Germanic Languages and Literature (GERMAN)

Associate Professor Donahue, Chair; Visiting Assistant Professor Mueller, Director of Undergraduate Studies and Director of Language Program; Professor Pfau (English); Associate Professors Donahue, Morton, Rasmussen, and Robisheaux; Assistant Professor Norberg; Professors Emeriti Alt, Phelps, and Rolleston; Assistant Professor Emerita Bessent; Associate Professor of the Practice Walther; Adjunct Assistant Professor Keul; Visiting Assistant Professor Fricker; Lecturer Johns

The department offers courses in German, as well as courses taught in English where no knowledge of German is required (see the section below for Courses Taught in English).

1. First-Year German I. FL First semester of introductory language course. Practice in spoken and written German (speaking, listening, reading, writing); introduction to German culture and society through poems, songs, films, internet, and other authentic materials. Proficiency oriented, communicative approach to language study. Instructor: Staff. One course.

2. First-Year German II. FL Second semester of introductory language course. Practice in spoken and written German, vocabulary building, building cultural awareness. Focus on topics of everyday life in German-speaking countries through stories, poetry, music, video, internet, as well as grounding in basic structures of the German language. Instructor: Mueller and staff. One course.

14. Intensive First-Year German. FL Intensive introduction to German language and culture. Combines in one semester the work of German 1-2. Designed for students with some prior knowledge of German. Consent of instructor required. Instructor: Staff. Two courses.

65. Intermediate German I. CZ, FL Language proficiency and cultural knowledge through topic-oriented syllabus focusing on contemporary German culture and society. Comprehensive review of German grammar, vocabulary building, practice in speaking, reading, and writing skills. Literary and nonliterary texts from a variety of media (books, newspapers, audio, video, film, internet), providing basis for discussion and cultural awareness. Extensive reading includes one longer prose text by a contemporary German, Swiss, or Austrian writer. Prerequisite: German 1-2, 14, or equivalent. Instructor: Mueller or staff. One course.

66. Intermediate German II. CZ, FL (See description of German 65 above.) Increased focus on reading, speaking, essay writing. Extensive reading includes one full-length play by a contemporary German, Swiss, or Austrian writer. Prerequisite: German 65, or appropriate placement test score, or consent of instructor. Instructor: Mueller or staff. One course.

67. Intensive Intermediate German. CZ, FL Intensive grammar review and practice of spoken and written German, combining in one semester the work of one year of intermediate German. Taught only in the Berlin Fall Semester Program. Prerequisite: German 1-2, 14, or equivalent. Instructor: Staff. Two courses.

68. Intensive Intermediate German for Engineers. CZ, FL Development of German language proficiency (reading, listening, speaking, and writing), with focus on the acquisition of specialized vocabulary in the fields of engineering, technology, mathematics, and other natural science disciplines. Includes investigation of history and culture of Berlin, with focus on major political, economic, social, and cultural developments since the fall of the Wall. Materials from various sources (scientific texts and problem sets, print media, audio/video material). Taught at the Technical University in Berlin. Offered only in the January term of the Duke-in-Berlin spring semester program. Prerequisite: German 2, 14, or equivalent. Instructor: Staff. One course.

69. Intensive Intermediate German. CZ, FL Intensive grammar review and further development of reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills through topic-oriented syllabus dealing with contemporary German culture and society. Authentic texts from a variety of media providing the basis for discussion and cultural awareness. Combines in one semester the work of one year of intermediate German (German 65 and 66.) Prerequisite: German 1-2, 14, or equivalent. Instructor: Staff. Two courses.

76. Readings in German Literature. ALP, FL Development of written and oral proficiency in German, as well as the vocabulary and analysis tools needed for poetry and short prose. Intended for intermediate language learners beginning to work with German literature. Prerequisite: German 65 or equivalent. Taught in the Duke Summer in Berlin program. One course.

100S. Business German. CCI, FL, SS Introduction to the language of commerce and industry; modes of expression for technology and marketing. Particular attention to cultural differences affecting German-American business transactions. Instructor: Fricker. One course.

115S. Advanced German in Berlin. ALP, CCI, CZ, FL Texts drawn from various media centered largely on contemporary Berlin. Development of written and oral proficiency in German, as well as insight into the cultural and historical aspects of the capital. Intensive practice of sentence structure and expository writing. Prerequisite: German 66 or equivalent. May substitute for German 117S or 118S to fulfill major requirement. Taught only in the Duke Summer in Berlin program. Instructor: Staff. One course.

117S. Advanced German I: Culture and Society. CCI, CZ, FL Development of advanced proficiency in oral and written communication. Expansion and deepening of cultural literacy and interpretive skills by focusing on issues of social, cultural, and political significance in German-speaking countries. Cultural and literary texts from a variety of media and genres analyzed in social and cultural contexts. Intensive work on vocabulary, sentence structure, and patterns of expression. Instructor: Staff. One course.

118S. Advanced German II: Text and Context. ALP, CZ, FL, W Development of advanced German language proficiency, with particular attention to written expression. Emphasis on stylistic variation, complex grammatical structures, and lexical sophistication (vocabulary building). Analysis of authentic texts from a variety of genres will provide the basis for practice in creative, descriptive, narrative, argumentative, and analytical writing. Prerequisite: German 117S or equivalent. Instructor: Staff. One course.

119S. Advanced German Language and Culture. ALP, CCI, CZ, FL, W Development of advanced proficiency with particular emphasis on speaking and writing. Through analysis of literary and nonliterary texts, excursions, museums, films, theater performances, students gain in-depth knowledge of various aspects of German culture and society. Advanced grammar review, vocabulary building, oral presentations, as well as a variety of writing assignments. Taught only in the Berlin program. Prerequisite: German 66, 67, 69, or equivalent. Fulfills major requirement for German 117S and German 118S. Instructor: Wohlfeil. Two courses.

121S. Introduction to German Literature. ALP, CCI, FL Principal authors, genres, concepts, and works of German literature: Middle Ages to the Baroque. Instructor: Morton or Rasmussen. One course. C-L: Medieval and Renaissance Studies 111ES

126S. Masters of the Modern: Great Writers of the 20th Century. ALP, FL, W Studies in four giants of twentieth-century German literature: Rilke, Kafka, Mann, and Hesse. May also include short works by Bertolt Brecht and Nobel prize winners Heinrich Böll and Guenter Grass. Defining "world literature" and the shaping of "modern" Western thought by these major literary figures. Readings explore major twentieth-century themes: modernism, totalitarian politics, Eastern spirituality, German identity and the situation of Germany within Europe. Regular written exercises, readings, and discussion in German. Instructor: Donahue, Morton, or Rolleston. One course. C-L: International Comparative Studies

133S. Introduction to German Drama. ALP, CCI, FL The German theater from Lessing to Brecht and beyond, focusing on the relationship between dramatic form and social, historical, and cultural contexts. Topics may include: the Trauerspiel, Sturm und Drang, expressionism, epic theater, documentary drama. Final project may include performance of a play or scenes from different plays. Instructor: Donahue, Morton, or Walther. One course. C-L: Theater Studies 123S, International Comparative Studies

136S. Utopias and Nightmares: Science, Technology, and German Culture. ALP, FL, STS Examines a selection of German films and texts that serve as vehicles for assessing the current state of the world and alternatives to it. Focus on the role of science and technology in shaping those alternatives. Special attention paid to German views of technology that inform its history and cultural production. Introduces methods of textual analysis, film criticism, and the history of science and technology. Develops all German language skills. Science background not required. Instructor: Staff. One course. C-L: Visual Studies 118AS, Information Science and Information Studies

139S. Legacies of the Holocaust in German Culture. ALP, CCI, EI, FL Literary, cinematic, and cultural representations of the Holocaust in German-speaking countries. Core issues of the Holocaust haunting subsequent cultural and national politics and cultural works: fanatical nationalism, racisms, genocide, technological efficiency, extreme and arbitrary suffering, the quality of German resistance, contested postwar interpretations, globalization of Holocaust memories. Instructor: Donahue. One course. C-L: Jewish Studies 160S

141S. German Film. ALP, FL Introduction to innovative German films and important critical texts about film theory and film reception. Emphasis on methods of film analysis and vocabulary. Topics and themes include Myth and Modernity; German Women Filmmakers; Representations of the Holocaust in German Films; National Identity and German Film. Instructor: Staff. One course. C-L: Film/Video/Digital 111C, Visual Studies 118BS

142S. Freud's Vienna: Experiments in Modernity Around 1900. ALP, CCI, CZ, FL An interdisciplinary approach to the cultural and political transformations taking place in Vienna around 1900 (art, architecture, literature, psychoanalysis, music). The common contexts and interconnections between writers such as Schnitzler, Hofmannsthal, Musil, and Kraus, Freud's psychoanalysis, Klimt and Schiele's Jugendstil and Expressionist art, the architectural innovations of Wagner, Loos, and the Ringstrasse, and the music of Mahler, R. Strauss, and Schoenberg. Focus on issues such as sexuality, disease, desire, and modernity. The rise of mass politics and modern anti-Semitism. Instructor: Staff. One course. C-L: Visual Studies 118ES

148S. Special Topics in German Literature and Culture. ALP, FL Focus on aspects of German literature and cultural studies. Topics vary. Instructor: Staff. One course.

151S. Advanced Intensive German. CCI, CZ, FL For advanced students to increase all four language skills: comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Discussion of current events from a German cultural perspective based on newspaper articles, radio and television reports. Preparation for the German language examination required of all foreign students enrolling at German universities. Equivalent of German 117S or 118S, but offered only in the Berlin semester program. Instructor: Staff. One course.

152S. Berlin in Literature and Culture. ALP, CCI, FL Literary works of modern German writers; focus on the city of Berlin and its unique cultural and political heritage due to Germany's division from 1945 to 1989. Emphasis on art and architecture of Berlin reflecting both historical trends and political ideologies such as National Socialism and Marxism. Taught only in the Berlin semester program. Instructor: Wohlfeil. One course. C-L: International Comparative Studies

153. Current Issues and Trends in Germany. CCI, CZ, FL Topics of social and cultural significance in contemporary Germany, with particular emphasis on media and society. Includes site visits. Offered in the Duke Summer Program in Berlin. Instructor: Staff. One course. C-L: International Comparative Studies

155. Advanced German Cultural Studies. CZ, FL Topics vary. Taught in German and only in the Berlin Semester Program. Prerequisite: P.N.d.S. (successful completion of German Language exam administered by the Free University). Instructor: Staff. One course. C-L: International Comparative Studies

191. Independent Study. Individual non-research directed study in a field of special interest on a previously approved topic, under the supervision of a faculty member, resulting in an academic and/or artistic product. Open only to qualified juniors and seniors by consent of instructor and director of undergraduate studies. Instructor: Donahue, Morton, Norberg, Rasmussen, or Walther. One course.

192. Research Independent Study. R Individual research in a field of special interest under the supervision of a faculty member, the central goal of which is a substantive paper or written report containing significant analysis and interpretation of a previously approved topic. Open only to qualified juniors and seniors by consent of instructor and director of undergraduate studies. Instructor: Borchardt, Donahue, Morton, Norberg, Rasmussen, or Walther. One course.

201. German for Academic Research I. Introduction to German for the purpose of developing reading and translation skills necessary for pursuing academic research. Assumes no prior knowledge of German. Foundations of German grammar and syntax; emphasis on vocabulary and translations. Selected readings in theory of translation and techniques. Not open for credit to undergraduate students who have taken Intermediate German (65, 66, 69, or equivalent). Does not count toward the major or minor, or toward the fulfillment of the Foreign Language Requirement. Instructor: Staff. One course.

202. German for Academic Research II. Development and refinement of skills needed to read and translate intermediate to advanced academic German. Texts selected by instructor, with regular opportunities to work on materials related to individual fields/research topics. Selected readings in theory of translation and techniques. Prerequisite: German 201. Not open for credit to undergraduate students who have taken Intermediate German (65, 66, 69, or equivalent). Does not count toward the major or minor, or toward the fulfillment of the Foreign Language Requirement. Instructor: Staff. One course.

204S. German Business / Global Contexts. CCI, FL, SS Current German economic and business debates and events. Germany's position in the global marketplace and on ensuing intercultural business encounters. Topics include state of Germany's industry and energy resources, monetary policies and banking systems, environmental concerns, foreign trade, taxes, and the social safety net. Attention to Germany's self-understanding as a "social market economy" and the compatibility of that model with current trends in globalization. Instructor: Fricker. One course.

209S. Introduction to Medieval German: The Language of the German Middle Ages and Its Literature. ALP, FL, R Basic reading skills in the medieval German language (Middle High German) developed by working with literary texts in their original idiom. Canonical texts such as courtly love poetry (Walther von der Vogelweide), Arthurian romance (Hartmann von Aue, Wolfram), and heroic epic (Nibelungenlied). Understanding manuscript culture, philological inquiry, medieval intellectual practices, relationship between learned Latin culture and educated vernacular cultures. Research paper required. Readings and discussion in German. Instructor: Rasmussen. One course. C-L: Medieval and Renaissance Studies 201S

210S. Sex, Gender, and Love in Medieval German Literature. ALP, CCI, FL Historical contexts for emergence of courtly love and the role of desire and interpretation in Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan und Isolde, courtly love lyric, 'maere.' Instructor: Rasmussen. One course. C-L: Medieval and Renaissance Studies 203S

216S. The Grand Gesture: German Literature of the Seventeenth Century. ALP, FL, R The poetry of excess, of performance, of the public posture; rhetoric; the prose of the rogue, adventurer, and the Ne'er-do-well; comedy, farce, and the clown in the German literature of the Baroque era. Instructor: Staff. One course.

225S. Introduction to Goethe. ALP, FL, R Major works of lyric, narrative, drama, and theory, throughout Goethe's career. Readings and discussions in German. Instructor: Morton. One course.

226S. Goethe's Faust. ALP, EI, FL, R Goethe's masterpiece and life's work, conceived as a summation of Western literature and mythology for the modern age. Readings and discussions in German. Instructor: Morton. One course.

245S. German Literature and Culture 1900-1945. ALP, CCI, EI, FL Radical social shifts and their disruption of German culture and literary conventions during the first half of the 20th century. From the poetry, film, manifestos, and revolutionary theater of Expressionism, to the high modernism of Rilke, Kafka, Hesse, and Mann, to the didactic literary program of Brecht and his circle, including Kurt Weill and Marieluise Fleisser, to the internationalist goals of the Frankfurt School of Social Research. Emphasis on relations between text and history, from WWI to Weimar to the persecutions and systematic destructions of the Nazi era. Instructor: Donahue or Rolleston. One course. C-L: International Comparative Studies

247S. Contested Memories in German Culture since 1945. ALP, FL, R Major German literary, filmic, and cultural works since 1945. Topics vary: representations of National Socialism and the Holocaust in German culture; "Vergangenheitsbewältigung" (dealing with the past) in German literature and culture; history, memory, and national identity in German, Austrian, and Swiss literature. Instructor: Donahue. One course. C-L: International Comparative Studies

87FCS. Literary Imaginings of the Good Life. ALP, EI, W Seminar on the ways in which literature shapes and is shaped by our quest for social ideals. Open only to students in the Focus Program. Instructor: Rasmussen. One course. C-L: Ethics

88FCS. Berlin in the Twentieth Century. ALP, CCI, CZ, EI Uses literature, film, art, architecture, and history to trace the periods of Berlin's development in the twentieth century (Imperial, Weimar Republic, Nazi, Communist, Berlin Republic) in order to understand both the rich cultural and intellectual heritage and the troubling legacies that mark the new Berlin. Special attention to ethical questions posed by the Holocaust. Provides background for understanding the historical dimensions to recent developments such as Christo's Wrapped Reichstag; the Jewish Museum and the debate on the German Holocaust Memorial; the Neue Wache; the Potsdamer Platz; and the film Run Lola Run. Taught in English. Open only to students in the Focus Program. Instructor: Donahue. One course. C-L: Visual Studies 88FCS

165S. The Vikings and Their Literature. ALP, CCI, EI Norse sagas and poetry and the Viking world that they reflect. Viking cultural history and mythology, with special attention to the collision between the Germanic heroic ethic and the "new" Christian ethic and Norse notions of gender and leadership. Taught in English. Instructor: Keul. One course. C-L: Medieval and Renaissance Studies 165S

170. The Devil's Pact: Faust and the Faust Tradition. ALP, CCI, EI Selling souls to the Devil, from England's Christopher Marlowe to Germany's Goethe and beyond. Wrestling with the problem of evil, and getting past it, to the problems of knowledge, experience, and redemption, exploring why the Faust story keeps on being retold. Readings and discussion in English. Instructor: Morton. One course. C-L: English 157, Literature 163G, Ethics

173. Romantic Fairy Tales: Literary and Folk Fairy Tales from Grimms to Disney. ALP, CCI, CZ German fairy tales of the Romantic era, including both the "literary fairy tales" by known authors and the "folk fairy tales" commonly deemed children's literature. Comparisons to other fairy tale traditions, notably by Perrault and Basile, providing a broader context and perspective. Comparison to the Disney contributions elucidating our own preconceptions and prejudices. Special attention to the literary, feminist, and historical elements of the fairy tale genre. Taught in English. Instructor: Staff. One course. C-L: English 146, Literature 151E, International Comparative Studies 183A

182. Classics of Western Civilization: The German Tradition, 1750-1930. ALP, CCI, CZ Introduction to German intellectual traditions that have proven highly influential both within Europe and beyond. Readings typically include Lessing, Moses Mendelssohn, Kant, Goethe, Humboldt, Hegel, Heine, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, and Benjamin. Readings and discussions in English. Instructor: Pfau. One course. C-L: English 148, History 179A, Political Science 134, Literature 163B

183. The Existentialist Imagination. ALP, CZ, EI Philosophical and literary engagements with fundamental issues of individuality, authenticity, absurdity, finitude, and commitment. Readings primarily from the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century: Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, Tolstoy, Rilke, Kafka, Hesse, Heidegger, Sartre, Camus. Taught in English. Instructor: Morton. One course. C-L: Literature 132A

185. Vocation, Professionalism, Ethics: Conflicted Middle-Class Subjectivity in the Novel 1800-1924. ALP, CZ, EI Ethical conflicts in nineteenth-century middle-class society as represented in the development novel (Bildungsroman); different models of political, aesthetic, and religious vocation studied in relation to the rise of nineteenth- and twentieth-century professionalism and social conformism. Taught in English. Instructor: Staff. One course. C-L: Literature 163F, English 149, Ethics

186. Marx, Nietzsche, Freud. CCI, CZ, SS A critical examination and assessment of the thought of Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud: revolutionary theory and practice; nihilism and the challenge of overcoming it; the hidden foundations of the self and of culture. Instructor: Morton. One course. C-L: Philosophy 186, Literature 186A, Political Science 195

186D. Marx, Nietzsche, Freud. CCI, CZ, EI, SS Three principle sources of the twentieth (and now twenty-first) century: the insistence on an ultimate convergence of (revolutionary) theory and practice; the phenomenon of nihilism and the challenge of overcoming it; the exploration of the hidden foundations of the self and of culture. A critical examination and assessment of the thought of Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud. One course. C-L: Philosophy 186D, Literature 186AD, Political Science 195D

187. German Jewish Culture from the Enlightenment to the Present. ALP, CCI, CZ Key texts (literary, philosophical, and political) from the Enlightenment (18th cent.); periods of emancipation and assimilation, and rising political anti-Semitism (19th cent.); as well as Weimar, Nazi, and postwar periods (20th cent). Authors include Moses Mendelssohn, Lessing, Franzos, Droste-Hülshoff, Marx, Schnitzler, as well as contemporaries such as Korn, Broder, and Biller. Taught in English. Instructor: Donahue. One course. C-L: Literature 163J, Jewish Studies 162

188. Germany Confronts Nazism and the Holocaust. ALP, CCI, CZ, EI The ways in which official German culture comes to terms with its Nazi past. Background reading in history and politics; primary focus on films, dramas, novels, and poetry, as well as public memorials, monuments, and museums. Authors treated include: Wolfgang Borchert, Rolf Hochhuth, Peter Weiss, Ruth Klüger. Taught in English. Instructor: Donahue. One course. C-L: Literature 163N, Jewish Studies 164, International Comparative Studies

189. Terror and German Cinema. ALP, CCI, CZ Cinematic (film and television) responses to the terror that plagued Germany in the 1970s and 1980s. Red Army Faction (RAF)and other violent groups of extreme left compared with contemporaneous groups in the United States (e.g., Black Panthers) as well as terror at present. How German culture imagines, explains, and remembers terror perpetrated by its own citizens. Taught in English. Instructor: Donahue. One course. C-L: Literature 112L, Visual Studies 118C

196B. Berlin Since the War. CCI, CZ How Berlin remembers its famous and infamous past since the Second World War. Efficacy of public memorials, monuments, museums and manifestos in context of history of Cold War and post-Wall Berlin. How "official" history is constructed, celebrated, contested, re-written -- and not infrequently, simply ignored. Excursions to historical sites. Offered in English in the Duke-in-Berlin summer program. Instructor: Staff. One course.

196C. Jewish Berlin. ALP, CCI, CZ, EI Overview of German Jewish history and culture, sampling documents, literature, and art from the Enlightenment to the present day. Excursions to Berlin sites, including the Berlin Jewish Museum, Sachsenhausen concentration camp, and the Grünewald Deportation Memorial. Meetings with Jewish cultural leaders and attendance at a service at one of the Berlin synagogues. Taught in English only in the Duke Summer in Berlin program. Instructor: Donahue. One course. C-L: Jewish Studies 163, Literature 163K, International Comparative Studies

260. History of the German Language. Phonology, morphology, and syntax of German from the beginnings to the present. Instructor: Keul or Rasmussen. One course. C-L: Medieval and Renaissance Studies 260B, Linguistics 260

261S. Second Language Acquisition Theory and Practice. CCI, R Overview of current research in the fields of second language acquisition and foreign language pedagogy, and its implications for the teaching of the German language, literature, and culture at all levels. Readings and discussions on competing theories of language acquisition and learning, issues of cultural identity and difference, learner styles, and the teaching of language as culture; training in contemporary teaching techniques and approaches. Instructor: Walther. One course. C-L: Linguistics 261S

264S. Research Methods In International Area Studies. CCI One course. C-L: see Latin American Studies 202S; also C-L: Asian and African Languages and Literature 207S, Cultural Anthropology 291S, Russian 203S, Romance Studies 202S

270. Consciousness and Modern Society. CCI, CZ, EI The German tradition of political theory conceptualizing social transformation through consciousness both of alienation and of ethical ideals; the ongoing debate between activist and radically critical perspectives. Marx, Nietzsche, Lukacs, Freud, Benjamin, Adorno, Marcuse, and Habermas. Taught in English. Instructor: Rolleston. One course. C-L: Literature 270, International Comparative Studies

275S. Hegel's Political Philosophy. EI, R, SS Within context of Hegel's total philosophy, an examination of his understanding of phenomenology and the phenomenological basis of political institutions and his understanding of Greek and Christian political life. Selections from Phenomenology, Philosophy of History, and Philosophy of Right. Research paper required. Instructor: Gillespie. One course. C-L: Political Science 236S, Philosophy 236S

285S. Science and Technology in Nineteenth-Century German Culture. ALP, CCI, CZ, STS Literature and science writing by literary figures (such as Goethe, Novalis, Kleist, Stifter, Musil), the social history of technology, the history of science (especially physics, anthropology, and biology), and philosophy (such as Kant, Marx, Nietzsche, Weber). The German historical context as seen from contemporary American and German understandings. Taught in English, with an optional German section for those reading in the original. Instructor: Staff. One course. C-L: Biology 257S, Information Science and Information Studies

286S. Inventing the Museum: Collecting and Cultural Discourses of the Nineteenth Century. ALP, CCI, CZ, R Examines the rise of the German public museum in its European cultural contexts in the nineteenth century. Uses history and theories of collecting and exhibiting to explore intersecting discourses of architecture, art history, cultural history, literature, and politics that constitute the museum and delineate its privileged place in nineteenth-century German and European culture. Introduces methods for using primary sources in cultural studies research and the study of literature in terms of collecting and exhibiting. Taught in English. Instructor: Staff. One course. C-L: Art History 256S, History 286AS, Romance Studies 286S

299S. Seminar in German Studies. CCI, CZ, R Review of current debates and historical perspectives in the German cultural field, structured through contributing disciplines: social and economic history, political theory and history, literature, fine arts, music, philosophy, and religion. Team-taught, involving a wide range of faculty in the German Studies Program. Taught in English. Instructor: Donahue, Rolleston, and staff. One course. C-L: International Comparative Studies 280ES

Students majoring in German develop language skills in their social and cultural contexts. The combination of linguistic and cultural competency is excellent preparation for a variety of professional careers in business, government, engineering, law, education, and academia. Double (second) majors are also encouraged and supported. Numerous opportunities are available, including programs of study abroad, interdisciplinary programs, Fulbright and German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholarships, and internships, both before and after graduation. Students interested in a major should consult the director of undergraduate studies.

The emphasis of this concentration is on the development of superior language proficiency and a deep knowledge of the literature and culture of German-speaking lands.

Requirements. Ten courses, which may include two courses below the 100 level. Eight of the ten courses must be at the 100 level or above, including at least two at the 200 level. These must normally include the advanced conversation and composition courses, German 117S and 118S (or the equivalents taught in Berlin: German 115S, one course credit, or German 119S, two course credits) and one of the literary survey courses, German 121S or 122S. Of departmental courses taught in English, only one may count toward the major.

This is an interdisciplinary concentration that develops language proficiency and cultural knowledge, while allowing courses with a substantial German component in related disciplines, such as history, political science, music, art history, philosophy, economics, theater studies, women's studies, and religion.

Requirements. Ten courses, which may include two courses below the 100 level. Courses below the 100 level may include German or other Germanic language courses, or courses taught in other departments that evince a clear focus on German culture, society, and history. Other courses must normally include German 117S and 118S (or the equivalent taught in Berlin: German 119S, two course credits), and at least two courses at the 200 level. A maximum of four courses may be courses with German content taught in English, either in the German department or in other departments, provided such courses evince a clear focus on German culture, society, and history. Courses taken in other departments must be approved by the director of undergraduate studies in the German department.

Qualified students (see the section on honors in this bulletin) may apply or be invited to apply for graduation with distinction. The application deadline is preregistration for the fall semester of the senior year. Further information may be obtained from the director of undergraduate studies.

Undergraduate Instruction 2008-2009

Undergraduate Instruction
2008-2009