Claire Scott

This is the first half of a yearlong course for students who are beginning the study of German or who have had only minimal exposure to the language. The first semester introduces students to the German language in all four modalities: reading, writing, speaking and listening. The work includes practice in understanding and using the spoken language. Written exercises and elementary reading materials completed outside class serve as a basis for vocabulary-building and in-class discussion and role-plays. Students will also write four short essays on familiar topics over the course of the semester. During the second semester there is more advanced practice in the use of the spoken and written language and we will use short fictional and authentic cultural texts in order to develop techniques of reading. This course includes required practice sessions with an apprentice teacher (AT), which will be scheduled at the beginning of the semester. Students enrolled in this course will be automatically added to GERM 112Y for the spring semester. Offered every fall.

This is the second half of a yearlong course for students who are beginning the study of German or who have had only minimal exposure to the language. As in the first semester, the work includes practice of the German language in all four modalities — reading, writing, speaking and listening — in class, in scheduled review sessions with an apprentice teacher and using an online workbook. There will be more advanced practice in the use of the spoken and written language. We will develop reading skills through a variety of fictional and cultural texts, including a short book we will read in its entirety. This course includes required practice sessions with an apprentice teacher (AT), which will be scheduled at the beginning of the semester. At the end of the semester, the student will read their first book of fiction in German. Prerequisite: GERM 111Y or placement or permission of instructor. Offered every spring.

This first-semester middle-level course is designed to develop German reading, writing, and speaking skills beyond GERM 111Y–112Y. We will use a grammar text for reviewing and expanding upon aspects of German grammar from the first year. We will apply this review as we read a young adult novel in German "Tschick" by Wolfgang Herrndorf and other short literary and journalistic texts, as we gain a basic understanding of films in the original German, and as we converse in German with a partner or in groups. These texts and films will serve as a point of departure for short compositions as well. Keeping a diary in German also is an integral component of the course. This course includes required practice sessions with an apprentice teacher (AT), which will be scheduled at the beginning of the semester. Students enrolled in this course will be automatically added to GERM 214Y for the spring semester. Prerequisite: GERM 111Y–112Y or equivalent. Offered every fall.

This second-semester middle-level course is designed to develop German reading, writing and speaking skills beyond GERM 111Y-112Y. We will use a grammar text for reviewing and expanding upon aspects of German grammar from the first year. We will apply this review as we read short literary and journalistic texts, as we gain a basic understanding of films in the original German, and as we converse in German with a partner or in groups. These texts and films will serve as a point of departure for short compositions as well. Keeping a diary in German also is an integral component of the course. Studying the novel "Der Richter und sein Henker" by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt will be a special component of GERM 214Y. This course includes required practice sessions with an apprentice teacher (AT), which will be scheduled at the beginning of the semester. Prerequisite: GERM 213Y or equivalent. Offered every spring.

In this course, we will explore a wide array of topics in contemporary German culture to provide advanced students with the opportunity to strengthen their abilities to write, read and speak German. Topics may include the impact of reunification on contemporary Germany, religious life and popular music. The students will read excerpts from two German books on German culture and identity: "Typisch Deutsch: Wie deutsch sind die Deutschen?" by Herman Bausinger and "Die deutsche Seele" by Thea Dorn and Richard Wagner. We will explore the topics of migration and citizenship, as well. Students will develop fluency in German to perform linguistically and culturally appropriate tasks. The composition component will seek to improve the ability to write clearly and coherently in German. To foster these goals, the course also will provide a review of advanced grammatical structures. This course can be repeated for credit up to 1.0 unit. Prerequisite: GERM 213Y–214Y or equivalent. Offered every fall semester.

This course provides an overview of various movements in German, Swiss and Austrian literature and film of the 20th and 21st centuries on the basis of representative textual and cinematic examples. Students will gain a greater understanding of German literary history and of related social and philosophical trends. Other central goals include practice in the close reading of texts and films and acquiring a basic German vocabulary to do so. We will read samples from various genres — drama, prose and lyric poetry. Authors to be studied may include Arthur Schnitzler, Franz Kafka, Thomas Mann, Anna Seghers, Bertolt Brecht, Heinrich Böll, Ingeborg Bachmann, Barbara Honigmann, Uwe Timm and Judith Hermann. We also will watch films such as "The Blue Angel" (1930, von Sternberg), "The Murderers Are among Us" (Staudte, 1946), "Berlin: Schönhauser Corner" (Klein 1957) and "Aguirre: The Wrath of God" (Herzog, 1972). GERM 321 recommended. Prerequisite: GERM 213Y–214Y or equivalent.

In a special journal issue on emerging German writers, Frank Finley and Stuart Taberner write: "What is most immediately striking about the German literary market since unification, and in particular since the mid-1990s, is its sheer diversity." In this course, we will read and interpret exemplary works from the wealth of texts that form this new literature. Among the authors are emerging writers, as well as well-established writers such as Nobel Prize winner Günter Grass. Our focus for discussion will shift a number of times during the semester. We will explore issues of German history and German identity with respect to Grass's novel "Im Krebsgang" and Daniel Kehlmann's historical novel "Die Vermessung der Welt." More aesthetic and philosophical problems, such as intertextuality and memory, will guide our discussion of W.G. Sebald's "Schwindel. Gefühle." Sebald's book is related to Judith Hermann's "Nichts als Gespenster" through the theme of the travelogue. Likewise, we will discuss the poetics and narrative strategies of Hermann's stories. We will investigate questions of popular literature and generational issues ("Generation Golf") by looking at Christian Kracht's "Faserland" (which — like the Hermann and Sebald texts — can be read as a travelogue) and excerpts from Jochen Schmidt's "Triumphgemüse." We will discuss at least one of the texts in connection with their adaptation to the screen. The format of the course will be seminar-type discussion complemented by occasional presentations by students and the instructor. All readings and discussion are in German. Prerequisite: GERM 325 or above or permission of instructor. Generally offered every three years.

This course presents an interdisciplinary inquiry into the destruction of European Jewry during World War II. How was it that in the 20th century, in the midst of civilized Europe, a policy of genocide was formulated and systematically implemented? We will examine the Holocaust within the contexts of modern European history, Nazi ideology and practice, the Jewish experience in Europe, the history of anti-Semitism and the psychology of human behavior. Data will be drawn from films, literature, art, memoirs, theology and historical investigations. An ongoing concern of the course will be the significance of the Holocaust in political discourse and in our own thinking as individuals. When a faculty member from religious studies, modern languages and literatures (German) or history is teaching the course, it counts toward the history, German or religious studies majors.