The Department of Germanic Studies at the University of Chicago is made up of a small group of core faculty members working at the cutting edge of literary and cultural studies. They bring together expertise in literary history, intellectual history, literary and cultural theory, the German philosophical tradition, opera, theater and performance studies, cinema studies, psychoanalysis, and visual studies. The department has also recently developed considerable strengths in Scandinavian Studies and Yiddish language and literature.

Students majoring in Germanic Studies typically register for six German language courses at the second-year level and above, plus six courses in German literature and culture, including two literature or culture courses taken in German. Students must also prepare a B.A. paper. With prior approval of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, students may count up to three relevant German-oriented courses from other departments in the humanities or social sciences toward the requirements of the major in Germanic Studies.