Program Description & Photo Gallery 

Welcome! Herzlich Willkommen! 

RC Intensive German is a small, tight-knit program dedicated to teaching excellence and community building. Our successful track record is confirmed by students themselves who have nominated both of us as "Michigan Housing Honored Instructors." Many of our students go on to major or minor in German. They feel inspired and empowered by their language skills to study and intern in German-speaking countries. A few have found jobs, even spouses, and permanently relocated there. You never know where a language will take you!

The RC German program has existed since the founding of the Residential College in 1967 and is one of the oldest proficiency-based programs in the country. For decades, we have maintained our high standards, so that when students receive the “Proficient in German” stamp on their transcript, they can be proud. It signifies that they have worked hard and have demonstrated an ability to communicate freely and independently in German: they can read and write texts of intermediate complexity without the help of a dictionary; they can speak German spontaneously in non-rehearsed situations; and they can understand German spoken at a normal speed and on a wide range of topics. Check out the "courses offered" pulldown menu to see what students can accomplish at every level of our program. Also check out the breadth of projects and student work under the "student archive" tab. 

Our all-German semi-immersion approach is what makes this program particularly successful. RC German students have the unique advantage of being in small classes (typically 8-12 students), where each student gets individual attention and we can tailor assignments and materials to individual needs and interests. Each class is team-taught and the rotation of instructors exposes students to different accents and teaching styles. Daily co-curricular activities also bring students in contact with other German speakers at different levels of proficiency, including alumni of the program, students returning from studying abroad and occasional guest speakers.

A key objective of the program is to give students the competence and confidence to use the language accurately with an appreciation for the culture in which it is embedded. We challenge students to push themselves intellectually and to focus on growth and improvement over time, rather than on individual grades. RC students benefit from personal attention and the support of the living-learning community, while simultaneously having the resources of the larger university at their disposal. Conferences, lecture series, live performances, and a host of excellent libraries and museums at the University of Michigan are available to prepare students as scholars and to put their learning in a real context. Our classes draw on these vast resources to establish the connection between the study of German and the larger intellectual and cultural community.

The RC German Program provides a variety of opportunities for students to use their German. Students eat at the daily German Mittagstisch (lunch table) and there is a weekly German Kaffeestunde (coffee hour) in the East Quad's cozy Greene Lounge or, during the warmer months, outside in the East Quad Garden. We have film screenings, reading circles, guest speakers, and opportunities to interact with native speakers. In the past, we have received grants from CRLT, UMS, and Arts of Michigan to invite visiting artists from Germany to hold theater, movement and voice workshops with students, and there are opportunities to zoom with professionals overseas. In some years, students are matched with high school  students in Germany so that they make a personal connection with peers abroad and have English-German conversations that are beneficial and fun for both. During the semester, classes are sometimes held outside the RC, at the library, in the Arboretum, or at the UMMA, and there are class fieldtrips to German-language events, such as UMS performances, screenings at the Michigan Theater and Kindlefest. 

Alumni can sign up to tutor pre-proficiency students and help out as "language experts" at the co-curriculars. We can also help establish contact with the K-8 German School of Ann Arbor for students who are interested in education and gaining teaching experience. Since 1999, RC German students have had the opportunity to travel to Germany with us over the Winter or Spring breaks. Janet Hegman-Shier (retired) took students in Deutsches Theater to Berlin and München for many years. Before that, Karein Goertz (with architect Mick Kennedy and videographer Tom Bray) traveled with students to Berlin and Dessau. These trips have been put on hold since the pandemic, but we plan on resuming them in the years to come. Such an educational trip would take students to our hometowns (Berlin and Heidelberg) and hiking in the Harz mountains or Uckermark region. 

Check out our video welcome:  Willkommen Video 

Also, take a look at the "newsworthy" pulldown menu for write-ups about the RC German program. See what RC German alums have done post graduation under the "alumni" menu. If you are an alum, please let us know what you've been up to so that we can showcase it on this website!

Photo Gallery (going back in time)