Course Descriptions

Language Courses

Please note that all sections of German 1 through German 4 will still meet five hours per week.   However, at each level we are introducing sections that will meet three days per week, rather than five days per week.

German 1

• (5) Elementary German I. Euba in charge.
• Fall/Spring. Five units; classes meet three or five times a week. All four foreign language skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) are addressed to help students acquire communicative competence in the German language while being sensitized to the links between language and culture. German 1 is for students with no prior knowledge of German.

German 2

• (5) Elementary German II. Euba in charge.
• Fall/Spring. Five units; classes meet three or five times a week. Prerequisite: G1 or equivalent.   In German 2, students will continue to develop communicative competence in the German language and expand their sensitivity towards the relationship between language and culture.   While all language skills will be addressed, additional emphasis will be on the various styles of written and spoken German. Prerequisite: G1 or equivalent.

German 1G/2G

• (0) Reading German for Graduates (S/U) . TBA
• Fall/Spring. Taken on S/U basis. Prepares graduate students from other disciplines to take their German reading exam. One year of German should be taken before 1G; 1G or consent of instructor for 2G. Students who will take 2G should enroll in it at the beginning of the semester; 2G will begin approximately the eighth week of instruction. All students interested in the G courses should attend the first meeting of the semester.

German 3

• (5) Intermediate German I. Topics in German Language and Cultural History. Euba in charge.
• Fall/Spring. Five units; classes meet three or five times a week. While continuing to expand students’ communicative competence in German, this content-driven course will provide insights into postwar German history and cultural trends. Primary focus will be on the development of literacy skills (critical reading and writing), vocabulary expansion, and a thorough review of structural concepts. You will be guided towards expressing yourself on more abstract topics, such as language and power in society, multiculturalism, rebellion and protest, and social justice and towards drawing connections between texts and contexts, using a variety of text genres (journalistic, historical, short story, poetry, drama, advertising, film).

German 4

• (5) Intermediate German II. Topics in German Language and Culture. Euba in charge.
• Fall/Spring. Five units; classes meet three or five times a week. In this fourth-semester German language course you will work on strengthening your interpretative abilities as well as your written and oral forms of expression.   While continuing the development of communicative competence and literacy skills, students will discuss a variety of texts and films and try to find innovative ways in which to engage with familiar presuppositions about who we are, about what determines our values and actions and about the function and power of language.

 Reading and Composition 5A

(4) Reading and Composition. (Readings and discussions in English.)

Fulfills the second half of the university’s Reading & Composition Requirement (equivalent to English 1B, Comp. Lit. 1 B, etc.).

Section 1: Staff

Section 2: Staff

Section 3: Staff

Section 4: Staff

Section 5: Staff

 

 Courses Taught in German

100. (3) Introduction to Reading Culture - Dewulf
This course is intended to acquaint students with selected works from German cultural history and to familiarize them with various methods of interpretation and analysis. Required for all German majors. Fulfills the L&S requirement in Arts and Literature or International Studies. Taught in German. Students with native fluency in German are not eligible to enroll.

101. (3) Advanced German Conversation, Composition and Style - Euba
Focusing on five central themes, this advanced-level language course will help students improve and expand on spoken and written language functions utilizing a variety of works from different genres in journalism, broadcasting, literature, fine arts, and cinema. The final goal is to enable students to participate in the academic discourse, written and spoken to linguistic and stylistic level appropriate for advanced students of German in upper division courses. Fulfills the L&S breadth requirement in Arts and Literature or International Studies. Taught in German. Students with native fluency in German are not eligible to enroll.

102D. (3) Pop Culture/Germany - Staff
Focusing on popular culture in German speaking countries, this advanced level language course will help students to improve and expand on spoken and written language functions. Fulfills the L&S breadth requirement in Arts and Literature or International Studies. Taught in German. Students with native fluency are not eligible to enroll.

103 (3) Introduction to German Linguistics-Staff
This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the major subfields of linguistics as they apply to the German language. It also serves as the gateway course for the further study of German linguistics at the undergraduate level. The first part of the course will focus on the synchronic description of contemporary German. The second part of the course will concern itself with variation in German. There are no prerequisties for this class and no prior experience with linguistics is presupposed. However, an advanced knowledge of German (at least German 4 level) is expected.

105 (3) Middle High German – Tennant
The aim of the course is to help students develop proficiency in Middle high German language to enable them to read original texts written in German before 1400. The course necessarily emphasizes grammar, though the cultural context of the literary documents and of the production of texts during the Middle Ages will be discussed as well. Reading material in German.

German 148 (3) Topics in Narrative - Kudszus
Analysis of German narrative forms. Topic varies.

 Courses Taught in English

German 24 (1) Post World War II Reflections on the Holocaust: (Auto)Biographical Perspectives- Tubach
I was a German and grew up in Hitler’s Reich. Bernat Rosner was a Hungarian Jew who was deported to Auschwitz. His entire family perished in the Holocaust, my family survived WWII. Together, we wrote a book about our radically different lives: An Uncommon Friendship: From Opposite Sides of the Holocaust (University of California Press, 2nd ed., 2010). My subsequent book: German Voices: Memories of Life During Hitler’s Third Reich (UC Press, 2011) narrates experiences and insights of Germans during the fateful twelve years of Nazism. Both books will be discussed within the context of established Holocaust literature with excerpts from works by Primo Levi, Elie Wiesel and Ruth Klüger.

German 39H (3) “Vienna”- Tennant

German 39M (3)- Feldman
“Modes of reading: Joseph, Job and Moses in literary criticism”
In this seminar we will read seminal works by Heidegger and Arendt on
topics that may include history, technology, politics, aesthetics and
language.

German C109 (4) “Language and Power”-Kramsch
Multidisciplinary explorations into the origins, nature, and exercise of language as social symbolic power, drawing on readings taken from anthropology, social and cultural theory, and critical discourse analysis. Topics include language and myth, the meaning of meaning, the economy of verbal exchanges, perspective and ideology in language, institutional discourse, gender and discourse, and linguistic imperialism. Also listed as Letters and Science C180T.

German 157C (4) Heideggar and Arendt – Feldman
This course is an introduction to the work of Martin Heidegger and Hannah Arendt. We will begin with an investigation into Heidegger’s conceptualiztions of language, time, and human dwelling. We will then move to an examination of Arendt’s political philosophy, including her focus on the public/private distinction. Taught in English.

German 160A (4) Century of Extremes - Staff
The story of Germany in the 20th century is a dramatic one, comprising two world wars, genocide, Allied occupation, a division into two states on opposing sides of the Cold War, and recently an unexpected unification. This course offers an introduction to the history and culture of contemporary Germany. It aims at a systematic account of German history in the 20th century, and it intends to provide a better understanding of today’s German culture and politics. In addition to following a chronological approach, we will frequently stop to explore issues that are crucial to providing insights into current developments.

Graduate Courses

204. (2) Compact Seminar - Staff

214.sec.001 (4) Studies in the 2oth Century -Largier

214.sec002 (4) Studies in the 20th Century- Gokturk
“Cultural Memory Reloaded”. This seminar reviews debates on cultural memory from the vantage point of media and mobility. What is the purchase of collective memory in our age of transience? How have migration and digitization reshaped practices of orientation? Focusing on interplay between aesthetics and politics, our analyses will encompass literature, film, video, virtual memory sites, and the changing functions of archives, libraries, and museums. This class will meet for occasional Film Screenings.

263C(4) Poetry and Thought- Kudszus
This seminar examines the interrelationship of poetic and philosophical discourses, with an emphasis on roles and functions of language. Questions of style and writing will interrelate different genres of poetry and thought. The seminar will explore a tradition in which poetic thought and highly reflective poetry approach and at times merge with each other.

270. (4). History of the German Language – Rauch
Study of the development of the German language from prehistoric times to the present. Current methods applied to the changing German language and its interface with literary excerpts imbue the course.

273. (4). Gothic - Rauch
Study of the language of the earliest Germanic dialect with a sizeable corpus. Reading of the 4th to 6th centuries Gothic texts with a view toward their socio-cultural setting on the Black Sea. No prerequisites.

280. (4). North Sea Germanic - Shannon

294. (2-8) Contrastive Grammars- Rauch

Pedagogy

351. (3) Seminar in Foreign Language Pedagogy: Teaching College German(I)- Euba
Focusing on the theory and practice of foreign language pedagogy, this course is designed to provide graduate students in German with knowledge and tools for their careers as teachers in the language classroom and beyond. While emphasizing critical reflection on pedagogical practices–one’s own and that of others– students will also be introduced to the field of Second Language Acquisition research and its relationship to pedagogy. This, along with the development of practices that promote continuing professional growth, should provide a basis for the ability to stay theoretically informed and to participate in the professional discourse of a rapidly developing field. Included in this course is a significant practical component, addressing the day-to-day challenges of planning for and teaching the simultaneously offered elementary German language courses.

Dutch

1. (5) Elementary Dutch - Hollander
Dutch language course for beginners. Focus of the course is on acquiring basic communicative competence in the language, i.e., developing the ability to appropriatly use the language (spoken as well as written) in authentic situations.

110. (5) Advanced Dutch - Hollander
Focus of this course is on reinforcing and expanding patterns and vocabulary acquired in 2. All the major grammar will be reviewed. Written and spoken proficiency will be improved.

171AC. (4) From Amsterdam to New York - Dewulf
SATISFIES AMERICAN CULTURES REQUIREMENT; A different look at the early colonial history of the United States from the perspective of the 17th Century Dutch colony on Manhattan. No knowledge of Dutch required.

Yiddish

101. (5) Elementary Yiddish - Ingalls
This is an introduction to Yiddish language, literature, and culture. With particular focus on the basics of Yiddish grammar, we will develop reading, writing, speaking, and comprehension skills. In so doing, we will also have an opportunity to explore simple Yiddish songs, stories, and dialogues as reflections of Yiddish culture and history.

103. (5) Elementary Yiddish - Chaver

In “The Golden Land”: 20^th-Century Yiddish Literature in the United States

European Jewish immigrants to the U.S. expanded their rich Yiddish literary tradition and embraced new experiences, including a bustling society seeking to invent itself, ethnic groups such as African-Americans, gender equality, and modernist literary trends. We will read selections from the work of such major poets as Moyshe-Leyb Halpern and Anna Margolin, and prose writers such as Joseph Opatoshu and Lamed Shapiro. Texts are in Yiddish, secondary sources and discussion are in English.  Prerequisite: Yiddish 101 and 102 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. May be taken more than once for credit.