German
Overview
The German department offers courses in the language, literature, and culture of the German-speaking countries of Europe. The program is designed for students who wish to become literate in the language and culture, comprehend the relationship between the language and culture, and gain a better understanding of their own culture in a global context. The major is a valuable asset in a wide variety of postgraduate endeavors including business, education, law, science and medicine, international careers, and graduate school.
Learning Goals
The major enables students to become literate in German and competent in the cultures of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland through critical engagement with texts, cultural objects, and practices.
In the process, students acquire fundamental knowledge of major literary, social, and political developments and become able to communicate the historical significance and transnational impact of the German-speaking world.
Upon completion of the German major, students will be able to converse in German on a wide range of topics—including academic topics—to comprehend and analyze German texts and cultural objects, and to write critically. They can effectively articulate and carry out research.
All courses place equal importance on the acquisition of linguistic and cultural knowledge, with increasing complexity and sophistication.
GER 1101 Beginning German I: Self-Expression and Cultural Comparison/GER 1102 Beginning German II: Germany in Europe:
Communication: Recognize and reproduce patterns of vocabulary and grammatical structure; paraphrase in order to demonstrate understanding; produce simple declarative statements, describe people and places, transition to narrative comprehension (identify key passages and vocabulary structures when reading a text) and narrative production.
Cultural Competency: Discover and explore historical events, cultural phenomena, and social structures, and political institutions.
GER 2203 Intermediate German I: Tradition and Innovation/GER 2204 Intermediate German II: German History through Visual Culture/GER 2205 Advanced German Texts and Contexts:
Communication and cultural competency become increasingly integrated: students recognize, differentiate, and produce texts of different genres, identify and apply linguistic nuance, and differentiate language use. They demonstrate knowledge via oral presentations and short papers and analyses; they engage in critical discussion with peers. Students deepen their cultural knowledge by exploring key themes such as Europeanization, visual culture, and youth culture in their historical context. These courses prepare students to study in the language at German-speaking universities.
GER 3308 Introduction to German Literature and Culture/GER 3310 German Culture Studies: Made in Germany:
Students become increasingly cognizant of German studies as a discipline that is defined by the exploration of texts and cultural objects in context. They define, compare, and interpret literary genres of different time periods and recognize, research, and analyze how context creates cultural products and vice versa. They refine their oral and written German skills through analysis, interpretation, and presentation.
German 331x:
Students identify historical coherence and importance of time periods as a mode of cultural inquiry and analysis. They categorize and arrange knowledge. They apply concepts and methodology, while refining their German language and analytical skills by identifying key passages in literary texts, conducting close readings of texts and objects, and creating historical, thematic, and aesthetic connections between them. Students demonstrate these skills in oral presentations and writing of different formats and lengths. These courses complement rather than precede courses in the 338x and 339x category.
German 338x and 339x:
Students identify thematic coherence and conceptual formation as a mode of cultural inquiry, analysis, and production. They categorize and arrange knowledge across time, national contexts, and artistic modes or genres. They engage with abstract concepts and may integrate different methods through work with theoretical models and their application. As they do in the 331x-courses, students refine their German language and analytical skills by identifying key passages in literary texts, conducting close readings of texts and objects, and creating cross-disciplinary modes of presentation in speech and writing.
Other:
Students in GER 2262/GER 3362 Not Lost in Translation: German Across the Disciplines
acquire cultural competence through specialized linguistic and interpretive skills and appropriate techniques of translation. They evaluate language use and apply theories of translation, while building specialized German language skills in vocabulary, style, and syntax. They create cross-curricular connections allowing them to integrate knowledge from other disciplines with their study of German. The dual-level course fosters collaboration and cooperation between students of differing linguistic abilities; at the 3362-level, students carry out a research project involving presentation, simulation, and translation.
The department complements its major program with interdisciplinary courses in English (GER 115x & 225x) that strengthen Bowdoin's liberal arts missions and open its course offerings to majors, minors, and students from all disciplines.
Study abroad enables students to apply and expand upon the linguistic and cultural knowledge acquired at Bowdoin in their interaction with native speakers. Their daily immersion in the native culture, in turn, fosters comparative perspectives and allows them to relate different course contents from German-speaking universities back to their German courses at Bowdoin.
Independent Studies/Honors Program
These student-driven and faculty-guided research courses allow students to plan, design, and execute independent research, with the possibility of completing an honors thesis. The thesis demonstrates critical acumen, and intellectual and methodological rigor.
Options for Majoring or Minoring in the Department
Students may elect to major in German or to coordinate a major in German with digital and computational studies, education, or environmental studies. Students pursuing a coordinate major may not normally elect a second major. Non-majors may elect to minor in German.
Jill S. Smith, Department Chair
Kate Flaherty, Department Coordinator
Professor: Birgit Tautz*
Associate Professor: Jill S. Smith
Assistant Professor: Richmond Embeywa
Visiting Faculty: Rebecca Jordan
Teaching Fellow: Timon Gundall
German Major
The major consists of eight courses.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| GER 2204 | Intermediate German II: German History through Visual Culture (or the equivalent) | 1 |
| Select seven additional courses. Of those: | 7 | |
One course taught in English may be taken from German 1000–1049 or German 1151–1159 or German 2251–2551; or a course taught by German faculty in other programs may be substituted for this requirement upon prior approval. | ||
The other courses (or all of the seven courses) must be taken from German 2205–4052. | ||
All majors are required to do coursework with the department in their senior year; the configuration of this senior work must be determined in direct consultation with the department. This consultation takes place prior to registering for the fall semester of the senior year, which for some students means before they depart for study away. Normally, senior work includes two courses at the 33xx level. Prospective majors, including those who begin with first- or second-year German at Bowdoin, may arrange an accelerated program, usually including study away. Majors are encouraged to consider a number of study-away programs with different calendars and formats.
German Minor
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| GER 1102 | Beginning German II: Germany in Europe | 1 |
| Select any four courses. | 4 | |
two courses in the language (German 2203–2289 and German 3300–3999) | ||
up to two may be taught in English (German 1000–1049, German 1151–1159, or German 2251–2551) | ||
With advance departmental approval of the transfer credit, any number of courses from another college or university may count toward the major or minor.
Additional Information and Department Policies
- Courses that count toward the major or minor must be taken for regular letter grades (not Credit/D/Fail) and earn a course grade of C- or better.
- First-year writing seminars taught by German department faculty count toward the major and minor.
- Students may engage in independent study at the intermediate (2970–2979) or advanced (4000–4051) level. Independent studies, including honors projects, may count toward the major.
- Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate (AP/IB): Students who received a minimum score of four on the German Advanced Placement exam receive a general credit toward their degree, normally no credit to the major or minor, after completion of a 3000-level German course with a minimum grade of B-. Students who took the German IB exam should consult the department regarding credit. Regardless of earned scores, all students are expected to take the placement exam. In order to receive credit for AP/IB work, students must have their scores officially reported to the Office of the Registrar by the end of their sophomore year at Bowdoin.
Information for Incoming Students
No matter whether you are new to German or want to continue your study of German language, literature, history, and culture, Bowdoin’s German department is excited to welcome you! We offer a seamless curriculum that engages students in the rich cultural traditions of the German-speaking countries from day one. All our courses – even the very beginning German classes – emphasize interdisciplinary connections that relate texts, films, cultural objects in their historical contexts and links to the arts, natural sciences, sociology, and politics. Our curriculum integrates study abroad, allowing students to enroll in different programs, universities, and summer study in Germany and Austria. Pathways into our program are flexible and individualized – we meet you where you are and lead you to success! Our students and alumni have found great satisfaction through their study of German. Please learn about them and the details of our academic and co-curricular program, which was designated a National Center of Excellence by the American Association of Teachers of German in 2017, on our website.
- First-year students considering either beginning or continuing the study of German are strongly encouraged to take a course during their first semester.
- Students with no prior exposure to German are encouraged to begin their study in the first semester because doing so will allow them to take full advantage of options open to them, including study in a German-speaking country. GER 1101 Beginning German I: Self-Expression and Cultural Comparison is open to those with no previous study in the German language. No placement necessary.
- Being a first-year student does not mean that GER 1101 Beginning German I: Self-Expression and Cultural Comparison is the only course for you. Your placement survey suggests any course from our full slate of GER 1102 Beginning German II: Germany in Europe (only offered spring semesters) to GER 2203 Intermediate German I: Tradition and Innovation or GER 2205 Advanced German Texts and Contexts (offered fall semesters) or even a 33xx-level seminar. (The latter may very well occur, if you have AP or have studied extensively in a German-speaking environment.) Please take this advice and placement at face value – we rely on many years of experience and have an excellent track record in appropriately placing students where they will best succeed. Do not hesitate to ask your advisor to consult with Professor Jill Smith.
- GER 1150-level and 2250-level courses are taught in English and are open to all students with no previous language study required. Please see our website or the first-year orientation schedule for placement consultations as you prepare your course registration for fall 2025, and do attend! If you miss the consultation and open house during orientation, however, don’t worry – simply contact Professor Jill Smith.
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. This course originates in German and is crosslisted with: Gender Sexuality and Women St. (Same as: CINE 1027, GSWS 1027)
Terms offered: 2023 Fall Semester
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.
Terms offered: 2021 Fall Semester
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.
Terms offered: 2021 Fall Semester; 2022 Fall Semester; 2023 Fall Semester; 2024 Fall Semester; 2025 Fall Semester
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.
Terms offered: 2022 Spring Semester; 2023 Spring Semester; 2024 Spring Semester; 2025 Spring Semester
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. This course originates in German and is crosslisted with: Cinema Studies; Urban Studies. (Same as: CINE 1152, URBS 1152)
Terms offered: 2025 Fall Semester
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. This course originates in German and is crosslisted with: Environmental Studies. (Same as: ENVS 1155)
Explores key texts by Karl Marx in depth, not only for the force of their ideas, but in pursuit of insight into Marx’s critical method. How does Marx make the intangible idea of political economy tangible through rhetorical style? Examines Marx’s own writing style and encourages students to reflect on rhetorical methods as they read and write about his works themselves. Demonstrates Marx’s impact through carefully chosen examples of theoretical texts that apply Marx’s theories to literary and cultural analysis. Emphasizes writing as a multistep process. Texts include The Communist Manifesto, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, and selections from Das Kapital. Taught in English.
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)
Terms offered: 2022 Spring Semester
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.
Terms offered: 2021 Fall Semester; 2022 Fall Semester; 2023 Fall Semester; 2024 Fall Semester; 2025 Fall Semester
Continuation of German 2203. Equivalent of German 2203 is required.
Terms offered: 2022 Spring Semester; 2023 Spring Semester; 2024 Spring Semester; 2025 Spring Semester
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.
Terms offered: 2021 Fall Semester; 2022 Fall Semester; 2023 Fall Semester; 2024 Fall Semester; 2025 Fall Semester
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. This course originates in German and is crosslisted with: Gender Sexuality and Women St. (Same as: GSWS 2258~)
Terms offered: 2022 Spring Semester
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. This course originates in German and is crosslisted with: Cinema Studies. (Same as: CINE 2900)
Terms offered: 2024 Spring Semester
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. This course originates in German and is crosslisted with: Cinema Studies. (Same as: CINE 2901)
Terms offered: 2023 Spring Semester
An examination of the literary and cinematic treatment of the Holocaust, with a focus on how writers, filmmakers, musicians, and visual artists represent the National Socialists' systematic murder of millions of human beings. A range of literary genres (diary, memoir, drama, poetry, novel, graphic novel) and films (documentary, historical drama, comedy) are explored and the ethical questions raised by each chosen genre are discussed. The basic questions raised by the course are: To what extent are literature and film capable of evoking this period of mass suffering and what different aspects of the Holocaust and its history are stressed by the various genres? What can our study of the Holocaust teach us with regard to contemporary issues surrounding totalitarianism and racism? No knowledge of German is required. This course originates in German and is crosslisted with: Cinema Studies. (Same as: CINE 2902)
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. This course originates in German and is crosslisted with: Environmental Studies. (Same as: ENVS 2422)
Terms offered: 2022 Fall Semester
In this course, we will engage inter-disciplinarily with a wide range of media and texts (films, documentaries, prose works, autobiographies, and essays) in examining the historical development of Black Germany and discuss diasporic and transnational influences instrumental to the formation of early Black German movements. The content intersects with a variety of aspects—for instance, how the Afro-German poet, activist, researcher, and educator May Ayim links feminist issues with racial discourse or how W.E.B. DuBois intersects with both African American history and German philosophy. The course is structured along a chronological axis, and into five units: German colonial occupations in Africa, Weimar Republic, Nazi period, the postwar era, and the post-unification period. We will discuss how Blackness was constructed in relation to Germanness, nationality, gender, and race and how these conceptualizations shaped the experiences of Black persons living in Germany. Lastly, in looking to the contemporary, we will consider the importance of Black popular culture for Germany and highlight notable efforts in scholarship, activism, cultural production, and creativity. Authors may include Franz Fanon, May Ayim, W. E. B. DuBois, Grada Kilomba, Tina Campt, Fatima El-Tayeb, William Gardner Smith, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, and others. This course originates in German and is crosslisted with: Africana Studies. (Same as: AFRS 2257)
Terms offered: 2025 Spring Semester
Cyborg, robot, and AI technologies have become permanent fixtures in contemporary global life, though these figures’ evolving senses and human-like behaviors have caused great debate internationally regarding their ethical status alongside their human counterparts. As technologies develop, the boundaries of humanity appear to fluctuate, and questions of nonhuman agency emerge. This course examines the historical rise of the technological figure in literature, cinema, and visual art. This course provides insight into the imagined futures of nonhumans as well as their positionality to other oppressed figures, such as animals and marginalized human groups. Works in this course include Fritz Lang's film Metropolis (1927), E.T.A. Hoffmann's short story The Sandman, Rebecca Horn's visual art exhibits, and Dada poetry. Using a wide range of historical and theoretical approaches, this course asks students to engage with representations and questions of nonhuman agency from the modern to the contemporary period. The language of instruction is English. This course originates in German and is crosslisted with: Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies. (Same as: GSWS 2358)
Terms offered: 2025 Spring Semester
Designed to explore aspects of contemporary German language and culture beyond literature and film, such as in the contexts of business, politics and law, environmental policy and science. Students acquire cultural competence through specialized linguistic and interpretive skills and appropriate techniques of translation. Focus on discipline-specific genres and discourses (report, prospectus, analysis and briefing papers, etc.) and across media (columns, blogs, television, news, statistics). Combines in-class forms of assessment (quizzes, presentations) with writing assignments and one discipline-specific translation project. All readings, writing, and discussion in German. Meets with German 3362. German 2205 is recommended. Equivalent of German 2204 is required.
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.
Terms offered: 2022 Spring Semester; 2024 Spring Semester
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.
Terms offered: 2023 Spring Semester; 2025 Spring Semester
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.
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.
Terms offered: 2021 Fall Semester; 2025 Fall Semester
Examines works of modern German literature, art, music, and film in their historical and social contexts. Analyzes the narrative modes used to deal with the interiority of modern protagonists and explores the particular urban settings in which works were conceived: Munich, Prague, Zurich, and Berlin. Familiarizes students with the intellectual history of the period by discussing the extent to which modernist writers were influenced by Nietzschean and Freudian thought and the questions of morality, sexuality, and pleasure raised by both of these thinkers. Asks why modernism is (or is perceived to be) rooted in urban settings, and how modernism became politicized during the Weimar Republic, as writers witnessed and sought to respond to the rise of Fascism. Contemporary artistic movements such as Expressionism, Dadaism, and Neue Sachlichkeit; literary texts by Brecht, Wedekind, Kafka, Mann, Rilke, Lasker-Schüler, and Kästner; musical works by Berg, Schoenberg, and Weill; and relevant films of the period.
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. Taught in German.
Terms offered: 2022 Spring Semester; 2024 Fall Semester
Designed to explore aspects of contemporary German language and culture beyond literature and film, such as in the contexts of business, politics and law, environmental policy and science. Students acquire cultural competence through specialized linguistic and interpretive skills and appropriate techniques of translation. Focus on discipline-specific genres and discourses (report, prospectus, analysis and briefing papers, etc.) and across media (columns, blogs, television, news, statistics). Combines forms of in-class assessment (quizzes, presentations) with concise papers of different genres, discipline-specific translation, and individual and/or group research projects. Meets with German 2262. One previous 3000-level course in German recommended. Equivalent of German 2204 is required.
This course examines the study and practice of literature and history as a tool to understand environmentalism and environmental politics in Germany and its relationship to other environmentalisms abroad. The course considers concepts such as nature, wilderness, the country, and ecology and how they are represented in literature and the media to inform emerging global environmental discussions. Themes of the course include: the relationship between environmental experiences and literary representation, concepts of the wilderness, the role of literature in environmental movements, science fiction, and animal rights. This course utilizes both fictional and nonfictional resources, as well as archival research and use of a broad range of technologies to promote environmental knowledge. Taught in German. This course originates in German and is crosslisted with: Environmental Studies. (Same as: ENVS 3381)
Terms offered: 2024 Fall Semester
What does language have to do with society? As (forced) migration continues to gain visibility in Germany, citizenship reform continues to entangle linguistic practice with notions of integration and belonging. In a shift from ethnic-based and territorial preoccupations, linguistic expression is increasingly foregrounded as a precursor to social cohesion. While developing language proficiency is undeniably useful, its instrumentalization along with a characterization of Germany as a stable monolingual state continues to obscure multilingual life and allows power imbalances to persist. In this course, we will first trace notable migration movements and receptions in Germany, particularly concerning the arrival of refugee-background communities. Then, in recognizing that language is imbued with ideology and power, we will analyze delicate, creative, and productive tensions between and within languages, dialects, and types of languages. In doing so, we will rethink Germany’s linguistic and cultural history and examine what it means to be multilingual. We will use a broad selection of texts that range from political to lyrical to journalistic as we look at multilingualism as practice as it manifests itself in various cultural works. Taught in German, with course materials and discussions in German.
Terms offered: 2025 Fall Semester
Explores the central role played by Jewish artists, writers, and philosophers in the development of modern German culture. Examines Jewish life in the German-speaking world in its many facets, tracing the origins of secular Jewish identity, the debates over national citizenship, and antisemitic violence and the resistance to it. Students read and view works from a variety of genres (film, literary prose, critical essays) that span from the writings of the eighteenth -century thinker Moses Mendelssohn to twenty-first-century satirical texts and films. Taught in German, with most materials and all discussions in German.
Terms offered: 2025 Spring Semester
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.
Terms offered: 2023 Spring Semester
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.
Terms offered: 2022 Spring Semester; 2023 Fall Semester
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.
Terms offered: 2022 Fall Semester
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. This course originates in German and is crosslisted with: Environmental Studies. (Same as: ENVS 3391)
An examination of selected masterworks of the rare and problematic German-language comedy from the Enlightenment to Post-Unification in historical and cultural contexts. Particular attention is paid to the comedic works of Lessing, Kleist, Wagner, Hofmannsthal, Zuckmayer, Dürrenmatt, and Levy. Three questions are posed: (1) Why are there so few German literary comedies?, (2) How did German comedic writers -- with their attention to psychological, historical, and sociological detail -- form their own tradition in which they responded to each other over two centuries?, (3) To what extent did writers from other cultures inspire German comedic playwrights? In addition to a close reading of texts, filmed stage productions and cinematic adaptations are examined. All materials and coursework in German.
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.
Terms offered: 2024 Spring Semester
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. This course originates in German and is crosslisted with: Cinema Studies. (Same as: CINE 3395~)
Terms offered: 2022 Fall Semester
Studies Vienna from the turn of the twentieth century as capital of the multiethnic, multilingual Habsburg Empire through the interwar period, up to the rise of fascism and Austria’s Anschluss in 1938 to Nazi Germany. Examines the city as a focal point for experimentations in literature, art, architecture, music, psychology, and philosophy. Explores the interconnectedness of artistic expression and the public sphere. Analyses the prominent role of women in social progress. Possible works, among others, by Bahr, Freud, Herzfeld, Kraus, Musil, Schnitzler, Schönberg, Strauss, and Zuckerkandl. All materials and coursework in German.
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. This course originates in German and is crosslisted with: Cinema Studies. (Same as: CINE 3397)
Terms offered: 2024 Spring Semester
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.
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.
Terms offered: 2021 Fall Semester