Offers will be made mid-March.

1. A 2-page statement describing your dissertation project and how it will benefit from the resources offered at your top choice of university. Please include the names of one or two faculty members with whom you hope to work and whom you will contact, should you be selected for the program.

2. A brief statement from the Language Program Director of German at Duke or UNC attesting to sufficient language competency.

3. A brief letter of endorsement from your dissertation director.

Duke Graduate Exchange with the Free University of Berlin, Germany

Duke University runs a graduate level exchange with the Free University of Berlin, Germany, open to all students at Duke who have passed their preliminary examinations and demonstrate facility in German sufficient for advanced university-level work.

Application Procedures

In order to apply for these programs, you must submit the following to the Directors of Graduate Study by February 15. Please list your first and second choices. Offers will be made mid-March.

1. A 2-page statement describing your dissertation project and how it will benefit from the resources offered at your top choice of university. Please include the names of one or two faculty members with whom you hope to work and whom you will contact, should you be selected for the program.

2. A brief statement from the Language Program Director of German at Duke or UNC attesting to sufficient language competency.

3. A brief letter of endorsement from your dissertation director.

Duke Graduate Exchange with Potsdam University, Germany

Duke University has a graduate level exchange with Potsdam University open to all students who have passed their preliminary examinations and demonstrate facility in German sufficient for advanced university-level work.

Application Procedures

In order to apply for these programs, you must submit the following to the Directors of Graduate Study by February 15. Please list your first and second choices. Offers will be made mid-March.

1. A 2-page statement describing your dissertation project and how it will benefit from the resources offered at your top choice of university. Please include the names of one or two faculty members with whom you hope to work and whom you will contact, should you be selected for the program.

2. A brief statement from the Language Program Director of German at Duke or UNC attesting to sufficient language competency.

3. A brief letter of endorsement from your dissertation director.