Explores the myriad ways that prostitutes have been represented in modern Western culture from the middle of the nineteenth century to the present. By analyzing literary texts, visual artworks, and films from Europe and the United States, examines prostitution as a complex urban phenomenon and a vehicle through which artists and writers grapple with issues of labor, morality, sexuality, and gender roles. Introduces students to a variety of literary, artistic, musical, and filmic genres, as well as to different disciplinary approaches to the study of prostitution. Authors, artists, and film directors may include Baudelaire, Toulouse-Lautrec, Kirchner, Wedekind, Pabst, Marshall, Scorsese, Spielmann, and Sting. (Same as: CINE 1027, GSWS 1027)

How can art and culture be weaponized? How much power do art and culture hold and how does the status-quo push back? This writing intensive course explores notions of resistance in art and culture in Germany and Europe from World War II to the present. By analyzing literary texts, films, music, pop-up exhibitions, and popular culture in 20th and 21st century Germany and Europe, we will examine through regular writing assignments the relationship between art and culture; resistance; and the status quo. Topics include resistance to Nazi Germany and behind the Iron Curtain, subversive cinema, punk and hip-hop, humor and satire, and cultural output by minoritized communities. Students will learn to grapple with and negotiate the driving forces behind personal acts of defiance through evidence-based and exploratory writing exercises of various lengths.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.

German 1101 is the first course in German language and culture and is open to all students without prerequisite. Facilitates an understanding of German-speaking culture through language and enables students to speak and write about themselves and their interests. Active use of listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills. Three hours per week, plus one hour of conversation practice with learning assistant.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019.

Continuation of German 1101, with an increased emphasis on German history and politics. Three hours per week, with one hour of conversation practice with learning assistant. Equivalent of German 1101 is required.

Prerequisites: GER 1101 or Placement in GER 1102.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020.

An examination of literary, artistic, and cinematic representations of the city of Berlin during three distinct time periods: the “Roaring 20s,” the Cold War, and the post-Wall period. Explores the dramatic cultural, political, and physical transformations that Berlin underwent during the twentieth century and thereby illustrates the central role that Berlin played, and continues to play, in European history and culture, as well as in the American cultural imagination. For each time period studied, compares Anglo-American representations of Berlin with those produced by German artists and writers, and investigates how, why, and to what extent Berlin has retained its status as one of the most quintessentially modern cities in the world. No knowledge of German is required. Note: Fulfills the non-US cinema requirement for cinema studies minors. (Same as: CINE 1152)

Previous terms offered: Fall 2020.

An examination of the mix of conflicting ideas that shape the many conceptions of “wilderness.” Among other questions, explores the ideas of wilderness as a space without or preceding culture and civilization, as a mental state, and as an aesthetic experience. Considers the place of wilderness in the ‘urban jungle’ of cities. Puts Anglo-American and European theories and images of the wilderness into dialogue by comparing literary works, film, artworks, and philosophical texts. No knowledge of German is required. (Same as: ENVS 1155)

Previous terms offered: Fall 2019.

Examines narratives of the pact with the devil, beginning with Goethe’s Faust I and II – and the title character’s selling of his soul to Mephistopheles – all in a quest for unlimited knowledge and pleasure. Recognizing the roots in European culture, we explore challenges through and efforts at decolonization, considerations and intersections of transcultural aspects. As the pact becomes metaphor for humans’ enduring fascination with the devil and excess (e.g., hybris), we turn to its manifestation in cinematic, visual and performing arts, as well as global literary and popular culture (e.g., Marlow, Bulgakow, Kentridge, Manga/Graphic novels). We research the so-called “Faustian bargain” narratives as gateways into exploring the interdisciplinary framework of university learning (e.g., history of sciences; mythologies; environmental studies, gender and above all, ethics). The course enables and necessitates research-driven writing and emphasizes writing as a process. (IRBW)

Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.

Continued emphasis on the understanding of German culture through language. Focus on social and cultural topics through history, literature, politics, popular culture, and the arts. Increased complexity in listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Three hours per week, with one hour of discussion and practice with learning assistant. Equivalent of German 1102 is required.

Prerequisites: GER 1102 or Placement in GER 2203.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019.

Continuation of German 2203. Equivalent of German 2203 is required.

Prerequisites: GER 2203 or Placement in GER 2204.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020.

Designed to explore aspects of German culture in depth, to deepen the understanding of culture through language, and to increase facility in speaking, writing, reading, and comprehension. Topics include post-war and/or post-unification themes in historical and cross-cultural contexts. Particular emphasis on post-1990 German youth culture and language. Includes fiction writing, film, music, and various news media. Weekly individual sessions with the teaching fellow from the Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität-Mainz. Equivalent of German 2204 is required.

Prerequisites: GER 2204 or Placement in GER 2205.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019.

Traces the development of sexual science, or sexology, from its roots in late nineteenth-century Austria and Germany to its manifestations in twentieth-century Great Britain and the United States. Examines ideas of key figures within sexual science and the myriad ways they sought to define, categorize, and explain non-normative sexual behaviors and desires. Explores how claims of scientific authority and empirical knowledge were used to shape social attitudes toward sexual difference. Analyzes cultural works that either influenced or were influenced by these thinkers. Includes works by the sexologists Krafft-Ebing, Hirschfeld, Ellis, and Kinsey, as well as cultural texts by Boyle, Praunheim, and Sacher-Masoch. (Same as: GSWS 2258)

Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.

Examines the particular ways in which, in the aftermath of New German Cinema (NGC), the cinematic medium constructs protagonists of mass appeal (terrorists, spies, slackers, etc.) while moving beyond the limits and possibilities of a national cinematic tradition and toward a European (and global) cinematic language. Pays special attention to historical advancement, over the past four decades, of material conditions of film production, distribution, and reception as well as to the development of cinematic genres, techniques, and effects that cinema has on other art forms. Filmmakers/films may include von Trotta (“Marianne and Juliane”), Petersen (“Das Boot,” “The Neverending Story”), von Donnersmarck (“Lives of Others”), Wolf (“Solo Sunny”), Schlöndorff (“The Legend of Rita”), Misselwitz (“Winter adé”), Edel (“Baader-Meinhof Complex”), Hirschbiegel (“Downfall”), Ade (“Forest for the Trees,” “Toni Erdmann”), Link (“Nowhere in Africa”), Petzold (“Yella,” “Barbara”), Tykwer (“Run Lola Run,” “Three”), Schmid (“Distant Lights”), Dresen (“Stopped on Track”), Dörrie (“Men,” “Nobody Loves Me”), Ruzowitsky (“Counterfeiters”), Maccarone (“Veiled”), Akin (“Edge of Heaven,” “The Cut”), Gerster (“A Coffee in Berlin”), Schipper (“Victoria”). Fulfills international requirement for cinema studies. Taught in English. (Same as: CINE 2900)

Previous terms offered: Spring 2021.

Explores the representation of a range of ethical questions in film as well as the ethics of film, including the formal and stylistic, historical, and political decisions made in constructing cinematic images. Arranged in the form of case studies, compares and contrasts examples of international film with a focus on theoretical questions and approaches. May consider the ways in which films represent traumatic events in history (e.g., the Holocaust), environmental disasters, and sexual and gender identity, to name a few. Addresses questions of cinematic genre as well as spectatorship (e.g., identification and repulsion, taste, appropriateness, humor, shock, activism as response). Note: Fulfills the film theory and the non-US cinema requirements for cinema studies minors. (Same as: CINE 2901)

Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2020.

Climate Fiction investigates the possibilities and limits of storytelling in the era of global climate change, explores humanity’s impact on Earth by conceiving human and nonhuman communities after sea-level rise, desertification, or biodiversity loss; and by imagining the evolution of new species or social forms in response to environmental disaster and loss of resources. Situates novels, short stories, poetry, and film within the environmental humanities, combines scientific-cultural discourses about the environment with social concerns, and assesses how humanistic methodologies can complement scientific debates. Examines rhetoric, narrative conventions, and genres, asks how climate fiction narrates impending disaster on a global scale, and analyzes imaginations of alternative futures, ideas of environmentalism, and conceptions of social equality. Puts German, Austrian, and Swiss cultural productions in dialogue with Anglo-American ideas. All readings in English. (Same as: ENVS 2422)

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.

Designed to be an introduction to the critical reading of texts by genre (e.g., prose fiction and nonfiction, lyric poetry, drama, opera, film) in the context of German intellectual, political, and social history. Focuses on various themes and periods. Develops students’ sensitivity to generic structures and introduces terminology for describing and analyzing texts in historical and cross-cultural contexts. Weekly individual sessions with the teaching fellow from the Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität-Mainz. All materials and coursework in German.

Prerequisites: GER 2204 - 2969 or GER 3000 or higher or Placement in GER 3000 level.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2022, Spring 2020.

An examination of the most influential “products” made in Germany. From technological developments to musical innovations, many things made in Germany have had an enduring, global impact. Explores the context in which these products were made or ideas were developed, the process of their worldwide dissemination, as well as the ways in which they shape the national and cultural imagination. Designed to be an introduction to methods of cultural analysis through an examination of diverse materials. Expands students’ knowledge of German culture, history, and language while also developing skills, including close reading, visual analysis, and contextualization. All materials and coursework in German.

Prerequisites: GER 2204 - 2969 or GER 3000 or higher or Placement in GER 3000 level.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2021.

Focus on the mid-to late eighteenth century as an age of contradictory impulses (e.g., the youthful revolt of Storm and Stress against the Age of Reason). Examines manifestations of such impulses in the works of major (e.g., Goethe, Schiller, Humboldt) and less well-known (e.g., Karsch, Forster) and anonymous authors and translators. Beginning with discussions of transparency, the course investigates constellations that began to define the century: “Love” as a then new, very modern idea that organized families and human relationships, “theft” as a shortcut to discuss issues of property (e.g., proprietary ideas, property of goods) and “travel,” expressing then dominant activities of exploration as well as exploitation. These terms serve as key concepts throughout the course, as we combine traditional reading and discussion with methods of Digital Humanities. The result will be an investigation of texts in their broader cultural context with appropriate theory and illustrated through film and drama on video, statistical data, developments in eighteenth-century dance, music, and legal discourse.” All materials and coursework in German.

Prerequisites: GER 2204 - 2969 or GER 3000 or higher or Placement in GER 3000 level.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2020.

Explores German literature and culture (art, music, philosophy) in light of the radical transformations of the 19th century: the Napoleonic wars, the failed revolutions of 1848, the rapid industrialization, militarization, and unification of Germany. Examines the interplay between romantic and realist cultural works from a variety of genres (art songs, operas, plays, poetry, prose), and by doing so illuminates tensions between the individual and the collective, between the irrational and the rational, between urban and rural spaces. Readings by Lou Andreas-Salomé, Gerhard Hauptmann, Heinrich Heine, ETA Hoffmann, and Theodor Storm, among others; music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, and Richard Wagner. Analysis of works from the Bowdoin College Museum of Art's collection.

Prerequisites: GER 2204 - 2969 or GER 3000 or higher or Placement in GER 3000 level.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.

An exploration of how successive generations have expressed their relationship to the catastrophe of the Nazi past. Examines representative texts of East and West German writers/filmmakers in Cold War and post-unification contexts. A discussion of German identity from several critical perspectives, including Vergangenheitsbewältigung, the political and cultural influence of the United States and the Soviet Union, gender in the two Germanys, and the politics of migration and citizenship. Authors may include Grass, Böll, Borchert, Brussig, Özdamar, Schlink, and Wolf. Films by Fassbinder, von Trotta, Schlöndorff, Akin, and Levy.

Prerequisites: GER 2204 - 2969 or GER 3000 or higher or Placement in GER 3000 level.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.

This course takes the institution of dueling as a lens into German literary history. How did the duel evolve from a religious ceremony in the Middle Ages to a romantic encounter between gentlemen? How did the aristocratic link between honor and violence spread to other social classes? What can duels tell us about violence, honor, and gender dynamics in a particular place and time? How do literary duels reflect and shape the course of literary history; and what makes the duel such an attractive theme to such a wide range of authors?

Prerequisites: GER 2204 - 2269 or GER 3000 or higher or Placement in GER 3000 level.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2020.

This course investigates the relationship of literature, art, and Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. It traces the literary and artistic sources for Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, determines the role of literature in forming some of Freud’s most central concepts, and examines Freud’s use of literary texts to illustrate or confirm his theories. Scrutinizes the narrative, rhetorical, and linguistic challenges involved in telling the story of a life, explores the world of imagination at the center of human subjectivity, and assesses the influence of Freud’s theory of subjectivity on the analysis of characters, authors, and readers. Situates Freud’s writings at the limits of both science and literature. Taught in German.

Prerequisites: GER 2204 - 2969 or GER 3000 or higher or Placement in GER 3000 level.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2023.

This course explores the relation of margin and center through the analysis of fictional works by minoritized authors writing and living in twenty-first-century Germany. Specifically, we will investigate the relationship between these authors and their positionality vis-à-vis monolithic understandings of “German literature” and “Germanness”. We will examine how, through their fiction, authors engage with quintessentially German literary forms, the German language, notions of Bildung and Heimat, generational memory, space, and their own hybrid identities to claim and defend their place in Germany and within the German literary establishment. Readings by Fatma Aydemir, Sharon Dodua Otoo, Abbas Khider, Saša Stanišić, Yoko Tawada, and more. All course materials in German.

Prerequisites: GER 2204 or Placement in GER 2204 or GER 2205 or GER 3000 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.

A study of the First World War and the Weimar Republic in German history and culture with a focus on artistic representations of this tumultuous era. Traces key movements in literature as well as visual art and film, with attention to the way artists responded to social, political, and cultural shifts in early twentieth-century Germany. Readings thematize issues of art and politics, nationalism and militarism, gender and sexuality, and practices of memorialization. Authors may include Remarque, Jünger, Benn, Lasker-Schüler, Trakl, Toller, Brecht, Döblin, Luxemburg, and Keun. Explores contemporary popular media representations of the era such as the TV series Babylon Berlin. All materials and coursework in German.

Prerequisites: GER 2204 - 2969 or GER 3000 or higher or Placement in GER 3000 level.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.

Considers how German terrain and culture were mapped or charted through representations of nature and the wilderness in a diverse range of texts. Examinations of discourses about nature and landscape reveal how Germany constitutes itself as a nation with a particular relationship to the environment. A comparison of Austrian, German, and Swiss novels, short stories, films, and artworks emphasize the varied but powerful place of nature in the German imagination. Possible works, among others, by Kant, Goethe, Humboldt, Fanck, Ransmayr, Kehlmann, Jelinek, Richter. All materials and coursework in German. (Same as: ENVS 3391)

Prerequisites: GER 2204 - 2969 or GER 3000 or higher or Placement in GER 3000 level.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2020.

Examines literary and artistic responses to the technological innovations and historical upheavals that characterized the twentieth century: science seemed to enable mass destruction and murder on an unprecedented scale, and two world wars, the Holocaust, and the threat of nuclear annihilation gave rise to a deep ambivalence about the power of technology in modern society and its reach into daily life. German-speaking Europe was a driving force behind these developments, and German and Austrian authors and artists articulated how technology changes the world, for better and for worse. Authors include, but are not limited to, Franz Kafka, Robert Musil, Stefan Zweig, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Paul Celan, and Franz Fühmann. Considers film and visual art. Discussion and coursework in German.

Prerequisites: GER 2204 - 2969 or GER 3000 or higher or Placement in GER 3000 level.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2019.

Examines essential works of post-1945 Austrian literature, drama, and film. Explores how Austrian artists attempt to come to terms with the collapse of the Habsburg Empire and the legacy of collaboration with the Nazi regime. Also considers how works of art both support and call into question Austria’s cultural and national identity in terms of gender and ethnicity. Texts by Bachmann, Bernhard, Handke, Jelinek, and Mayröcker, films by Glawogger, Haneke, Kusturica, and Spielmann. All materials and coursework in German.

Prerequisites: GER 2204 - 2969 or GER 3000 or higher or Placement in GER 3000 level.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2020.

Explores the important role that myths have played in German cultural history. While founding myths of Germanic culture (e.g., Nibelungen) are considered, focuses especially on myth in relation to fairy tales, legends (including urban legends of the twentieth century), and borderline genres and motifs (e.g., vampires, witches, automatons), as well as on questions of mythmaking. Examines why modern culture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, which seemingly neglects or overcomes myths, heavily engages in mythicization of ideas (e.g., gender roles, the unnatural) and popularizes myths through modern media (film, television, the Internet), locations (e.g., cities), and transnational exchange (Disney; the myth of the Orient). Aside from short analytical or interpretive papers aimed at developing critical language skills, students may pursue a creative project (performance of a mythical character, design of a scholarly Web page, writing of a modern fairy tale). Note: Fulfills the film theory and non-US cinema requirements for cinema studies minors.

Prerequisites: GER 2204 - 2969 or GER 3000 or higher or Placement in GER 3000 level.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the concomitant end of the Cold War ushered in what many cultural critics call the era of globalization. An exploration of how contemporary German culture (1990-present) grapples with both the possibilities and uncertainties presented by globalization. Examines a myriad of cultural texts -- films, audio plays, dramas, short fiction, novels, photographs, websites -- as well as mass events (i.e., the Love Parade, the 2006 World Cup) within their political, social, and economic contexts to show how Germany’s troubled past continues to affect the role it plays on the global stage and how its changing demographics -- increased urbanization and ethnic diversity -- have altered its cultural and literary landscape. Critically considers issues such as migration, terrorism and genocide, sex tourism, the formation of the European Union, and the supposed decline of the nation-state. Frequent short writings, participation in debates, and a final research project based upon a relevant topic of individual interest are required. All materials and course work in German. (Same as: CINE 3395)

Prerequisites: GER 2204 - 2969 or GER 3000 or higher or Placement in GER 3000 level.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2021.

In German culture, color/hue has played an important role in marking ethnic difference. Investigates the presence of color--metaphorical and actual, as provocative rhetoric and residual thought--in Germany today (e.g., around 2000), before exploring to what extent this presence is a lingering effect of the cultures around 1900 and 1800. In German culture color marks not only “racial difference” (e.g., “black” vs. ”white”), but also geographical difference (“tropical colors”) or diversity (“Bunte Republik Deutschland”). Considers changing discourse on color and ethnic difference in literary texts and films, all of which serve to illuminate the broader cultural context at three historical junctures: 1800, 1900, and 2000. Considers texts and films in conjunction with non-fiction, including examples from the visual arts (paintings, photographs, “Hagenbecks Völkerschauen”), medical and ‘scientific,’ encyclopedic entries, policy statements and advertisements (“Reklamemarken,” commercials), and popular music (hip-hop, lyrics), recognizing, in the process, how German culture (“national identity”) defines itself through and against color. Taught in German.

Prerequisites: GER 2204 - 2969 or GER 3000 or higher or Placement in GER 3000 level.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2019.

Studies the ubiquity of images and ideas of crises and catastrophes in modern culture. Natural disasters, accidents, financial collapse, wars, and terror permeate the media; crises legitimize political and legal interventions; catastrophic scenarios are central to disaster films. To be imagined and processed, catastrophes must be narrated. Consequently, different models and functions of such narratives from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland since 1800 are investigated; media and formats examined; social and political dimensions explored; and concepts like trauma, survival, prophecy, testimony, or sovereignty scrutinized. All materials and coursework in German.

Prerequisites: GER 2204 - 2969 or GER 3000 or higher or Placement in GER 3000 level.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.