Cultural Events

During the fall and spring-summer programs, students are invited to attend a series of cultural events such as concerts, theaters, and operas at no additional charge. The group usually attends up to six such events.

Excursions 

One of the most popular aspects of Duke in Berlin is the series of day trips arranged each semester. These trips combine sightseeing and recreation with connections to the content in the courses taught in the program. Included at no extra cost during the day trips are transportation by train or bus, guided tours, museum visits, and lunch.

Extracurricular Activities

Access to a wide array of activities such as athletics, music, choir, orchestra, swimming, dance courses, basketball, volleyball, soccer, etc. is guaranteed to participating students at little or no extra cost. Also, students are invited to social events such as receptions at universities or dinners as well as informal gatherings like “Stammtisch” to promote cultural understanding.

Language Partner Program

“Tandem,” a German language partner program, assists students in finding one or more people with whom they can meet and practice their conversational German at no additional cost. Students find that such activities have a positive and influential impact on their language acquisition skills and provide a venue for meeting and getting to know Germans.

Spring 2022

Students participating in the program will live with families during their stay in Berlin. (Due to COVID-19, homestays were temporarily suspended for Fall 2021.) The homestays are frequently cited as one of the highlights of the students' experience. Over the past twenty years, the longtime former Resident Director, Jochen Wohlfeil, carefully selected local hosts to match them with students so that interests and needs of both parties involved aligned nicely. This tradition continues with the new Resident Director, Tin Wegel.

In the application, students are asked to specify the degree to which they would like to be integrated into a host family. Tin Wegel, together with the program assistant Lina-Sofie Raith, works with this information to find each student an accommodating living situation. If, for any reason, a student feels uncomfortable and finds that the match is not quite right, the resident director will work to facilitate communication, mediate, and, if necessary, find a new host for the student.

Duke in Berlin students are encouraged to think of themselves as residents of Berlin, not as tourists. To improve both their linguistic fluency and their cultural understanding, students are asked to immerse themselves in the city. The local hosts they are living with are part of this immersion, offering a springboard to navigate and appreciate Berlin's richness.

Students with further questions regarding homestays are encouraged to contact the Resident Director, Tin Wegel, who can provide more details regarding homestays.

Fall 2022

Students participating in the program will live with families during their stay in Berlin. The homestays are frequently cited as one of the highlights of the students' experience. Over the past twenty years, the longtime former Resident Director, Jochen Wohlfeil, carefully selected local hosts to match them with students so that interests and needs of both parties involved aligned nicely. This tradition continues with the new Resident Director, Tin Wegel. In the application, students are asked to specify the degree to which they would like to be integrated into a host family. Tin Wegel, together with the program assistant Lina-Sofie Raith, works with this information to find each student an accommodating living situation. If, for any reason, a student feels uncomfortable and finds that the match is not quite right, the resident director will work to facilitate communication, mediate, and, if necessary, find a new host for the student.

Duke in Berlin students are encouraged to think of themselves as residents of Berlin, not as tourists. To improve both their linguistic fluency and their cultural understanding, students are asked to immerse themselves in the city. The local hosts they are living with are part of this immersion, offering a springboard to navigate and appreciate Berlin's richness.

Students with further questions regarding homestays are encouraged to contact the Resident Director, Tin Wegel, who can provide more details regarding homestays.

Deadline: Extended to April 1st (Fall semester/Academic Year); October 1 (Spring semester)

This program has a set application deadline. Applications must be received by the deadline to be considered.

This program has rolling admission. Applications will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis until the program fills; after that, qualified students are added to a waitlist and notified of openings. Applications must be received by the deadline to be considered.

Priority: Priority will be given to juniors and seniors having an overall GPA of 3.0.

Minimum GPA: The minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) required for Duke students wishing to study away during the semester is 2.7 (3.0 for Pratt students) on a scale of 4.0. 

Non-Duke students: Non-Duke students are welcome to apply for this program. You must be a degree-seeking student in good standing at an accredited college or university. Consult your university’s registrar and/or study away advisor for assistance with transfer credit. Students who are not matriculated at a college or university are not eligible to participate in Duke’s study away programs.

The best way to learn about our program is to hear what former Duke-in-Berlin participants have to say about it. Their stories give us a taste of the variety of cultural, academic, and social experiences that are open to students who participate in our programs.

Oliver Gibson (Pratt ‘22)

I was fortunate to spend my sophomore spring semester of 2020 abroad in the Duke in Berlin Engineering program. What attracted me to the program was the immense opportunity to grow – to achieve a “flow state” of speaking, reading, and hearing German every day and being able to navigate the offerings of a historically rich city. I found a great community with the other students as we bonded over our leap of faith to live abroad for 7 months, all wanting to make the most of our time in Berlin in different ways. For me, it was about bringing my experience in a German household full circle and trying to envision a future career or life in Germany. One highlight of the Duke in Berlin program is the staff. They are engaging, supportive, and taught fantastic classes tailored to our language level that helped me prepare for my summer classes at TU Berlin. They also planned many excursions including a BMW motorcycle factory tour, a trip to Dresden for a Volkswagen electric vehicle factory tour, visits to art, science, and film museums, a night at the Berlin Philharmonic, a soccer game at the Olympiastadion, and much more. Unfortunately, my program ended early – but you can bet I’ll be back in Berlin as soon as possible.
 

Ruth Bieber-Stanley (Oberlin College '21)

I was lucky enough to participate in the Duke in Berlin program in Spring 2020. What initially drew me to Duke was the length and the breadth of the program. The mix of intensive language study, the host family experience, and direct enrollment at the Freie Universität in Berlin were all things I knew would create an immersive and rich experience. Though I was met with some culture shock upon moving to a massive international city, my host family and my fellow program mates anchored me. We became very close in a short period of time and I'm still friends with many of them today. The program also did an amazing job of involving us in the cultural life of the city, whether through a philharmonic concert, Stammtisch at a local bar, or the contemporary art course, which let us explore galleries and museums I might not have sought out otherwise. I was also pleasantly surprised at how much my German improved during my time in Berlin. It wasn't long before I was able to have interesting and involved conversations with my friends, teachers, and host family, and I felt prepared to undertake university study. Though my stay in Germany was sadly cut short by COVID-19, I was amazed at how quickly I was able to create a life for myself in Berlin, even in just six weeks. The longer I stayed the more Berlin felt like home, and I am so grateful for my time with this program. I was able to develop not only my language skills, but my independence and love for cultural exploration, lessons which in retrospect are equally as important as academic growth, if not more so. 

Devyn Gortner (Trinity '16)

"One the biggest reasons I came to Duke for my undergraduate education was due to the wonderful reputation of the Duke in Berlin program. Berlin was where I found my niche—the people I met and the other students I shared the experience with became some of my greatest friends. However cliched it may sound, there is truly something for everyone in Berlin. The city has a pulse—an indescribable energy unlike anywhere else I have ever traveled. There is ALWAYS something to do, and every interest is accounted for (even if you don't like to drink, although the beer there is pretty wonderful). There is incredible art, history, music, nature, and food right at your fingertips. As someone who has never wanted to live in a city, I still would firmly support the notion that Berlin is for everyone.  

Duke in Berlin changed my life in many ways; but, most importantly, it allowed me to step back from my life at Duke and back home in the States and see the bigger picture of where I was in life and where I want to go. If you're on the fence about going abroad, I urge you to do it. Discover for yourself what it means to step outside of your bubble. And if you're not sure if Berlin is the right place for you, all I can say is: Yes it is. Go. Go and take me back with you."

Eileen Lin (Trinity '16)

"I was part of the Duke in Berlin Fall semester program last year. It was one of the best decisions I made during my Duke career. Berlin is a vibrant city that has a rich culinary culture as well as a hipster art and music scene. My footsteps across the city accumulated moments of fond and precious memories, from Warschauer Straße to Prenzlauer Allee, from Zehlendorf to Stadt Mitte. I was most fascinated by the city's tangible history, given that we can still witness the transition between destruction and renovation. I loved it so much that I went back to Berlin for a summer museum research project. If you are thinking about doing the program, I sincerely recommend it!"

Liaowang (Zoey) Zou (Trinity '17)

"I did Duke in Berlin Spring program in my sophomore spring. Berlin is an amazing city. It is not like any other city in Germany. It's a blend of the old and the young, of politic and art, of profundity and vibrancy. I am so glad that I could spend 7 months in Berlin. Every bit of it was absolutely amazing. As a language beginner, I never expected myself to pick up German so fast. I stayed with a host family and had German bread and cheese for breakfast with the 7-year-old and 12-year-old "Gastgeschwister" (guest siblings) at home every morning. The program took us to numerous concerts, football games, and theater performances and even parliamentary session in German Bundestag. People in our program were really close as a group. At the same time, we also mingled with local students. We attended classes with German students at local university. I also joined a Pop and Jazz choir group. Sometimes we just need a change of perspective, to interact with people with different culture, different backgrounds and different ways of thinking."

Read Q+A interview with Zoey Zou