Courses

Courses

Fall 2007 Courses

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101. Elementary German I
Jill Smith M 8:30 - 9:25, W 8:30 - 9:25, F 8:30 - 9:25 Sills-207
German 101 is the first course in German language and culture and is open to all students without prerequisite. Facilitates an understanding of culture through language. Introduces German history and cultural topics. Three hours per week. Acquisition of four skills: speaking and understanding, reading, and writing. One hour of conversation and practice with teaching assistant. Integrated language laboratory work.

101. Elementary German I
Jill Smith M 1:30 - 2:25, W 1:30 - 2:25, F 1:30 - 2:25 Sills-205
German 101 is the first course in German language and culture and is open to all students without prerequisite. Facilitates an understanding of culture through language. Introduces German history and cultural topics. Three hours per week. Acquisition of four skills: speaking and understanding, reading, and writing. One hour of conversation and practice with teaching assistant. Integrated language laboratory work.

151. The Literary Imagination and the Holocaust
Steven Cerf M 10:30 - 11:25, W 10:30 - 11:25, F 10:30 - 11:25 Sills-117
An examination of the literary treatment of the Holocaust, a period between 1933 and 1945, during which eleven million innocent people were systematically murdered by the Nazis. Four different literary genres are examined: the diary and memoir, drama, poetry, and the novel. Three basic sets of questions are raised by the course: How could such slaughter take place in the twentieth century? To what extent is literature capable of evoking this period and what different aspects of the Holocaust are stressed by the different 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.

203. Intermediate German I
Steven Cerf M 8:30 - 9:25, W 8:30 - 9:25, F 8:30 - 9:25 Sills-107
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. Three hours per week of reading, speaking , and writing. One hour of discussion and practice with teaching assistant. Language laboratory also available. Equivalent of German 102 is required.

203. Intermediate German I
Steven Cerf M 1:30 - 2:25, W 1:30 - 2:25, F 1:30 - 2:25 Sills-107
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. Three hours per week of reading, speaking , and writing. One hour of discussion and practice with teaching assistant. Language laboratory also available. Equivalent of German 102 is required.

205. Advanced German Texts and Contexts
Helen Cafferty T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25 Sills-107
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 204 is required.

313. German Classicism
Jill Smith M 11:30 - 12:25, W 11:30 - 12:25, F 11:30 - 12:25 Sills-209
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 — e.g., ghosts, love, and other transgressions — in the works of major (e.g., Goethe, Schiller) and less well-known authors (e.g., Karsch, Forster). Investigation of texts in their broader cultural context with appropriate theory.

321. Before and After the Wall: East German Traditions in Literature, Culture, and Film
Helen Cafferty T 1:00 - 2:25, TH 1:00 - 2:25 Sills-107
Examines the texts and traditions unique to East German culture and identity. Areas of exploration include the historical, political, and social context; the evolution of socialist art and its legacy; socialist interpretations of myth and history; failed revolution; coming of age themes; the socialist fairy tale. Also explores pre- and post-unification discourses on gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and East German identity. Authors/directors may include Brecht, Müller, Wolf, Kohlhaase, Emersleben, Biermann, Braun, Misselwitz, Beyer, Dresen.

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