 German Courses
59 Holocaust in Film and Literature
Todd Presner
The history of the Holocaust and its present memory through examination of challenges and problems encountered in trying to imagine its horror through media of literature and film. Taught in English.
M70 Origin of Language
Christopher Stevens
Theoretical and methodological issues surrounding origin of language. Topics include evolutionary theory, evolution of man, how language is organized in brain, and science of language, including physiology of speech, phonetics, and comparative reconstruction. Taught in English.
110 Special Topics in Modern Literature and Culture
Race and Classical German Thought
Michael Saman
Thought about race has a complex history in modern intellectual culture; crucial paradigms regarding culture, identity, and biology have roots in the philosophy, science, and arts of eighteenth-century Germany. This course will give in-depth consideration to ideas and paradigms from classical German intellectual culture, and will trace their resonances within African, Francophone, French, and North American race theory in the twentieth century. Taught in English.
116 20th-Century German Philosophy
John McCumber
German philosophy, which may generally be characterized as philosophy that takes activity rather than passive subsistence to be fundamental nature of all things, is one of Germany's greatest gifts to humanity. Exploration of second half of two-century history of German philosophy--period from Nietzsche through Habermas, including Heidegger, Gadamer, Jaspers, and Frankfurt School theorists. Taught in English.
150 German Play Production Act I
Brechtje Beuker
Requisite: course 3. Taught in German. Introduction to four German plays (readings variable) and to different types of drama and drama theory. Reading, discussion, and analysis of plays in detail, practice in performing roles in class, and writing of short responses in German.
153 Conversation and Composition on Contemporary German Culture and Society II
Magdalena Tarnawska
Requisite: course 6. Taught in German. Structured around themes as they emerge in contemporary German texts ranging from news magazine articles to literature, with emphasis on speaking and writing proficiency. Presentation software featured.
173 Advanced Study of Modern Literature
Wolfgang Nehring
Requisite: course 152 or 153. Taught in German. Naturalism, Expressionism, and other early 20th-century literary movements and works.
210 Naturalism, Symbolism, and Expressionism
Wolfgang Nehring
Analysis of selected works (poetry, drama, prose) of early modernism from Hauptmann to Kafka. Discussion of sociological spectra and pluralism of styles and forms.
251 Seminar: Germanic Linguistics
Christopher Stevens
Current topics in synchronic or diachronic linguistics, such as specific issues in generative grammar, sociolinguistics and dialectology, or language contact.
265 German Philosophy
John McCumber
German philosophical tradition is one of most influential, difficult, and problematic Western world has known. Beginning with Kant's Critique of Pure Reason and continuing through Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, and Heidegger to Arendt and thinkers of Frankfurt school, German philosophers have explored, more deeply and rigorously than any other Western thinkers, nature and limits (if any) of human mental activity. Results have been basic to social, political, and aesthetic theory as well as to philosophy itself. Exploration of thought of one member of that tradition by concentrating yearly on one exemplary text.
Spring 2012 Tentative Schedule
141 Current Topics in Germanic Linguistics
Christopher Stevens
Requisite: course 152. Taught in English with German proficiency required. In-depth investigation of one topic in field of Germanic linguistics, such as phonetics and phonology, morphology and syntax, semantics and pragmatics, social and spatial variation (i.e., sociolinguistics and dialectology of German), or history of German.
151 German Play Production Act II
Brechtje Beuker
Requisites: courses 3. Taught in German. Staging of German play. Students responsible for various aspects of theater production, including acting and technical jobs (costumes, sets, and programs). Intensive pronunciation practice. Two public performances take place at end of term.
154 Business German
Magdalena Tarnawska
Requisite: course 6. Specialized language course that teaches German business administration, practices, and correspondence, with attention to cultural nuances. Ongoing developments in European Union analyzed via newspaper articles and Internet.
158 Introduction to Study of Literature
Wolfgang Nehring
Introduction to most important terms and resources of literary analysis to help students develop and improve skills in close and critical reading of literary texts, develop basic research techniques, acquire familiarity with basics of literary and cultural analysis, and find pleasure in pursuit of literary and cultural study. Taught in German.
176 German Cultural Studies
Magdalena Tarnawska
261 Seminar: Contemporary Literature
MySpace Theater: Performance in the Postmodern World
Brechtje Beuker
Graduate seminar. Focusing on theatrical texts and productions of the last 20 years, this course explores issues such as the deconstruction of the drama, the relationship between liveness and mediatization, the role of the audience in performative events, the status of the individual subject in a digitalized and virtual world, German identity in a time of multiculturalism and global mobility. Secondary readings from the fields of German studies, philosophy, cultural studies, and theater and performance theory.
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