11 The German Academic System
The university’s Wintersemester runs from mid-October to mid-February and includes a two-week holiday break in late December and early January. The Pädagogische Hochschule and AYF follow the same semester dates which are noted in the table of Program Dates at the beginning of this Handbook. After an eight- to nine-week period for travel between the semesters, the Sommersemester begins in mid-April and ends in late July. During the Sommersemester, there is a one-week university break following Pfingsten (Pentecost). You are free to travel during the breaks. When planning your travels, please keep in mind that one of the Wintersemester AYF courses and the AYF German history course will most likely offer a five-day field trip to Berlin as part of its academic curriculum during the Sommersemester. During the semesters, you are expected to remain in Freiburg to carry out your academic work and to participate in all program activities. You must notify the program staff of your travel plans during breaks and the long travel period between semesters. There is a form on the AYF home page (https://www.ayf.uni-freiburg.de/students/explore/travel/ ) to leave contact information in case someone needs to reach you.
While the courses offered by the AYF program itself are structured much like U.S. university courses, regular German university courses follow certain patterns that will be new to you. As you adjust to your new academic life in Freiburg, it will be essential to keep in mind the key differences between the German and U.S. academic systems that are sketched out in the following pages. During orientation, colloquia presented by AYF staff will describe in greater detail the German higher education system and how to make the most of it.
Interactions with Professors
In Germany, university professors are generally less available for providing individual student guidance than professors in the U.S. This is partly because of the high student/professor ratio in Germany (higher than the U.S. average), but also partly because German professors teach four courses per semester (more than the U.S. average) in addition to handling various other time-consuming administrative duties. Nonetheless, professors are generally very approachable and are usually willing to meet with you. Experience has shown that they are often especially open to foreign students. They do, however, usually limit appointments to at most fifteen minutes per individual student visit, and they typically see students on an appointment-only basis rather than accepting walk-ins.
You should try to make it a point to visit each of your professors during his/her office hours early in the semester to briefly introduce yourself as an AYF student and to describe your background and interests. You will probably want to visit some or all your professors a second time to discuss your particular course assignments, oral reports, or term papers as soon as they are set, in order to avoid stress at the end of the semester. This is especially important because quite a few German professors do not provide a printed syllabus and/or the sort of clear week-to-week assignments you are accustomed to in the U.S.
Traditional student-professor interactions in Germany have been shifting in the direction of the American approach over the past few years with the adoption of the bachelor’s degree in Germany. But even so, figuring out what a Freiburg professor expects, but leaves unexpressed as a tacit assumption, will almost certainly require close attention and added initiative on your part. Unless you make it a point to seek it out, you may receive little or no feedback until final grades are posted.
Course Information
In mid-October, following the AYF orientation period, the regular Wintersemester begins. During the semester you will enroll in a combination of regular university courses and specially designed AYF program courses on German language, literature, and culture. The AYF program courses are taught by experienced local instructors and by the Academic Director. Like regular university courses, AYF program courses are conducted entirely in German. The Academic Director will teach one course during the winter semester.
AYF Language Courses during Orientation and the Wintersemester
All students are required to take the intensive language course taught in Freiburg during orientation. Students will be placed into a class that corresponds to their level of German based on a placement test. A second German course offered in Freiburg during the Wintersemester is also required for those AYF students who have not completed the language courses needed for the German major at their home university. The Academic Director will determine whether a student must take this course. All students are encouraged to take the course to improve their language abilities. They should check with their home advisor to ascertain whether they can count the course as an elective credit for their German major.
The Wintersemester course in Freiburg is worth three (3) credits. It is offered at different levels and teaches the speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills appropriate for students at these levels, as assessed by Freiburg teaching staff at the end of the orientation course. The more advanced sections of the course aim to help prepare you for the term papers you will write in your university classes and therefore emphasize writing skills.