Courses
SEMESTER I, FALL 2012
Primarily for Undergraduates
GRMN0100 Beginning German
Jane Sokolosky
A course in the language and cultures of German-speaking countries. Four
hours per week plus regular computer and listening comprehension work.
At the end of the year, students will be able to communicate
successfully about everyday topics. This is the first half of a
year-long course whose first semester grade is normally a temporary one.
Neither semester may be elected independently without special written
permission. The final grade submitted at the end of the course work in
GRMN 0200 covers the entire year and is recorded as the final grade for
both semesters. Students who have a conflict with the Tuesday hour should contact the instructor
CRN 14506 S01 MWF 11:00-11:50 & Tu 12:00-12:50
CRN 14507 S02 MWF 12:00-12:50 & Tu 12:00-12:50
CRN 14508 S03 MWF 1:00-1:50 & Tu 12:00-12:50
GRMN0300 Intermediate German
Jane Sokolosky
Focuses on deepening students' understanding of modern German culture by
reading texts and viewing films pertinent to Germany today. Intended to
provide a thorough review of German grammar and help students develop
their writing, reading, listening, and speaking skills. Frequent writing
assignments. Four hours per week. Recommended prerequisite: GRMN 0200.
Students who have a conflict with the Thursday hour should contact the instructor
CRN 14509 S01 MWF 10:00-10:50 & Th 12:00-12:50
CRN 14510 S02 MWF 1:00-1:50 & Th 12:00-12:50
GRMN0500F Twentieth Century German Culture
Katrin Dettmer
A broad exploration of twentieth-century German culture using many kinds
of written and visual texts (e.g. literature, journalism, film, art).
While continuing to work on all four language skills (speaking,
listening, reading, writing) students will gain more intensive knowledge
about German culture, society, and history. In German. Recommended
prerequisite: GRMN 0400. WRIT
CRN 14511 S01 MWF 9:00-9:50
CRN 14513 S02 MWF 2:00-2:50
GRMN0990E The Rhine River: An Aesthetic, Environmental, and Political History
Kevin Goldberg
From Hölderlin to Hugo, cannonballs to canalization, this course
examines representations of Europe's most important waterway in the
modern period. Although it has long been seen as a "natural" border
between France and Germany, the Rhine River has been anything but
undisputed. Both the French and German nationalist movements claimed the
river as their own, spawning a bi-lingual catalogue of songs, poems,
and historical legends. We will approach the Rhine from an
interdisciplinary perspective, with readings from economists,
environmentalists, historians, and cultural studies scholars. We will be
aided by a vast array of primary source material. Taught in English.
CRN 15568 S01 MWF 12:00-12:50
GRMN1200A Critical Revolutions: Marx, Nietzsche, Freud
Gerhard Richter
This course introduces some of the fundamental insights of Karl Marx,
Friedrich Nietzsche, and Sigmund Freud, three major thinkers and writers
whose unsettling ideas revolutionized the way we understand ourselves
and the modern world. We will examine such timely topics as capitalism
and the ideology of the "market"; forms of religious fundamentalism and
claims of truth; and the notion that, as a human being, I am
fundamentally at odds with myself in elusive ways that nevertheless make
me who I am. Intended for intellectually curious students from a wide
variety of fields. Taught in English; knowledge of German not required.
CRN 15581 S01 TuTh 10:30-11:50
GRMN1440F Lyric Poetry From the Middle Ages to the Present
Thomas Kniesche
Broad exploration of German poetry, including intersections between
poetry/music/art: spiritual/worldly (medieval troubadours, Baroque);
classical Greece/modern Germany (Goethe, Schiller, romantics, art
songs), poetry/politics (Heine, Brecht), expressions/symbols (Rilke,
expressionism), poetry after Auschwitz (Celan, Bachmann), contemporary
reflections on history (V. Braun), poetry between cultures
(Turkish-German poets, hip-hop). Intensive reading, discussions and
vocabulary building. In German. Recommended prerequisite: one course in
the GRMN 0600 series. In German. Pre-requisite 0600 or permission
CRN 15944 S01 MWF 11:00-11:50
SWED0300 Intermediate Swedish I
Ann Weinstein
CRN 16047 S01 TuTh 4:00-5:20
Primarily for Graduate Students
GRMN2340C German Modernism
Thomas Kniesche
This seminar will explore German literary modernism from around 1880 to
the 1930s. Schools and authors to be studied will include Naturalism
(Hauptmann, Holz, Schlaf), Neo-Romanticism and Symbolism (Hofmannsthal,
Rilke, George), Expressionism (Toller, Benn, Kaiser, Brecht), and New
Objectivity (Kästner, Döblin, Fallada). In German. Required proficiency:
GRMN 0600.
CRN 14743 S01 W 3:00-5:20
GRMN2660L Hoelderlin, in Theory
Zachary Sng
We will spend the semester reading of the enigmatic writings of
Friedrich Hoelderlin, with particular focus on the pivotal role that he
has come to play in major philological and philosophical projects of our
time. Critical readings include texts by Heidegger, Adorno, Benjamin,
de Man, and Lacoue-Labarthe. Reading knowledge of German helpful but
not required.
Enrollment limited to 20.
CRN 15580 S01 M 3:00-5:20
GRMNXLIST-0 Courses of Interest to Students Concentrating in German Studies
MUSC 1640G The Case for Wagner
Michael Steinberg
This seminar will explore Wagner, Wagnerism and revolutionary aesthetics
and politics in the 19th century. Close textual, musical, and
production analysis of three Wagner music-dramas -Lohengrin, Die
Walküre, and Parsifal- will accompany reading and discussion of
philosophical and critical texts from Nietzsche to Zizek. Enrollment
limited to 20. Instructor permission required.
CRN 15072 S01 W 3:00-5:20
Courses offered in other departments (all in English)
COLT1210 Introduction to the Theory Of Literature (Sng)
ENGL1900E Aesthetics and Politics (Bewes)
HIST1030 The Long Fall of the Roman Empire (Conant)
HIST1976 Charlemagne: Conquest, Empire, and the Making of the Middle Ages (Conant)
RELS0830 Religion, Reason, and Ethics from Kant to Nietzsche (Lewis) PHIL1840 Twentieth-Century Continental Philosophy (Larmore)
PHIL0080 Existentialism (Reginster)
PHIL1290 Kant’s Practical Philosophy (TBA)
HIST1210 European Intellectual History: Discovering the Modern (Gluck)
HIAA0420 Cathedrals and Castles (Bonde)
