Courses offered Fall 2009

Times and locations will be announced soon!!

German 101: Elementary German I; Prof. Barbara Drescher

German 201: Intermediate German I; Prof. Gundolf Graml

German 211: German Conversation; TBA

German 330:

German Film: “Entertaining the Nazis: German Cinema from 1933 to 1945.”; Prof. Gundolf Graml

The Nazi-regime is often described as the first modern media empire of the 20th century. The regime’s almost total economic and political control of print media, radio, and cinema leave little room to interpret this media landscape as anything other than a gigantic propaganda machine. Thus, the term “Nazi-Cinema” evokes titles such as the notorious “Triumph of the Will” (by Leni Riefenstahl) and the insidious “Jew Süss” (by Veit Harlan), films that are indeed indicative of the Nazis’ murderous racism. But what about the rest of the approximately 1,200 feature-length films produced during the Nazi-era? How are we to understand and read these films? What does the term “Nazi-Cinema” actually reveal? What is the role and function of film in a totalitarian regime? What kind of contextual reading and analysis is necessary to understand film production and reception during this historical period?

First Year Seminar:

Monsters, Robots, Vampires, and Clones: Images of the Non-Human from the 19th to the 21st Century.; Prof. Gundolf Graml

Undead, non-human, or artificial bodies confront us on an almost daily basis via contemporary TV and film. Vampires threaten to extinguish entire villages, robots run amok and turn against their human engineers, and clones infiltrate and destroy communities. While the more exaggerated versions of these stories remain confined to the realm of entertainment media, similar topics appear in more subtle ways in mainstream media, where issues like cloning and reproductive medicine are routinely connected to images of monstrosity and a declining humanity.

In this seminar we will read and discuss cultural texts that trace the fears and discourses surrounding non-human figures from 19-century stories and legends to 20th- and 21st-century novels and films. By analyzing and comparing texts from different genres and historical periods, as well as from different national and ethnic communities, we will try to understand how images of the non-human at times expressed fears about the unknown and, at other times, legitimized verbal and physical discrimination and violence against various “outsiders”: women, immigrants, racial others, mentally and physically impaired, AIDS patients, etc.

Literary works will include E.T.A. Hoffmann’s novella The Sandman, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis. We will watch  and interpret films such as Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, Paul Wegener’s The Golem, F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu, and Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner.

The Major in German Studies

Requirements for the German Studies Major:

Required courses:

200, 210, 222, 324, and 480, and three additional 300-level courses. German 211 does not count towards the major.

Majors must take a minimum of eight courses beyond German 202. German 211 does not count towards the major. Entering students who are placed in an advanced level of German may be given permission to complete the major with fewer than eight courses. Permission is given by the program director and the assistant dean of the college.

Students in the German Studies Major are strongly encouraged to study abroad for at least one semester.

The Minor in German Studies

Requirements for the German Studies Minor:

210, 324, and three additional courses beyond German 202. German 211 does not count towards the minor.

Students in the German Studies Minor are strongly encouraged to study abroad for at least one semester.