Academic Resources
Library Collections
The University of Kansas Libraries serve as “dynamic partners and campus leaders in advancing inquiry and learning for KU, for the state of Kansas, and for an ever-expanding community of world scholars.” Watson Library, the largest library on campus, houses collections that include extensive holdings in the fields of Germanic languages (over 47,900 titles) and German history (nearly 12,900 titles).
The Kenneth Spencer Research Library contains the Kansas Collection, which focuses on the history of Kansas, Kansans, and the Kansas region. It contains sources on the German immigrant experience that include historical photographs; several diaries and accounts of immigrants; monographs; promotional materials issued by the railroad, state, and cities to attract settlement; church histories; city and county histories; Douglas County records; and Eudora, Kansas city records. The important Rainer Maria Rilke Collection, also housed in the Spencer, contains nearly 1,600 items, among them first editions of all of Rilke’s works.
Through the KU Libraries, students have access to extensive electronic resources such as databases, E-journals, and RefWorks. KU is a member institution of the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), which grants our students unlimited access, through interlibrary loan, to the Center’s more than four million publications, archives, and collections. These holdings include the largest collection of circulating international newspapers in North America and more than 800,000 foreign dissertations.
The Max Kade Center for German-American Studies, located in the Sudler House, holds approximately 15,000 volumes, including the John Spalek Exile Collection, the Albert Bloch Archives, and the book collections of the Milwaukee and Lawrence Turnvereine. In October 2009, the Max Kade Center obtained the complete New York Turner Archives, which date from 1850 to 2005
Ermal Garinger Academic Resource Center (EGARC)
The Ermal Garinger Academic Resource Center (EGARC) promotes the learning and teaching of languages, cultures and humanities at the University of Kansas through the use of technology and other instructional media. Students can check out approximately 13,000 items in more than 60 languages, and German classes often meet in the Center's two active learning classrooms or its computer lab. EGARC also assists faculty in the creation of Open Educational Resources, and supports grant and research projects focusing on languages, cultures, and the role of technology in the classroom. EGARC also administers Foreign Language Placement exams, which help students who have prior experience with a foreign language identify the correct course for continuing study of that language.
Spencer Museum of Art
The Spencer Museum of Art houses an outstanding collection of European art and artifacts; European painting is one area of special strength. Just as important for our students is the Museum's commitment to interdisciplinary learning and to strengthening, supporting, and contributing to academic research and teaching at The University of Kansas. Instructors in German Studies regularly visit the Museum's galleries and Goddared Study Center with their classes.
