Learning Outcomes for German Ph.D.

PLO 1. Core Knowledge

• Students will acquire an understanding of various topics, approaches, genres, theoretical issues in German literature and culture.  They will gain adequate historical coverage.
• They will determine reading knowledge of two languages or extensive competence in one language other than German and English.
• Students will demonstrate a capacity to carry out a sustained research project.

PLO 2. Research Methods and Analysis

• Students will gain an understanding of research at the graduate level.
• Students will engage in extensive research at the graduate level in order to write a dissertation (leading to their first book).

PLO 3.Pedagogy

Students will:

• Receive intensive training in the teaching of German.
• Gain practical experience in the teaching of German.
• Develop teaching units for the learning of German.
• Gain practical experience in the planning and writing of syllabi both in German language teaching and upper-division classes in German literature and culture (MA exam).
• Select course books.
• Shape writing assignments.
• Guide students in language learning and research.
• Give lectures (in upper-division classes for which they TA).
• Comment on papers in a way that leads to student learning and revision.
• Hold office hours on course content and writing assignments.
• Grade papers and exams according to established criteria.
• Deal with plagiarism issues.
• Direct students to UCI resources set up to support them (academic counseling, etc.).

PLO 4. Professional Engagement and Communication

Students should:

• Gain familiarity with current questions being addressed by scholars in a range of academic fields.
• Present their own work in progress in on-campus forums.
• Present papers at conferences.
• Organize reading groups and discussion sessions.
• Submit papers to professional journals.

PLO 5. Professionalism

Students should be able to:

• Assess their commitment to the profession as a teacher of German and a scholar of German literature and culture.
• Become part of the community of scholars.
• Perform well at scholarly meetings.
• Perform well in interviews (being able to communicate clearly their research and their teaching experience).
• Understand institutional issues on the level of the department and the School of Humanities.
• Participate in discussions of educational policy and appointment decisions

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