The Department of German, Scandinavian, and Dutch offers a major, several minors, and a broad range of courses in the languages, literatures, intellectual history, media, cultures of Germany, the Scandinavian countries, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. The German, Scandinavian, Dutch (GSD) major gives students the flexibility either to combine coursework in any of the languages and literatures of the department or to designate an emphasis in German or in Scandinavian and Finnish. Many of our students also have majors in such fields as business, computer science, biology, English, history, linguistics, or political science, or have interdisciplinary concentrations like global, media, and sustainability studies. In the GSD major, students develop advanced language competency, come to understand changing cultural and social contexts in relation to various forms of media (from oral and manuscript traditions to book culture, film, and hypermedia), and deepen their interdisciplinary understanding of other cultures. A major in GSD is ideally suited for students wishing to work in public, private, and non-profit organization fields, especially in areas where multilingual and transcultural knowledge is essential. The department recommends study abroad in the target language for at least six months to strengthen cultural familiarity and language fluency. Students may apply appropriate study abroad coursework to the major or minors. Minors are available in Dutch, German, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Austrian & Central European Studies.

CLA BA degrees require 4 semesters or the equivalent of a second language. CLA degrees require students to complete 48 credits of upper division coursework taken at the 3xxx, 4xxx, or 5xxx level. For a BA at least 18 of the 48 upper division credits must be outside of the major. For some specific majors, there are exceptions to this requirement. This program requires 18 upper division credits outside the major. See your advisor for a list of courses that can or cannot be used to meet this requirement. The German, Scandinavian, Dutch (GSD) major consists of a minimum of 33 upper division (3xxx-5xxx) credits, of which 17 credits must be taken at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities campus. Students who take courses taught in English will integrate work in the language of emphasis, as directed by the course instructor or the director of undergraduate studies. The major program must be approved by the director of undergraduate studies. Students may combine coursework across the department's designators, or to concentrate on one area by declaring an emphasis (either German or Scandinavian & Finnish). Students complete two core courses; one course in each of 3 competencies (Advanced Language; Language & Textual Analysis; Critical Literacy & Global Understanding); 15 elective credits (usually five courses); and a senior capstone course. In order to add a German or Scandinavian & Finnish emphasis to your transcript, courses in the competencies, and 3 of 5 electives must be in the appropriate designator(s). All CLA freshmen must complete the FY experience sequence.