German Studies

Program Degree Major Code Admissions
Term Deadline
Doctoral PhD GERJ Fall June 11, 2024**
Fall Graduate School Fellowships December 12, 2023 (Recommended)
Director of Graduate Admissions UNC – Dr. Inga Pollmann (ipoll@email.unc.edu)

Duke – Dr. Kata Gellen (kata.gallen@duke.edu)

Graduate Coordinator Valerie Bernhardt (valerieb@email.unc.edu)
Address Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures
CB# 3160, 426 Dey Hall
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
Website http://carolina-duke-grad.german.duke.edu/
Phone 919-966-1642
Test Requirements
GRE not required
Letters of Recommendation Please arrange for three letters of recommendation. You will submit the email address of each recommender when you submit your online application.
International Applicants Only TOEFL or IELTS score (no more than two years old); please be sure to designate “Institution #5816” when requesting that your official score reports be sent to the Carolina-Duke program.
Other Requirements In addition to the University’s required application materials, applicants should review the information below for additional expectations or application requirements. The pertinent online application section, relating to each requirement, is indicated by [brackets].

Statement of Purpose: In order to help the Admissions Committee assess how well your interests and goals align with our graduate program, please provide a statement of purpose of approximately 650 to 2000 words.  At the top of your statement please insert a brief description (20 keywords or fewer) of your specific research interests.  In addition, please discuss your goals in pursuing the Carolina-Duke German Studies Ph.D., your previous study abroad experience(s) and the trajectory of your academic career thus far. [Statement of Purpose Upload]

Substantial Writing Sample: Please upload a single writing sample of approximately 7,000 to 8,000 words that represents your very best academic writing. Typically, this is an essay previously submitted as an academic requirement in a humanities course of relevance to German Studies. It should make an interpretive argument supported by evidence from one or more literary texts or other cultural media. You may submit a sample in either English or German; however, we strongly encourage you to submit a paper in your native language. If neither is your native language, choose either of these two languages over which you exercise the greatest mastery. The goal of the writing sample is to demonstrate your intellectual capabilities, not merely your English or German language proficiency. [Supplemental Document #1 Upload].

*Only in unusual circumstances and after consultation with the program are other admission terms considered.

**Preference will be given to applications that have been submitted to the UNC Graduate School by December 18, 2023.

Please submit your application (and pay the application fee) by this priority date if at all possible, even if there are delays with your transcripts, recommendation letters, or other materials.