I also believe that precise communication is very important and that an understanding of the structure of language is basic to communication. The literature provided me with a platform to develop my own points-of-view in life that became more diverse than would have otherwise been expected. I was fascinated by the literature, much of which was unavailable in translation at the time. German was a wonderful choice that I made. I have always felt that college was a great opportunity to learn about things that one would not necessarily otherwise have learned. I had had excellent teachers in high school and was immediately attracted by the outstanding program in German at UNC. I was a pre-med student but wanted a solid liberal arts major that was not confined to the sciences.

Jenrette, ’73, German B.A., Radiation Oncologist Read more about how his German major shaped his career in medicine: Read Joseph's story. Jenrette majored in German and went on to medical school and is now the chair of the department for radiation oncology at the Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine. Knowing the language of Europe’s most dynamic and influential country is a superbly useful and contemporary skill.

I am constantly reminded of my good fortune in learning German at Chapel Hill. Almost daily I read the websites of several German newspapers. That training included mastery of the old German Gothic type (Fraktur in German), an absolute necessity for researching Hitler in the 1920s.īut German fluency is not a musty skill. Long research days in German archives are possible only because of the rigorous teaching I received in the UNC German Department. The coming one is about Hitler’s rise to power, 1925-1933. My most recent book is 1924: The Year That Made Hitler. I have interviewed business leaders, energy innovators and political figures for an update of my fifty-year involvement with the country. In recent years, I have frequently returned to Germany.

Because of the fluency I acquired, and my subsequent majoring in German literature, I was later hired by Time Magazine as its Berlin correspondent.Ī half-century on, I can look back on decades of covering war and politics, serving as a White House correspondent, traveling the world and writing books-all because of the serendipity of German and Time Magazine. I’m a journalist and author-but I owe my career to learning German at UNC.Ī one-year scholarship sponsored by UNC at a German university lured me to study German. Peter Ross Range, ’63, German B.A., Journalist and Author

Love language reese morrison