Welcome to Vanderbilt in Berlin 2016!

Vanderbilt in Berlin 2105: We are the Berlin Bear

Vanderbilt in Berlin 2015: Bike Tour at Reichstag

2016 Applications

Program Applications due: 1 February
Application form

Global Education Office, Student Life Center 115

Scholarship Applications due: 29 January
Scholarship Opportunities & Global Fellows Scholarships


Contact & Information: Peggy Setje-Eilers
Furman 126

peggy.setje-eilers@vanderbilt.edu

Program Dates: 28 May-July 16, 2016

  • No knowledge of German required!
  • German language courses and topic courses in English
  • 7 Vanderbilt Credits in 7 Weeks
  • No previous German study necessary!
  • Major-level courses also available
  • GPA requirement: 2.7

Important Deadlines

  • Application deadline: February 1, 2016
  • Scholarship application deadline: January 29, 2016
  • Decision date: February 29, 2016

May 28–June 3: History & Culture of Berlin (1 week: 1 cr. hr.)
June 4-July 16: FUBiS courses (6 weeks: 6 cr. hrs.)

Applications at GEO website

Learn German
Experience history, culture, and life in Berlin!

Vanderbilt in Berlin is a seven-week summer program held in conjunction with the Free University of Berlin (Freie Universität Berlin). Vanderbilt students participate in a program called the Freie Universität Berlin International Summer and Winter University, or FUBiS. Students from all over the world come together to study and promote international education and cross-cultural understanding. The program started in 2004, and students are still talking about their experiences.

In the first-week program (GER 294a: History and Culture of Berlin, 1 credit hour) Vanderbilt students explore the history and culture of Berlin and learn how to navigate the city before the six weeks of FUBiS courses begin. The first-week program includes airport pick-up and briefing, tours (e.g. a full-day history bike tour for bike riders), museums, a musical theater visit, and many meals. Students live in small, fully equipped individual apartment in Celsiusstraße (SW Berlin) and travel by bus to classes and by public transportation (ca. 35 minutes on the S-Bahn train) to the city center. The cost of the program also includes two one-month public transportation passes.

In the six weeks of FUBiS courses, students from Vanderbilt and many other universities choose one Track A and one Track B course or one Track C course.

Track A courses are semi-intensive German language courses or content courses in English (3 credit hours).

Track B courses are content courses in English (3 credit hours).

Track C courses are intensive German language courses (6 credit hours). No language requirement.

Students can begin the study of German or take courses for major and minor credit in German.

Berlin is the focal point of European affairs. In summer 2016, you can live in this exciting city for seven weeks and earn seven credits, plus satisfy one international component of AXLE. Without ever having spoken a word of German, you will quickly become immersed in the language of one of Europe’s most vibrant cities, and you will have plenty of time to explore its exciting cultural heritage – politics, history, literature, art, theater, and music. History is everywhere, and the city changes from day to day. It is the place to be in Europe!

Links to course descriptions and syllabi below.

Courses cover a wide range of disciplines, including all levels of language courses for students with no prior German, as well as majors and minors. Topic courses in English (one course held in German).

Program Costs and Housing

What the program cost covers:

  • Tuition for 7 Vanderbilt credits
  • Program fee
  • Public transportation passes for Berlin (2 mo.)
  • Housing (your own individual apartment)
  • First week: museums, tours, many meals

What you pay for:

  • Your extra costs
  • Your flight and meals
  • Your own travel

2016: First-week Course (1 cr. hr.) & Program Schedule

“HISTORY & CULTURE OF BERLIN” (1 CREDIT HOUR)
May 28 – June 3, 2016 (for all Vanderbilt students) (see below for 6-week course syllabi)

Berlin_2016_G1480_syllabus-schedule_20_April_16

2016: Course descriptions and Syllabi
(6 cr. hrs.)

6-WEEK COURSES are held by the “Free University Berlin in Summer and Winter” (FUBiS)

You have two options for courses: Track A + B or only Track C

(6 credit hours total)

  1. One Track A plus one Track B course (3 hrs. each)
  2. One Track C course (6 hrs.)

How to find Vanderbilt evaluations of FUBiS courses on YES: vanderbi.lt/berlincourselist

Track A: Topic Courses (Mo. & Th.) (Courses in English)

2.01 Resilience and Transformation in Berlin: Personal Development and Urban Opportunities
(Dr. Loriana Yancura)

2.02 Music in Berlin: Three Centuries of Tradition and Innovation (Prof. Ivan Raykoff)

Track A: Semi-Intensive German (Mo., Wed., Th.)

Language courses in German

2.03 Semi-Intensive German Language Beginner A1

2.04 Semi-Intensive German Language Beginner A2

2.05 Semi-Intensive German Language Intermediate B1

2.06 Semi-Intensive German Language Intermediate Advanced B2

2.07 Semi-Intensive German Language Advanced C1

Track B: Topic Courses (Tu. & Fr.)
(Courses in English except “Zeiten und Orte” in German)

2.08 Borders and Crossings: German Literature and Culture from Romanticism to the Present (Dr. Peggy Setje-Eilers)

2.09 Berlin and the Digital Music Era (Dr. Hilary Baker)

2.10 Zeiten und Orte – Deutsche Kultur und Geschichte im Spiegel von Literatur, Film und Kunst (1871 bis heute) (Dr. Anja Richter)

2.11 Seduction and Terror: Hitler’s Germany (Dr. Robert G. Waite)

2.12 European Union – Between Integration and Crisis (Dr. Götz Kaufmann)

Track C: Intensive German (Mon. to Fri.)

Language courses in German

2.13 Intensive German Language Beginner A1

2.14 Intensive German Language Beginner A2

2.15 Intensive German Language Intermediate B1

2.16 Intensive German Language Intermediate Advanced B2

2.17 Intensive German Language Advanced C1

Day and Weekend Excusions with FUBiS (2016)

Link to all FUBiS excusions (including many free tours)

Day excursion to Leipzig: June 18, 2016 (60 Euro)
Weekend excursion to Rostock: June 25 – 26, 2016 (130 Euro)
Weekend excursion to Dresden: July 2-3, 2016 (130 Euro)