Our German, Scandinavian, Dutch (GSD) major gives students the flexibility either to combine coursework in any of the languages and literatures of the department or to designate an emphasis in German or in Scandinavian and Finnish. In the GSD major, students develop advanced language competency, come to understand changing cultural and social contexts in relation to various forms of media (from oral and manuscript traditions to book culture, film, and hypermedia), and deepen their interdisciplinary understanding of other cultures. The department recommends study abroad in the target language for at least six months to strengthen cultural familiarity and language fluency.
The College of Liberal Arts Advantage: More Than a Major
When you study German, Scandinavian, and Dutch at the University of Minnesota, you gain the added advantage of a College of Liberal Arts education. At CLA, the liberal arts mean you get more than just a degree in one major or another; it means you will be exposed to different areas of study, to different ways of thinking and learning. In fact, the liberal arts teach you how to learn—how to ask the right questions, how to problem solve, and how to innovate. The liberal arts highlight the complexities of our world, because here at CLA you will study not just, say, politics or art but also where politics and art intersect, where science and ethics intersect, where economics and the environment intersect.