top

GERMAN 295: JEWISH-GERMAN WRITERS (SISJE 295/C LIT 396A/CHID 270A)
MWF 12:30-1:20, KNE 110
5 credits, VLPA/I&S, sln: 13969
Instructor: Richard Block

What does it mean to seek equal status as a  citizen when the primary marker of one’s identity, that of being  Jewish, is indicative of a dream to return to Zion?  How does one  demand of the other, the Jew, that (s)he become German when the very  notion of “Germanness” is vague, uncertain, and forever changing?   These are the primary questions that will structure our discussions  during the term.  We will also be interested in the tragic trajectory  that proposed solutions to these problems assumed.  In other words, we  will seek to understand why for Jews the eventual solution to their  predicament in Germany was to abandon dreams of assimilation and argue  for the birth of a Jewish state.  Conversely, we will examine how  religious anti-Semitism led to racial anti-Semitism and finally to  genocidal anti-Semitism.  That is, how for Germans the solution to the “Jewish problem” became a final one: the extermination of all Jews  from the globe.
The course will also pursue a second trajectory, namely, the messianic  in Jewish thought.  How does the coming of the messiah or the fact  that he has not yet arrived affect the disposition Jews assume toward  their own lives?  How do they read history?  How do they conceive of  truth when truth is not yet revealed save through ritual law?  And  finally, what does revolution have to do with the Jewish notion of 
messianism?

 

top

 ↕GERMAN 307B: Language Trailer to GERMAN 295/SISJE 295/C LIT 396A/CHID 270A: Jewish-German Writers
TTh 12:30-1:20, DEN 310
3 credits, VLPA, sln: 13975
Instructor: Jan Hengge

A special three credit course offered in addition to German 295, Jewish-German writer. This course is conducted in German, and all assignments will be in German as well. We will read, analyze, and discuss poems, abstracts, short novellas by a variety of German-Jewish writers. German 295 is not required, but is highly recommended as a historical and theoretical foundation for a more complex understanding and deeper discussions. This is a rare and highly rewarding challenge for those who are interested in developing the language skills necessary to discuss intellectually complex subjects in German.  Students will particularly benefit from close readings of texts designed to underscore the particular and idiosyncratic relationship that German-Jews had to their adopted language as well to highlight those aspects of any text that resists translation.  Course readings will sometimes be German excerpts from texts discussed in translation in German 295.  In other instances, other works from other authors will be presented.

Meeting Times:
3 Credit Hours
Course may serve as an Elective Credit to fulfill a major/minor in German.
Requirements: active participation and short essays in German.

 

top

GERMAN 312: Historical Approaches to German Literature
TTh 10:30-11:50, DEN 311
5 credits, VLPA, sln: 13975
Instructor: Brigitte Prutti

This course introduces students to German literature based on a historical perspective. Movements and styles, such as Enlightenment, Classicism, Romanticism, Biedermeier, Modernism, and Postmodernism, will serve as the focus of the course. We will explore what it means to think about literature in terms of historical concepts and the kinds of reading a historical approach produces. Texts discussed are from different genres and they range from 18th century literature to some examples of contemporary fiction. We will start with the latter and go backwards to emphasize the historicity of our endeavors.  At issue here are three major themes: the construction of fictional lives, the plotting of seduction and literary discourses of nature. Readings by Daniel Kehlmann, Julia Franck, Thomas Mann, Brigitte Kronauer, Arthur Schnitzler, Adalbert Stifter, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Students can expect to gain a basic historical understanding of German literature and to develop their critical thinking skills. Taught mainly in German; discussions in German and English. Requirements: Regular attendance, active participation, journals, midterm, one team project. Prerequisites: German 301 and German 311 or permission of the instructor.

 

top

GERMAN 322: Intro German Studies
TTh 1:30-2:50, DEN 314
5 credits, VLPA, sln: 13977
Instructor: Eric Ames

This course offers an introduction to German cultural studies. It provides a foundation for upper-division courses in German literature as well as in culture. What is German culture and how has it been defined and contested?  We will explore key concepts in cultural studies (representation, identity, difference, memory, etc.).  Each unit of the course focuses on one of these concepts. By the end of the quarter students will develop a better sense of cultural studies in a German context.  This overall objective encompasses many particular goals as well. As a result of this class, students should be able to explain key concepts of cultural studies, identify a range of approaches to the study of German culture, read and analyze texts closely, and apply the questions in each unit to a variety of cultural productions. Because the course moves from exploring key concepts to actively participating in cultural studies, another set of goals concerns active learning through group work and individual research. We will devote considerable class time to discussion and debate. Assignments include group activities as well as individual work.

 

top

GERMAN 390: European Romanticism (EURO 302)
MWF 11:30-12:20, GWN 201
5 credits, VLPA, sln: 13979
Instructor: Sabine Wilke

This course offers an introduction to the literature, culture, philosophy, and arts of the period of European Romanticism (around 1800) and its effects on contemporary popular culture. Romanticism as a movement is a reaction to the Industrial Revolution and the political challenges of the French Revolution and its aftermaths. Some define it as a reaction to the rationalization of nature. Instead of scientific rational explanations of natural phenomena, their aesthetic experience and sublimity is emphasized highlighting nature as a place for the picturesque as well as the horrific. Romantic poets loved to experiment with mixing literary genres and the arts, they explored former periods, particularly the Middle Ages, revitalized folk and fairy tales, imagined themselves in far away, frequently exotic and orientalized places, studied the natural forms of their environment such as rocks and trees, wandered about in the woods singing songs, philosophized about nature, language, and subjectivity, got together with friends in salons, and formed intellectual circles. Women formed strong relationships with other women and took to the pen. All in all, it was a time of social and artistic experimentation and imagining the self in new and exciting environments.

We will research and recreate this time period inside and outside of class in a variety of interactive formats including lecture, class discussion, team debates, presentation of team projects, blogs, etc. Students are expected to attend each class period with all assignments completed by the beginning of class and ready to engage in and do online research about the topic of the day. Students will post individual blogs, respond to other blogs, be part of a team that works together throughout the quarter, communicate with each other outside of class, complete assignments, and be expected to be active interlocutors in class discussion.
 
Readings
A course reader is available for purchase at Ave Copy Center (4141 University Way NE).  Readings should be completed by the date listed in the schedule below.

Requirements and Grading
Your course grade will be calculated in the following way:
15% individual blog posting
35% classroom performance and team grade
25% team portfolio          
25% final project and team paper

 

top

↕GERMAN 307A: Language Trailer to GERMAN 390/EURO 302A: European Romanticism
TTh 11:30-12:20, DEN 310
3 credits, VLPA, sln:13974
Instructor: Lena Heilman

German 307 examines texts that either epitomize or challenge ideas of German Romanticism. Course topics include fairy tales, nature, Gothic tales, travel, language, and Romantic women. Common motifs include depictions of the night, fragments and fragmentation, poetry, irrationality, unrequited love, and childhood.  Readings include excerpts from Fouqué's "Undine," Bonaventura's "Nachtwachen," Novalis' "Hymnen an die Nacht," and F. Schlegel's idea of "Progressive Universalpoesie." Other authors include Bettina von Arnim, Karoline von Günderrode, C. Brentano, die Brüder Grimm, and Eichendorff.

This course is intended to complement German 390, "European Romanticism," although it can be taken independently. It uses the framework and categories of German 390 as an outline. 

Class and readings will be in German.

top

GERMAN 395: German Proctor 1st Year
TTh 10:30-11:20, SMI 211
1-2 credits, VLPA, sln: 13980
Instructor: Charles Barrack

Proctors will receive much practice in conversational German. Students aspiring to become teachers of German will find this course especially useful because they are placed in charge of small groups of participants in German 150, Conversational German Through Films. As proctors they lead the discussions and grade the small group of students under their charge on the basis of their mastery of the vocabulary of the films. Proctors are provided all necessary written materials including discussion questions. Proctors must come to class on time and meet with the instructor briefly when the bell rings while participants in German 150 are watching the films. During these brief meetings, the instructor will make suggestions and discuss problems raised by the proctors. Participants must be advanced students of German, i.e., students who have taken an upper-division composition/conversation course such as 301,302,303,401,403—or had equivalent experience in a German speaking country. Graduate students in Germanics or native speakers are also strongly encouraged to participate if they wish to acquire teaching experience. Proctors are graded on their attendance, proper conducting of group discussion, and punctuality—especially in submitting their grade sheets. German 395 is graded CREDIT/NO CREDIT.

top

GERMAN 396: German Proctor 2nd Year
TTh 11:30-12:20, SMI 211
1-2 credits, VLPA, sln: 13981
Instructor: Charles Barrack

Proctors are assistants in German 150/250.  They are provided with discussion questions in German based on films shown in class and are placed in charge of small groups of students whom they lead in discussions.  Proctors may earn up to a total of 10 credits, 4 of which may be used as electives toward a B.A. in Germanics.  Students wishing to improve their conversational abilities are especially encouraged to serve as proctors.  Prerequisite: any course in advanced conversation, such as German 301.  Any students who have some facility in conversational German (including graduate students and native speakers) are also welcome.

 

top

GERMAN 422: STDS 19th C LIT & CUL (EURO 494C)
MWF 10:30-11:20, DEN 316
5 credits, VLPA, sln: 13982
Instructor: Diana Behler

This course will deal with seminal texts of the 19th century that involve love, deception, and transgression.  These texts reveal increasingly complex social relationships involving the testing of social norms by individuals and the personal consequences resulting from choices made.  We will also focus on aesthetic features of romantic and realistic narrative (Romantic irony, fantastic elements, poetic realism, e.g.) as well as short texts by philosophical writers (Schopenhauer, Hegel, Feuerbach, Freud, Nietzsche) that illustrate ideas circulating in Germany during this era.

Texts include Tieck (Der Runenberg), Kleist (Die Verlobung in Santo Domingo), Eichendorff (Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts), Büchner (Woyzeck), Storm (Der Schimmelreiter), Keller (Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe), Fontane (Irrungen, Wirringen), and Schnitzler (Traumnovelle).

Texts and lectures in German; discussions in German or English.
Requirements include preparedness for discussion, one in-class mid-term exam, a final take-home exam, and a few short paragraphs written throughout the quarter.

 

top

GERMAN 452: HIST GERMAN LANG (LING 415A)
Daily 9:30-10:20, DEN 311
5 credits, VLPA, sln: 13986
Instructor: Joe Voyles

(Also for graduate students.) Offered in English, German 452 is an introduction to historical linguistics in general and to the history of German in particular. The class is meant to provide a survey of the most significant phonological, morphological, and syntactic developments, in the history of the German language. We begin with a consideration of the Indo-European languages, proceed from there to Germanic and from Germanic into German.

 

top