Dear German Majors,

Do you know there is funding available for undergraduate research? Please see the web site below for information of interest to students of all levels:

Undergraduate Research Funding Opportunities on the UC Berkeley Campus: Funding for Research, Field-Study or Creative Projects http://research.berkeley.edu/haas_scholars/documents/funding.html

The Department of German has recently revised its Honors Program. You'll find the Honors Program requirements below. We'd like to encourage all qualifying seniors to engage in research on a German Studies topic of their choice and to write an honors thesis. Juniors should start planning early for next year, as funding for summer research is available (see SURF at http://research.berkeley.edu/surf/index.html).

GERMAN DEPARTMENT HONORS PROGRAM

Students with at least a 3.5 grade point average in all upper division courses taken to fulfill the requirements of the Major and a 3.3. GPA overall are eligible for admission into the Honors Program. Candidates for Honors in German need to apply to the Undergraduate Faculty Advisor, Prof. Karen Feldman, for admission into this program, ideally early in the fall semester of their senior year.

Students in the Honors Program are required to complete satisfactorily, within their senior year, an Honors thesis under faculty supervision. The paper, consisting of 35 pages and above, may grow out of any upper-division course, independent study, or directed research and is evaluated with a letter grade. It is the responsibility of the student to ask a faculty member to supervise the thesis. Normally the work on the thesis is spread over two semesters. For the first semester the student should enroll in German 199: Supervised Independent Study with their thesis director (2 units; Pass/Fail). In the second semester, while writing the thesis, the student enrolls in German H196 (4 units with letter grade). If in special circumstances the work is to be completed in one semester, the student may enroll in H196 for 6 units. This requires the approval of the supervising faculty and the Honors committee. The student is required to attend three workshops (see below) at the beginning of the fall semester. It is also expected that Honors students present their research in a series of undergraduate research colloquia during the semester for feedback on work in progress.

Those who have completed the program will graduate with Honors (3.65) High Honors (3.75), or Highest Honors (3.85) in the Major depending upon their final GPA in all upper division courses taken to fulfill the major requirements. The grade of the Honors Thesis is added to the GPA for this purpose. The decision to award High or Highest Honors rests with the Departmental Honors Committee.

To enroll in the German Honors Program, please download and print this PDF form: Honors Supervision Agreement (pdf)

HONORS PROGRAM WORKSHOPS

1) How to Get Started in Undergraduate Research

See http://research.berkeley.edu/haas_scholars/schedule.html#workshopa

2) A second workshop on library research strategies in the Germanic collection will be scheduled with Associate University Librarian James Spohrer

For dates please contact Undergraduate Advisor.

For information on the Germanic Collection see http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/Collections/Germanic/germanic.html

The Library offers various other workshops that will help you find what you are looking for quicker and easier.

Knowing your Library Workshops:

Finding Books Pathfinder
Learn how to find books at UC Berkeley using Pathfinder, the Library catalog. Discover effective search techniques for finding materials on a topic. Explore useful features such as limiting by language, format and library location. Request off-campus UCB items online. Learn how to renew books online and how to find items placed on reserve for your classes.

Finding Books Melvyl
Does your research take you further than the UC Berkeley library system? Do you need books from other UC campuses or from affiliated libraries on campus (such as Law, Governmental Studies, Water Resources)? Using Melvyl, the 9-campus UC catalog, learn to search all the UCB libraries and beyond. Find out about great features such as online request to borrow materials from other campuses and more.

Other workshops

For dates see http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/Instruction/know_your_library.html

3) Academic Writing Workshop
To be arranged with Honors Program applicants.