Germanic Languages and Literatures

Although the first volume of the Grimms’ Children Stories and Household Tales was published more than 200 years ago, their fairy tales continue to enchant readers. In this course we will not only study the Grimms’ fairy tales themselves, but also examine their origins and their social, ideological, and political contexts in 19th-century Europe. We will work with fairy tale theory (narrative, psychoanalytic, historical) and discuss the function of the tales as folklore as well as their status as children’s literature. Alongside the “original” Grimms’ tales—a concept that we will discuss—a major portion of the course will engage the legacy of the fairy tales and the way they have been appropriated by others, particularly from a critical, feminist perspective.

Points of emphasis will include: how writers in the first half of the 20th century politicized the tales in the battle for social change during the time of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany; how the tales were reinterpreted in different national traditions and historical periods; how the fairy tale become a mass culture icon in Disney’s film versions; and how contemporary writers like Margaret Atwood continue to employ tales in questioning and challenging traditional constructions of gender.

Although the first volume of the Grimms’ Children Stories and Household Tales was published more than 200 years ago, their fairy tales continue to enchant readers. In this course we will not only study the Grimms’ fairy tales themselves, but also examine their origins and their social, ideological, and political contexts in 19th-century Europe. We will work with fairy tale theory (narrative, psychoanalytic, historical) and discuss the function of the tales as folklore as well as their status as children’s literature. Alongside the “original” Grimms’ tales—a concept that we will discuss—a major portion of the course will engage the legacy of the fairy tales and the way they have been appropriated by others, particularly from a critical, feminist perspective.

Points of emphasis will include: how writers in the first half of the 20th century politicized the tales in the battle for social change during the time of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany; how the tales were reinterpreted in different national traditions and historical periods; how the fairy tale become a mass culture icon in Disney’s film versions; and how contemporary writers like Margaret Atwood continue to employ tales in questioning and challenging traditional constructions of gender.

Comparative media is an emergent approach intended to draw upon and interrupt canonical ideas in film and media theory. It adopts a comparative approach to media as machines and aesthetic practices by examining contemporary media in relation to the introduction of earlier technologies. The class also extends our focus beyond the U.S. and Europe by examining other cultural locations of media innovation and appropriation. In doing so, it decenters normative assumptions about media and media theory while introducing students to a range of media practices past and present.

Fundamentals of grammar, reading, speaking, and comprehension of the spoken language. During the spring term supplementary reading is selected according to students' needs.

Fundamentals of grammar, reading, speaking, and comprehension of the spoken language. During the spring term supplementary reading is selected according to students' needs.

Prerequisites: DTCH UN1101-UN1102 or the equivalent. Continued practice in the four skills (aural comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing); review and refinement of basic grammar; vocabulary building. Readings in Dutch literature.

This advanced course is a content-based language course, and is centered around the history of the Low Countries. Each week focuses on a specific era, such as the counts of Holland in the 13th century and the Reformation in the 16th century. Students will read texts about history and literature of the historical periods.

Students will read texts at home and discuss them in class, explore history-related websites and watch short video clips.

Attention will be paid to advanced grammar issues and vocabulary.

Fundamentals of grammar and lexicon. Building proficiency in aural comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Linguistic structures in the cultural context.

Upon completion of the course, students understand, speak, read, and write German at a level enabling them to communicate with native speakers about their background, family, daily activities, student life, work, and living quarters. Emphasis is placed on acquiring the four language skills--listening, speaking, reading and writing--within a cultural context. Daily assignments and consistent work are necessary in order to achieve basic communicative proficiency. Daily assignments and consistent work are the basis for achieving basic communicative proficiency.

Upon completion of the course, students understand, speak, read, and write German at a level enabling them to communicate with native speakers about their background, family, daily activities, student life, work, and living quarters. Emphasis is placed on acquiring the four language skills--listening, speaking, reading and writing--within a cultural context. Daily assignments and consistent work are necessary in order to achieve basic communicative proficiency. Daily assignments and consistent work are the basis for achieving basic communicative proficiency.

Upon completion of the course, students understand, speak, read, and write German at a level enabling them to communicate with native speakers about their background, family, daily activities, student life, work, and living quarters. Emphasis is placed on acquiring the four language skills--listening, speaking, reading and writing--within a cultural context. Daily assignments and consistent work are necessary in order to achieve basic communicative proficiency. Daily assignments and consistent work are the basis for achieving basic communicative proficiency.

Upon completion of the course, students understand, speak, read, and write German at a level enabling them to communicate with native speakers about their background, family, daily activities, student life, work, and living quarters. Emphasis is placed on acquiring the four language skills--listening, speaking, reading and writing--within a cultural context. Daily assignments and consistent work are necessary in order to achieve basic communicative proficiency. Daily assignments and consistent work are the basis for achieving basic communicative proficiency.

Upon completion of the course, students understand, speak, read, and write German at a level enabling them to communicate with native speakers about their background, family, daily activities, student life, work, and living quarters. Emphasis is placed on acquiring the four language skills--listening, speaking, reading and writing--within a cultural context. Daily assignments and consistent work are necessary in order to achieve basic communicative proficiency. Daily assignments and consistent work are the basis for achieving basic communicative proficiency.

Prerequisites: GERM UN1101 or the equivalent. Students expand their communication skills to include travel, storytelling, personal well-being, basic economics, and recent historical events. Emphasis is placed on acquiring the four language skills--listening, speaking, reading and writing--within a cultural context. Daily assignments and consistent work are necessary in order to achieve basic communicative proficiency.

Prerequisites: GERM UN1101 or the equivalent. Students expand their communication skills to include travel, storytelling, personal well-being, basic economics, and recent historical events. Emphasis is placed on acquiring the four language skills--listening, speaking, reading and writing--within a cultural context. Daily assignments and consistent work are necessary in order to achieve basic communicative proficiency.

Prerequisites: GERM UN1101 or the equivalent. Students expand their communication skills to include travel, storytelling, personal well-being, basic economics, and recent historical events. Emphasis is placed on acquiring the four language skills--listening, speaking, reading and writing--within a cultural context. Daily assignments and consistent work are necessary in order to achieve basic communicative proficiency.

Prerequisites: GERM UN1102 or the equivalent.

Intermediate German UN2101 is conducted entirely in German and emphasizes the four basic language skills, cultural awareness, and critical thinking. A wide range of topics (from politics and poetry to art) as well as authentic materials (texts, film, art, etc.) are used to improve the 4 skills. Practice in conversation aims at enlarging the vocabulary necessary for daily communication. Grammar is practiced in the context of the topics. Learning and evaluation are individualized (individual vocabulary lists, essays, oral presentations, final portfolio) and project-based (group work and final group project).

Prerequisites: GERM UN1102 or the equivalent.

Intermediate German UN2101 is conducted entirely in German and emphasizes the four basic language skills, cultural awareness, and critical thinking. A wide range of topics (from politics and poetry to art) as well as authentic materials (texts, film, art, etc.) are used to improve the 4 skills. Practice in conversation aims at enlarging the vocabulary necessary for daily communication. Grammar is practiced in the context of the topics. Learning and evaluation are individualized (individual vocabulary lists, essays, oral presentations, final portfolio) and project-based (group work and final group project).

Prerequisites: GERM UN1102 or the equivalent.

Intermediate German UN2101 is conducted entirely in German and emphasizes the four basic language skills, cultural awareness, and critical thinking. A wide range of topics (from politics and poetry to art) as well as authentic materials (texts, film, art, etc.) are used to improve the 4 skills. Practice in conversation aims at enlarging the vocabulary necessary for daily communication. Grammar is practiced in the context of the topics. Learning and evaluation are individualized (individual vocabulary lists, essays, oral presentations, final portfolio) and project-based (group work and final group project).

Prerequisites: GERM UN1102 or the equivalent.

Intermediate German UN2101 is conducted entirely in German and emphasizes the four basic language skills, cultural awareness, and critical thinking. A wide range of topics (from politics and poetry to art) as well as authentic materials (texts, film, art, etc.) are used to improve the 4 skills. Practice in conversation aims at enlarging the vocabulary necessary for daily communication. Grammar is practiced in the context of the topics. Learning and evaluation are individualized (individual vocabulary lists, essays, oral presentations, final portfolio) and project-based (group work and final group project).

Prerequisites: GERM UN2101 or the equivalent.

Intermediate German UN2102 is conducted entirely in German and emphasizes the four basic language skills, cultural awareness, and critical thinking. A wide range of topics (from politics and poetry to art) as well as authentic materials (texts, film, art, etc.) are used to improve the 4 skill. Practice in conversation aims at enlarging the vocabulary necessary for daily communication. Grammar is practiced in the context of the topics. Learning and evaluation are individualized (individual vocabulary lists, essays, oral presentations, final portfolio) and project-based (group work and final group project).

Prerequisites: GERM UN2101 or the equivalent.

Intermediate German UN2102 is conducted entirely in German and emphasizes the four basic language skills, cultural awareness, and critical thinking. A wide range of topics (from politics and poetry to art) as well as authentic materials (texts, film, art, etc.) are used to improve the 4 skill. Practice in conversation aims at enlarging the vocabulary necessary for daily communication. Grammar is practiced in the context of the topics. Learning and evaluation are individualized (individual vocabulary lists, essays, oral presentations, final portfolio) and project-based (group work and final group project).

An intensive study of key features of German grammar, with an emphasis on skill-building exercises and practical solutions to common problems of writing and speaking on the intermediate level; aims at building confidence in using simple and more complex sentence structures.

An intensive study of key features of German grammar, with an emphasis on skill-building exercises and practical solutions to common problems of writing and speaking on the intermediate level; aims at building confidence in using simple and more complex sentence structures. For an additional point, students will hand in a weekly 150-200 word summary in German in which they highlight what they have learned, explain the rules and applications of the linguistic feature on hand. In the last portion of the summary students will reflect on their learning process during each week to document their progress. Individual meetings with the Professor to clarify and practice student specific grammar issues will be scheduled.

Prerequisites: Completion of GERM UN1101 and UN1102 or the equivalent

This 2-point conversation group is designed for students who are now taking Intermediate German UN2101 or who wish to maintain their spoken German at least at the advanced intermediate level. The course is designed to improve your ability to speak and understand and manage German in everyday situations; to provide opportunities to participate in conversational situations on any topics you are interested in; to strengthen and acquire skills to understand German spoken at normal conversational speed; to expand active and passive vocabularies speaking skills; and to maintain a certain level of written German through short written activities. This course does not count towards the language requirement.
 

Prerequisites: GERM UN2102 or the Director of the German Language Program's permission.

German UN3001 is an ambitious socio-cultural exploration of Berlin. Designed to follow up the language skills acquired in first- and second-year language courses (or the equivalent thereof), this course gives students greater proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing German while focusing on topics from German society today through German newspapers and periodicals through the lens of Germany’s capital, Berlin. The course represents a gateway class to literature courses.

This course counts towards the major and concentration.

Prerequisites: GERM V2102 or equivalent. Advanced students improve language skills through exploration of political, cultural and intellectual debates and self perceptions in Germany and Austria. Discussion and analysis of print media, Internet, film and T.V.

Examines accounts of traveling or living in South America, Africa, and Germany from a postcolonial and transnational perspective. Discussion of German explorers, colonialism, global tourism, multiculturalism, focusing on the relationship between mobility and the formation of African, Jewish, Turkish bicultural identities in different historical contexts and geographical settings. Close attention to the role of language, ideology, and itinerary in visual, aural, and written records by A.v.Humboldt, Merian, J. Baker, Massaquoi, Wackwitz, Oezdamar, Akin. [In English]

Prerequisites: GERM UN2102 or the equivalent. Examines short literary texts and various methodological approaches to interpreting such texts in order to establish a basic familiarity with the study of German literature and culture.

Prerequisites: GERM UN2102 or the equivalent. Examines short literary texts and various methodological approaches to interpreting such texts in order to establish a basic familiarity with the study of German literature and culture.

Prerequisite OR Corequisite: GERMUN3333

This class will provide an introduction to the rich and varied forms of literary production between 1750 and 1900 by focusing on the culture of Sensibility, the Enlightenment, Storm and Stress, Romanticism, the “Vormärz” and Realism. We will situate major literary innovations of the 18th century in the context of changing reading and theater cultures and focus primarily on Lessing’s innovative domestic tragedy, and on poems and an epistolary novel by Goethe. Then we will discuss the literary production of the 19th century by analyzing changing concepts of art, music and literature during those times of great social and political change. We will study (and translate) poems, and read pamphlets and novellas by Tieck, Kleist, Hölderlin, Novalis, Brentano, Eichendorff, Günderrode, Droste-Hülshoff, Heine, Büchner, Mörike, Keller and Fontane.

**This course is taught entirely in German.

Prerequisite OR Corequisite: GERMUN3333

This class will provide an introduction to the rich and varied forms of literary production between 1750 and 1900 by focusing on the culture of Sensibility, the Enlightenment, Storm and Stress, Romanticism, the “Vormärz” and Realism. We will situate major literary innovations of the 18th century in the context of changing reading and theater cultures and focus primarily on Lessing’s innovative domestic tragedy, and on poems and an epistolary novel by Goethe. Then we will discuss the literary production of the 19th century by analyzing changing concepts of art, music and literature during those times of great social and political change. We will study (and translate) poems, and read pamphlets and novellas by Tieck, Kleist, Hölderlin, Novalis, Brentano, Eichendorff, Günderrode, Droste-Hülshoff, Heine, Büchner, Mörike, Keller and Fontane.

**This course is taught entirely in German.

This seminar gives in-depth consideration to shifting ideas and paradigms about race in German culture by tracing their associations with colonialism, slavery, eugenics, Nazism, and the contemporary rise of right-wing populism. In order to explore these evolving and sometimes interrelated notions of race and racism, this seminar brings together a study of anti-Semitism, anti-Blackness, Islamophobia, and other forms of racism. In addition to its study of prejudice, this seminar examines the experiences of minoritized communities in the German-speaking world. How do “non-white” Germans challenge German historical narratives and models of identity? How do discourses of race, discrimination, and solidarity politics contribute to contemporary understandings and misunderstandings of racism in Germany?

This seminar gives in-depth consideration to shifting ideas and paradigms about race in German culture by tracing their associations with colonialism, slavery, eugenics, Nazism, and the contemporary rise of right-wing populism. In order to explore these evolving and sometimes interrelated notions of race and racism, this seminar brings together a study of anti-Semitism, anti-Blackness, Islamophobia, and other forms of racism. In addition to its study of prejudice, this seminar examines the experiences of minoritized communities in the German-speaking world. How do “non-white” Germans challenge German historical narratives and models of identity? How do discourses of race, discrimination, and solidarity politics contribute to contemporary understandings and misunderstandings of racism in Germany?

Along with Darwin, Marx, Nietzsche and Freud have radically altered what and how we know; about humans, language, history, religion, things and life. Because their thought has shaped our sense of ourselves so fundamentally, Michel Foucault has referred to these three authors as discourse-founders. As such they will be treated in this class. Special attention will be paid to the affinities and competition among their approaches. Secondary sources will be subject to short presentations (in English) of those students capable of reading German.

The goal of this course is to introduce students to the Swedish language as it is spoken in Sweden today. The class will also introduce important aspects of contemporary Swedish culture, historical figures and events, and Swedish traditions. Upon the completion of the course, students who have attended class regularly have submitted all assignments and taken all tests and quizzes should be able to: provide basic information in Swedish about themselves, families, interests, food, likes and dislikes, daily activities; understand and participate in a simple conversation on everyday topics (e.g. occupation, school, meeting people, food, shopping, hobbies, etc.); read edited texts on familiar topics, understand the main ideas and identify the underlying themes; pick out important information from a variety of authentic texts (e.g. menus, signs, schedules, websites, as well as linguistically simple literary texts such as songs and rhymes); fill in forms requesting information, write letters, notes, postcards, or messages providing simple information; provide basic information about Sweden and the rest of the Nordic countries (e.g. languages spoken, capitals, etc); use and understand a range of essential vocabulary related to everyday life (e.g. days of the week, colors, numbers, months, seasons, telling time, foods, names of stores, family, common objects, transportation, basic adjectives etc.) pronounce Swedish well enough and produce Swedish with enough grammatical accuracy to be comprehensible to a Swedish speaker with experience in speaking with non-natives. use and understand basic vocabulary related to important aspects of contemporary Swedish culture and Swedish traditions (e.g. Christmas traditions, St. Lucia, etc.). Methodology The class will be taught in a communicative way. It will be conducted primarily, but not exclusively in Swedish. In-class activities and homework assignments will focus on developing speaking, reading, writing, listening skills, and a basic understanding of Swedish culture through interaction. Authentic materials will be used whenever possible.

This course offers an introduction to the language that has been spoken by the Ashkenazi Jews for more than a millennium, and an opportunity to discover a fabulous world of Yiddish literature, language and culture in a fun way. Using games, new media, and music, we will learn how to speak, read, listen and write in a language that is considered one of the richest languages in the world (in some aspects of vocabulary). We will also venture outside the classroom to explore the Yiddish world today: through field trips to Yiddish theater, Yiddish-speaking neighborhoods, Yiddish organizations, such as YIVO or Yiddish farm, and so on. We will also have Yiddish-speaking guests and do a few digital projects. At the end of the two-semester course, you will be able to converse in Yiddish on a variety of everyday topics and read most Yiddish literary and non-literary texts. Welcome to Yiddishland!

This course offers an introduction to the language that has been spoken by the Ashkenazi Jews for more than a millennium, and an opportunity to discover a fabulous world of Yiddish literature, language and culture in a fun way. Using games, new media, and music, we will learn how to speak, read, listen and write in a language that is considered one of the richest languages in the world (in some aspects of vocabulary). We will also venture outside the classroom to explore the Yiddish world today: through field trips to Yiddish theater, Yiddish-speaking neighborhoods, Yiddish organizations, such as YIVO or Yiddish farm, and so on. We will also have Yiddish-speaking guests and do a few digital projects. At the end of the two-semester course, you will be able to converse in Yiddish on a variety of everyday topics and read most Yiddish literary and non-literary texts. Welcome to Yiddishland!

Modern Yiddish culture and literature developed and flourished in the so-called Yiddishland, a land without borders located in Eastern Europe across Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Rumania, etc. But the heart of Yiddishland was in prewar Poland: in Warsaw, Vilnius (now Lithuania), Krakow, and Lublin. 

The course will center on four cities in which Yiddish culture and literature blossomed before the Holocaust, and examine key figures of modern Yiddish literature associated with these places, such as Isaac Bashevis Singer, Kadya Molodowsky, Mordechai Gebirtig, Abraham Sutzkever, Yankev Glatshtayn, and others. Employing gender and comparative approach as analytical lenses, we address the following questions: What role does space play in culture production? How does our familiarity with space impact our perception of literature and culture?

The texts and class discussion will be in English. The course will have a digital humanities component: we will engage in Mapping Yiddish Europe through Locus Tempus.