General Purpose

To support instruction, study and research at the B.A. and M.A. levels in German or Russian and, jointly with the Department of Romance Languages, at the Ph.D. level. B.A. students may choose traditional German or Russian language and literature major, a German major with a concentration in Language and World Business, and traditional minors in Russian or German. Interdisciplinary courses and general education requirements for foreign language courses form a significant part of the undergraduate instructional program.

Subject Description

The department emphasizes mainly German and Russian languages, literature, and, to some extent German and Russian literary criticism, cultural studies, the pedagogy of foreign language teaching, and German and Russian linguistics. There is a minor concern with other Slavic languages and cultures.

Overlap with Other Subjects

Germanic and Slavic Languages overlaps with history, world literature, literary theory, and philosophy. There are German and Russian components in Russian literature and East European studies, medieval studies, comparative literature and linguistics.

Languages Collected and Excluded

The primary language for German language and literature materials in German. English translations are acquired selectively, but English secondary materials are actively collected. The primary language for Russian language and literature materials is English although the classic texts are acquired in the original Russian. Texts in other Germanic and Slavic languages are acquired on an occasional basis.

Geographic Parameters

Publications from German and Russian speaking countries are primarily collected.

Chronological Scope

Materials covering all time periods are collected.

Dates of Publication

Mainly current publications are collected.

Retrospective Acquisitions

Retrospective collecting is important for filling gaps in the collection.

Types of Materials Collected and Excluded

All types of materials are collected. Emphasis is on scholarly monographs, research publications, selective journals, interpretive and bibliographic sources, criticisms of major authors, literary periods, genres and literary groups.

Formats of Materials Collected

All formats of materials are collected. Emphasis is on print. Video sources are collected selectively.

Cooperation with Other Libraries

No formal cooperative collection development agreements are in place.

Alternative Access to Resources

Interlibrary loan is a source of materials not in the UT collection.

Position Responsible for Collection

Humanities Coordinator, Molly Royse

Corresponding Fund

Germanic and Slavic Languages

Other Factors

Germanic and Slavic languages and the College of Business Education jointly offer a major concentration in Language and World Business.

November 10, 2006