German Language Course

Some of the most powerful moments in the history of medicine hinge on a single diagnostic word — but the comprehension of historical medical texts, with their specialized technical language, requires a high level of overall linguistic proficiency. While I technically study American history, one of my main areas of interest is the history of American psychiatry — a field with substantial European, and specifically German, intellectual roots that demand an understanding of late-19th- and early-20th-century Continental medicine. Thanks to generous funding from the European Studies Council, I was able to spend two months this summer in Germany participating in a language intensive at the B1–B2 level hosted by the Freie Universität Berlin. The course, which included 180 contact hours in German, spanned the gamut of reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills, and I felt my proficiency in the language improve rapidly while I was there — bringing me one step closer to my ultimate goal of advanced proficiency in the German language, which I hope will allow me to access German archival holdings, publish in German journals, and pursue professional opportunities in the German-speaking world, including postdoctoral research.  

While much of my summer was devoted to my pursuit of the German language, I also found time to appreciate the culture and history of the city around me. Outside of the classroom, I enjoyed visiting museums throughout Berlin, including the Berlin Museum of Medical History on the grounds of the historic Charité university hospital, and the many world-famous institutions that populate Museum Island in the heart of Berlin. At the end of the summer, I was able to do something of enormous personal resonance: travel to Vienna, where my grandmother lived as a little girl until the Holocaust forced her to flee, and navigate the city in the language she grew up speaking, gradually forgot, and spent the rest of her life grieving.