where to study in france/germany? (year abroad)

There are 2 possible Universities for you in Berlin, the Humboldt University and the Free University. Both have really good reputations whilst the Humboldt University is directly located at the stree "Unter den Linden" near the Brandenburger Tor.

Other awesome cities with good universities are Heidelberg and Munich. Please ask some more specific questions, I can try to answer them.

I'm currently studying in Konstanz which is a newer / more experimental university. It has a good reputation for humanities and has some interesting literature courses. We have a degree called Literatur-Kunst-Medien which basically combines these three subjects. As far as I know, there is also a strong emphasis in medieval literature, if you are interested in that. The classic German authors don't get covered as intensely as in other universities though.

The university is a campus university (a rarity) and the town is quite small and old. We have a lot of international students and once you get used to the locals, its a nice place to study. Plus, we've got a lake and the alps

If this sounds interesting to you, check out our forum: http://foruni.de

You might also want to take a look at http://ranking.zeit.de/che9/CHE to find out, which unis are considered top for which subjects.

thanks- thats really good to know!
are you doing this lit-kunst-medien course? I always feel very suspicious of the newer, more experimental unis- what do you think of the quality of teaching ect?

no, I'm doing history. There are several lkm students on the forum I linked to above though (and they answer questions in English too )
The quality of teaching is normally very good. We have much smaller classes than what I hear from other universities and also have a wider variety of topics to choose from than other unis of similar size (~10'000 students).

Daisy - I think you possibly don't understand what Erasmus is as it's not a 'sort of course' but rather an exchange that allows you to study as an equal at the host university, as opposed to getting stuck in the 'visiting student' type of (often academically unchallenging) 'study' programmes, which for UK students carry the disadvantage that they tend to have lots of US students on them so English really is the lingua franca. Admittedly Erasmus is never as great if you study modern languages, as the host universities end up having to deal with so many Mod Lang students that special erasmus student options emerge - it's great if you do another subject though.
Your main problem with an independent exchange in Germany (have no idea about France) will be if you have A-levels. They are not accepted as a general qualification for university entry to all courses in Germany, but are instead only accepted as subject specific qualifications. You might find therefore that you are fairly limited in your choices and will have to check with each uni whether they will accept your range of subjects for that course. And of course you have to pass the DSH or equivalent although that's not so hard but is irritatingly expensive. Now that Germany has moved to the BA/MA model, you might also find that if you are admitted as a regular student that you will have to follow quite a strict programme with not that much choice. That's why even if you hate the idea of being an ERasmus/ exchange student, it's worth checking out whether your department or college have any partnerships that might allow a bit more freedom of choice and cut the endless bureaucracy. I know Oxford does so can't imagine Cambridge cuts itself entirely off from contact with other universities in Europe.

I've heard that Berlin is an awesome city, I haven't been there myself though

someone just told me US students can't do erasmus- so I've clearly got it all wrong- I was convinced thats what they were doing, and what they're all doing here is a seperate thing from the main university- ie a lot if not most of their classes are separated and in english, with other international students.

sorry!

There are 2 possible Universities for you in Berlin, the Humboldt University and the Free University. Both have really good reputations whilst the Humboldt University is directly located at the stree "Unter den Linden" near the Brandenburger Tor.

Other awesome cities with good universities are Heidelberg and Munich. Please ask some more specific questions, I can try to answer them.

most specific question I have: people in germany told me there are no specific universities that are considered 'the best'- rather, it depends on the subject, so is there a particular university/ies which are considered the best for (german) literature?

I'm sorry- I don't know how to be more specific- I don't really know anything about German universities- I would really like to find a literature course which is academically rigorous, with other students who are really interested in the subject (most german students seem to go for Lehramt or BWL- I suppose that might mean only the students who are really interested & really motivated study arts subjects?)

are you doing this lit-kunst-medien course? I always feel very suspicious of the newer, more experimental unis- what do you think of the quality of teaching ect?

That is not true. English/American studies and German both have some of the highest enrollment. but also imense drop out rates, since many peopel who sign up for that only do so because they on't know what to study and afteer a year find out that whatever they're doing now defiantely is not what they want to do in the future. Changing courses and Universities is very common and often even planed. BWL is mainly popular because people know it'll get you a job and everyone else is doing it, but many do not have the motivation to follow thrugh and fidn they'd be comfortable with soemthign else. Many Lehramt students study for that because they want a safe job or they don't knw owhat they want to be and jsut go "oh well, i'll becoem a teacher then".

thankyou so much for giving such a detailed response- really appreciated

well the thing is- (this is what it makes me wonder)- if Germany is a country where people are more likely to get a job with BWL and Lehramt than anything else, either German students are not as interested in academic study, or the academic climate (if you like) can't be what it is in the UK- people in the UK recognise that studying one of the traditional disciplines for its own sake is *usually* the best grounding for a career. Degrees in History, Literature and Languages are very highly regarded in the job market for this reason- people recognise that a good degree from a good university in an Arts subject demonstrates skills and capabilities that are valuable and relevant in most professions.
You make a good point about the advantage of a more flexible system, but it just didn't seem to be the case that german literature or history (English and History are by far the most competative subjects in the UK apart from Law and Medicine), where seen as prestigious subjects, and they didn't seem to be popular among even very academic Gymnasium students who were very good in those subjects (I visited a lot of Abitur lit/hist classes)

if the general attitude in germany is that specific professional training & applied skills are more valuable than purely academic subjects and courses- that must be reflected in the teaching at university, musn't it?

not in germany. people who studt english, german history etc get very little pay, if they actually do manage to find a job at all. last time i looked i tihnk the unemployment of histroy graduates was over 21%! comapred to ca.3% for BWL. people who do those subjects are also expected to work in those areas. however there are only limited jobs you can do with degrees in history, politics, literature etc.
one of the jokes is that histroy/german etc only qualifies you to become a taxi driver (and indeed you do find quite a few taxidrivers who can lecture you on history or literature).
you will find very very few people studying one of the calssical arts in the industry (outside of media, journalism, marketing), such as in management or banks etc... unlike the UK.
they're basicaly considered useless degrees in germany, except for the areas i mentioned above.

no idea why you felt they were not popular subjects in germany, i always thought they had pretty decent popularity.


in what way? BWL is taught with as much theory and little practical real world application as history :P

so my point was- Germany does not seem to recognise the value and relevance of the skills acquired through academic study for its own sake- would you say thats true? what do you think about that?

as I said (I think)- that suggests that there is a very fundamental difference between British and German culture- it seems to me quite said that in Germany, the worth of academic study and in particular pure academic disciplines for their own sakes are not recognised. apart from anything else- the study of history and literature in essence is concerned with objectivity, understanding complex situations or texts and forming an argument- skills that are invaluable in so many professional fields- if everyone goes straight from a general academic education in school to specific vocational training they will lose out on that

no they do not recognize the skill. they only recognize knowledge, as they assume you have the skills already.
people are expected to bring knowledge and skill with the mwhen they apply for a job. and someone doing history and applying to anything other than historian/librarian/journalist etc, doesn't bring relevant knowledge with them.
don't get me wrong, sometimes peopel do get a job in the industry for the skills they aquire in an unrealted course. but generaly if you apply to a job in, say management, and show up with a degree in german literature, they're jsut gonna go "fair enuogh, you're top of your class. but how does your degree help you manage a department? why shouldn't i hire someone who has studied the exact thing he is required to do (that beeing BWL)?"
oh and the skill you mention, you actually aquire those while studying BWL aswell. non classical academic subjects (say, BWL, economics etc) courses are generally more rigorous and demanding than in the UK and often require a much larger set of skills than you'd think (you described it as vocational, while in fact its not really that much different from a histroy or literature degree with a lot of maths).
but toher than that, you're pretty much correct.
sorry if my ramblings don't make too much sense, but we are trying to comapre two different paradigms.