Program Overview

Immersion Program

Program Requirements

1. Student has to be at the third year level of proficiency or able to display mastery of the German language in upper level seminars.
2. Over the four years students must take 14 courses (56 credits) accredited by the German Studies Program. These 56 credits include the 8 Senior Project Credits.
3. At least 6 of the 14 courses must be conducted entirely in German. Before moderation students must have taken at least 5 courses accredited by the German Studies Program.
4. 2 of the required courses will be chosen from the German history offerings.

Moderation Requirements

1. 2 year proficiency in German (students are urged to participate in the German Immersion Program)
2. 1 course in german literature (or "culture course" with emphasis on lit), taught in English or German (preferably a survey course)
3. 1  course in a related field (preferably German or European History)
4. at moderation student deomonstrates progress in primary discipline and is actively pursuing inquiry into aspects of German Studies

Graduation Requirements

1. at least one upper college lit/culture course per semester in ascending sequence
2. Strongly recommended: Junior Year Abroad at Humboldt University, Berlin
3. two semesters of senior projects

Senior Project Guidelines and Timeline

Timeline	Guideline
September	Select a topic
End of September	A brief writing report of your research topic
First Monday after Thanksgiving	A presentation session to other students and faculty
Last three weeks of the fall semester	A midway review with project board
January break	Make headway on reading, writing, or researching
End of February or early March	Finish researching and begin writing
Two weeks prior to project due day	Submit all drafts to your advisor
Project due date (4/28/2010)	Submit project to board and three copies to library

The Senior Project is the culmination of your academic work at Bard.

The first major challenge in doing the project is selecting a topic. This will typically take place during the first month of your work in your senior year, although you may know what you want to do when you begin. In selecting a topic, you should attempt to work in an area or problem in which you have already had some preparation in a previous course or upper college seminar. This will make your task much easier, as you will have some context for your work. Also, you should select a problem in your adviser’s general area of competence and knowledge. This will allow your adviser to provide you with more informed guidance. There are a few instances in which the student can change advisers after the first period of work, especially when there is a better fit between the project topic and the new adviser’s area of expertise.

 The German program typically accepts various types of projects:

• Literary Analysis
• Translation
• Creative Project 
• ….

The student should begin weekly meetings with the project adviser at the beginning of the Fall semester. By the end of September, you should have a good idea about your research topic, and submit in writing (one paragraph will suffice) your project idea to your adviser. The German program faculty will review proposed topics in early October and will indicate whether or not the project topic is approved.

On the first Monday after Thanksgiving break, students will present the conception and research plan for their projects at a presentation session. The purpose is to provide you with an opportunity to share the ideas and plans for your project with other students and faculty, some of whom will not be on your board. It will also help you to further clarify your own ideas in preparation of your midway review. The session is required, but not graded. If you are unfamiliar with the session, consult with your adviser and program faculty.

A midway review will be conducted within the last three weeks of the semester. At the review, the project board will meet with the student and discuss his or her plans. The basis of discussion will be submitted to members of the project board on Wednesday prior to the winter intersession. The content of the midway review paper will vary, but should contain a history and rationale of the problem as well as a proposal for the work that will be conducted during the second semester. The midway review should be viewed fundamentally as an advising conference. The project board will be selected by the adviser in consultation with the faculty and student preferences. Project boards will consist of faculty members from the program but faculty from other fields will be in some instances be invited to participate, depending on the project content. Students should hand in drafts of their midway review papers early December so that the adviser can read at least one draft prior to the midway review and provide appropriate feedback. All projects will be graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis at the end of the first semester.

Students should attempt to make use of the January break to make headway on reading, writing or preparation for research. Students should plan to finish their research by the end of February, early March, so that they have a minimum of one month to write the project. All drafts of chapters should be submitted to the advisor two weeks prior to the actual project due date, so that there is adequate time for feedback and revision.

The final project must be submitted to the members of the board on or before the general project due date, which is set by college-wide policy and is generally three weeks before the end of the semester. By college rule, late projects are subject to a mandatory and substantial grade penalty. On the project due date, you must also submit three library copies as well. For general information on senior projects at Bard, see the most recent version of the Bard College Student Handbook. You should receive a brief Guide to the Preparation and Presentation of the Senior Project from the Dean’s office during your second semester of work on your project. General guidelines for the format of Senior Projects are posted on the library’s website for students and the Student section of the Office of the Dean of the College.