Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body (Dalhousie University)
Authorized form of name
Dalhousie University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Department of German
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
- Dalhousie University. Faculty of Arts and Science. Department of German (1957-1988)
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1957-
History
German has been taught at Dalhousie since 1863, when it was offered under the heading of modern languages. In 1865 James Liechti was hired as a language tutor, and in 1883 he was appointed McLeod professor of modern languages, by which time students were required to take two years of either French or German to receive a BA degree. When the Department of Modern Languages was replaced in 1957 by a Department of Romance Languages, German began to be listed independently in the university calendar and treated as a de facto department. It took another decade before an acting head of German was appointed (in 1966), and the department did not receive formal recognition from Senate until 1970.
Places
The Department of German is located in the Marion McCain building on Dalhousie's Studley Campus.
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
The Department of German offers a program of undergraduate studies in German language and literature, poetry history and philosophy leading to a BA degree with various options, including honours, major, double major or minor in German. It has study exchange arrangements with universities in Heidelberg, Freiburg and Munich, as well as a visiting scholars program that brings distinguished scholars from Germany to Dalhousie.
Mandates/sources of authority
The basic statute relating to Dalhousie University is Chapter 24 of the Acts of 1863. This statute replaced earlier statutes, and the 1863 statute itself has been amended and supplemented several times over the years. The provisions of these various statutes provide for the establishment and regulation of the university, the membership of the Board of Governors and its rights and powers, the authority of senate for the internal regulation of the university (subject to the approval of the board), and various other matters.
Internal structures/genealogy
The Department of German is within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and in 2021 has a teaching staff of three professors—including an acting chair—six part-time academic instructors and seven adjunct professors, as well as one administrative secretary.