German Studies Courses
101. Elementary German I.
Fall (4) Corequisite: GER 101D.
Training in grammar, pronunciation, listening, speaking, reading and
writing skills. Three hours in the Master Class, two hours in the drill
class and two sessions in the language laboratory.
102. Elementary German II.
Spring (4) Corequisite: GER 102D.
Training in grammar, pronunciation, listening, speaking, reading and
writing skills. Three hours in the Master Class, two hours in the drill
class and two sessions in the language laboratory.
150. Freshman Seminar Topics.
Fall and Spring (3,3)
An exploration of a specific topic in literary or cultural studies.
Readings, class discussions and writing assignments are in English.
Normally open only to first-year students. 150 does not meet the
freshman writing requirement.
150W. Freshman Seminar Topics.
Fall and Spring (4,4)
An exploration of a specific topic in literary or cultural studies.
Readings, class discussions and writing assignments are in English.
Normally open only to first-year students. 150W meets the freshman
writing requirement.
201. Intermediate German I.
Fall (4) Prerequisite: GER 102 or equivalent. Corequisite: GER 201D.
Training in grammar, pronunciation, listening, speaking, reading and
writing skills. Three hours in the Master Class, one hour in the drill
class, and an hour of advanced conversation or the German film of the
week.
202. Intermediate German II.
Spring (4) Prerequisite: GER 201 or equivalent.
Readings of German cultural and literary texts. Training in
pronunciation, speaking, listening comprehension, reading and writing.
Three hours in the Master Class and one hour of advanced conversation
with the German House tutor or the German film of the week.
203. Preparation for Study Abroad.
Spring 2011 (1) Leventhal
Includes practical training in everyday life skills, cultural sensitivity, living with host families and logistics. Required of all participants in the William & Mary Summer Study Abroad Program in Potsdam.
205. Reading German Children's Literature: Intensive Reading and Grammar Review
Fall (3) Taylor. Prerequisite: GER 202 or equivalent.
An intensive reading and grammar course focusing on canonical
children's books including texts by the Grimms, Kaestner, Ende and
others. Students will read several children's books, write short essays
and give oral presentations.
206. Upper-lntermediate Conversation.
Fall (3) Prerequisite: GER 202 or equivalent.
A course beyond the College's foreign language requirement proficiency
level stressing the cultural and linguistic notions of oral discourse
in developing communicative ability in the language. Practice in
simulated foreign cultural contexts through discussion and student
presentations on themes in contemporary German life.
207. Introduction to German Cultural Studies
(GER 4a and 5) Spring 2011 (3). Campbell. Prerequisite: GER 202 or equivalent.
Introduction to the methodologies of German Studies. This course will
examine the construction of culture and the ways it is studied. It
serves as an introduction to the concentration track in German Studies
and as a prerequisite for 300-level courses.
210. Topics in German (Taught in German).
Fall or Spring (3) Prerequisite: GER 205 or 206 or permission of instructor. Course may be repeated for credit when topics differ.
212. Business German.
Fall or Spring (3) Prerequisite: GER 205 or 206 equivalent or permission of instructor.
This course provides students with advanced German language skills and
the intercultural knowledge necessary to understand the world of
commerce from the German perspective. Taught in German.
220. Survey of German Cinema (Taught in English)
(GER 4A and GER 5) Spring (3) Taylor.
A chronological overview of the history of German cinema. Screenings outside of class. Lecture and discussion.
221. German Fairy Tales and National Identity (Taught in English)
(GER 4A and GER 5) Spring (3) Taylor.
An examination of the role of German fairy tales in the development of
national identity in 19th Century Germany. Lecture and discussion.
287.Topics in German (Taught in English)
Fall or Spring (3) Staff.
Course may be repeated for credit when topics differ.
306. Advanced German Conversation and Grammar Review
Spring 2011 (3) Staff.
Advanced conversation and grammar review in German. Course stresses oral discourse on themes relating to the contemporary German-speaking world. Includes review of selected problems in grammar and syntax.
307. The German Speaking Peoples and Their Civilization.
Fall (3) Campbell. Prerequisite: GER 206, 207 or 208.
This course presents the most important elements of Germanic
civilization and is designed as an introductory step to other 300-level
courses. It includes illustrated lectures, readings, and films.
310. Advanced German Grammar and Stylistics
Fall, 2011 (3) Leventhal. Prerequisite: GER 205 or 206 or 207 or permission of the instructor
An advanced language course for students who wish to deepen and
further their competency in German. Difficult aspects of German syntax,
semantics, and pragmatics will be covered. Advanced stylistics, levels
of discourse, and methods of formulation will be practiced through
close analysis of texts and content-based essay writing.
312. Modern German Critical Thought I: 1670-1830 (Taught in English)
Fall, 2010 (GER 7) (3-4) Leventhal. Cross-listed with LCST 351 and PHIL 306.
How did important 17th, 18th, and 19th century thinkers such as
Spinoza, Mendelssohn, Lessing, Herder, Kant, Fichte, and Hegel
construct the individual as a political and moral subject? We will
follow four threads through each of these texts: the nature of the self
or subject; morality, aesthetic value, freedom, and responsibility; the
relationship between the individual, society, and the state; and the
nature and function of historical understanding. This class examines
important German philosophical texts, and texts which strongly
influenced the German tradition 1670-1850, in order to address such
questions and distinctions as the public vs. the private, the validity
of moral and aesthetic judgement, the claims of interpretation, and the
nature of political power. Students with advanced German may take this course for 4 credits by
attending one extra hour of discussion in German per week.
313. Modern German Critical Thought II: 1830 to the Present(Taught in English)
Spring 2011 (GER 7) (3-4) Leventhal . Cross-listed with LCST 351 and PHIL 306.
How did important 19th and 20th century thinkers writing in German such
as Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Husserl, Weber, Heidegger, Arendt,
Adorno, and Habermas understand the construction of the self and how is
the self a moral and political subject? We will follow four threads
through each of these texts: 1) the nature of the self or subject; 2)
morality, value, freedom, and responsibility; 3) the relationship
between the individual, society, and the state; and 4) the nature and
function of historical understanding. This class examines important
German philosophical texts and currents in order to address such
questions and distinctions as the validity of moral and aesthetic
judgement, the claims of interpretation, the nature of political power
and the individual's relation to political power. (German speakers may take this
course for 4 credits by attending one extra hour of discussion in
German per week).
320. Great Moments in German Literature
Fall, 2010 (3) Leventhal. Prerequisite: GER 205 or 206 or permission of instructor
Advanced training in grammar and composition through critical reading
of selected prose fiction, drama, poetry and short essays in German.
Fall 2006: Texts by Lessing, Goethe, Novalis, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Kleist, Buechner, Heine,
Droste-Huelshoff, Hauptmann, Brecht, Kafka and Oezdamar.
333. Imagining Heimat: German Conceptions of Home
Spring 2011 (3) Campbell. Prerequisite: GER 205 or 206 or permission of instructor
In this course we will read selected texts about or from the provinces
of the German speaking world. Each instructor will organize the course
around a question or topic relevant to provincial life in German
speaking countries.
334. The German City
Fall, Spring (3) Prerequisite: GER 205 or 206 or permission of instructor. Depending upon the instructor, either Berlin, Munich or Vienna will be used as a case study to explore the conflicts, tensions, crisis and dilemmas that emerged as a result of rapid urbanization in the spheres of literature, film, art, culture and politics.
335. Germans in Exile
Fall or Spring (3) Prerequisite: GER 205 or 206 or permission of instructor
In this course we will read selected texts about or from German
artists, politicians and thinkers who lived and worked in exile. Each
instructor will organize the course around certain groups of exiles
and/or specific questions raised by exile.
387. Topics in German Studies (Taught in English)
Spring 2011 (3) Leventhal. Cross-Listed with LCST 401. Topic for Spring 2011: Kafka: Texts, Contexts, Effects
390. Topics in German Studies (Taught in German)
(AS) Fall or Spring (3)
Topic will be indicated in the schedule of classes. May be repeated for credit if topic differs.
408. Senior Seminar in German Studies.Spring 2011: Kafka
Spring 2011 (3) Leventhal. Prerequisite: German 207 and 307.
Provides a capstone experience for the German Studies concentration.
Organized around topics which will change each semester, this course
requires students to apply the tools of German Studies to an
independent research project. Topic for Spring 2011: Kafka. German majors will attend GRMN 387 LCST 401 the first half of the semester, meeting with the instructor an additional one hour a week to discuss the texts and their projects in German. During the second half of the semester, majors will meet with instructor once per week to present and discuss their most recent research and writing. A substantial research Seminararbeit and in-class presentation are the requirements for the course.
410. Special Topics in German Literature.
Fall or Spring (3) Prerequisite: One 300-level course in German literature or culture.
An in-depth study of a limited topic in German literature or in the
relationship between literature and other disciplines. Course may be
repeated for credit when topics differ.
411. Independent Study.
Fall or Spring (var.) Prerequisite or corequisite: two other 400-level German courses
This course is designed to permit an in-depth study in an area of
literature not available in current course offerings. A written
petition to the instructor and approval of the Coordinator for German
are required before registration. Course may be repeated for credit if
topic varies.
412. German Studies Teaching
Practicum.
Fall and Spring, 1 credit, MDLL faculty, Instructor Permission
Required
A mentored teaching internship experience for students to work closely with
a faculty member in teaching either a language or content course.
417. German Detective Fiction.
Spring (3) Campbell. Prerequisite: A GER 300-level class or permission of instructor
This is an advanced seminar that investigates both the theory and the
genre of detective fiction in the German-speaking world and exposes the
student to specific practices and methodologies of German Studies.
Auithors to be discussed include Duerrenmatt, Arjouni, GHercke,
Ruester, Hettche, Kienast and others.
420. The Enlightenment in Germany
Spring 2012 (3) Leventhal. Prerequisite: A GER 300-level class or permission of instructor
The German Enlightenment in social, political, cultural, and European
context. Discussion of the emergence and dissemination of Enlightenment
in Germany, the public sphere, the new media and loci of modernity.
Texts to be discussed include Thomasius, Wolff, Brockes, Lessing,
Mendelssohn, Nicolai, Kant. More recent theoretical approaches to the
Enlightenment, its signficance and reception-history, will be examined
with texts by Koselleck, Habermas, and Foucault.
421. The Turn of the Century: Vienna and Berlin
Fall or Spring (3) Prerequisite: A GER 300-level class or permission of instructor
An investigation of Berlin and Vienna at the turn of the 19th century,
with a focus on the notion of the modern. Readings of literary texts,
dramas, art movements and scientific/ philosphical movements.
422. The Weimar Republic
Fall 2010 (3) Campbell. Prerequisite: A GER 300-level class or permission of instructor
What was the Weimar Republic, and why did it ultimately fail? This
course offers a close look at Germany in the 1920's through reading the
works of writers, artists, journalists and filmmakers from the only
German republic before Nazism.
423. The GDR and the Unification of Germany
Fall or Spring (3) Prerequisite: A GER 300-level class or permission of instructor
This class investigates the former German Democratic Republic and the
unification of the two Germanies as they are represented in official
government publications as well as in literature and film. Readings
include texts by Christa Wolf, Stefan Heym and films such as 'Run, Lola
Run' and 'Good-Bye, Lenin.'
424. The Holocaust in German Literature and Film
Fall or Spring (3) Prerequisite: A GER 300-level class or permission of instructor
Philosophical, literary, and artistic responses to and representations
of the Holocaust. Authors to be discussed include Thomas Mann, Karl
Jaspers, Alexander and Margarethe Mitscherlich, Hannah Arendt, Paul
Celan, Peter Weiss, Ruth Klueger, Juergen Habermas, Theodor Adorno,
Jean Amery, Primo Levi. The Holocaust in film, the plastic and visual arts, music, monuments, memorials, and in places of remembrance. Theoretical issues raised by the Historikerstreit and by the more recent debate concerning the Air War.
495-496. Honors.
Fall and Spring (3, 3) Prerequisite or corequisite: two other 400-level German courses.
