Offered through: German
Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2016
Dutch language course for beginners. Focus of the course is on acquiring basic communicative competence in the language, i.e., developing the ability to appropriatly use the language (spoken as well as written) in authentic situations.
Elementary Dutch: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
In this course, one reinforces and expands knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, increases fluency through oral and written exercises, and builds on the knowledge and skills acquired in 1.
Elementary Dutch: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Fall 2008
This course offers a general survey on the cultural history of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Through written texts, audiovisual materials, and discussions, we will study important historical, social, political, and cultural aspects of these three countries that represent European history in a nutshell. All readings and discussions in English.
Cultural History of the Low Countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg): Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
This is a Dutch language course developed for students with no previous knowledge of the Dutch language. The course is designed for students, primarily graduate students, who need to learn how to translate Dutch texts in their area of expertise in order to be able to use Dutch materials for their dissertation. There is a strong emphasis on grammar, syntax, and basic Dutch vocabulary. The course is open to all students who want to start learning Dutch or who wish to improve their knowledge of the Dutch grammar and their Dutch reading skills.
Dutch for Reading Knowledge: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Fall 2015, Spring 2013, Fall 2009
A basic course on the structural properties of modern Dutch, including phonetics and phonology, morphology, and syntax. Comparison with English and German.
The Structure of Modern Dutch: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Includes a grammar review with exercises (Jenneke Osterhoff, Intermediate Dutch). Conversation is taken to a higher plane, role playing becomes increasingly important, newspaper articles of the more difficult papers are read, and radio programs and television programs are listened to and watched. These activities provide material for short essay assignments. Problems in the essays create occasions for more grammar review.
Advanced Dutch: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
This course is designed to improve both the oral and written style of the student in Dutch, employing a variety of sources ranging from the newspaper to the essay to the creative forms (poetry, short story). The art of correspondence, both formal and informal, will be taught as well as the widely-varying spoken styles.
Conversation and Composition: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 1998
While the focus will be on some of the major novels in the Dutch language, relevant works of poetry will be included too, and to give this class the widest exposure possible, the class will consist of an English track and a Dutch track (the latter will accommodate our Dutch majors and minors who will read and reflect on these works in Dutch).
Topics in Dutch Literature: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2014, Spring 2010
In postcolonial thought on European claims to cultural supremacy, the case of the "Dutch East-Indies" (the future Indonesia) still arouses questions like: What made the Dutch colonial policy different from that of other European powers? What were the main characteristics of the "Dutch East-Indies"? How did a small country like the Netherlands manage to rule a territory that was fifty-two times its own in scale? And how can we explain that 350 years of Dutch domination left so few traces in contemporary Indonesia?
The Indonesian Connection: Dutch Literature About the Indies in English Translation: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Spring 2013, Fall 2010, Spring 2009
Post-War Dutch literature is replete with works dealing with the Holocaust, by both victims and survivors. The course will focus on literary as well as historical documents, examine the history of anti-Semitism in the Lowlands, and compare a number of literary genres from the Diary to ego-documents and fiction.
Anne Frank and After: Dutch Literature of the Holocaust in English Translation: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2012, Spring 2010
The course will focus on contemporary Dutch politics, culture and literature: the post-war period and the early twenty-first century. Particular attention will be paid to immigration and the debate on multiculturalism and Islam in the Netherlands. All readings and discussions in English.
Multiculturalism in the Netherlands: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Fall 2008
This course will focus on the cultural aspects of protest- and youth cultures in two cities that were influential in the sixties: Amsterdam and Berkeley. Particular attention will be paid to how American popular culture was perceived in a European context. All readings and discussions in English.
Dutch Culture and Society: Amsterdam and Berkeley in the Sixties: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
What would it mean to begin modern American history on the island of Manhattan instead of New England? We intend to question the Anglo-American perspective on the representation of cultural identity, national identity, ethnicity, and race by constrasting the traditional foundation story of the United States with that of the 17th-century Dutch colony on Manhattan. Readings will include historical and ethnographic writings, self-representations of the different ethnic groups, and fictional accounts.
From New Amsterdam to New York: Race, Culture, and Identity in New Netherland: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Fall 2011
Selected topics in Dutch or Flemish/Belgian colonial literature and/or history. See departmental description for current topic. All readings and discussions in English.
Dutch Post-Colonial Studies: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Fall 2009
This course aims at a comprehensive study of Brussels, capital of the European Union: its historical richness, institutional complexity of Belgium, cultural diversity, linguistic contradictions, globalizing economy, and its rapidly transforming social divisions. Taught in English; no knowledge of French or Dutch is required.
Brussels: A Global Study of a European Capital City: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2010 10 Week Session
With the 17th-century "Golden Age" as its starting point, the course traces the important cultural developments in Holland and Belgium (Flanders) up to the present. The interdisciplinary curriculum provides a clear picture of these two constrasting monarchies. The historical, cultural, and linguistic relationship is a constant focus of the course. The literature (documentary and fiction) concentrates on the Holcaust in the Low Countries. Students will engage with their subject matter not only in daily lectures, but also as eyewitnesses through regular field trips to museums and historical sites in Amsterdam, The Hague, Haarlem, Delft, Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, and other cities. Visits to the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, the House of Representatives, an interactive criminal trial, attendance at the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague, and the European Parliament in Brussels are included in the course.
The Amsterdam-Brussels Connection: The Art, History, and Literature of the Netherlands and Flanders: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2012, Fall 2009
Although the Caribbean has been recognized in recent years as being one of the most compelling areas in regard to questions of interculturality, hybridity, and miscegenation, the Dutch-speaking part of it has somehow been neglected. This course intends to give an opportunity to those who do not necessarily have a command of Dutch language, but wish to complete their knowledge of Latin-American and Carribean history, culture, and literature.
Cultural Studies: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010
Selected topics in cultural studies. Offerings vary. See departmental descriptions for current topic. All readings and discussions in English.
Cultural Studies: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
A major research paper in the areas of Dutch literature, culture, or the area of linguistics. Required of all majors.
Senior Thesis: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Supervised independent study and research course for honors students.
Honors Studies in Dutch: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017

Directed Group Study: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Enrollment is restricted by regulations in .
Special Studies in Dutch: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Summer 2018 First 6 Week Session, Spring 2018
All four foreign language skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) are addressed to help students acquire communicative competence in the German language while being sensitized to the links between language and culture. This course is for students with no prior knowledge of German.
Elementary German 1: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2009, Fall 2008, Spring 2008
Students review and continue to develop the basic elements of communicative competence in both spoken and written language while being sensitized to the links between language and culture. This course covers the same material as 1 in a condensed way and at an accelerated speed. Upon completion of this course, students will qualify for enrollment in 2.
Accelerated Elementary German: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014
Elementary German for graduate students preparing for reading examinations.
Elementary German for Graduate Students: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2018
In this course, students will continue to develop communicative competence in the German language and expand their sensitivity towards the relationship between language and culture. While all language skills will be addressed, additional emphasis will be on the various styles of written and spoken German.
Elementary German 2: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Elementary German for graduates preparing for reading examinations.
Elementary German for Graduate Students: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session
While continuing to expand students' communicative competence in German, this content-driven course will provide insights into postwar German history and cultural trends. Primary focus will be on the development of literacy skills (critical reading and writing), vocabulary expansion, and a thorough review of structural concepts. You will be guided towards expressing yourself on more abstract topics, such as language and power in society, multiculturalism, rebellion and protest, and social justice, and towards drawing connections between texts and contexts, using a variety of text genres (journalistic, historical, short story, poetry, drama, advertising, film).
Intermediate German I: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session
In this fourth-semester German language course you will work on strengthening your interpretative abilities as well as your written and oral forms of expression. While continuing the development of communicative competence and literacy skills, students will discuss a variety of texts and films and try to find innovative ways in which to engage with familiar presuppositions about who we are, about what determines our values and actions, and about the function and power of language.
Intermediate German II: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
This course offers a survey of modern German literary, cultural, and intellectual currents, as well as an introduction to argumentation and analysis. Students will examine numerous issues and questions central to defining the complexity of modern German culture. R5A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and R5B satisfies the second half.
Reading and Composition: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2018, Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session
This course offers a survey of modern German literary, cultural, and intellectual currents, as well as an introduction to argumentation and analysis. Students will examine numerous issues and questions central to defining the complexity of modern German culture. R5A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and R5B satisfies the second half.
Reading and Composition: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2014
An introductory level exploration of a group of authors, works, themes, or literary movements from the history of German literature in a European context. Based on close readings of texts students will discuss ways in which literature has played (and continues to play) a crucial role in the relationship between different cultures, traditions, and languages. Readings and topics to vary from semester to semester.
German Literature in a European Context: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2017
The Freshman Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small seminar setting. Freshman seminars are offered in all campus departments, and topics may vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment limited to 15 freshmen.
Freshman Seminar: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2015, Spring 2013
We will explore the ways in which Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud--three of the most important thinkers in modern Western thought--can be read as responding to the Enlightenment and its notions of reason and progress. We will consider how each remakes a scientific understanding of truth, knowledge, and subjectivity, such that rationality, logic, and the powers of human cognition are shown to be distorted, limited, and subject to forces outside our individual control. All lectures and readings in English.
Revolutionary Thinking: Marx, Nietzsche, Freud: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2012, Fall 2008, Fall 2003
No knowledge of German required.
Freshman Seminar: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2013, Spring 2012, Spring 2010
No knowledge of German required.
Freshman Seminar: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2012
No knowledge of German required.
Freshman Seminar: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2016
No knowledge of German required.
Freshman Seminar: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2009, Spring 2009
Advanced German conversation course that includes discussions, debates, individual presentations, and one or two in-class movies in German. Most materials will be provided by the instructor but students will also be asked to use their own resources from printed or online media. Regular vocabulary quizzes will be part of the course grade. Taught in German.
German Conversation: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2007 Second 6 Week Session
Students will explore historical and contemporary aspects of German culture through readings, discussions, guided excursions in Berlin and Weimar, and individual research projects. The course will engage students to develop a deeper understanding of the specific ways in which cultural issues are respected and reflected in the German language, which they study concurrently. Topics include multiculturalism and minority experience; Berlin as divided city and capital; city planning and public discourse, past and present in German architecture; Berlin in popular literature, film, and theatre; the art scene in Berlin; and the Weimar classical period. Taught in German and English.
Exploring German Culture: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2011
What or who decides whether something is beautiful or not? What purpose do beauty and art serve? Where do originality, genius, and inspiration come from? What do art and beauty have to do with freedom and human progress? We will examine primarily western European and North American approaches to beauty as presented in works of philosophy, literary theory, and theories of art and aesthetics, exploring key theoretical questions as they evolve among several intellectual arenas over many centuries.
What is Beauty?: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Group study of selected topics not covered by regularly scheduled courses. Topics may be initiated by students under the sponsorship and direction of a member of the German Department's faculty.
Directed Group Study: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Independent study and research by arrangement with faculty.
Supervised Independent Study: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2017
The course is intended to acquaint students with selected works from German cultural history and to familiarize them with various methods of interpretation and analysis. Required of all German majors.
Introduction to Reading Culture: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2017
Focusing on five central themes, this advanced-level language course will help students to improve and expand on spoken and written language functions utilizing a variety of works from different genres in journalism, broadcasting, literature, fine arts, and the cinema. The final goal is to enable students to participate in the academic discourse--written and spoken--at a linguistic and stylistic level appropriate for an advanced student of German in upper division courses.
Advanced German: Conversation, Composition and Style: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Analysis, discussion, adaptation, and public performance of authentic texts from German Kabarett, such as comedic skits, political and social satire, parody, humorous poetry. Text selection will vary each semester.
Advanced Language Practice: German Performance: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Focusing on popular culture in German speaking countries, this advanced level language course will help students to improve and expand on spoken and written language functions utilizing a variety of works from different genres in journalism, broadcasting, literature, fine arts, music, and the cinema. Readings, screenings, discussion, and writing assignments will advance students' language skills and further develop their communicative competencies in German at a linguistic and stylistic level appropriate for an advanced student.
Advanced Language Practice: Popular Culture in Germany: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2016
This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the major subfields of linguistics as they apply to the German language. It also serves as the gateway course for the further study of German linguistics at the undergraduate level. The first part of the course will focus on the synchronic description of contemporary German. The second part of the course will concern itself with variation in German. There are no prerequisties for this class and no prior experience with linguistics is presupposed. However, an advanced knowledge of German (at least German 4 level) is expected.
Introduction to German Linguistics: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2011, Fall 2005, Fall 1999
This course is intended for students who wish to improve their skills in reading, speaking, and writing German. We will work with texts that were particularly influential in Germany during the first decades of the 20th century, regardless of when they were written. Segments of philosophical writings (Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, literary works (George, Rilke, Th. Mann) but also texts by scientists and journalists will be analyzed. Participants are expected to prepare several oral presentations and approximately one written assignment per week. No midterm or final examination.
Senior Colloquium: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Students will learn the fundamentals of Middle High German grammar and will read selections from major narrative works of the High Middle Ages. Selections from major works from the 13th century.
Middle High German for Undergraduates: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Fall 2010, Spring 2009, Fall 2002
Exploration of the role that literature can play in the acquisition of literacy in a first and second language. Linguistic and psycholinguistic issues: orality and literacy, discourse text, schema theory, and reading research. Literary issues: stylistics and critical reading, reader response, structure of narratives. Educational issues: the literary text in the social context of its production and reception by intended and non-intended readers.
Literacy through Literature: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2018 8 Week Session, Summer 2017 8 Week Session, Summer 2016 8 Week Session
This course is designed to prepare graduate students for translation/reading exams in German. Students who do not need to pass such an exam, but who wish to improve their reading and translation skills in academic German, are also welcome.
German for Reading Knowledge: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
This course introduces students to the problems of literary translation from German to English.
Literary Translation: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
Introduction in modern German or English translation to major literary monuments of the Hohenstaufen period. Intended for undergraduates with no knowledge of Middle High German.
The Literature of the Middle Ages: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2009, Fall 2003, Spring 2001
Major texts from the 15th through the 17th century.
Early Modern Literature: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2009, Spring 2007, Spring 2003
The course will focus on examples of mystical thought from the traditions of Christian and Jewish mysticism since the Middle Ages. In addition to the introduction of the students to basic texts and concepts we will discuss the effects of mystical thought on art and literature from the Middle Ages up to today.
Western Mysticism: Religion, Art, and Literature: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
This undergraduate seminar offers an introduction to literary theory, mainly but not exclusively in the German tradition. We will examine a variety of theoretical approaches including reception theory, psychoanalysis, memory studies, trauma theory, feminist theory, queer theory, New Historicism, translation, and deconstruction; and with respect to drama, poetry and the novel. Formal analysis will be emphasized.
German Literary Theory: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2012
The social, political, and historical background to German literature since the French Revolution.
From 1800 to the Present: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2013
An introduction to Goethe's prose, drama, and poetry.
Goethe: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2009, Fall 2007
Literature, philosophy, and aesthetics of the Romantic period.
Romanticism: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2010
This course introduces students to the masterpieces of German drama and opera from the eighteenth to the twentieth century.
German Drama and Opera: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2013
Analysis of German narrative forms. Topic varies.
Topics in Narrative: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2012, Fall 2008, Fall 2004
Representative texts from 18th- to 21st-century German poetry will be studied closely. Methodological questions regarding the interpretation of poetry in general will also be discussed.
Eighteenth- to 21st-Century German Poetry: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Introduction to philosophical, ideological, and aesthetic trends at the turn of the century. Analyses of literary texts by Th. Mann, F. Kafka, S. George, R. M. Rilke, G. Benn, B. Brecht.
Modern Literature: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2015, Summer 2010 Second 6 Week Session
A careful study of Kafka's writings that will consider them in their social, historical, and cultural contexts and will focus on a number of significantly different interpretive approaches to his works.
Kafka and Modernism: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018
This course examines the effects of the digital age on literature. Emphasis will be on themes, poetics, and media of digital writing; as well as on shifting notions of the literary itself. Topics include forms of microblogging such as Twitter and Instagram; aesthetic experimentation and/on social media; notions of digital authorship; practices of reading and viewing; literary scholarship and digital media. Readings, discussions, and coursework in German.
Literature in the Digital Age: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2014, Fall 2012
Introduction to the intellectual history of Germany from the age of the Reformation to the period of Idealism. We will focus on three major thinkers--Martin Luther, Immanuel Kant, and G.W.F. Hegel--on key issues in their thought, and on the reception and discussion of some of these issues in 20th century theory. Lectures and readings in English.
German Intellectual History in a European Context: Historical Figures and Contemporary Reflections: Luther, Kant, Hegel: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2011, Spring 2009, Fall 2007
The aim of the course is to explore the central theoretical and philosophical premises of three of the most influential thinkers in the German-speaking world and to examine in detail several works in which problems of history, ideology, values, and methodology are considered. Lecture and readings in English.
German Intellectual History in a European Context: Historical Figures and Contemporary Reflections: Marx, Nietzsche, Freud: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2013, Fall 2011
This course is an introduction to the work of Martin Heidegger and Hannah Arendt. We will begin with an investigation into Heidegger's conceptualiztions of language, time, and human dwelling. We will then move to an examination of Arendt's political philosophy, including her focus on the public/private distinction. Taught in English.
German Intellectual History in a European Context: Historical Figures and Contemporary Reflections: Heidegger and Arendt: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2014
This course examines the writings of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory, a major branch of western Marxism. Focusing on confrontations with modernity, the lectures will deal with three seminal thinkers: Walter Benjamin, known for his genial insights into the culture of modernism; Theodor Adorno, the versatile philosopher and aesthetic theorist of the avant garde; and Jurgen Habermas, the most influential German intellectual after World War II.
German Intellectual History in a European Context: Historical Figures and Contemporary Reflections: Adorno, Benjamin, Habermas: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2013, Spring 2011, Fall 2009
The story of Germany in the 20th century is a dramatic one, comprising two world wars, genocide, Allied occupation, a division into two states on opposing sides of the Cold War, and recently an unexpected unification. This course offers an introduction to the history and culture of contemporary Germany. It aims at a systematic account of German history in the 20th century, and it intends to provide a better understanding of today's German culture and politics. In addition to following a chronological approach, we will frequently stop to explore issues that are crucial to providing insights into current developments.
Politics and Culture in 20th-Century Germany: A Century of Extremes: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
This course will focus on the theory and practice of propaganda during the 12 years of the Third Reich. It takes a close look at the ideology the Nazis tried to transmit, the techniques, organization, and effectiveness of their propaganda. Challenging the idea of the total power of propaganda, it looks for the limits of persuasion and possible other reasons for which Germans might have decided to follow Hitler. Sources will include the press, radio, film, photography, political posters, and a few literary works of the time.
Politics and Culture in 20th-Century Germany: Fascism and Propaganda: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2016
This course offers an introduction to the history and culture of divided Germany in the era of the Cold War. It will look at the different ways the two states dealt with the country's pre-1945 history, the relations to the Allied Powers, and the major cultural shifts which eventually created a watershed in the history of German mentalities. We will look at various kinds of sources, including literature and film. Major national debates will be touched upon, such as breaks and continuities within the national elites, re-armament and pacifism, the student movement, opposition and conformity under Socialism, and the rise of environmentalism. We will also discuss the problems and opportunities of re-unification.
Politics and Culture in 20th-Century Germany: A Divided Nation. Politics and Culture in Germany 1945-1990: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2012
This course will deal with the culture and politics of minorities in contemporary Germany. We will discuss how ethnic identities are perceived, constructed, and marketed. We also engage critically with such concepts as migration, assimilation, citizenship, diaspora, hybridity, and authenticity, as well as rhetorical strategies of "speaking back." We will focus on exemplary texts and films from Germany, but include comparisons with minority experiences in other countries.
Politics and Culture in 20th-Century Germany: Multicultural Germany: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2013, Fall 2012
The history of Germany's first parliamentary democracy is a dramatic one, dominated by economic woes, political violence, and a general perception of crisis and decline. The ill-fated republic bore the burden of a devastating war and suffered from an increasing lack of popular support. Democratic procedures were constantly undermined by radical and reactionary forces. Cultural pessimism was nurtured by the overwhelming experience of historical contingency, i.e., a fundamental lack of confidence in the predictability of modern life.
Politics and Culture in 20th-Century Germany: The Weimar Republic: Politics and Culture in Germany 1918-1933: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2014
This course reflects on European cultures from a transnational perspective. It will explore tensions between traditional identity concepts based on the nation state model and other ways to define identity based on border crossings and intercultural connections. Special attention will be paid to Europe's multilingualism and its colonial legacy in the form of migration, diaspora, hybridity, and other social phenomena that challenge traditional boarders between cultures, languages, and people. We will discuss exemplary texts and films from German-speaking areas in Europe and beyond. The course syllabus will vary depending on the regional and thematic emphasis. All reading and discussion will be in English.
European Cultures: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2009, Fall 2008, Fall 2007
Designed for undergraduate and graduate students interested in the history of the language of the newly united Germanys, which transverses a rich linguistic legacy from the , through Luther and Grimm, to Grass and . Discussion, via linguistic principles, of language processes in the genetic development of the German language, as well as its interchange over time with closely and remotely related languages such as English and Russian.
History of the German Language: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2011
This course examines geographical and social variation within the German language. Among other things we will consider the differences between language and dialect, the division of German dialects and the history of German dialect study, various linguistic features (phonological, morphological, syntactic, and lexical) characteristic of the major German dialect areas, and issues involving the use of dialect versus standard language in contemporary society. Besides regular readings and written assignments, grades will be based on active participation and a paper or exam.
German Dialects: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2013, Spring 2011
A course designed for undergraduates and graduates on the structure of modern German covering the fundamentals of German phonetics and phonology, with comparison to English. Some discussion of German dialect phonology.
The Phonetics and Phonology of Modern German: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2015, Spring 2012
A course designed for undergraduates and graduates on the grammatical structure of modern German covering the fundamentals of German morphology, syntax and semantics, with comparison to English.
The Morphology and Syntax of Modern German: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Spring 2012, Spring 2008
Analysis of various poetry from the beginning of the century to today, including works by Trakl, Benn, Bachmann, Sachs, Celan, and Brinkmann. A 20-page research paper will be part of the requirements for this course.
Undergraduate Seminars: 20th-Century Poetry: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2008
On the basis of literary texts (in translation) and films, we will examine major topics pertaining to the cultural identity of Switzerland. Special attention will be paid to the cultural history of Switerzland in a European context. Themes in discussion will be Swiss multiculturalism and multilingualism, the importance of the Alps for national self-identification, the origin and development of the Swiss model of direct democracy, and the Swiss policy of neutrality.
The Cultural History of Switzerland in Literature and Film: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2012
This course introduces principal figures from the basic disciplines of philosophy, biology, and linguistics who are particularly influential in current trends in semiotic method. It undertakes to lay the foundation of a semiotic method distinct from monolithic traditional structuralism, so, e.g, it concentrates on anti-Saussurean thought. In presenting semiotic universals, the course pursues the formulation and the application of a theoretical construct valid for any and all semiotic modalities ranging from the literary text, to the language act as text, and to the human being as text.
Semiotics: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Topics will vary from semester to semester. See departmental announcement for offerings. Additional screening time may be required for film topics.
Special Topics in German: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Fall 2010, Fall 2000
The course will deal with the topic from various angles; a representative selection of American films noirs from the United States and some films (as forerunners) from the Weimar Republic will be shown and discussed in terms of their visuals and narratives. There will also be literary texts and cultural documents (articles on crime in the United States; on the working conditions in Hollywood) pertaining to the topic. Films have English subtitles.
German Cinema in Exile: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2016, Fall 2014
This course will explore how experiences of migration, dislocation, or exile are visualized in cinema, and how processes of internationalization in film production and distribution intersect with the projection of a transnational global imagery. Some examples of transnational cinematic connections will be analyzed in historical perspective as well as contemporary examples of "migrant cinema." We will investigate how these films engage with debates about multiculturalism and assimilation/segregation of minorities, as scenarios of itinerancy and mobility are often intertwined with representations of ethnicity and gender.
Transnational Cinemas: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Supervised independent study and research course for honor students who are writing their theses for completion of the requirements for the Honors Program.
Honors Studies in German: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
Two-semester supervised independent study and research course in which honor students research their theses topic the first semester (H196A) and write their theses the second semester (H196B) for completion of the requirements for the honors program.
Honors Studies in German: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
Two-semester supervised independent study and research course in which honor students research their theses topic the first semester (H196A) and write their theses the second semester (H196B) for completion of the requirements for the honors program.
Honors Studies in German: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Group study of selected topics which will vary from year to year.
Directed Group Study: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Supervised independent study and research.
Supervised Independent Study and Research: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Introduction to Yiddish language and literature. Attention to reading, writing, and speaking in the context of the historic Yiddish cultural environment.
Elementary Yiddish: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Further intensive study of Yiddish, building on the foundation established in 101. Advanced grammar and introduction to the reading of original texts.
Intermediate Yiddish: Read More [+]

Offered through: German
Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Study of selected Yiddish texts including prose, poetry, and drama, from various periods and geographic areas, in the context of time and place. Review of relevant grammatical topics. Increased attention to the Hebrew/Aramaic component. Selections may vary from semester to semester.
Readings in Yiddish: Read More [+]