The German Program at SAIS offers professional content-oriented language instruction through the study of politics, international affairs, development and cross-cultural understanding. The program prepares students for their international careers by excelling in the German language and by developing an integrated understanding of the German-speaking/European world as well as of global challenges.

The curriculum consists of four courses from the beginning to the high intermediate level, and of high-level professional language instruction on the advanced to the superior level. All courses make use of technological resources such as the World Wide Web, video, and satellite TV from Germany and of authentic reading materials such as journalistic and literary texts for skill development in reading, listening, speaking and writing. Roundtable discussions (in German) with invited guest-speakers from politics, media and academia, and film screenings are part of the coursework.