Courses Offered
1. Introductory German
07F: 9, 10 08W, 08S: 9 08F: 9, 10 09W, 09S: 9
Introduction to written and spoken German. Intensive study of basic grammar and vocabulary through readings, drills, composition exercises, conversation, and practice in the lab oratory. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirement. The staff.
2. Introductory German
07F: 10 08W: 9, 10 08S, 08F: 10 09W: 9, 10 09S: 10
Continuation of German 1. Continued intensive work on the fundamentals of oral and written German in classroom and laboratory. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirement. The staff.
3. Intermediate German
07F: 11 08W: D.L.S.A. 08S: 11, D.L.S.A. 08X: D.L.S.A.
08F: 11 09S: 11, D.L.S.A.
Designed primarily to develop reading and speaking skills; emphasis on expansion of vocabulary and reinforcement of grammatical structures. Reading and discussion of texts of literary and cultural interest. Oral and written assignments. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirement. The staff.
5. Aspects of Contemporary German Culture
08W, 08S, 08X, 09S: D.L.S.A.
Using the city of Berlin itself as a site and object of study, students will explore contemporary German culture in its widest sense. Visits to religious, architectural, scientific, and industrial sites will acquaint them with multiple aspects of life in Berlin today.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Language Study Abroad Program. WCult: W.
6. Readings in German Literature
08W, 08S, 08X, 09S: D.L.S.A.
This course introduces students to the interpretation of stories, poems, and articles from various periods of German history. Depending on availability, we will also read a play and view its performance in one of the many theaters in Berlin.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Language Study Abroad Program. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
7. First-Year Seminars in German Literature
Consult special listings
8. Advanced Language Skills
08X: 9
Designed to develop facility in oral expression and writing; emphasis on vocabulary expansion and reinforcement of grammatical structures. The course will draw much of its material from the web, as well as from television films and more traditional print media. These works will serve as a basis for discussion and frequent writing assignments about contemporary linguistic, cultural, social, and political issues. Not open to returning FSP participants. WCult: W. Duncan.
9. Introduction to German Studies: From the Reformation to Reunification
08S, 09S: 11
This introduction to German cultural history examines social and historical developments as they are reflected in literature, art, music, and philosophy from the age of Martin Luther to the unification of Germany in 1990. Emphasis is placed on Germans’ growing awareness of nationhood and on analysis of aesthetic and intellectual accomplishments representative of major periods in their history. May be elected as a prerequisite for the Foreign Study Program. Conducted in German.
Dist: SOC; WCult: W. Shookman.
10. German Culture and Society before 1900
08W, 09W: 11
Before Germany became a nation state in 1871, language and culture defined its identity. Courses under this rubric will explore various ways in which writers, philosophers, politicians, and artists created and criticized different aspects of this identity. Figures treated will range from Goethe to Freud and from Beethoven to Nietzsche.
In 08W, Genius in the Age of Goethe. Conducted in German. What do we mean when we call Goethe, Schiller, and Beethoven geniuses? This course will engage with the works of these and other great figures from the Age of Goethe (1749-1832) while examining the concept of genius – itself an eighteenth-century construction. Students will not only explore major cultural and intellectual developments of the period, but also improve their skills in German through a variety of written and oral projects. Conducted in German.
Prerequisite: German 3, or equivalent. Open to all classes. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Schnader.
In 09W, Germany and the East. While the Orient had already intrigued the earliest German authors known to us, during the Enlightenment fascination with these exotic lands, traveled and imagined, finds its counterpart in Germany’s growing investment in Eastern Europe. Reading the works of Gellert, Lessing, Goethe, Herder, and Stifter, among others, we will explore eighteenth- and nineteenth-century facets of this cultural parallelism and consider their political ramifications. Conducted in German.
Prerequisite: German 3, or equivalent. Open to all classes. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Komska.
11. German Culture and Society in the Twentieth Century
07F: 11 08F: 2
In the course of the twentieth century, Germany has undergone changes with global implications. Courses under this rubric will explore important moments in the cultural history of German-speaking countries in the twentieth century, from the Weimar Republic to the Holocaust, and from the Cold War to the fall of the Berlin Wall and beyond.
In 07F, Twentieth Century Generations. While class and gender have long organized Western perceptions of society, recently generation has circulated as a category, including conflict between parents and children as well as political and aesthetic dimensions. Writers such as Mann, Kafka, Mannheim, Jünger, Plessner, Borchert, Andersch, Enzensberger, Böll, Grass, and Senocak frame recent German generations in the context of war and social upheaval. We will consider generational ruptures and continuities in films such as Abschied von gestern and Die Blechtrommel. Conducted in German.
Prerequisite: German 3, or equivalent. Open to all classes. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Komska.
In 08F, Literary Modernism. The course will consider the phenomenon of Modernism as it evolved in the German-speaking countries during the 20th century. We will examine prose works by Hauptmann, Hofmannsthal, Kafka, and Christa Wolf; plays by Brecht, Dürrenmatt, and Frisch; and poetry by a variety of writers, including Rilke, George, Trakl, Ball, Celan, and Bachmann. The readings, discussions, essays, oral reports, and final exam help to further students’ ability to hear, read, speak, and write German. Depending on the needs of the enrolled students, there will be some review of grammar, as well.
Prerequisite: German 3, or equivalent. Conducted in German. Open to all classes. Duncan.
13. Beyond Good and Evil
08S, 09S: 10
Borrowing its title from Nietzsche, this course examines some of the most famous and infamous figures—mythological, fictional and historical—that have profoundly shaped German identity. As we explore the actual lives, works, and influence of the likes of Luther, Faust, and Leni Riefenstahl, you will not only develop a greater understanding of Wagner’s question “What is German?” but also learn how the answer to that question has come to epitomize notions of good and evil in general. Conducted in English.
Open to all classes. WCult: CI. Gemünden.
29. Advanced Language Training
07F, 08F: D.F.S.P.
Intensive work in spoken and written German. Systematic grammar review and vocabulary building, with special emphasis on idiomatic expression. Weekly written assignments and oral reports on Berlin-related topics. Does not carry major credit.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program. WCult: W.
30. Studies in German History
07F, 08F: D.F.S.P.
More than any other German city, Berlin encapsulates Germany’s complex recent past. From the Brandenburg Gate to the Olympic Stadium and from the Wannsee to Alexanderplatz, every corner of the capital evokes memories of Nazi rule, World War II, Cold War divisions, or Unification. This course addresses significant aspects of postwar German history and cultural memory. In-depth studies of important developments will be complemented by visits to museums and historical sites.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program. WCult: W.
31. Studies in German Theater
07F, 08F: D.F.S.P.
Berlin is one of the culturally most vibrant cities in Europe. There are over a hundred theaters and several opera houses with performances that range from classical drama to vaudeville and from musicals to serious opera. For the FSP literature course, students will view stage productions and read, discuss, and write weekly essays about the plays. The repertory varies from year to year.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
42. Topics in German Civilization (in English translation)
09S: 10A
In 09S, Freud: Psychoanalysis, Jews, and Gender (Identical to, and described under, Jewish Studies 51; also Women’s and Gender Studies 67.1). Conducted in English. Dist. SOC; WCult: CI. Fuechtner.
43. History and Theory of German Film (in English translation)
Not offered in the period from 07F through 09S
44. The Faust Tradition (in English translation)
07F: 10A
An investigation of the many tellings of Faust’s famous story of selling his soul, from its first literary treatment (The Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Dr. John Faust) to classic drama (Marlowe’s The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus and Goethe’s Faust) to the twentieth-century novel (Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita and Mann’s Doctor Faustus) to visual art, music, and film.
German majors can take this course for major credit if they do additional work in German and participate in a German discussion section.
Open to all classes. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Shookman.
45. The Burden of the Nazi Past: World War, Genocide, Population Transfer, and Firebombing (in English translation) (Identical to Jewish Studies 37.2 and Comparative Literature 64)
08W: 9L
This course studies the main events of World War Two and the different stages of processing that past post-1945. In an interdisciplinary and comparative fashion we take up selective controversies in order to understand the formation of postwar German identity, e.g., the Nuremberg, Frankfurt, and Eichmann trials, the Berlin Jewish Museum and Holocaust memorial, Neonazism, and the current campaign to remember German civilian casualties. Taught in English.
German majors can take this course for major credit if they do additional work in German and participate in a German discussion section.
Open to all classes. Dist: LIT; WCult: CI. Kacandes.
46. The German Novel (in English translation)
08X: 10
In 08X, The Twentieth Century Novel. Great 20th-century German novels in translation and several of their film adaptations: Rilke’s Malte Laurids Brigge, Musil’s Young Törless, some of Franz Kafka’s shorter fiction, Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain, Frisch’s Homo Faber, Grass’s Cat and Mouse, and Christa Wolf’s Search for Christa T. We will explore these works’ treatments of topics like alienation, class, gender, adolescence, disease, death, memory, and myth, as reflected in the protagonists’ quest for self-knowledge, aesthetic fulfillment, and spiritual salvation.
German majors can take this course for major credit if they do additional work in German and participate in a German discussion section.
Open to all classes. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Duncan.
47. German Drama (in English translation)
08F: 10A
Reading eight plays from the 18th century to the present, we will trace the formal, thematic, and historical developments of the German theatrical tradition. From Lessing’s Emilia Galotti, Schiller’s Maria Stuart, Goethe’s Egmont, Büchner’s Woyzek, Brecht’s Galileo, Dürenmatt’s The Physicists, Frisch’s Andorra to Hochhuth’s The Deputy we will examine continuities as well as breaks in the authors’ theoretical and societal concerns about the role and function of drama as literature and public institution. Audiovisual materials and texts are included as well.
German majors can take this course for major credit if they do additional work in German and participate in a German discussion section.
Open to all classes. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Rainer.
61. The Age of Goethe
Not offered in the period from 07F through 09S
62. Literature of the Romantic Period
Not offered in the period from 07F through 09S
64. Literature of the Modern Period
Not offered in the period from 07F through 09S
65. Prose Fiction
08W: 10A 09W: 2A
In 08W, Writing on the Wall. If the Berlin Wall is a German symbol connoting national division, separation of families, and victims of the GDR, how do its fragments become meaningful in a New York streetscape, a Buenos Aires gallery, or a restroom in Las Vegas? To interpret writings on the Wall—on its physical surface and on memory cultures—we follow its path from national symbol to international medium through study of literary texts, films, graffiti, and art. Conducted in German.
Open to all classes. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Komska.
In 09W, Topics in Twentieth Century German Cultural Studies. This seminar will introduce students to four major issues in German culture during the twentieth century: Grossstadt, Gewalt und Antisemitismus; Stunde Null; Multikulturalismus; and Die Berliner Republik. Through primary readings in German and study of visual and musical material, students will become familiar with the methods of cultural studies, with the use of different media to explore a topic, and will improve their spoken and written German. The course includes oral presentations of paper topics. Conducted in German.
Open to all classes. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Kacandes.
67. German Drama
Not offered in the period from 07F through 09S
81. Seminar
07F: 10
In 07F, Fin-de-Siècle Vienna. As the 20th century opened, Vienna was the capital of a vast, multi-lingual empire and one of Europe’s most important cultural and intellectual centers. The artists, writers, composers and thinkers who were attracted to the city revolutionized the way we view the world and ourselves. They broke with traditions and revitalized established subjects and forms. We will read works by Hofmannsthal, Schnitzler, Rilke, Kafka, and Horvath, and explore art, music, and major intellectual trends. Conducted in German.
Open to all classes. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Rainer.
82. Seminar
08S, 09S: 10A
In 08S, German Poetry in the Twentieth Century. Poems are read and analyzed which represent stylistic and formal changes from 1900 to the present. The course will focus on the history of the genre and provide practice in interpretation of poems. Poetry selections include Hofmannsthal, Rilke, Benn, Brecht, Bachmann, Celan, Enzensberger, and Grass as well as Konkrete Poesie. Conducted in German.
Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Speier.
84. Seminar
Not offered in the period from 07F through 09S
85. Independent Study
All terms: Arrange
86. Senior Independent Reading and Research
08W: 3A
A program of individual study, directed by a member of the staff, for all graduating majors. For students planning to write an Honors Thesis (German 87), this course will constitute the first term of research. A research project, signed by the adviser, must be approved by the Department by the beginning of the term and will culminate in a Senior Presentation at the end of the spring term. Conducted in German. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Kacandes.
87. Honors Thesis
08S, 09S: Arrange
See German Honors Program, above.
GERMANIA
The Germania is open to all students interested in German language, literature and culture. Members meet for informal discussions and special events.