2023-2024 Undergraduate Bulletin

German (GERM)

 

GERM 1001 Elementary German (4 Credits)

Basic speech patterns, grammar and syntax; emphasis on oral skills; introduction to German culture. First quarter of three quarter sequence.

GERM 1002 Elementary German (4 Credits)

Basic speech patterns, grammar and syntax; emphasis on oral skills; introduction to German culture. Second quarter of three quarter sequence. Prerequisite: GERM 1001 or equivalent.

GERM 1003 Elementary German (4 Credits)

Basic speech patterns, grammar and syntax; emphasis on oral skills; introduction to German culture. Third quarter of three quarter sequence. Prerequisite: GERM 1002 or equivalent.

GERM 1416 German Civilization: History, Politics, and Culture (4 Credits)

This course is an introduction to intellectual and cultural currents in German civilization from the Enlightenment to the present, emphasizing the arts in the context of history and philosophy from the late 18th century to around the mid-20th century. Readings include excerpts from such thinkers as Kant, Fichte, Marx, Nietzsche, Weber, as well as poetry and short fictional works by Heine, Jünger, Remarque, Borchert, and others. The readings are supplemented by films that students are expected to have watched at the beginning of each week. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

GERM 1988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

GERM 2001 Intermediate German (4 Credits)

Vocabulary expansion and grammar review, conversation, readings of cultural and literary materials. First quarter of three quarter sequence. Prerequisite: GERM 1003 or equivalent.

GERM 2002 Intermediate German (4 Credits)

Vocabulary expansion and grammar review, conversation, readings of cultural and literary materials. Second quarter of three quarter sequence. Prerequisite: GERM 2001 or equivalent.

GERM 2003 Intermediate German (4 Credits)

This course challenges students to continue expanding their vocabulary in German and to increase their fluency in speaking, listening and reading. Students are expected to demonstrate a growing awareness of - and sensitivity to - German culture and express their ideas in a manner consistent with advanced language work. Prerequisite: GERM 2002 or equivalent.

GERM 2022 German Cinema: An Introduction to German Culture, History, and Politics through Film (4 Credits)

This is an introduction to 20th- and 21st-century German culture, history, and politics through film analysis. Studying the most famous and influential films in the history of German cinema, students explore a wide range of topics (including political propaganda, national identity, multiculturalism, terrorism, education and youth, the arts, gender, and class) and investigate how a popular culture medium like film can capture the political, social, and economic atmosphere in society. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

GERM 2100 Conversation and Composition (4 Credits)

Intensive practice in oral skills, reading and writing. Prerequisite: GERM 2003 or equivalent.

GERM 2350 German Film (4 Credits)

Analysis of selected films centered on major themes in the humanities. Prerequisite: GERM 2100 or equivalent.

GERM 2701 Topics in German Literature (4 Credits)

Selected authors or movements in literature of the German-speaking world. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: GERM 2100 or equivalent.

GERM 2800 Advanced German Grammar and Composition (4 Credits)

This course offers an in-depth review of advanced grammar structures. Review of grammar in context, as well as practice in composition. Prerequisite: GERM 2100 or equivalent.

GERM 2988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

GERM 3325 Die Weimarer Republik: German Culture & Society 1918-1933 (4 Credits)

This course analyzes how violence, economic and political volatility, technology, and changing moral codes affected German society and culture (literature, visual arts, film and music) from the onset of the First World War to the rise of Nazism. Germany's first experiment in democracy, the Weimar Republic, can be viewed both as a prelude to Fascism (and therefore a failure) and as a period of radical socio-cultural change, experimentation, and even progress. This course is taught primarily in German, but occasionally we discuss particular texts in English. Prerequisite: GERM 2003 or equivalent.

GERM 3425 Nachkriegsdeutschland: German Culture & Society 1945-1990 (4 Credits)

This course introduces the student to crucial aspects of the immediate postwar years: Germany's 'Stunde Null"; denazification & reeducation; occupation; 'Americanization' of Germany; 'Berliner Blockade'; the divided memory in East and West Germany; democracy in Germany; the Cold War and 'Berliner Mauer.' Via film, literature, and historical studies we explore how both Germanies (East and West) dealt with the legacy of World War II and the Holocaust. During the first third of the course we have a close look at the concerns of the immediate postwar years 1945-49. Most Germans considered these years of occupation, hunger, homelessness, and despair in a vastly destroyed homeland as much worse than the war that preceded them. Then we investigate critiques of the so-called 'normalization' of Germany's internal and external affairs between the founding of two separate German states and the ensuing 'economic miracle' in West Germany (1949-61). Finally, we trace the development of this 'divided nation' until collapse and reunification in 1989/90. Prerequisite: GERM 2100 or equivalent, or another 2000-level GERM class beyond 2003.

GERM 3701 Topics in German Literature (1-4 Credits)

Selected authors, literary movements and genres in German-speaking world. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: GERM 2100 or equivalent, or another 2000-level GERM class beyond 2003.

GERM 3988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

GERM 3991 Independent Study (1-5 Credits)

GERM 3995 Independent Research (1-10 Credits)

GERM 3998 Honors Thesis in German (1-5 Credits)

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