German Studies
Chair: Irene Kacandes
Professors B. Duncan, G. Gemünden, I. Kacandes; Associate Professors V. Fuechtner, K. O. Kenkel (Emeritus), U. Rainer, E. R. Shookman; Assistant Professors Y. Komska, K. Mladek; Lecturer C. S. Schnader; Adjunct Lecturer E. Miller.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MAJOR
Prerequisite: Two of the following: German 6 or 8; 9, 10, and 11; or permission of the Chair.
Students majoring in German Studies design an individual program in consultation with a departmental adviser. The Department of German Studies offers two routes to the major:
Major A focuses on literary and non-literary texts in their historical and intellectual contexts, comprising courses offered by the Department of German Studies. With permission of the Chair, one appropriate course in another department may be substituted.
Requirements: eight courses numbered above 29 (German 42-47, which are in translation, require additional work in German); normally, participation in the Foreign Study Program in Berlin with major credit for German 30 and 31. All majors must take the upper division seminar offered in the winter term of their senior year (normally a German 60s course). At the end of their senior winter term, all majors will give a presentation based on their work done for this seminar.
Major B combines resources of the Department of German Studies with a coherent selection of those of other departments and programs, such as Art History, Comparative Literature, Film Studies, Geography, Government, History, Music, Philosophy, and Religion. In principle, any relevant course in the Dartmouth curriculum that is approved by the Department of German Studies may qualify for this major.
Requirements: normally, participation in the Foreign Study Program in Berlin with major credit for German 30 and 31; four other advanced courses in the German Studies Department (German 42-47, which are in translation, require additional work in German); four advanced courses from among those offerings in other departments or programs that deal substantially with the culture of German-speaking countries. Regular courses that meet this requirement include:
Art History 43: Northern Renaissance
Government 41: European Politics
Government 64: Modern Political Thought
History 51: Modern European Intellectual History, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
History 52: Modern Germany, 1800-1945
Music 33: Western Art Music from Early Romanticism to the Late Twentieth Century
Music 35: Beethoven in Context
Philosophy 15: Modern Philosophy: Hume and Kant
Philosophy 17: Phenomenology and Existentialism
All majors must take the upper division seminar offered in the winter term of their senior year (normally a German 60s course). At the end of their senior winter term, all majors will give a presentation based on their work done for this seminar.
Modified Major. The modified major combines German Studies with another discipline in a coherent program of study. This major is designed individually by the student with a departmental adviser. It may include study at Dartmouth’s Foreign Study center.
Major Courses: Six courses numbered above 29 (German 42-47, which are in translation, require additional work in German); four courses beyond the introductory level in another department or program of the College and approved by the Chair of the Department of German Studies. All majors must take the upper division seminar offered in the winter term of their senior year (normally a German 60s course). At the end of their senior winter term, all majors will give a presentation based on their work done for this seminar.
Senior Culminating Experience: In the winter term of their senior year, all German majors must take the upper division seminar being offered. This course will count as one of the eight courses required for Major A and one of the 10 courses required for Major B. In addition to regular seminar preparation, senior majors will meet during designated x-hours with the professor to discuss methodology and to develop a research topic. Additional work will culminate in a significant essay, the argument of which will be presented orally in German to classmates and the German Studies Department faculty at a mutually agreeable time at the end of winter term.
Minor: The Department of German Studies offers a minor with the following requirements:
Prerequisite: German 1, 2, 3, or permission of the Chair.
Minor Courses: a total of six courses including
a) two of the following: German 6, 8, 9, 10, 11;
b) Four advanced courses above German 29 (German 42-47, which are in translation, require additional work in German).
One of these advanced courses may be replaced with an appropriate advanced course in another department or program such as History, Music, Film Studies, Government, Philosophy, and Jewish Studies.
Students wishing to declare a minor must sign up for it no later than the fall term of their senior year.
THE LANGUAGE RESOURCE CENTER AND THE COMPUTER
Independent use of the computer and the virtual language laboratory augment classroom work. Both programs are designed to provide individualized exercises in the written and spoken language.
LANGUAGE STUDY IN GERMANY
Prerequisite: German 2 with a grade of B- or better, or equivalent preparation, and admission to the German Language Study Abroad Program. The programs are conducted in Berlin during the summer and spring terms. Students live with local families and take courses taught by local instructors and the Dartmouth faculty member in residence. Upon successful completion of the program, students receive credit for German 3, 5, and 6. German 3 can serve to complete the College language requirement.
DARTMOUTH FOREIGN STUDY PROGRAM IN GERMANY
Prerequisite: Acceptance into the program and a grade of B or better in any two courses above German 5, excluding German 7 (German 42-47, which are taught in English, require additional work in German). Students who have satisfactorily completed the German LSA may fulfill this prerequisite by taking one course in addition to the three taught on that program. Students who have satisfactorily completed the German LSA in the summer term need not take this additional course if they go on the FSP in the immediately following fall term. Students who receive credit for German 8 as the result of a placement test must complete one further course (German 9, 10, or 11, for example).
The Dartmouth Foreign Study Program is conducted in Berlin each fall term. Students live with local families and normally take German 29, 30, and 31. If their preparation warrants, they may replace German 29 with an independent project supervised by the program director. For more information, inquire in the Off-Campus Programs Office, 44 North College Street, or the Department of German Studies, 333 Dartmouth Hall.
GERMAN HONORS PROGRAM
Students of exceptional attainment who satisfy the minimum College requirement are encouraged to participate in the Honors Program. Prospective honors students must submit a thesis proposal for approval by the Department demonstrating adequate knowledge of the area in which they wish to write. Such knowledge would normally be acquired through participation in an advanced course (above German 11) on a related topic. Alternatively, the topic of interest might have been explored in an independent study (German 85) or in the required senior winter seminar. Prospective honors students are expected to provide sufficient written material by the end of winter term to warrant continuation of their project by enrolling in German 87 in the spring term. Students not attaining the required minimum standards for honors work may not enroll in German 87, and therefore may have to take another German course to fulfill the major requirement. (See also Senior Culminating Experience.)