The Department of German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literatures came into existence prior to the 1987-1988 academic year. The size of the department has grown substantially since the time of the founding of the Department of German in 1893. The Department of German employed only two professors when it was first established. Currently, some forty faculty members are part of this department. The Department sponsors a number of foreign language houses where students studying those languages are able to live and immerse themselves in their respective languages of interest.

History of Department of German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literatures

The Department of German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literatures came into existence prior to the 1987-1988 academic year. It succeeded the Department of German and Russian which in turn succeeded the Department of German in 1972.

The Department of German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literatures possesses great breadth and depth insofar as it serves as the administrative body for a wide variety of language and culture programs. These include: Arabic, Chinese, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Russian, and Swahili.

The Department is also closely affiliated with various interdisciplinary programs: These include: Africa in the New World (ANW), Asian Studies, Communication and Media Studies (CMS), International Relations (IR), International Letters and Visual Studies (ILVS), Judaic Studies, as well as Middle Eastern Studies.

Eight majors and two graduate degrees are offered through the department. The undergraduate majors include: Chinese, German Language and Literature, German Studies, Japanese, Judaic Studies, International Letters and Visual Studies, Russian Language and Literature, and Russian and East European Studies. The two graduate programs are the M.A. in German and the M.A. in German with Teaching Licensure. The department also offers a wide range of minors. These minors include: Arabic, Chinese, German, Japanese, Judaic Studies, and Russian.

The Department also sponsors German, Russian/Slavic, Chinese and Japanese houses where students studying those languages/cultures are able to live and immerse themselves in their respective languages/cultures of interest. Numerous study abroad programs are offered through the Department. Students are able to study at prestigious universities on Tufts hosted programs in Germany, China, and Japan. Non-Tufts affiliated study abroad programs are available to students who wish to study in Russia.