The department offers a program leading to the Master of Arts degree with a major in German Studies. Courses are offered in the various areas of German language, literary studies in all periods, cultural studies (including film and other cultural media), as well as in literature, and culture, past and present, as well as in second-language teaching methodology, applied linguistics, theory of second-language acquisition, and testing. There are two tracks available for the M.A. in German Studies: one emphasizes literary and cultural studies, and the other combines literary and cultural studies with pedagogy and applied linguistics. Generally speaking, prerequisite for admission to the graduate program is the completion of at least 16 acceptable units of upper-division undergraduate course work in German. Students working toward the Master of Arts degree must complete a minimum of 33 units of graduate work, including at least 30 units in courses offered by the Department of German Studies. GER 508 is required of all master's candidates; GER 579 is required of all graduate teaching assistants in their first semester of teaching. M.A. Thesis Option: Students may be permitted to write a thesis upon application to and consultation with the departmental Graduate Committee. No more than 3 units may be earned for writing the thesis; thesis students enroll for GER 910. Students must pass both a written and an oral comprehensive examination. Prior to this examination, in the spring of their first year, students who are not native speakers of German will be required to pass either the ZOP (Zentrale Oberstufenprufung) or the ZMP (Zentrale Mittelstufenprufung) administered by the Goethe-Institut.