Associate Professor: Günter Klabes (Chair); Assistant
Professors: Silke von der Emde, Jeffrey Schneiderb; Visiting
Instructor: Ute Maschke.
All courses are conducted in German except for German 101, 235, 265,
and 275.
Requirements for Concentration: 12 units: 8 units of German
above the introductory level including 230, 239, 260, 269, 270, 301,
and 2 additional units of 300 level courses in German; 4 units approved
by the German Studies Department in related fields.
Senior Year Requirement: 301 and 1 unit at the 300 level. Majors
must take all 8 units in the German Studies Department in German. They
must also take courses toward their concentration for a letter grade
once they have declared their major. Students who wish to be considered
for departmental honors must complete a thesis (German Studies 300).
Recommendations: Vassar summer program in Germany, Junior Year
Abroad, study at accredited summer schools.
Vassar Summer Program in Germany: Vassar College conducts
a summer program in Münster, Germany. Students who successfully
complete the program receive 2 units of Vassar credit. Minimum requirements
are the completion of German 105–106, or 109 and the recommendation
of the instructor.
Correlate Sequence in German: Students majoring in other programs
may complement their study by electing a correlate sequence in German.
Course selection should be made in consultation with the department.
Correlate Requirements: 6 graded units, 4 of which must be taken
above the 100–level. Students can choose from German Studies 210,
211, 230, 239, 260, 269, 270, and 375. All students must also complete
either German Studies 301 or 355. Upon the approval of the department,
a maximum of 2 units from the Münster or other programs abroad
can be substituted for the 200–level courses. No courses in English
may count towards the correlate sequence.
Advisors: The department.
1. Introductory
101a. The Writing on the Wall: Tracing the Cultural Meanings of
the Berlin Wall (1)
The Berlin Wall came tumbling down more than ten years ago, signaling
the end of the Cold War and initiating a period of euphoria as East
and West Germany reunited. Though the Wall marked the division of Germany
and even the split between Eastern and Western Europe, it also held
an important place in the American imagination. In order to probe the
complex, contradictory, and changing meanings of the Berlin Wall within
American and German cultures, we analyze political speeches, espionage
thrillers, love stories, films, Wall graffiti, interviews, news reports,
and other kinds of documents. As part of our focus on writing and developing
critical thinking skills, we may also make use of new virtual spaces
(MOOs) and other educational technologies. Mr. Schneider.
105a–106b. Elementary German (1)
A year–long study of German language for beginning students. In
addition to introducing basic grammatical structures, the course focuses
on developing the reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills necessary
for advanced study. Classroom activities are designed to promote practical
and active oral and written communication. Mr. Klabes (a); Ms. von
der Emde (b).
Four 50–minute periods and four 30–minute drill sessions.
109b. Intensive Elementary German (2)
A single–semester equivalent of German 105–106. Intensive
training in the fundamental language skills. Designed for beginning
students who wish to accelerate their learning of German. Ms. Maschke.
Open to all classes; five 75–minute periods, four 30–minute
drill sessions, and computer–assisted instruction.
II. Intermediate
210a–211b. Intermediate German (1)
Intermediate language study through short texts and research topics
in literary and cultural studies. The course will use an online educational
environment and may involve an exchange with learners at another college.
Mr. Schneider (a); Ms. von der Emde (b).
Prerequisite: German 106, 109 or the equivalent.
230a. Contemporary German Culture and Media (1)
An introductory study of contemporary German culture and the role played
by different media, such as newspapers, television, radio, film, and
the Internet. Strong emphasis will be placed on developing vocabulary
as well as oral and written expression. This course may involve an exchange
with native speakers of German. Ms. von der Emde.
Prerequisite: German 211 or the equivalent.
Three 75–minute periods.
235b. Introduction to German Cultural Studies (1)
Introduction to the methodological questions and debates in the field
of German Cultural Studies. Topics may include German identity, reunification,
U.S.–German cultural exchanges, and the status of the German language
in a global world. Strong emphasis on formal analysis and writing. Ms. Maschke.
Readings and discussions in English. Open to all classes. German majors
see German 239.
239b. Introduction to German Cultural Studies for Majors (1)
Students in this course attend the same seminar meetings as in German
Studies 235 but do the readings in the original, attend a separate discussion
class, and take separate exaMs. Ms. Maschke.
Prerequisite: German Studies 230 or the equivalent or permission from
the instructor.
260b. Developments in German Literature (1)
This course offers an overview of selected historical developments
in German literature from the last three centuries. Instructor to be
announced.
Topic for 2001/02: To be announced.
Prerequisite: German 230, 239 or the equivalent.
265a. German Film in English Translation (1)
This course offers an overview of selected historical and formal developments
in German film from the silent period to the present.
Topic for 2001/02: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Representing
Germany in US. and German Film. Films on both sides of the Atlantic
consistently locate "evil" in a (shared) cultural imagery
called "Germany." This seminar compares and contrasts American
and German filmic representations of "Germans" or "Germany"
and the ideological mechanisms that stand behind the cinematic apparatus
(i.e., notions of personal, gender, and national identity; notions of
the public and the private; notions of communication, etc.). Films may
include Metropolis, Das Boot, Dr. Strangelove, Taxi Driver, Zentropa,
American History X, Paris, Texas, In a Year of Thirteen Moon, The Tin
Drum, Schtonk, and Heimat. Ms. Maschke.
Readings and discussions in English. Open to all classes. German majors
see German 269.
Two 75–minute periods.
269a. German Film for Majors (1)
Students in this course attend the same seminar meetings as in German
Studies 265 but do readings in German, attend a separate discussions
class, and take separate exaMs. Ms. Maschke.
Prerequisite: German Studies 230, 239 or the equivalent.
270a. Aesthetic Forms, Texts, and Genres (1)
In–depth study of one or more literary and non–literary genres
in their historical and cultural contexts. Examples may be drawn from
drama, poetry, autobiographies, manifestos or essays.
Topic for 2001/02: Narratives of Instability. Organized around
close readings of novellas by selected writers of nineteenth–century
Germany (including Storm, Keller, Kürnberger, Stifter, Ebner–Eschenbach),
the seminar investigates possible reasons why the novella becomes the
literary genre for representing increasingly unstable bourgeois (masculine)
identities emerging in the modem nation–states of Germany and the
Habsburg Empire. Ms. Maschke.
Prerequisite: German Studies 230, 239 or the equivalent.
Two 75–minute periods.
275b. Advanced Topics in German Cultural Studies (1)
This course offers an extended analysis of one issue of the major issues
in German Cutural Studies. Topics may include memory and the Holocaust,
Nazi culture, issues of transparency in political culture, or lesbian
and gay culture.
Topic for 2001/02: Modernism in Turn–of–the–Century
German Culture. This course focuses on the complex facets and contradictions
in German modernism at the beginning of the twentieth century. We pay
particular attention to class and gender conflicts, city and mass culture,
utopian visions and the aesthetics of heroism prior to the Great War.
Using a variety of media, we explore different artistic expressions
in works by Fontane, Thomas Mann, Kafka, Nietzsche, Wagner, Klimt and
Kokoschka and study the milieu in which they worked in the great cities
of Vienna, Prague and Berlin. Class instruction is complemented by field
trips to New York City museums and stage performances. Mr. Klabes.
Readings and discussions in English. Open to all classes. German majors
see German Studies 375.
Two 75–minute periods.
III. Advanced
For advanced work in German, students must complete the following:
German 230, 239, 260, 269, and 270 or their equivalent.
301a. Senior Seminar (1)
An examination of selected topics in German literature and culture.
May be taken more than once for credit when topic changes.
Topic for 2001/02: German Romanticism: Poetic and Pictorial Images.
This course examines the strategies of writers and artists struggling
to find meaning in a time of revolutionary political and cultural change.
Particular attention is paid to changes in cultural aesthetics and new
literary and artistic forms with a view toward their legacy in twentieth–century
Germany. Course may include works by Goethe, Schiller, Novalis, Kleist,
Guenderode, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Heine as well as C.D. Friedrich and Runge.
Mr. Klabes.
Two 75–minute periods.
355b. Advanced Seminar (1)
An examination of selected topics in German literature and culture.
May be taken more than once for credit when topic changes.
Topic for 2001/02: The former GDR produced some of the best, most interesting,
and challenging women writers to come out of Germany. Authors such as
Anna Seghers, Christa Wolf, Irmtraud Morgner, Sarah Kirsch, Maxie Wander,
Brigitte Reimarm, Helga Königsdorf, Monika Maron, and Elke Erb
greatly influenced political and cultural developments in the East as
well as in the West. In this seminar, we examine the questions and issues
raised in these women's texts, such as the status of feminism, the authors'
response to censorship practices in East Germany, and the impact of
unification in 1990. In addition to developing close readings of texts,
we study the political, economic, and social conditions that influenced
women's writings as well as theoretical questions raised by feminist
literary theory. Ms. von der Emde.
Two 75–minute periods.
375b Advanced Topics in German Cultural Studies for Majors (1)
Students in this course attend the same seminar meetings as in German
Studies 275 but do readings in German, attend a separate discussions
class, and take separate exaMs. Mr. Klabes.