Gender-Inclusivity Statement

Nouns in German have a gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter) that often does not obey any apparent logic. The German language also assigns humans a gender, and German is not special for having a rigid binary gender system. Pervasive gender normativity is reflected in our use of language, and language instruction is one of the spaces in which such traditional structures are reinforced. At UIC we strive to be respectful and inclusive. Whereas we still need to learn language in its normative form, we encourage you to be aware of the implications of such norms and to be attentive to your classmates’ and instructors’ desires. Please contact us right away should you have any particular name and/or pronoun by which you would like to be addressed. Although there are limitations to what the language allows grammatically, we can suggest solutions that work for all of us.