The dual Ph.D./Dr. phil. degree program in Transcultural German Studies, a cooperative effort between the University of Arizona and two German partner Universities in Leipzig and Cologne, is a unique program designed especially to train students aspiring to pursue academic careers relating to national and international educational, cultural, and linguistic interests in the German-speaking countries, the United States of America, and in a great variety of Asian, African, Latin American, and European countries. This is the first program in the United States that combines the strengths of major German and American Research I universities to create a truly joint international Ph.D. program in Transcultural German Studies. Graduates of this program will have a thorough grounding in cultural, literary, and language studies from interdisciplinary, transcultural perspectives. Students from each institution are required to spend one year, usually their second year of the overall program, at a transatlantic partner institution. That is, most students beginning and ending the Ph.D. program in Arizona will spend the second year of their program in Leipzig or Cologne, taking courses that fulfill the joint requirements for the program.