Spring 2024 Tentative Class Descriptions
GER 3. Elementary German.
Continuation of German 2.
GER 6. Intermediate German.
Continuation of German 5.
GER 43A/ C LIT 43A. Dreaming Revolutions: Marx, Nietzsche, Freud
Auer
Introduction to the revolutionary theories of Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud. Explorations of three authors whose writing has profoundly changed our world..
GER 101C. Advanced German.
Kelsey White
Speaking, listening, reading, and writing on an advanced level, while exploring contemporary German culture. Systematic review of grammar material. Additional focus on vocabulary building. Written and oral discussions based on newspaper articles, literary texts, German films, and websites. Topics will vary by quarter.
GER 108. Media and Politics
Fabian Offert
In the wake of reunification, Germany has struggled to come to terms with its changing political identity and pressing cultural issues, including Germany's contested status as a "nation of immigrants," extremism, environmental problems, and government surveillance. A variety of media actively engage with these issues, particularly within youth culture. This course analyzes how established and emerging media (literature, music, television, film, video, blogs, etc) shape and respond to the challenges of the day. Taught in German.
GER 114. Business German
Michael Hofmann
German is a key language in the European Union and the developing economies of Central and Eastern Europe. Speaking German greatly improves chances of success in today's global economy. Course is an introduction to the language typically used in business settings within German-speaking countries. It will better prepare students for business-related situations and will provide them a clearer understanding of German corporate culture by covering topics such as the application process, Emails, phone conversations, meetings, business trips.
GER 163. Digital Visual Studies
Fabian Offert
In the past ten years, the scope of the digital humanities has broadened to include the visual world: "distant reading" became "distant viewing". This visual turn has not only facilitated the digital transformation of traditional disciplines like art history but has also introduced a new set of media-technological questions into the digital humanities discourse: questions concerning the nature of digital images, and the modalities of machine seeing. This course serves as an introduction to the emerging discipline of "digital visual studies" that investigates these questions. Participants will acquire skills in the analysis and critique of digital visual culture and learn to use contemporary digital tools to explore the visual world.
German 185: Science and Technology in European Philosophy
Christina Vagt
Introduces various positions from the history and present of European philosophy that speak to questions of science and technology. Readings may include Aristotle, Descartes, Kant, Nietzsche, Freud, Heidegger, Arendt, Bachelard, Koyré, Caillois, Foucault, Canguilhem, Blumenberg, Serres, Malabou, Stiegler. Topics may include: machine theories, cybernetics, structuralism in science, techniques of simulation, artificial intelligence.
GER 190. Proseminar.
Elisabeth Weber
Intensive advanced seminar on topic to be determined on a quarterly basis. Taught in German.