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 (PDF)

News and events

  • Hungarian castle with a pink and purple sky in the background.
  • Travel to Hungary Summer 2023
    Course dates July 24 - August 14

    Travel to Hungary this summer and receive course credit while exploring the heart of Europe. Open to students from all faculties.

    HUNG 2100: Hungarian Culture and Language

    Participate in an immersive study experience in Budapest (7 days) and Szeged (14 days). Explore Hungarian culture, history, art, life and society in excursions, classes and guest lectures along with some introductory, conversational language training. All course segments are taught in English by Szeged University, an official partner of UM.

    Receive 6 credit hours. $3000 in funding available per student to help defer costs!

    Deadline to register: May 1, 2023 (Apply as early as you can; from experience the course fills up quickly.)

    View costs and application procedures
     


 

  • Introducing the 2023 German Summer Institute

    May 8 to June 15, 2023

    Earn 9 credits by taking two condensed courses over six weeks this spring.

    GRMN 1120 Beginning German (6 credit hours) MTWR 9:30 a.m. -12:15 p.m.

    Learn the fundamentals of the German language in this course that aligns with topics of Discovering German Life and Culture and prepares you to enroll in Intermediate German in Fall 2023. (Labs: choose between TR 8:30 a.m. - 9:20 a.m. or TR 2:00 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.
    Instructor: Karin James

    GRMN 2110 Discovering German Life and Culture (3 credit hours) MTWR 12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.

    This hands on course explores contemporary German life and culture through popular music, food, film and much more! Learn about Germany today by engaging with short stories, music videos, graphic novels, and other texts. Take a look at multiculturalism, the environment, family structures and many other aspects of life in Germany.
    Instructor: Dr. Lars Richter

    These condensed spring courses are designed to work hand-in-hand to introduce students to the German language and culture. Both courses will engage with the German-Canadian community in Manitoba and invite guest speakers for a lively and authentic learning experience. The courses take place in-person at the Fort Garry campus. For more information, please contact the instructors directly.

  • Two photos, one with student reading book in front of a bookshelf and second with student looking at laptop while wearing headphones.

 

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.  

Check back for upcoming events.


 

Call for papers

Nomadisms
The 7th University of Szeged-University of Manitoba Partnership Conference

September 28-30, 2023
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Learn more about the conference and see submission instructions

The recurrent lockdowns and travel restrictions of the Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020-2022 threw into high relief how nomadic many of our lives have become in the 21st century. With the option or necessity of working from home, many white-collar workers decamped to extra-urban locales with good weather and nice views. At the same time, for many of us, the Pandemic came as a relief from the sometimes-excessive demands of work-related travel. Now that the Pandemic is more or less over, many of us again find ourselves clocking the kilometers on planes, trains and automobiles. We also look forward to resuming our regular Partnership Conferences!

Russia’s attack on Ukraine early in 2022 set off yet another wave of movement, this time both of refugees from Ukraine and young men leaving Russia, looking to build a life beyond the threat of the military draft for a war they don’t support. Of course, these recent developments echo earlier waves of human movement, both individual and group migrations, as well as nomadic, semi-nomadic or quasi-nomadic lifestyles. The wave of Ukrainian refugees and Russian refuseniks recapitulates waves of emigration of past generations. On the Canadian Prairies, for example, many immigrants from Northern, Central and Eastern Europe arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, looking for land. These immigrants displaced Indigenous peoples, such as the Anishinabe, Cree, Oji Cree, Lakota, Siksika and Dene peoples who had lived nomadic and semi-nomadic lifestyles on this land before they were forced to settle in “reservations” as a result of treaties. The nomadic Inuit populations of northern Canada were forced to settle into communities only in the 1950s. With every migration, ideas, customs, practices and languages migrate with the people. As Deleuze and Guattari have pointed out, people pick and choose which ideas to adopt: “Psychical Nomadism.”

These waves of movement have had all kinds of implications that may be examined in a wide range of disciplines, including health care, law, education, social services, the production of knowledge in both the sciences and humanities, the migration of art forms, musical styles, architectural typologies, etc.

For this conference, we welcome proposals for papers from all disciplines that invoke movement, migration and nomadism—understood in the broadest sense of peoples, ideas and culture, and what this implies for knowledge and consciousness wrought by changes in perspective.
 
Submissions
Submission deadline is March 15, 2023.

Email a 150-word abstract and a short CV to Dr. Oliver Botar and Dr. Elena Baraban

Early submissions are encouraged. Submissions will be peer-reviewed by a committee of faculty members. 
 

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).

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

204-474-9370
Monday to Friday 9:00 am - 3:00 pm