Curriculum
Each student begins the program at a Goethe Institut, engaging in 4 or 8 weeks of intensive German language training (4 or 8 semester credits). Students are free to select from a range of locations including Berlin, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Munich, and Freiburg. Following the conclusion of the Goethe Institut, students travel to Tübingen where they engage in the five-week German Compact Program (4 semester credits), offered through Tübingen University. This program provides additional language preparation, as well as an orientation to Tübingen University and the town. Students then enroll in one or two semesters of courses directly through Tübingen University, selecting from the regular university course offerings (up to 16 semester credits/ semester). Additional details regarding each of these curricular components are provided below.
*Please note that all coursework is conducted in German. Visit our Admissions page for more details regarding minimum requirements.
Pre-Semester Language Study and Orientation
Tübingen University Semester(s)
Additional Options, Activities, Information
- Studies in Science
- Internationale Sprachprogramme (ISP)
- Music and Art
- Volkshochschule
- Antioch Group Meeting
- Second Semester Options
- Internships
- Credit and Evaluation
Pre-Semester Language Study and Orientation
- Goethe Institut (4 or 8 wks)
- German Compact Program (5 wks)
Goethe Institut
The Goethe Institut is well-respected around the world for providing top-notch German language teaching. The Antioch in Germany program begins with intensive language study at one of several Goethe Instituts located throughout Germany. Students can choose from four and eight-week options available at multiple locations. Students are assessed upon arrival and placed in the course best suited to their needs. Students select their Goethe Institut duration and location after acceptance into the program. Click here for more information regarding the Goethe Institut locations.
Language instruction is supplemented by cultural activities and optional excursions. The Goethe Institut program allows time for students to become accustomed to the language and culture in order to enter the university confident in their language abilities. It is also a good opportunity to live in another area of Germany.
German Compact Program
After the Goethe Institut program, all students convene in Tübingen, where the academic semester/year begins with an essential orientation to German university life – the German Compact Program. This program is sponsored by the Internationale Sprachprogramme (ISP), a division of the university that offers courses and programs of special interest to foreign students, as well as assistance in the enrollment process and academic advising. Major elements of the German Compact Program include special preparatory training for the language proficiency exam and academic writing in German, general university and city orientation, and a cultural program of lectures, excursions and evening activities.
The language and orientation program is composed of daily intensive classes in grammar and German culture in Tübingen and at a university study center in Blaubeuren. Students also participate in special community events while in Blaubeuren. This program is a great opportunity to begin meeting friends in your new “home” and gaining a level of comfort in a new environment before beginning semester courses.
Tübingen University Semester Course Offerings
Students enroll directly into courses offered by Tübingen University. They will learn from German professors, alongside German students. Tübingen offers hundreds of courses each semester. Click here to read more about the course offerings and academic disciplines available at Tübingen University.
Additional Activities and Opportunities:
Special Course Options
Studies in Science
Past participants have studied in many areas of the physical sciences in Tübingen, ranging from biology and physics to geology and mathematics. In addition to working with the finest professors and equipment, they also become fluent highly proficient in German, an essential international scientific language.
Tübingen is one of three German universities that offers a special degree program in biochemistry. The city is also the location of four Max Planck Institutes (biology, bio-cybernetics, developmental biology, and the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory), whose leading scientists lecture and give seminars at the University. Students with appropriate background knowledge and skills may apply for the occasional openings at these institutes. Antioch program participants have also worked as part-time lab or research assistants.
In the German educational system mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and earth sciences are taught at universities. Applied sciences such as engineering and architecture are studied at technical universities. Special arrangements with nearby technical universities can be made for students with interests in these areas. [Back to Top]
Internationale Sprachprogramme (ISP)
The ISP offers a variety of courses in German language and area studies, including grammar, creative writing, stylistics and idiomatics. Also offered are seminar courses on current issues in Germany, e.g. immigration, regional politics, and the history of Baden-Württemberg. While taught in German, these courses are geared towards international students for whom German is not a native language. Students may enroll in a couple of these courses while also taking courses in other university departments. Click here to read more about the subjects offered through the ISP. [Back to Top]
Music and Art at Tübingen University
While Tübingen University has an accredited program in art history and musicology, music and the creative arts are taught in separate academies due to the structure of the German system of higher education. However, substantial opportunities for extracurricular instruction and performance exist in Tübingen. There is an impressive range of semi-professional orchestras, chamber groups and choirs listed with the university’s Cultural Affairs Office. A new studio art institute offers extracurricular classes in drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture and printmaking. Contact us for more information regarding these opportunities. [Back to Top]
Volkshochschule
The Volkshochschule is a type of community college that offers a wide variety of different courses, such as foreign language classes, crafts, and cooking. The Volkshochschule is open and free to anyone who wants to take courses. Each course costs a small fee, depending on the number of contact hours and the amount of materials used. Antioch in Germany participants may consider taking a course for credit at the Volkshochschule. Before registering for a course, it is necessary to get approval from the Assistant Resident Director or the Resident Director in Tubingen. If approved, Antioch University will cover the course fees and grant AU credit for the course. [Back to Top]
Additional Activities and Information
Antioch University Group Meeting
Students attend an informal Antioch University meeting once a month with the Resident Director and Assistant Director. The purpose of the seminar meeting is to advise students and to provide participants with the opportunity to share questions and experiences. This is generally the only occasion students are called together as an American group. [Back to Top]
Second Semester Options
Once established in Germany, single-semester participants may choose to extend to the one-year program at Tübingen University. The Resident Director and Assistant Director will provide logistical support to any student who chooses this option. Students are required to contact the AEA office as well as their home institution’s study abroad office if considering this option. [Back to Top]
Internships
Experiential learning is an invaluable opportunity to become involved in the world of everyday life and work in Germany, meet Germans outside the university environment, and improve language skills.
The periods between and after university semesters are often used for internships or travel. Unpaid internships may be possible to arrange. Student visas allow paid employment for 90 days a year. Therefore, students may be able to take part-time work during semesters, or paid internships or jobs during breaks. However, these ‘paid’ opportunities are much more difficult to secure and students should not depend on this option.
Examples of past activities:
- Fieldwork and ornithological observation on an island in the North Sea
- Working and teaching in a home for children with disabilities near Weimar
- Planting, tending, and marketing organic vegetables on a farm near Stuttgart.
- Archeological dig in the Lake Constance area.
- Lab assistant in the Max Planck Institute for Biology, Tübingen.
- Researcher and translator for a Social-Democratic member of the European Parliament, Brussels
Short-term opportunities have included international work camp projects, summer camp counseling, music camps, and monastery stays at a nearby Benedictine monastery. [Back to Top]
Credit and Evaluation
Antioch’s Resident Directors help students choose the proper combination of lectures, seminars and laboratory work to meet home institution requirements because credits are not part of the German educational system. As the basis for awarding credits, students collect a graded Scheine from each of their professors, which verify and assess their completion of course requirements. These are supplemented by Antioch course evaluations – narratives prepared by the students that document both individual learning and course content.
Students at the university normally enroll in four courses for credit per semester. A typical course earns four semester credits. Additional credit is earned for the pre-semester language programs:
- Goethe Institut (4 or 8 semester credits)
- German Compact Program (4 semester credits)
- Tubingen University Semester Courses (up to 16 credits/ semester)
All earned credits are summarized and translated on an official Antioch University transcript and forwarded to students’ home institutions.
