| Emphasizes communicative skills for the purposes of interaction with German speakers and intermediate study of German. With a learner-centered approach, helps students develop reading, writing, speaking, listening, grammatical, and cultural skills and knowledge. First-year grammar is reviewed and expanded. |
| This course offers a broad-based survey of German literature from its beginnings to the present day, focusing on the ways that worldviews, and in particular, conceptualizations of beauty, love, and truth, have changed from medieval times to the present, as well as how these have both affected and been affected by works of literature. The goal is for the students to gain an understanding of the different epochs of German literature and the ways these relate to historical and social events in each epoch, both in a German and a broader European context. In the process, class participants read and explore some of the most important works in a range of genres, including prose fiction, poetry, and dramatic works. These include works—or excerpts from them—by Grimmelshausen, Lessing, Goethe, Schiller, Hoffmann, Tieck, Droste-Hülshoff, Kleist, Heine, Stifter, Mann, Kafka, Lasker-Schüler, Hesse, Brecht, Grass, Bachmann, and several contemporary authors such as Elfriede Jelinek, Christa Wolf, Daniel Kehlmann, Christian Kracht, Reinhard Jirgl, Feridun Zaimoglu, and Jenny Erpenbeck. For each epoch, we also will read and discuss (excerpts from) key philosophical works that influenced or reflect changing worldviews, by authors such as Martin Luther, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Marx, Heidegger, Arendt, and Adorno. Throughout our exploration of German literature, the students also learn about the women and men who authored these works and the times in which they lived. Additionally, class participants develop and hone their oral and written skills in German, including terminology and norms for discussing and analyzing literary works. The course is conducted entirely in German. |
