Faculty of Arts

Department of German and Slavic Studies

Explore the languages, literatures, histories and cultures of Germany, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Hungary and excel in critical and creative thinking, teamwork and communication.

Start any language as a beginner or enter at a higher level of competency. We offer many travel and study abroad options. A variety of our culture courses are taught in English.

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Oder bridge connecting Germany and Poland.

Department statement

Please read the statement from the Department of German and Slavic Studies and the Central and East European Studies Program at the University of Manitoba (March 3, 2022).

Statement against Russia's invasion of Ukraine

A Statement by the Department of German and Slavic Studies and the Program in Central and East European Studies at the University of Manitoba (March 3, 2022) 

The Department of German and Slavic Studies and the Program in Central and Eastern European Studies at the University of Manitoba strongly condemn the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine. Since 24 February 2022, 5:00 a.m. Kyiv time, Russia’s massive attack on Ukraine has started the worst security and humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War Two. This assault causes suffering, devastation, and damage to the people and cultural heritage of Ukraine. All the programs of our department (Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, German, and Hungarian) and the multi-disciplinary Program in Central and East European Studies stand united with Ukraine and its people in these perilous times. As scholars and educators, we reject President Putin’s justifications of this war and its misrepresentation as a “special military operation.” We declare our support for all those in Ukraine and beyond who are suffering because of this invasion. We stand together with the people of Ukraine, our students, partners, and colleagues from all ethnic backgrounds who are in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, and around the world who oppose this war. The Department of German and Slavic Studies expresses solidarity with our partner institutions in Ukraine:  Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University, and the Lviv Polytechnic National University. If you feel the direct impact of the war (especially international students from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, who are enrolled in the courses taught by our Department) and need assistance, please let us know at: german_slavic@umanitoba.ca
 

News and events

Call for Papers

The 8th University of Szeged-University of Manitoba Partnership Biannual Conference:
Continuities and Discontinuities in Intercultural Dialogues

Call for papers deadline: November 30, 2024
Conference: May 8-10, 2025
University of Szeged, Hungary

For this interdisciplinary conference, we welcome proposals for papers that reflect on intercultural dialogue, both past and present, addressing experiences of continuity and discontinuity on all levels of social, cultural, political, and economic formations. We invite participants from a variety of disciplines, such as literature, history, the arts, visual culture, social and political sciences, and cultural and identity studies.

Ten travel subsidies – generously provided by the University of Manitoba Hungarian Endowment Fund, usually sufficient for a transatlantic airfare – will be available to presenters from UM. The primary target group for delegates are permanent, probationary, or long-term university members from any Faculty as the objective of the partnership conference is building future connections between the universities, so it is less for graduate students or visiting scholars. 

Potential presenters are requested to send a 150-word abstract and a 100-word CV to Stephan Jaeger and Elena Baraban by November 30, 2024. Submissions will be peer-reviewed.

2025 conference description

Continuities and Discontinuities in Intercultural Dialogues

Human existence has long been captured in terms of continuity and discontinuity, stability and disruption, permanence and change. Classical social theorists thus repeatedly focused on investigating either the primary conditions for social equilibrium or the potential triggers of social change in various historical contexts. An unprecedented series of events at the end of the last millennium, such as the regime change in the former Eastern bloc countries, the resultant expansion of the European Union and NATO, also changing Canada’s role in the world, a number of unexpected regional conflicts and wars on all continents, advances in technology, the spread of the World Wide Web, the expansion of digital culture, and the unpredicted scale of globalization and neoliberal economic trends have impacted individual and communal lives in complex ways on the global, national, regional, and local levels. Academic responses to these have included proposals on the nature and mechanisms of globalization (Will Kymlicka), alternative conceptualizations of place and space (Avtar Brah), challenges to the hegemony of the nation state as the dominant political and economic capsule (Saskia Sassen), subversive approaches to discourses (Norman Fairclough), to cultural representations (Stuart Hall), and to colonial legacies (Gayatri Spivak), all of which have shaped our current understandings of the world around us.

 

The Central and East European Program Lecture Series

Local, national and international experts present academic and community roundtables, book launches, graduate student presentations and more in this annual program sponsored by the CEES Program and the Department of German and Slavic Studies.  

  • Book Launch: Juli Zeh - A Critical Companion

    Thursday, November 21, 2024
    11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. CT
    Online via Zoom

    Register

    In their talk, the co-editors of this volume cast a critical light on one of Germany’s bestselling and most controversial authors. Juli Zeh’s literary work is not only widely read in Germany, but also featured on high school and college syllabi both in Germany and abroad. In recent years, her work has evolved away from the literary and philosophical thought that informed her more nuanced earlier work and towards a more conservative representation of contemporary social dynamics. Zeh herself, who is a seemingly omnipresent public intellectual, has taken increasingly libertarian positions in recent political debates. This volume traces the development and broad impact of Zeh’s writing while reflecting on the responsibility of the scholars who read and teach it to confront her ambiguous and sometimes troubling politics.

    Dr. Sonja E. Klocke, Professor of German with an affiliation in Gender and Women’s Studies as well as European Studies. University of Wisconsin
    Dr. Necia Chronister, Professor of German. Kansas State University
    Dr. Lars Richter, Instructor of German Studies in the Department of German and Slavic Studies. UM
    Moderator: Dr. Stephan Jaeger, Department of German and Slavic Studies, UM

    Sponsored by: German and Slavic Studies Department, Central and East European Studies Program, German Studies Canada

    For more information about the event, please contact Dr. Elena Baraban.

  • Book cover featuring a female sitting at a table speaking into a microphone.

Programs of study

Course offerings

The course listing is a preliminary list of undergraduate and graduate courses per term that includes the course start and end date. 

Courses offered by the Department of German and Slavic Studies fall under six subject area categories:

  • German (GRMN)
  • Hungarian (HUNG)
  • Polish (POL)
  • Russian (RUSN)
  • Slavic (SLAV)
  • Ukrainian (UKRN)

View courses on Aurora

Students must search the system using each subject category to review the courses for that subject area.

Check back for updates and additional information including meeting times, instructors and method of delivery (e.g., on campus or remote learning).

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Graduate students

Finding a graduate advisor

Before submitting your application to the Faculty of Graduate Studies for the German Studies MA program or the Slavic Studies MA program, you will need to first contact the department via the Graduate Chair (German_Slavic@umanitoba.ca) to discuss an appropriate academic advisor for you.

You can also contact a German and Slavic Studies faculty member directly if you are specifically interested in their research.

In an email, please let us know the following:

  • your area(s) of study and research interest,
  • a bit about yourself, and how to best contact you,
  • a brief summary of your relevant education, community and/or work experiences,
  • a description of your proposed research topic.

Past theses

Past German Studies and Slavic Studies theses can be found on MSpace.

View past German Studies and Slavic Studies theses on MSpace

Donations

German and Slavic Studies is comprised of several vibrant, growing academic fields. With your support our language and culture programs can continue to be a vital part of this multicultural province. 

German Studies Endowment Fund

The German Studies Endowment Fund provides excellence awards to students majoring in German. By supporting our students, you give them the opportunity to become experts in German Studies and future ambassadors for German-Canadian relations.

Donate NOW to the German Studies Endowment Fund

The Polish Studies Endowment Fund

The Polish Studies Endowment Fund supports the continuous offering of Polish language and culture courses on an annual basis. Today, the fund plays a critical role in keeping our program at the forefront of Polish studies in western Canada.

Donate NOW to the Polish Endowment Fund

Become a donor

If you'd like to support one of German and Slavic Studies’ programs (German, Hungarian, Polish, Russian or Ukrainian), you can donate to one of the existing funds listed or you may be interested in establishing an endowment of your own at UM that supports the program, research or a professorship or an annually funded student award such as a bursary, fellowship, prize or scholarship. Your investment will help transform the lives of students and faculty.

Contact us

At times, departmental support staff are working from home and can be reached via phone or email.

Department of German and Slavic Studies
Room 328 Fletcher Argue Building
15 Chancellors Circle
University of Manitoba (Fort Garry campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada

german_slavic@umanitoba.ca
204-474-9370
Monday to Friday 9:00 am - 3:00 pm