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German Electives

Course Descriptions

GER 101  Beginning in German I  

These courses provide the basis for communication in German and for understanding the cultures of the German-speaking world. Through first elements of the language, students learn aspects of history, geography, and culture. Structures and patterns are introduced and practiced.

Number of Credits: 3  
When Offered: Fall  
How Offered: Face to Face  
ILO Met: Inst. Learning Objective 11  
GER 102  Beginning in German II  

These courses provide the basis for communication in German and for understanding the cultures of the German-speaking world. Through first elements of the language, students learn aspects of history, geography, and culture. Structures and patterns are introduced and practiced.

Number of Credits: 3  
When Offered: Spring  
How Offered: Face to Face  
ILO Met: Inst. Learning Objective 11  
Prerequisites: GER 101, equivalent, or departmental placement test.  
GER 150  German Conv & Culture  

Number of Credits: 3  
GER 201  Continuing in German I  

Communication on personal topics is fostered through continuing study of the structural and lexical features of the language. Emphasis is on the encounters of daily life--employment, leisure activities, living situations, family and friends.

Number of Credits: 3  
When Offered: Fall  
How Offered: Face to Face  
ILO Met: Inst. Learning Objective 11  
Prerequisites: German 102, equivalent, or departmental placement.  
GER 202  Continuing in German II  

Communication on personal topics is fostered through continuing study of the structural and lexical features of the language. Emphasis is on the encounters of daily life--employment, leisure activities, living situations, family and friends.

Number of Credits: 3  
When Offered: Spring  
How Offered: Face to Face  
Prerequisites: German 201, equivalent, or departmental placement.  
GER 205  Divided City: Art & Crisis  

Number of Credits: 3  
GER 209  Special Topics  

Emphasis on developing competancy in German as used in the public forum. Issues of politics and history could be included, but two more particular topics are readily subsumed under this heading. Two sample descriptions follow; these are aligned with best practices at other institutions.

Number of Credits: 3  
Prerequisites: German 101 and 102 or permission of teh instructor. An Economic Powerhouse: German for Business The strongest economy in Europe is highly international but still calls for employees, consultants, and visitors familiar with the fundamentals of business communication in German. Emphasis on four areas: job search; the stock market; the German economy; and marketing strategies. Reading of weekly magazines, relevant newspapers, and business publications. Prerequisite: German 101 and 102 or permission of the instructor. The Greening of Germany: Environmental German Taking the lead in teh movement toward renewable and sustainable energy, Germany plans on elimination by 2050 all sources of energy that rely on fossil fuels or nuclear power. Germany leads the world in particular, in-place "green" initiatives, and much of the literature exists only in German. Areas include wind, water, geothermal, and solar power. Readings include position papers from government and industry, articles in popular science publications, and newsletters from research centers in universities and industry. Prerequisite: German 101 and 102 or permission of the instructor. Many other topics and German language specialties are possible.  
GER 270  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
GER 272  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
GER 301  Convers & Comp I  

Skill in communication on public topics and issues is gained through continuing in-depth study of German in its lexical, structural, and grammatical features. Conversations and written assignments draw on areas of public discourse- politics, social issues, religion, family, Germany, and the EU in a rapidly changing Europe.

Number of Credits: 3  
Prerequisites: German 201 and 202 or permision of the instructor.  
GER 302  Convers & Comp II  

Skill in communication on public topics and issues is gained through continuing in-depth study of German in its lexical, structural, and grammatical features. Conversations and written assignments draw on areas of public discourse- politics, social issues, religion, family, Germany, and the EU in a rapidly changing Europe.

Number of Credits: 3  
Prerequisites: German 201 and 202 or permision of the instructor.  
GER 311  Themes German Lit I  

Major themes of conflict and upheaval in German-language literature will be considered thematically. Examples include mental and physical illness; journeys into the unknown; Romanticism and its mystique; youthful rebellion and compliance; lyric poetry; the shock of Expressionism. Readigns and discussions in German.

Number of Credits: 3  
Prerequisites: German 201 and 202 or permission of the instructor.  
GER 312  Themes German Lit II  

Major themes of conflict and upheaval in German-language literature will be considered thematically. Examples include mental and physical illness; journeys into the unknown; Romanticism and its mystique; youthful rebellion and compliance; lyric poetry; the shock of Expressionism. Readigns and discussions in German.

Number of Credits: 3  
Prerequisites: German 201 and 202 or permission of the instructor.  
GER 320  Studies German Culture  

The roles of perception and consciousness emerge in these courses dealing with cultural topics in the German-speaking world. Topics can include; film; music; drama; the visual arts; Freud and his followers; the fairy tale; the Golem and other hauntings.

Number of Credits: 3  
Prerequisites: German 201 and 202 or permission of the instructor.  
GER 321  Cultural History  

The roles of perception and consciousness emerge in these courses dealing with cultural topics in the German-speaking world. Topics can include; film; music; drama; the visual arts; Freud and his followers; the fairy tale; the Golem and other hauntings.

Number of Credits: 3  
Prerequisites: German 201 and 202 or permission of the instructor.  
GER 370  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
GER 371  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
GER 376  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
GER 401  Hist German Language  

This course focuses on the German language from its beginning to the present; particularly, the development of sounds, vocabulary, and the formation of standard High German.

Number of Credits: 3  
Prerequisites: German 201 and 202 or permission of the instructor.  
GER 402  German Script  

This course examines the development of the ability to read texts in
German Script from mid-20th-century Europe to 18th-century America.
A brief history of German Script will be offered.

Number of Credits: 3  
GER 405  Medieval Lit  

Literature in German from its beginnings, with the heroic saga of teh Song of Hildebrand, through the poetry of lyricists like Oswald vn Wolkenstein adn Walther von der Vogelweide and the great Arthurian cycles by Wolfram von Eschenbach and Goffried von Strasburg. Introduction to readings in Old and Middle High German.

Number of Credits: 3  
Prerequisites: German 201 and 202 or permission of the instuctor.  
GER 421  17th & 18th Cent Lit  

The tensions of elaborate form in teh Baroque age were succeeded by simpliying impulse of teh rational Enlightenment and the triumph of scientific method, these in turn challenged by teh embrace of impulse and emotion in the age of Storm and Stress. Readings in poetry, drama, and fiction with relevant critical studies.

Number of Credits: 3  
Prerequisites: German 201 and 202 or permission of the instructor.  
GER 431  The Classical Age  

Eric Blackall argues that German emerged as a fully literary language in the age of Goethe and Schiller, still the benchmarks of all literature in German. Their work will be studied seperately and together, especially their writings on esthetics and their collaboration in the year of the Ballade, 1797. Individual projects and presentations.

Number of Credits: 3  
Prerequisites: German 201 and 202 or permission of the instructor.  
GER 441  19th Century Lit  

Polarities have dominated German culture since the religious wars of the seventeenth century. The major form of that struggle in the nineteenth century was the question of whether to accept the status quo or to rebel and reject social complacency. Biedermeier, Realism, Naturalism in an age of censorship and other progressive and regressive political currents.

Number of Credits: 3  
Prerequisites: German 201 and 202 or permission of the instructor,  
GER 444  Independent Research  

Number of Credits: 3  
GER 445  Independent Study  

Number of Credits: 1-3  
GER 451  20th Century Lit  

Well into the twenty-first century, literature and culture are torn between a need to belong, to find and maintain order in teh alrger society and a need to explore unfettered individuality, to strike out on new paths. Literature reflects the allure of both past-oriented traditionalism as renewal and resolute experimentalism in all forms of art. Authors can include Thomas Mann and Alfred Doblin; Rainer Maria Rilke and Goffried Benn; Odon von Horvath and Friedrich Durrenmatt in the twentieth century, along with later generations of experimentalists like Ernst Jandl, Ingeborg Bachmann, Reinhard Priessnitz, Gert Jonke, and Elfriede Jelinek.

Number of Credits: 3  
Prerequisites: German 201 and 202 or permission of the instructor.  
GER 470  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
GER 480  Seminar  

Topics will vary from semester to semester. A single genre, movement, or author will be the focus of each seminar. Work on a seminar essay will be ongoing throughout the semester. Topics could include: teh novella; Franz Kafka; experimental lyric poetry; Brecht and drama; the Romantic movement; Hugo von Hofmannsthal; Arthur Schnitzler; second-gernation Holocaust survivors.

Number of Credits: 3  
GER 481  Seminar  

Topics of investigation vary from semester to semester. Readings, reports,
and discussion in a selected genre (novel, drama, lyric, short story) will
be offered. A seminar paper is expected.

Number of Credits: 3  
GER 489  Independent Study  

Number of Credits: 3