Introduction to German Studies: From Tacitus to Günter Grass
GRST 299
Fall 2007
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
COL 299, GELT 299 |
The annual Seminar in German Studies serves as an introduction to the increasingly diverse and interdisciplinary field of German studies. The goal of the seminar is to help students critically examine significant themes in the culture of the German-speaking countries through a variety of media and genres (literature, music, the visual arts, philosophy, and historiography). The course will emphasize the improvement of analytic and interpretive skills and the expression of complex problems in a concise and lucid fashion. The topic for 2007 is the formation of the cultural and national identities of the German-speaking areas of Europe. Drawing on a wide range of materials, we will examine crucial periods and events in the history of these areas, including the flowering of literature in the High Middle Ages; the religious crisis of the Reformation; the chaos of the Thirty Years' War; the emergence of rationalism and the anti-rationalist backlash in the Enlightenment and romanticism; revolutionary and nationalist currents in the 19th century; the cultural ferment in Vienna, Munich, and Berlin before and after World War I; the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust; the division of postwar Germany; and reunification and its aftermath. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Intercultural Literacy, Writing
Intercultural literacy: interrogation of the connection between language and culture and of cultural distinctions within German-language regions.
Writing: frequent response papers with rewrites.
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA GRST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Tacitus, DE GERMANIA
Wolfram von Eschenbach, PARZIVAL
Martin Luther, 95 THESES
H.J.C. von Grimmelshausen, SIMPLICISSIMUS
Immanuel Kant, Selected Writings
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, EMILIA GALOTTI, Selected Essays
Goethe-Schiller Correspondence
Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Lectures
Heinrich von Kleist, PRINCE FRIEDRICH OF HOMBURG
Karl Marx, "The Communist Manifesto"
Otto von Bismarck, Selected Writings
Hugo von Hofmannsthal, "Letter of Lord Chandos"
Arthur Schnitzler, Plays
Thomas Mann, "Disorder and Early Sorrow"
Alfred Döblin, Excerpts from ALEXANDERPLATZ BERLIN
Readings on WWII and the Holocaust
Friedrich Dürrenmatt, THE VISIT
Günter Grass, MEETING AT TELGTE; PEELING THE ONION
Selected documents
MOVIES:
Volker Schlöndorff, THE TIN DRUM
Rainer Werner Fassbinder, THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN
Wolfgang Becker, GOOD-BYE LENIN
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Examinations and Assignments:
There will be brief weekly response papers, oral reports and a final research paper (8 - 10 pages). |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course is required for all German Studies majors. |
| Instructor(s): Arnold,Herbert A. Times: ..T.R.. 10:30AM-11:50AM; Location: FISK403; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 32 | | SR major: 5 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: 15 | GRAD: 0 | SR non-major: 5 | JR non-major: 4 | SO: 8 | FR: 5 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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