Course Listings (2009-2010)
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Department of German Studies
Course Listings (2009-2010) |
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Courses in English
A study of cinematic responses to the Berlin Wall twenty years after its fall in November of 1989. Using as a frame Ruttmann’s Berlin: Symphony of a City (1927) and Schadt’s remake 75 years later, we will analyze the Wall as an influence on the culture, politics, and psyche of Berliners and non-Berliners. Films by Wilder, Wenders, Schlöndorff, von Trotta, Levy, Becker, Henckel von Donnersmarck, and Akin; texts include P. Schneider, B. Schlinck, T. Brussig, M. Maron, and J. Hermann. Conducted in English.
{L/H/A} 4 credits
Offered Fall 2009 (Monday and Wednesday 2:40-4:00 pm)
This course examines portrayals of evil in literature, theory and film, looking at the relationship between evil and the development of the modern autonomous individual; the intersection of morality, freedom and identity; and the confrontation of literary and historical evil in the twentieth century. Literary works by Goethe, Kleist, Kafka, Thomas Mann; theoretical texts from Nietzsche, Freud, Arendt; films from Murnau and others. Conducted in English.
{L/H} 4 credits
Offered Fall 2009 (Monday 7:00-9:30 pm)
An introduction to spoken and written German, and to the culture and history of German-speaking people and countries. Emphasis on grammar and practical vocabulary for use in coversational practice, written exercises, and listening and reading comprehension. By the end of the year, students will be able to read short literary and journalistic texts as a basis for classroom discussion and short essays. Students who successfully complete this year-long course and take GER 200 and GER 220 will be eligible for the Junior Year Abroad Program in Hamburg. Full-year course; two sections (Section 1: Mon./Wed./Fri. 9:00-10:20 am; Section 2: Mon./Wed./Fri. 11:00-12:10 am); offered each year
{F} 10 credits for the year
Joel Westerdale (Section 1)
Anca Holden (Section 2)
A review of basic grammatical concepts and the study of new ones, with emphasis on vocabulary building. An exploration of contemporary German culture through literary and journalistic texts, with regular practice in written and oral expression. Prerequisite: 110y, permission of the instructor, or by placement. Judith Keyler-Mayer (Section 1 and Section 2) Two sections offered in Fall 2009 (Section 1: Mon./Wed./Fri. 9:00-10:20 am; Section 2: Mon./Wed./Fri. 11:00 am-12:10 pm); offered each year
{F} 4 credits
Introduction and practice of more advanced elements of grammar, with an emphasis on expanding vocabulary. Discussion of topics in modern German culture; development of reading skills using unedited literary and journalistic texts; weekly writing assignments. Prerequisite: 200, permission of the instructor, or by placement. Offered Spring 2010 (Time: Mon./Wed./Fri. 11:00 am-12:10 pm)
{F} 4 credits
This course probes the discourse on war and peace in German culture from the 17th century to the present. We will look at examples from literature, film, art, music, and popular culture: Gryphius, Heine, Remarque, Brecht, Böll, and others. Conducted in German. Highly recommended for students wishing to participate in the Junior Year Abroad in Hamburg. Prerequisite: GER 250, or with permission of the instructor, or by placement
{F} 4 credits
Judith Keyler-Mayer
Offered Fall 2009 (Time: Tues. and Thurs 10:30-11:50 am)
This course invites you to journey into the world of German fairy tales, of sagas and legends. Castles and humble huts, enchanted forests and crumbling ruins are the topographies of our critical inquiry into bewitching, at times haunting tales of power struggles, family conflicts, the rise from “rags to riches,” as well as cruel acts, punishments and rewards. Although our focus will be on literary tales, chief among them the Tales Of the Brothers Grimm, we will look at other traditions of storytelling and their continuing relevance as literary and cultural products for today. Highly recommended for students wishing to participate in the Junior Year Abroad in Hamburg. Prerequisite: 250, or with permission of the instructor, or by placement.
{F} 4 credits
Gertraud Gutzmann
Offered Spring 2010 (Time: Mon. and Wed. 1:10-2:30 pm)
Would Goethe’s Werther have used e-mail? What if Dangerous Liaisons had appeared as a blog? Starting with two epistolary novels, Goethe’s The Sufferings of Young Werther (1774) and Laclos’s Dangerous Liaisons (1784), we will study the art and function of letter-writing by men and women in fiction and reality from the 18th century to the present. Additional readings from, for example, Schiller, Austen, F. Schlegel, Rahel Levin, Fontane, Freud, Kafka, Rilke, Proust, Th. Mann, H. Arendt, Derrida. Conducted in German.
{L/F} 4 credits Offered Spring 2010 (Time: Mon. and Wed. 2:40-4:00 pm)
Language as the transmission of politics and culture: a study of the German-language media (newspapers, magazines, internet, television, supplemented by a variety of films and texts to be chosen in accordance with the interests and academic disciplines of students in the class). Active and intense practice of written and oral German through weekly compositions and linguistic exercises, as well as discussions and presentations analyzing the manner in which linguistic nuances reflect cultural and political practices. Conducted in German.
{L/F} 4 credits Offered Fall 2009 (Time: Tues. and Thurs. 10:30-11:50 am)
Goethe (1749-1832) did it all. He was a political advisor as well as a poet, a director of mines as well as of theater, a scientist as well as a painter. What is more, everything that Goethe did and wrote about during his long lifetime continues to shape German Studies as we now understand it. Using Goethe’s literary, scientific, and theoretical writings as a touchstone, we will trace the historical context and current state of the field.
{L/F} 4 credits
Offered Spring 2010 (Time: Thurs. 7:00-9:00 pm)
An introduction to Yiddish language in its cultural context. Fundamentals of grammar and vocabulary designed to facilitate reading and independent work with Yiddish texts. The course is divided into three parts: intensive language study every morning; a colloquium on aspects of Yiddish cultural history every other day; and an afternoon service internship with the collection of the National Yiddish Book Center, the largest depository of Yiddish books in the world. Admission by permission of the instructor; contact Justin Cammy prior to the November registration period. Smith enrollment limited to 9. Taught on site at the National Yiddish Book Center. Offered jointly with Hampshire College and the National Yiddish Book Center.
{H} 4 credits
Offered Interterm 2010 (Time TBA)
The upheavals of World War I and the Russian Revolution drew Eastern European Jewish intellectuals to Berlin, leading to its emergence as a multilingual center of European Jewish modernism and avant-garde experimentation. This course explores the influence of movements such as Expressionism, Dada, and the Neue Sachlichkeit on Jewish modernist development, with a focus on how exile, cosmopolitanism, revolution, folklore, and nationalism spawned creative innovation. Readings (with some film, visual art, and theory) from Benjamin, Döblin, Kafka, and Lasker-Schüler in dialogue with Hebrew and Yiddish writers such as S.Y. Agnon, “Der Nister” (the Hidden One) and Dovid Bergelson, all in translation. Enrollment limited to 19.
{L} 4 credits
Offered Fall 2009 (Wed. 7:00 - 9:30 pm)
GER 400: Special Studies
Arranged in consultation with the department. 4 credits
GER 260: Orientation Program in Hamburg
The Orientation Program has three main goals: 1) to ensure daily practice in spoken and written German needed for study at the University of Hamburg; 2) to offer a comprehensive introduction to current affairs in Germany (political parties, newspapers and magazines, economic concerns); 3) to provide opportunity for extensive exposure to the cultural and social life of Hamburg and its environs. Students are also introduced to German terminology and methodology in their respective majors and to a characteristic German form of academic oral presentation, the Referat. The Orientation Program culminates in the presentation of an oral report on a topic in each student's academic area of concentration. {F} 2 credits Manfred Bonus, Andreas Stuhlmann and staff
Offered Fall 2009 for five weeks on the Junior Year in Hamburg Program and in March 2010 for the One Semester Program in Hamburg
GER 270: German History and Culture from 1871 to 1945
This course covers the Wilhelminian Empire, the Weimar Republic, and the Third Reich. For the Weimar Republic, the focus will be on the political, economic, social, and cultural issues the republic was facing. For the Third Reich, we will focus on the establishment of dictatorship; the persecution of Jews; everyday life in Hitler Germany; World War II; resistance and opposition; the end of the Third Reich. Limited to students enrolled in the JYA Program. {H/F} 4 credits Rainer Nicolaysen Offered Fall 2009 on the Junior Year in Hamburg Program GER 280: Theater in Hamburg: Topics and Trends in Contemporary German Theater This course offers an introduction to the German theater system, its historical and social role, its economics and administration. We will study the semiotics of theater and learn the technical vocabulary to describe and judge a performance. Plays will be by German authors from different periods. The JYA Program will cover the cost of the tickets. Attendance at four or five performances is required. Limited to students enrolled in the JYA Program. {L/A/F} 4 credits Jutta Gutzeit Offered Fall 2009 on the Junior Year in Hamburg Program GER 290: Studies in Language II The objective of this course is to improve written and oral skills by building on work done during the orientation program. Emphasis in class will be on treatment of complex grammatical structures as well as dictations, grammar and listening comprehension. Students will be taught how to present a term paper (Hausarbeit) in the German fashion. In addition, there will be an optional weekly phonetics tutorial. {F} 4 credits Jutta Gutzeit Offered Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 on the Junior Year in Hamburg Program GER 310: Studies in Language III The objective of this course is to improve written and oral skills by building on work done during the Orientation Program or the winter semester. Emphasis in class will be on treatment of complex grammatical structures as well as dictations, grammar and listening comprehension. Students taking the course in the winter semester will be taught how to present a term paper (Hausarbeit) in the German fashion. In addition, there will be an optional weekly phonetics tutorial. Preparation for the qualifying exam "Deutsch als Fremdsprache" at the University of Hamburg. Prerequisite: GER 290 or by placement. {F} 4 credits Jutta Gutzeit GER 320: Germany 1945-1990: Politics, Society and Culture in the Two German States This course, which provides a continuation of GER 270 will cover the post-war period of occupation, the founding of two German states, German-German relations during the Cold War, and the re-unification of Germany. Historical analysis; reading of selected literary works; screening of films. Prerequisite: GER 270 or permission of the instructor. Limited to students enrolled in the JYA Program. {L/H/F} 4 credits Rainer Nicolaysen Advisers (2009-2010): Basis: GER 200 Students must take at least one course representing each of the following periods: before 1832; 1832-1933 and 1933-present For any of the three periods a ten-page paper on a specifically German topic may serve as fulfillment of the requirement provided that: Courses outside the Department of German Studies may count toward the major with prior approval of the Department Chair.
Offered Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 on the Junior Year in Hamburg Program
Offered Spring 2010 on the Junior Year in Hamburg Program
Adviser for Study Abroad: Jocelyne Kolb
Requirements: Ten courses (or 40 credits) beyond the basis.
Required Courses (6):
Elective Courses (4) from the following:
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Advisers (2009-2010): Basis: GER 200 Requirements: Six (6) courses (or 24 credits) beyond the basis. Required Courses (3): Electives: Three additional courses from those listed under the major.
Director:Jocelyne Kolb
GER 430d: Thesis
8 credits Full-year course; offered each year Please consult the director of honors or the departmental website for specific requirements and application procedures. Home | Courses | Directory | Events | Facilities | Faculty | JYA - Hamburg | Major | Minor Send mail to jmcveigh@smith.edu
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Last modified: August 5, 2009