Courses
All of the courses listed on this page count towards Notre Dame’s Globally Engaged Citizens Program. For more information, visit the Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures website.
Our courses are designed to help students become fluent in the German language while simultaneously developing deep expertise in the culture and history of the German-speaking world. Faculty employ their areas of specialization and personal interests to create a course of study that ranges from medieval minnesang (a type of lyric and song-writing) to issues of multiculturalism and environmental change in contemporary Germany.
Each semester, the department also offers several courses in English that are open to students without any background in the department.
Please visit Class Search for our full range of courses, which include a large assortment of offerings in both German and English.
Courses offered every semester
GE 10101 – Beginning German I
An introduction to spoken and written German, as well as to the culture of the German-speaking world. Aims at the acquisition of basic structures, vocabulary, and sound systems. For students with no or little previous study of the language. 4 credits; meets 3 days a week.
GE 10102 – Beginning German II
Continuation of the introductory course to spoken and written German. Open to students who have completed GE 10101 or have placed into the course via online placement exam. 4 credits; meets 3 days a week.
GE 20201 – Intermediate German I
A course that develops the communicative abilities acquired in Beginning German I and II and provides a more in-depth introduction to the culture of the German-speaking world. Open to students who have completed GE 10102 or have placed into the course via online placement exam. 3 credits.
GE 20202 – Intermediate German II
A thematic class in which students work toward greater fluency, accuracy, and complexity of expression, while simultaneously gaining an appreciation for the role of German culture in the larger world. Serves as the first course that can be counted towards a major or minor in German. Course theme chosen by the instructor. Open to students who have completed GE 20201 or have placed into the course via online placement exam. 3 credits.
Courses offered every Fall
GE 30303 – German before Germany
In this course, students will learn to challenge the easy association of ?German? with the contemporary country of Germany by considering the extraordinary diversity of what ?German? meant before the modern country was founded. Students will examine German-speaking Central Europe from the Middle Ages until the beginnings of modern Germany, focusing primarily on literary works in their historical context. The course?s historical outlook gives students the tools to critically examine today?s discourses of national identity, race, and German tradition by understanding how the meaning of ?German? has transformed over time. 3 credits.
GE 30305 – Contemporary Germany: Society, Politics, and Culture
This course introduces students to the society, politics, and culture of contemporary Germany. The main focus is on Germany after 1989, but analysis extends back as far as 1945 and includes comparisons to other German-speaking countries as well as the United States. Topics include social values, government and media, as well as issues currently in the news. Students also develop interpretative skills by applying them to recent films and literary works. Open to students who have completed GE 20202 or have placed into the course via online placement exam. 3 credits.
Courses offered every Spring
GE 20113 – German for the Business World
This course offers an overview of major developments in the literary and cultural history of the German-speaking world. The course explores significant figures and works of literature, the visual arts, music, and philosophy as well as their interrelationship and historical context. Students read, discuss, and analyze selected texts in German representing all genres, and become familiar with fundamental techniques of interpretation. Open to students who have completed GE 20202 or have placed into the course via online placement exam. 3 credits.
GE 30304 – German Literary and Cultural Tradition(s)
This course offers an overview of major developments in the literary and cultural history of the German-speaking world. The course explores significant figures and works of literature, the visual arts, music, and philosophy as well as their interrelationship and historical context. Students read, discuss, and analyze selected texts in German representing all genres, and become familiar with fundamental techniques of interpretation. Open to students who have completed GE 20202 or have placed into the course via online placement exam. 3 credits.
Fall 2023 Courses taught in German
GE 32302 – Conversational German (TBA)
This course is designed to teach practical and useful German conversation for everyday life. Learn how to navigate situations such as ordering a beer, shopping for food, buying concert tickets, introducing yourself to your roommate in Berlin, negotiating with a landlord, or just everyday conversational skills. We´ll invite native speakers of German from all over campus to talk about Germany, Austria, Switzerland; political and cultural issues; as well as topics concerning business and economics. We´ll watch German news and discuss current events, such as the recent European refugee crisis. All levels welcome, see instructor with any concerns or questions. 1 credit.
GE 43201 – The World of Doctor Faustus (Tobias Boes)
This seminar taught in German centers on a close reading of Thomas Mann's novel "Doctor Faustus", considered one of the greatest literary works of the twentieth century. Doctor Faustus alludes to a wealth of other materials, and our discussions will thus also cover the history of the Faust myth, the origins of Nazism, the philosophy of Nietzsche, and other topics. 3 credits. Counts for WKAL and ALLN
Fall 2023 Courses taught in English
GE 13186 – Crises of Faith in Great Works of Literature & Film (William Donahue)
This course introduces German literature and culture while also serving as an introduction to the seminar method of instruction. The course is writing-intensive, with emphasis given to improving students' writing skills through the careful analysis of specific texts. 3 credits. Counts for USEM and WKAL.
GE 13186 - Thomas Mann (Vittorio Hösle)
This course introduces German literature and culture while also serving as an introduction to the seminar method of instruction. The course is writing-intensive, with emphasis given to improving students' writing skills through the careful analysis of specific texts. 3 credits. Counts for USEM and WKAL.
GE 20453 – Self-deception and Sincerity (Simone Neuber)
What tortures us [...] is an opinion, and every evil is only as great as we have reckoned it to be. In our own hands we have the remedy. Let us [...] deceive ourselves". (Seneca) Is this good advice to take to heart in our lives? Does self-deception make us happy? Or does it pose dangers to our moral integrity, so that sincerity should always be our ideal? In this course, we will look at important answers to these questions. We will also discuss what other philosophical conundrums are associated with self-deception and what solutions to them have been proposed in the literature - by contemporary thinkers and by thinkers of the tradition. 3 credits. Counts for WKSP
GE 30008 – Medieval Violence (Christopher Miller)
Violence and bloodshed have long been central to the modern conception of the middle ages. In recent film and literature, the perceived "realism" of a given work tends, by and large, to correspond directly with the willingness of the creators to depict brutality. Even in the medievalism of popular fantasy, the depiction of violence in all its varied forms, from the battlefield to the bedchamber, has been justified and excused by claims of representing past realities of common experience. This course will question just how violent the middle ages were, and for whom. More importantly, it will seek to understand how the varied cultures and peoples of medieval Europe conceptualized and understood violence themselves, and what role it played in their lives and imaginations. In the course of our investigation, we will explore literary narratives of vengeance and crusade and farcical tales of household bloodshed. We will read law codes and sermons attempting to regulate and channel violence. We will read accounts, justifications, and repudiations of torture, execution, and mercy. We will read about peace-making and peace- breaking, and the stories that were told about it. We will question what constitutes violence, and how violence relates to shifting categories of gender, class, and group identity. In all of this, we will seek to identify the differences and similarities between their conceptions of violence and our own can teach us not only about them, but about ourselves.
GE 33025 – European Fairy Tale Tradition (Denise Della Rossa)
Fairy tales are a staple of popular culture with roots in the folklore tradition. In this course we will investigate the enduring transnational popularity of the fairy tale and the extent to which they reflect child-rearing, political or social norms across cultures. We will read and analyze classic European fairy tales in their historical and cultural context, as well as discuss the theoretical function and meaning of fairy tales. Taught in English. 3 credits.
GE 33245 – Great War and Modern Memory (Robert Norton and John Deak)
In this course students will be introduced to the general narrative of the First World War. From there, we will examine three different topics and eventually show how they are interrelated. First, we will study historiography; that is, the evolution of how historians have written about and understood the First World War. Students will quickly learn how historians work with narrative and elements of story-telling both to explain and to argue (with and against one another). Students will then study memorialization and public history work on the First World War. We will see how history-writing, literature, art, and memorialization are present in the way museums and memorials tell their own stories about trauma, heroism, social inequality, and - in the main - seek to impart understandings about the past. Finally, taking the idea of narrative as a point for opening up our understandings of the past, we will then examine works of fiction, memoires, and poetry that focus on the First World War. The Great War was distinguished by being a "People's War," which meant that all people of all classes fought side by side, farmers next to scholars, workers next to noblemen. There were thus many men (and women) involved in the war who were capable of recording what they saw and felt in both prose and poetry, leaving an extraordinary and unprecedented literary record of their experiences. This course also includes a class trip to memorials and museums in Belgium, and France over fall break. We are working on funding from various sources to pay for most, if not all, expenses for this trip. This course requires an application to enroll. Students interested in the course should contact John Deak (jdeak@nd.edu) for a link to a google form. 3 credits. Counts for WKHI and WKIN.
Previously Offered Electives
Generally, courses with 4xxxx course numbers are taught in the target language. Courses with 3xxxx course numbers and below are taught in English. Detailed class descriptions can be accessed via the ClassSearch tool on InsideND.
Spring 2023
GE 30109 – Jews in European Middle Ages
GE 30214 – The Holocaust and its Legacies
GE 33023 – Medieval German Epic
GE 43000 – Imagined Futures German Sci-Fi
Fall 2022
GE 30010 – Sinners, Saints, & Sorceresses
GE 30011 – Weimar Republic/Rise of Hitler
GE 30207 – Intro to Gothic Language
GE 33021 – The Early Holy Roman Empire
GE 40324 – Germany’s Interwar Years
Spring 2022
GE 20430 – Existentialist Themes
GE 30112 – Germany and the Environment
GE 30214 – The Holocaust and its Legacies
GE 30401 – Nazi Germany, Nazi Europe
GE 33205 – Europe & the Migration Crisis
GE 43203 – Self, Society and the Sacred
Fall 2021
GE 20452 – Philosophy & Narrative
GE 30008 – Medieval Violence
GE 30465 – Modern Germany since 1871
GE 43300 – Seminar in German Studies