German Program
Current Courses
Course Offerings Fall 2012
| Course # | Title | Instructor | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|
| GE 10101-01 | Beginning German I | Della Rossa, Denise | MWF 10:40- 11:30; T 9:30-10:20 |
| GE 10101-02 |
Beginning German I | Jones, Claire | MWF 11:45-12:35; T 11:00-11:50 |
| GE 10101-03 | Beginning German I | Wimmer, Albert | MWF 3:00-3:50; T 2:00-2:50 |
| GE 101012-01 | Beginning German II | Wimmer, Albert | MWF 10:40-11:30; T 9:30-10:20 |
| GE 10102-02 |
Beginning German II | TBA | MWF 3:00 - 3:50; T 2:00-2:50 |
| GE 1011-01 | Intensive Begin. German I | Weber, Hannelore |
MWF 10:40-11:30; TR 11:00-12:15 |
| GE 13186-01 | University Seminar | Boes, Tobias | TR 3:30-4:45 |
GE 20201-01 GE 60201-01 |
Intermediate German I | Wimmer, Albert | MWF 9:35-10:25 |
| GE 20201-02 | Intermediate German I | Boes, Tobias | MWF 3:00-3:50 |
| GE 20202-01 | Intermediate German II | Della Rossa, Denise | MWF 3:00 - 3:50 |
| GE 20211-01 |
Intensive Interm. German I | Weber, Hannelore | MWF 9:35-10:25; TR 12:30-1:45 |
| GE 20320-01 | Pre-Study Abroad in Germany | Weber, Hannelore | T 5:00-6:15 |
| GE 30104-01 | Advanced Comp. & Conv. | Jones, Claire | MWF 1:55-2:45 |
| GE 30204-01 | Intro. to German Lit. & Culture | Della Rossa, Denise | MW 9:35-10:25 |
| GE 30464-01 | German History, 1740-1870 | Hansen, Andrew | TR 5:00-6:15 |
| GE 40101-01 | Friends & Friendship in German Literature | Norton, Robert E. | TR 2:00-3:15 |
| GE 40102-01 | Masterpieces in German Lit. | Dutt, Carsten | TR 3:30-4:45 |
Course Descriptions
GE 10101 Beginning German I
An introductory course of the spoken and written language. Aims at the acquisition of basic structures, vocabulary, and sound systems. For students with no previous study of the language.
GE 10102 Beginning German II
Continuation of an introductory course of the spoken and written language. Aims at the acquisition of basic structures, vocabulary, and sound systems.
GE 10111 Intensive Beginning German I
In this course, students will develop skills in understanding, speaking, reading, and writing German. They will also attain a grasp of the basic structures of the language. During class, emphasis will be placed on using the language to communicate and interact in a variety of situations and contexts. In addition, there will be a comprehensive introduction to the culture of German-speaking countries. This course is intended for any student who wishes to develop German skills rapidly and be immersed in the language on a daily basis. It is ideal and highly recommended for students who plan to study in a German speaking-country, and especially for students who plan to participate in the BCGS study-abroad program in Berlin.
GE 10112/90112 Intensive Beginning German II
In this course students will continue to develop and improve skills in understanding, speaking, reading, and writing German. They will also attain a grasp of the essential structures of the language. During class, emphasis will be placed on using the language to communicate and interact in a variety of situations and contexts. In addition, there will be a comprehensive introduction to the culture of German-speaking countries. This course is strongly recommended for students who wish to participate in the study-abroad program in Berlin or in a summer language program in Germany. It is also ideal for any student who wishes to make rapid progress in German language skills and cultural competence. This course is open to students who have completed GE 10101 (with permission) or GE 10111, or the equivalent.
GE 13186 University Seminar: Justice German Detective Novel
This course will explore changing depictions of justice in some of the most prominent German Detective novels from 1786-1996. Each work will be read and discussed with careful attention to its formal characteristics as well as to the historical changes in the judicial system that are reflected in the works. Among the authors we will read are Schiller, Kleist, Hoffmann, Dürrenmatt and Schlink.
GE 13186 University Seminar: Faust: 16th-20th Century
In connection with the Faust year at Notre Dame, we will read some of the most important literary works dealing with this essential figure of modernity, whose desire for knowledge and striving for the infinite capture much of our age. In the center will be Goethe's Faust, the greatest work of German literature, but we will begin with Marlowe's Faust drama and end with Klaus Mann's novel Mephisto, a remarkable analysis of one artist selling his soul to the Third Reich.
GE 20201 Intermediate German I
In this course, students will build on and develop their communicative abilities acquired in Beginning German I and II. The four-skills approach (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) is centered on authentic texts, recordings, videos, and other images. The course includes grammar review, concentrated vocabulary expansion, and intensive practice.
GE 20202 Intermediate German II
In this bridge course, students will strengthen and refine the four linguistic skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing). Students will work toward greater fluency, accuracy, and complexity of expression. They will debate, analyze, and express opinions. Materials and class discussions will center on a cultural topic that will carry through the entire semester.
GE 20211 Intensive Intermediate German I
In this course, students can rapidly improve their German language skills in speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The ultimate goal is mastery of the language. Students will read and discuss a variety of authentic texts, work with audio files of native German speakers, view and discuss authentic German films, produce various types of written expression, and discuss cultural aspects of German-speaking countries and how they relate to their experiences in their own countries. They will also review crucial grammatical structures and build up their vocabulary. This course is intended for all students with two semesters of college German or the equivalent and it is highly recommended for students who wish to participate in the study-abroad program in Berlin or in a summer language program in Germany.
GE 20212 Intensive Intermediate German II
This course provides comprehensive training in all language skills, speaking, reading, writing, and listening, with the goal of greater fluency, accuracy, and complexity of expression. Students will focus on the period between 1945 and the present. They will read and discuss selected cultural and literary texts and utilize audio files, video clips and websites. They will review grammar in the context of situations and readings, become acquainted with the culture and recent history of the German-speaking countries, employ typical conversational strategies and gambits, sharpen listening skills, produce various types of written expression, and enlarge their active and passive vocabulary. This course is intended for all students with three semesters of college German or the equivalent and is highly recommended for students who wish to participate in the study abroad program in Berlin or in a summer program in Germany. It is also ideal for any student who wishes to make more rapid progress in German language skills and cultural competence.
GE 20320 Pre-study Abroad in Germany
This mini-course will prepare students accepted for study abroad in the BCGS Berlin Program for living and studying in Berlin. Topics for discussion will include practical aspects of everyday life, handling cultural differences, adjusting to the academic system, optimizing academic opportunities, culture with a small and capital C, making the most of travel, and possibilities for post-study abroad internships, fellowships, research projects and other opportunities for returning to the German-speaking world. This is a one credit course and is graded S/U.
GE 30102 The ABCs of Reading & Writing about Literature (in German)
At most, two works will be read: Durrenmatt's Der Richter und sein Henker and Der Besuch der alten Dame. We will read these carefully, with great attention to detail. Writing assignments will evolve from the readings; they may include a character portrayal, the description of an outdoor event, a short conversation, description of a crime scene, etc. They will increase in length from a single paragraph to two or three pages.
GE 30103 Advanced German Conversation
This is an advanced German language course, designed for students who have successfully completed a minimum of four semesters of German. This course expands on the grammatical structures of the German language spoken in German-speaking countries today, with emphasis on communication and acquisition of advanced language skills: reading and listening comprehension, and oral and written expression. A study of everyday German culture supports the language study. The conversational component of the course requires student-teacher and student-student interaction (in large and small group settings) to exchange information, clarify meanings, express opinions, argue points of view, and engage in any other communicative function for which native speakers use language. The course includes ongoing evaluation of students, using a variety of evaluative instruments and communicative contexts. Note: Native speakers or students who already have achieved a high level of oral proficiency (to be determined by an oral proficiency interview with the instructor) will not be given credit for this course.
GE 30104 Advanced Composition and Conversation
This course is designed for students who have successfully completed four semesters of German language. This course expands on grammatical structures and offers students the opportunity to increase the sophistication of their written and oral German. A study of everyday German culture supports the language study. Writing assignments are varied widely to address the interests and strengths of all students and to allow many opportunities for creativity through the exploration of genres and writing styles. The conversational component requires student-teacher and student-student interaction in large and small group settings to exchange information, clarify meanings, express opinions, and argue points of view. Throughout the semester students will build their vocabulary, including idiomatic expression, and solidify their understanding of German grammar. (Note: Berlin Study Abroad returnees will be admitted to the course only with the permission of the instructor.)
GE 30105 Advanced Stylistics and Composition
This course offers students the opportunity to increase the sophistication of their written German. Speaking, listening, and reading skills also will benefit. Assignments are varied widely to address the interests and strengths of all students and to allow many opportunities for creativity. For example, students may work at writing letters, biography or autobiography, short stories, editorials, film reviews, or advertisements, to name just a few of the genres and writing styles we explore. In the process, students build their vocabulary, including idiomatic expressions, and solidify their understanding of German grammar. German culture, as expressed in short texts, the Internet, films, and music, provide a rich and meaningful context for the writing process. Students work frequently in groups to read and edit each other's work.
GE 30106 The Face(s) of Germany
The dismantling of the border between the two German states not only changed the German landscape but also disrupted the silence regarding concepts of national identity in Germany. This course examines the cultural constructions of nation and identity in Germany, beginning with the French Revolution and continuing to today. The subjects we examine include essays, poetry, short stories, films, architecture, and painting, facilitating classroom discussions on the intersecting discourses of geography, religion, gender, ethnicity, and nationality and their influence on German identity.
GE 30107 Kulturgeschichte
This course offers a survey of major developments in the cultural history of Germany and Central Europe. The course will investigate different manifestations of German and Central European cultures, such as literature, painting, architecture, music, and philosophy, as well as their interrelationship and historical contextualization. The course will provide an overview of important cultural and historical developments that have shaped German-speaking Europe. The goal is to familiarize students with basic techniques of approaching and interpreting texts and artifacts while preparing them for a wider range of more specialized courses. Taught in German.
GE 30108 Literatur von gestern und heute
This course acquaints students with the major periods and issues of German literature through the examination of a significant constellation of literary texts. Students read, discuss, and analyze selected texts from prose, poetry, and drama and become familiar with basic techniques of approaching and interpreting texts that will prepare them for a wider range of more specialized courses.
GE 30113/90113 Business German
German business language and practices. Designed to introduce the internationally oriented business and German major to the language, customs, and practices of the German business world.
GE
30204 Introduction to German Literature and Culture
This course offers an overview of major developments in the literary and cultural history of German-speaking Europe. The course explores significant figures and works of literature, the visual arts, music, and philosophy as well as their interrelationship and historical contextualization. Students read, discuss, and analyze selected texts representing all genres--prose, poetry, and drama--and become familiar with fundamental techniques of approaching and interpreting works that also prepare them for advanced courses.
GE 30210 Love, Crime and Redemption
Passionate love and gruesome crime, heroic sacrifice and a yearning for redemption - German opera has it all. Starting with one of the most beloved works in the history of opera, Mozarts/ Schikaneders "Die Zauberflöte", this class will explore the wondrous worlds of late 18th up to 20th-Century German opera and their cultural-historical dimensions. We will discuss works such as Beethovens/ von Sonnleithners "Fidelio", Richard Wagners "Parsifal", Richard Strauss/ Hedwig Lachmanns "Salomé", Alban Bergs "Wozzeck" or Hans Werner Henzes/ Ingeborg Bachmanns "Der Prinz von Homburg", raising questions about operas fraught relationship with religion and with politics, about the history of operatic performances and the fate of women in German opera. Students will become familiar with famous works of the German literary tradition, like Wolfram von Eschenbachs "Parzival", Heinrich von Kleists "Prinz Friedrich von Homburg", or Georg Büchners "Woyzeck." While you should be open to engage with new auditory and theatrical experiences, previous knowledge about classical music is not a requirement for this class. (This class will be taught in German, assigned readings will be both in English and German.)
GE 30215 Medieval German Literature
This course constitutes a survey of German literature from its beginnings during Germanic times until the 16th Century. Ideas, issues, and topics are discussed in such a way that their continuity can be seen throughout the centuries. Lectures and discussions are in German, but individual students' language abilities are taken into consideration. Readings include modern German selections from major medieval authors and works such as Hildebrandslied, Rolandslied, Nibelungenlied, Iwein, Parzival, Tristan, courtly lyric poetry, the German mystics, secular and religious medieval drama, Der Ackermann Aus Buhmen, and the beast epic Reineke Fuchs. Class discussions and brief presentations in German by students on the selections are intended as an opportunity for stimulating exchange and formal use of German.
GE 30464 German History
This course begins with Prussia's initial challenge to Austria's dominance in central Europe; it ends with the unification of Germany under Bismarck's Prussia--and Austria's exclusion from it. In addition to covering the on-going Austro-Prussian rivalry in Germany, the course will consider German History in a broad central European perspective that covers the variety of what was German-speaking Europe. We will cover the cultural, social, and political transformations of the period. Specific topics may include Enlightened Absolutism and the emergence of the 'enlightened' police state, the influence of the French Revolution in the German-speaking lands, as well as the revolutions of 1848 and the struggle for German Unification. Additionally, we will cover larger long term processes such as the emergence of civil society, political transformations such as the growth of German Liberalism and Nationalism and the emergence of Socialism, and German contributions to larger cultural and intellectual fields such as the Enlightenment and Romanticism.
GE 30465 Modern Germany Since 1871
This course examines modern Germany from national unification in 1871 to the recent unification of the two Germanies and beyond. We will investigate cultural, political, and social dimensions of Germany's dynamic role in Europe and in the world. Topics include Bismarck and the founding of the Second Reich, World War I and the legacy of defeat, challenge and authority in the Weimar Republic, the National Socialist revolution, war and Holocaust, collapse of the Third Reich, conflict and accommodation in East and West Germany, and unification and its aftermath. Class format will combine lectures with discussion of readings from political, social, literary, and diplomatic sources.
GE 30467
The City of German Destiny; History and Memory in Berlin 1910-2010
Germany has stood at the center of many events during the twentieth century, from participating in one world war, instigating another, providing the threshold between east and west during the cold war, and then emerging at the end of the century as the third strongest economic power in the world, and the strongest on the European continent. How does Germany as a nation composed of individuals come together to confront its past, present and future? Historically, what forms of memorialization and commemoration has this confrontation taken? This course proposes to explore these questions and others by examining twentieth century Berlin, the capital city of Germany. Berlin presents a rich and varied memoryscape in which to investigate and scrutinize the role of history and memory in Germany, and the ways in which history and memory are represented, debated, contested, and transformed. As both the political and cultural capital of united Germany, and a literal symbol of divided Germany from 1945 to 1990, Berlin is a city overrun with versions of its past that simultaneously compete with and complement each other. This course challenges students to think about and understand how a nation comes together to deal with its past, and what lessons can be drawn from the moments when that nation fails to consider that past.
GE 30555 Revolutionary Europe: 1848
This course explores the revolutionary year of 1848, looking backward and forward from that year in an attempt to understand the political and social tumult that transformed -- and also failed to transform -- the European continent.
GE 30565 The German Novella
This course will explore the German Novella, one of the most popular genres of 19th-century German literature. Each work will be read and discussed with careful attention to its formal characteristics as well as its historical and cultural contexts. By proceeding chronologically through the literary periods of Romanticism, Biedermeier, Poetic Realism, and Naturalism, students will gain a sense of literary developments in the 19th century and how these reflect shifts within the broader culture. Among the writers to be read: Goethe, Tieck, Kleist, Hoffmann, Eichendorff, Stifter, Storm, Keller and Hauptmann. As a 30000-level course, writing will be emphasized. Students will be required to rewrite each of their essays.
GE 30620/90620 Three Modern German Writers
Detailed study of selected short fiction by three authors whose work exemplifies both different stylistic approaches to and different periods of German literary modernism. Primary sources will be complemented by background readings on German history from 1890 to 1945 and by a few theoretical texts on modernism and modernity in both English and German. Class conducted in German.
GE 30648/90648 Masterpieces of German Cinema
German cinema has been from the start one of the most impressive, distinctive, and influential national traditions of cinema. This course, taught in English, will introduce students to some of the greatest works of German cinema, from the wake of World War I and the beginning of the Weimar Republic to the present day. The two-fold focus will be historical and aesthetic. Students will gain an appreciation of some of the fascinating complexities of German history, including the ways in which German films have tended to reflect contemporary issues, often indirectly, and some of the distinctive features of German film, also as an industry. In addition, we will interpret the films with appropriate attention not only to themes but also to the ways in which film as an art form expresses meaning indirectly, by integrating genre and narrative form as well as film-specific dimensions such as setting, lighting, sound, camera work, and editing.
GE 30650 The Romantic Tradition
Between 1790 and 1830, the movement known as Romanticism profoundly changed the artistic, musical, historical, religious, and political sensibilities on the Continent and in Britain. Romanticism marked a turn from the rational formalism of the classical period and reawakened an interest in myth, religious faith, the imagination, and emotional experience. In this course we will focus principally on the German contribution to Romanticism and trace its origins, development, and eventual decline in works of literature, philosophy, theology, music, painting, and architecture. Works to be studied will include those by the writers Ludwig Tieck, Friedrich von Hardenberg (Novalis), and Friedrich Schlegel; the philosophers Fichte and Schelling; the theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher; the painters Caspar David Friedrich and some members of the Nazarene school; the composers Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, and Robert Schumann; and the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel.
GE 30685 Discourses of Unity or Disunity? Representing Germany after 1990
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 brought the hope of unity to two diverse German traditions. Yet despite rapid political and geographical unification. Even now, more than 15 years later, Germany seems in many respects more dis-unified than ever. In this course, we will examine the unity discourse in contemporary German film and text. Focusing in particular on current depictions of the former East and West, we will consider whether these representations contribute to a new sense to national unity by emphasizing the similarities in a common past and present, or whether in fact they accentuate a sense of disunity by bringing out areas of difference, divergence, and even conflict. The course will facilitate exploratons of the literary, cultural and historical impact of (dis)unity in present-day Germany through intensive discussion, written essays, and short student-led presentations.
GE 30686 Radicalism and Reaction
“Is Vienna the new Berlin?” This question, from the cover story of a recent German art magazine, hints that Austria has a lot more going for it than just the Alps, Lipizzaners, Mozart and Freud, coffeehouse culture and Viennese modernism. It has a thriving contemporary literary, theater, and arts scene, which this course will explore. We will investigate post-World War II Austrian culture, society, and politics through controversial works by prominent postwar writers and artists.
Who are the major players in the postwar Austrian cultural scene? How have Austrian politics and society been reflected on in texts, performances, and visual art? What aesthetic forms have authors employed to critique Austrian society after 1945? Do male and female artists and writers thematize different topics, or do they thematize similar topics differently? We will address these questions, and many more, in the works of Nobel Prize-winner Elfriede Jelinek, Peter Handke, Thomas Bernhard, Helmut Qualtinger, Gerhard Roth, Barbara Frischmuth, Ingeborg Bachmann, Wolfgang Bauer, Fritz Hochwälder, Marlene Streeruwitz, and others. Combining close readings of texts with the study of video footage and visual images will allow us discuss different approaches to hot topics in the Second Austrian Republic, including issues of national identity and nostalgia, cultural amnesia and the fascist past, feminism, and provincialism.
The course will involve discussion and critical analysis, short written essays, and oral presentations and performances. The goal is to build your German speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills—all while exploring thought-provoking works and learning about Austrian history, society, and culture from 1945 to the present.
GE 30891 Masterpieces of German Literature
A sampling of the most beautiful, moving, and humorous prose and poetry of the 20th Century will be read and interpreted. Amongst other authors, we will focus our attention on selections from Heinrich Boll, Wolfgang Borchert, Max Frisch, Karl Krolow, and Rainer Maria Rilke. The written assignments will evolve from the texts studied. Taught in German.
GE 31465 Modern Germany LAC Lab
Students undertaking the Notre Dame language requirement in German are eligible to sign up for an additional single credit discussion section as part of the Languages Across the Curriculum (LAC) initiative of the College of Arts and Letters. Choosing this option means that students will do some additional reading in German language materials and meet regularly with the instructor (or a designate) for a discussion in German. The LAC discussion section in German associated with this course will be graded on a pass/fail basis and will be credited on the student's transcript. Up to three LAC discussion sections can be applied toward a major, secondary major or minor in German. Please contact the instructor if you are interested in adding this supplemental credit.
GE 40041 Introduction to Applied Linguistics
This course will introduce students to the properties of language and their systematic study via linguistic inquiry. Specifically, the origins and mechanisms of linguistic knowledge will be examined alongside the componential units of syntax, morphology, phonology and semantics. The course will further introduce students to applied linguistic study with an emphasis on second language acquisition and the integration of sociocultural knowledge within this process. Students will complete this course with a greater understanding of the nature of language and the mechanisms whereby it is acquired, conceptually represented and produced.
GE 40101 Friends and Friendship in German Literature
The idea and experience of friendship have been central to German literature and culture for centuries. In particular, the eighteenth century, the era of the Enlightenment and the Classical Period, was known as the “century of friendship.” In this course, we read and analyze letters, essays, as well as poetry, dramas and narrative texts, in which the phenomenon of friendship plays a central role. We will study authors such as Winckelmann, Gleim, Goethe, Schiller, Clemens Brentano, Achim von Arnim, Bettina Brentano, Caroline von Günderode, Hesse, Georg Simmel and others.
GE 40102 Masterpieces of German Literature
A sampling of the most beautiful, moving, and humorous prose and poetry of the 20th Century will be read and interpreted. Selections may include, among others,Heinrich Boll, Wolfgang Borchert, Max Frisch, Karl Krolow, and Rainer Maria Rilke. The written assignments will evolve from the texts studied. Taught in German.
GE 40440 Goethe and His Time
An intensive study of Goethe's major works of poetry, prose, and drama within the cultural framework of his times.
GE 40472 Twentieth-Century Prose and Poetry
In order to acquaint the student with the rich diversity characteristic of 20th-Century German literature, a wide variety of materials will be studied. They will not only encompass various genres: the short story, the drama, and the poem, but will also represent various time periods: from the beginnings of the 20th Century to the '50s. Among others, readings will include: Franz Kafka, Die Verwandlung, Wolfgang Borchert, Draussen Vor Der Tur, and poems from Rilke to Celan. An oral report, two papers, and a two-hour final will supplement thorough and engaging class discussions based upon close readings of the selected texts.
GE 40484 Overcoming Political Tragedy
An interdisciplinary course in drama and peace studies. Drama is a potentially fascinating topic for peace studies because, at the heart of traditional drama and theatre, there is conflict-and the question of whether it can be resolved. Moreover, just as politics is often dramatic, drama is often political; there is, for example, an extensive tradition of plays that make a theme of political revolution, usually in the form of tragedy or comedy. Students in this course read classic political dramas that are neither tragedies nor comedies, but rather bring potentially tragic public conflict to positive yet nontrivial resolution. Having discussed definitions of tragedy and comedy, and what might be the advantages of aesthetic renditions of conflict, the class then reads some of these dramas of political reconciliation: Aeschylus, Oresteia/eumenides; Shakespeare, Measure for Measure; Calderon, The Mayor of Zalamea; Corneille, Cinna; Lessing, Nathan the Wise; Schiller, William Tell; Kleist, The Prince of Homburg; Brecht, The Caucasian Chalk Circle; Lan, Desire; and Fugard, Valley Song. (We also may include selected films, such as "Meet John Doe," "On the Waterfront," or "Twelve Angry Men.") We will examine these plays (and films) through both the categories of drama analysis and theories of conflict resolution, mediation, and transformation, with the expectation of achieving greater depth in our interpretations of the dramatic texts and in our understanding of the theories of conflict resolution. Students of peace studies and political science who are familiar with these pieces of world literature will have acquired a new kind of resource for their ability to think through and work in conflict resolution.
GE 40486 Der Artusroman/Arthurian Epic
Come and explore the enduring legend of King Arthur and his court as interpreted by German authors of the high Middle Ages (late 12th and 13th Centuries). We spend the majority of the semester on the three best-known and most complete Arthurian epics in the German tradition: Erec and Iwein by Hartmann von Aue, and Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, as well as other later German adaptations they influenced. These tales are among the most imaginative and fascinating in the German canon, full of the adventures and exploits of knights and ladies. Our exploration of these texts focuses on their relationship to their French and English predecessors, on the many twists and turns in story line and character development that each individual author creates, and on the information they suggest about "real" life in the medieval world. We also take a look at some of the most interesting modern literary and film adaptations of the Arthurian legend.
GE 40490 Schiller (in German)
In this course, we will consider Friedrich Schiller as a dramatist, poet, aesthetic philosopher, and historian. We will read several of Friedrich Schiller's most important plays, including Die Rauber, Kabale Und Liebe, Die Verschworung Des Fiesko, Wallenstein, Maria Stuart, and Die Braut Von Messina. In addition, we will read from his letters on beauty (Kallias), and the essays "Uber Anmut Und Wurde," "Uber Naive Und Sentimentalische Dichtung," and "Die Asthetische Erziehung Des Menschen." Finally, we will also read selections from his historical works on the Thirty Years' War and on The Netherlands.
GE 40610 The Crises of Modernity in German Culture, 1900-1933
To a European citizen living in the year 1900, the world would have seemed a promising place. The continent had enjoyed almost universal peace for the past eighty years, science and the arts were prospering, the economy was booming. Yet less than fifty years later, Europe lay in ruins, reeling from a half-century of war, economic depression and genocide. This course will set out to explore what happened. Instead of focusing on political, economic or military history, however, we will enter the minds of some of the thinkers and poets who shaped cultural life during the first third of the century, choosing Germany as our specimen case. It was here that modern thought attained its greatest heights and here, also, that it ultimately sank to its lowest depths. Through close analysis of selected texts, we will uncover how the heights and the depths were intimately related to one another, and how modernity was from the very beginning dogged by a series of profound crises.
Readings and discussion in English. Students taking the course for German credit will study selected texts in the original and write their papers in German. Open to sophomores with permission of instructor only.
Authors will include Nietzsche, Freud, Weber, Heidegger, Brecht, Hesse, Höch, Riefenstahl and others.
GE 40648 German Cinema in the Weimar Republic (1918-33) (in English)
The years between 1918 and 1933 are the Golden Age of German film. In its development from expressionism to Social realism, the German cinema produced works of great variety, many of them in the international avant-garde. This course gives an overview of the silent movies and sound films made during the Weimar Republic and situate them in their artistic, social, and political context. The oeuvre of Fritz Lang, the greatest German director, receives special attention. Should we interpret Lang's disquieting visual style as a highly individual phenomenon independent of its environment, or can we read his obsessive themes (world conspiracies and terrorized masses, compulsive violence and revenge, entrapment and guilt) as a mirror image of the historical period? Might his films, as some critics have suggested, even illustrate how a national psyche gets enmeshed in fascist ideology? Films subtitled, dubbed, or in English; readings, lectures, and discussions in English.
GE 40649 Comedy, Jokes, and Satire
This course will explore the comic vision in the German-speaking world, by considering comedy, jokes, satire, and the related concept of Humor, a distinctively German category. Comedy is an often overlooked genre in Germany, but a number of fascinating works invite our reading and exploration. We will explore comic works chosen from authors such as Lessing, Tieck, Kleist, Grillparzer, Büchner, Nestroy, Raimund, Schnitzler, Hofmannsthal, Zuckmayer, Brecht, and Thomas Mann and look at the theory of comedy via authors such as Hegel and Frye. As part of our exploration of the comic vision, we will consider jokes, including their thematic and structural diversity as well as their relation to broader aspects of German culture, including regional particularities. Students will read Freud’s classic essay on jokes. Beyond considering Schiller’s famous theoretical statements on satire, we will look at some of the best German satire by authors such as Heine, Busch, Heinrich Mann, Tucholsky, Kästner, and Kraus; in addition we will note the strong German tradition of satire in painting. We will also consider one or more comic or satiric films. As part of the course we will explore the conditions under which the comic tends to surface and flourish, including broader questions such as religious sensibility and political climate.
GE 40669 Modern Metropolis in German Literature
If Paris was known as the capital of the 19th Century, turn-of-the-century Berlin was declared the capital of the 20th Century. The then-largest German metropolis came to epitomize rapid and spectacular modernization in Germany that started before World War I and continued during the Weimar Republic. Berlin had it all: gigantic industrial factories, glamorous boulevards, street lights, dazzling shop windows, night life, movies and entertainment, armies of white-collar employees, housing barracks, modern architecture, shopping, traffic, crime, and social problems. This course offers an introduction to one of the most dynamic periods in German cultural history (1900-33) as it is represented in texts and films about the big city. The discussions will focus on the following questions: Why did the big city appear fascinating and inspiring to some authors, and to others it loomed as a dreadful epitome of alienation and decadence? How were modern phenomena reflected in language and images? What were the forms of aesthetic innovation and artistic experimentation associated with the representation of modern life? Did men and women experience metropolitan modernity differently?
GE 40672 The Modern German Short Story
The German short story and other forms of prose from the "Stunde Null" in 1945 to the 1990s. Authors range from East and West German writers of the immediate postwar era to the most recent commentators on issues of politics, society, gender, and aesthetics.
GE 40675 Minority German Writers (in German)
This course explores German-language literature written by authors of non-German heritage. As a seminar it opens up the possibilities of reading a more diverse body of post-1945, and more specifically post-Wende, German literature. Secondary texts will help us to understand the social and historical context in which these authors write. The primary reading selections will include works by authors of African, Turkish, Sorbian, Roma, and Arab heritages.
GE 40685 Twentieth-Century German Literature
This survey course introduces students to the major writers in 20th-century German-language literature. We will be reading, discussing, and writing about poems, short stories, and dramas by authors such as George, Hofmannsthal, Rilke, Trakl, Thomas Mann, Kafka, Musil, Brecht, Celan, Bachmann, Frisch, Dürrenmatt, Enzensberger, Christa Wolf, Peter Schneider, Brinkmann, Hahn, and Königsdorf. By also considering these writers, contexts--the trends and movements they were part of, the activities in the other arts that influenced them, the contemporary discourses that surrounded them--we may be able to add depth and nuance to our readings. Thus, depending on student interest and ability, we will familiarize ourselves with the larger environs of 20th-century German-language culture. Taught in German.
GE 40801 Voice in Text and Theatre
In the 20th Century, voice gained importance in literature and in theatre. Stressing innovative forms of vocality, modern text and vanguard theatre aim to reveal the unconscious function of voice in written and spoken language. Verse or voice delivery are recognized not only as strategies to integrate physical heterogeneity in language and theatre, poets and theatre artists emphasize the vocal aspect of language as different vocal bodies. The course proposes to study the theoretical and esthetic implication of this phenomenon in confronting the new strategies of voice in text and in theater with historic ones. Among others, examples for voices will be text extracts from texts by Dante, Sollers, Racine, Goethe, Shakespeare, Artaud, Brecht, Heiner Muller featuring the vocal delivery styles of artists themselves or of interpreters like Carmelo Bene, Alexander Moissi, Fritz Kortner, Dario Fo, Klaus Michael Gruber, Robert Wilson, Meredith Monk, and Laurie Anderson. Please note: this three credit course runs for eight weeks, from February 28, 2006 to April 20, 2006.
GE 40855 German Drama 1750 to the Present (in German)
We will read and discuss some of the greatest plays in the German dramatic tradition, by authors such as Lessing, Goethe, Schiller, Kleist, Grillparzer, Nestroy, Freitag, Hauptmann, Hofmannsthal, Brecht, and Werfel. This semester we will focus on the so-called "drama of reconciliation," a newly rediscovered genre, where the conflict is serious but ends harmoniously. By interpreting classic German-language plays in the original, you will (1) learn how to approach drama analysis, and (2) develop a sense for the history of drama throughout the past 250 years. In addition, we will study a few short, and often English-language, texts in the theory of drama (Aristotle, Schelling, Carriere, and Cavell, as well as the department's own Hosle and Roche), which will (3) allow you to differentiate between the basic genres of drama (tragedy, comedy, and drama of reconciliation), and 4) better understand the nature of conflict and reconciliation. Students interested in other national literatures will have the opportunity to draw comparisons with plays by authors such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, Shakespeare, Calderon, Corneille, Racine, and Ibsen; and those interested in film may branch out into analyzing works by directors such as Hitchcock, Renoir, Ford, Capra, Curtiz, Hawks, Chaplin, and Kurosawa.
GE 40889 Literature and Religion
Literature, according to Martin Walser, descends just as irrefutably from religion as human beings do from the apes. Indeed, there is no denying that even during aesthetic modernism, literature, art, and religion are closely intertwined. When art achieved autonomous status in the second half of the 18th century, it did, to be sure, shed its subservient function relative to religion, yet in terms of its topics, themes, and, most particularly, its claim to interpret and give meaning to human existence literature remained tied to religion, in fact became its great rival. This seminar will examine several stations of this development. Beginning with church hymns during the Renaissance and Baroque, we will see how the Bible was discovered as a literary text in the 18th century. At the end of the century, art is conceived as an autonomous, even holy artifact. Poetry, for some, even becomes the medium of human self-definition and the place in which new myths are created. In the Romantic period art and religion become fused into a single unity. A century later, art and religion again come into close contact in lyric poetry of the fin-de-siecle. The seminar concludes with a consideration of the psalm form in 20th-century poetry. Readings will include works by Luther, Paul Gerhardt, Klopstock, Hslderlin, Wackenroder, Stefan George, Rilke, Trakl, Brecht, Celan, and Bachmann.
GE 40891 Evil and the Lie (English and German)
In an attempt to define the nature of evil and its relation to such phenomena as lying and the preservation of a self-image, this seminar will carefully analyze works spanning the years 1890-1972. Among them will be Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray; Gide, The Immoralist; and Frisch, Andorra. Further courses acceptable for comparative literature majors will be found listed by the Department of English. Consultation of program director is required.
GE 40905 "Siegfried": How Richard Wagner's Opera became a Code Word of Anti-Semitism
Richard Wagner was not only a musician, but also a prolific author. Indeed, his writings from the late 1840s onward are essential for a complete understanding of his music. In particular, his infamous essay "On Jewishness in Music" of 1850 lays the racist and anti-Semitic foundation for his final and most controversial work, Parsifal of 1882. In this course, we will focus on the anti-Semitic element of Wagner's creations and trace the evolution of the Wagner cult that began even before his death and culminated in his virtual deification during the National Socialism regime. Indeed, one can argue that Wagner's influence reached its apex - or perhaps better its nadir - in a phrase by Adolf Hitler that was inscribed on a bronze plaque above the museum erected in Munich to house the infamous exhibition on "Degenerate Art" in 1937: "Art is a sublime mission that demands fanaticism."
GE 40911 Self-Definition and Quest for Happiness in Continental and American Prose of the Twentieth Century
Everyone from the ancients to the most technologically conscious CEOs tell us that those who succeed know the difference between the important and the unimportant and they allocate their time accordingly. But how does one make these choices? If, in fact, success and happiness are synonymous, as some would claim, which way lies success, lies happiness? And what are the guideposts? What really matters? In an age such as ours, does anything have lasting value? Do I really matter? If I am most assuredly defined by my beliefs and my deeds, what then do I believe, what do I do? In the final analysis, who am I? If literature, as so many maintain, not only mirrors but also foretells world events, how have several 20th-century authors representing diverse national traditions formulated the answers to these seminal questions? Readings will include F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby; Albert Camus, The Stranger; and Max Frisch, Homo Faber.
GE 40920/90920 Hermeneutics & Literary Theory
What makes an interpretation of a literary text valid? The reconstruction of what the author meant by his text, intentionalists say. But does one understand enough if one just goes back to what the author had in mind, some anti-intentionalists ask. Both intentionalists and anti-intentionalists claim to derive their respective hermeneutic norms from insights into the nature of textual meaning in general and literary semantics in particular. This seminar will focus on the relationship between the theory and methodology of interpretation and literary theory. We will analyze major contributions by, among others, Hans-Georg Gadamer, E.D. Hirsch, Paul Ric'ur, Frank Kermode, Umberto Eco, and Richard Rorty.Note: Readings in English and German, discussions in English.
GE 40980 From Goethe to Nietzsche to Kafka: The Search for God in German Literature and Philosophy
One of the peculiarities of German culture is the strong connection between philosophy and literature; another the heroic attempt to develop a religion no longer based on authority, but on reason. We will discuss the main steps in this German quest for God, alternating philosophical and literary texts by authors such as Lessing, Goethe, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Kafka. Texts and discussions in English. Prerequisite: junior or senior standing.
GE 40988 Plato Before The Republic
Plato is the philosopher most difficult to interpret. The range of his interests, the innovative nature and the complexity of his thought, finally the fact that he does not speak in first person adds to the difficulty. After a general introduction into the main problems and positions of Plato scholarship today, we will read some of his dialogues written before his most important work, The Republic, dealing with such various topics as virtues, the nature of art, the relation of ethics and religion, the politics of Athens, and the essence of knowledge. We will analyze both his arguments and the literary devices by which he communicates them and partly withholds and alludes to further ideas.
GE 40989 Philosophiae Dialogues
Philosophy is communicated in different literary genres-as essays, treatises, didactic poems- the choice of which influences in a subtle manner the contents exposed. One of the most interesting literary genres used by philosophers is certainly the dialogue, since it allows to hide the author's mind behind a variety of different positions which get the chance to articulate themselves and since it shows the connection between philosophical ideas and discursive behavior. We shall read different texts ranging from Plato to Feyerabend to see how different philosophers have exploited the possibilities of this genre.
GE 43155 Faith, hope, and love: Thomas Aquinas and Kierkegaard on Christian Ethics
The course aims at clarifying both the differences between Christian and ancient ethics and the contrast between Catholic and Lutheran theological ethics. Faith, hope, and charity being regarded as the classical theological virtues, it deals with Aquinas's and Kierkegaard's treatment of these theological virtues. We will read the first treatise in the Secunda secundae of Aquinas's 'Summa theologica' as well as Kierkegaard's 'Fear and Trembling' and 'Deeds of Love', analyse the arguments, the literary form of the texts, the connections with the overall view of the two philosopher-theologians and the historical position of the texts.
GE 43400 Max Kade Seminar
This is a seminar that is taught every spring by a distinguished Professor of German from Germany
Prof. Susanne Kaul Spring 2012
Poetische Gerechtigkeit bei Kleist und Kafka
Poetic justice signifies the reward and punishment at the end of a literary work in proportion to the virtue or vice of the characters' actions. This course will examine the ways in which Kleist and Kafka make use of this doctrine, thus showing its limits and its naivité. However, when they make poetic justice a subject of irony, they do not thereby reject moral implications of literature.
We will read the following plays and stories:- Kleist: Die Familie Schroffenstein- Kleist: Prinz Friedrich von Homburg- Kleist: Michael Kohlhaas- Kleist: Das Erdbeben in Chili- Kafka: Der Process (selection)- Kafka: In der Strafkolonie- Kafka: Das UrteilIn addition we will discuss a selection of theoretical texts about justice in fiction and Shakespeare's Measure for Measure (in comparison with Kleist's Prinz Friedrich von Homburg).
GE 43439 Goethe on His Life and on His Discovery of Italy
Goethe is doubtless the greatest German poet. He was the last Renaissance man--a philosophical mind, a scientist, and a statesman, who has written some of the most sublime German literature in all three genres. But one of his greatest artworks was his own life. We will read his autobiography Dichtung Und Warheit, which gives us a splendid overview of Germany's intellectually most prolific time, and his Italienische Reise, one of the most intense experiences of the essence of Italian culture ever. One of the focuses of the seminar will be on the literary transformation of biographical facts peculiar to all autobiographies, and to Goethe's in particular.
GE 43483 Seminar on German Women Writers (in German)
This seminar offers a look into the rich and varied body of literature written by German-speaking women from the Enlightenment to today. The course examines a significant constellation of texts and addresses the major literary periods, authors, and issues of the time period under study. The texts we read will span centuries and historical moments as well as represent various genres, such as: drama, poetry, novella, short story, memoir, letters, and interviews. Vocabulary and concepts central to the analytical and critical discussion of the primary texts within their social, historical, cultural and intellectual contexts will be introduced in secondary source readings and clarified in short lectures. The classroom format will be centered upon student discussion of both primary and secondary texts. The ultimate goal of the course is to familiarize students with the basic techniques of approaching and interpreting texts from a feminist/gendered point of view.
GE 43499 German Literature Senior Seminar
Seminar devoted to the intensive study of selected works, periods, and genres of German literature.
GE 47498 Special Studies
Prerequisite: Senior standing, Dean's list.
GE 48439 Goethe's Lives
Goethe is doubtless the greatest German poet. He was the last Renaissance man - a philosophical mind, a scientist, and a statesman, who wrote some of the most sublime German literature in all three genres. But one of his greatest artworks was his own life. We will read his autobiography, Dichtung und Wahrheit, which gives us a splendid overview of Germany's intellectually most prolific time, and his Italienische Reise, one of the most intense experiences of the essence of Italian culture ever. One of the focuses of the seminar will be on the literary transformation of biographical facts peculiar to all autobiographies, and to Goethe's in particular.
GE 48499 Senior Thesis
German majors who wish to graduate with honors may write a senior thesis. For those German majors who elect to write a thesis, several requirements must be met: (1) The student must have a GPA of 3.5 or higher in the major, (2) the thesis must be at least 30 pages long, and (3) the thesis must be written in German. The student writing a thesis enrolls in GE 48499 and receives one course credit (three credit hours) for the course. Although the thesis is graded by the advisor (to receive honors, the thesis must receive a grade of B+ or higher), the entire department reads the thesis, acting as an advisory body to the advisor. The thesis is due the week after spring break, and the student is strongly advised to begin thinking about it and start conferring with the advisor before the October break of the fall term.
GE 60500 German Graduate Reading
Intended as review for graduate students who wish to take the GRE in German. The final examination of the course, if passed, fulfills the requirements of the GRE.
GE 60502 The ABC's of Reading & Writing
At most two works will be read: Durrenmatt's Der Richter und sein Henker and Der Besuch der alten Dame. We will read these carefully with great attention to detail. Writing assignments will evolve from the readings; they may include a character portrayal, the description of an outdoor event, a short conversation, description of a crime scene, etc. They will increase in length from a single paragraph to two or three pages.
GE 90215 Medieval German Literature
This course constitutes a survey of German literature from its beginnings during Germanic times until the 16th century. Ideas, issues, and topics are discussed in such a way that their continuity can be seen throughout the centuries. Lectures and discussions are in German, but individual students' language abilities are taken into consideration. Readings include modern German selections from major medieval authors and works such as Hildebrandslied, Rolandslied, Nibelungenlied, Iwein, Parzival, Tristan, courtly lyric poetry, the German mystics, secular and religious medieval drama, Der Ackermann Aus Buhmen, and the beast epic Reineke Fuchs. Class discussions and brief presentations in German by students on the selections are intended as an opportunity for stimulating exchange and formal use of German.
GE 90430 Classical Period
Modern German literature comes into being at the middle of the eighteenth century. This period of German culture, often referred to as its "Classical Age," is represented by such figures as Klopstock, Lessing, Herder, Schiller, Goethe, Hölderlin, and Kleist. In this class we will read and discuss some of the great works written by these authors and analyze them in relation to the intellectual and cultural currents of the time.
GE 90648 Masterpieces of German Cinema
German cinema has been from the start one of the most impressive, distinctive, and influential national traditions of cinema. This course, taught in English, will introduce students to some of the greatest works of German cinema, from the wake of World War I and the beginning of the Weimar Republic to the present day. The two-fold focus will be historical and aesthetic. Students will gain an appreciation of some of the fascinating complexities of German history, including the ways in which German films have tended to reflect contemporary issues, often indirectly, and some of the distinctive features of German film, also as an industry. In addition, we will interpret the films with appropriate attention not only to themes but also to the ways in which film as an art form expresses meaning indirectly, by integrating genre and narrative form as well as film-specific dimensions such as setting, lighting, sound, camera work, and editing.
GE 93155 Faith, hope, and love: Thomas Aquinas and Kierkegaard on Christian Ethics
The course aims at clarifying both the differences between Christian and ancient ethics and the contrast between Catholic and Lutheran theological ethics. Faith, hope, and charity being regarded as the classical theological virtues, it deals with Aquinas's and Kierkegaard's treatment of these theological virtues. We will read the first treatise in the Secunda secundae of Aquinas's 'Summa theologica' as well as Kierkegaard's 'Fear and Trembling' and 'Deeds of Love', analyse the arguments, the literary form of the texts, the connections with the overall view of the two philosopher-theologians and the historical position of the texts.
GE 93499 - German Literature Senior Seminar
Seminar devoted to the intensive study of selected works, periods, and genres of German literature.
