Germanic Languages & Literatures

Washington University

314.935.5106; Fax: 314.935.7255; german@artsci.wustl.edu

One Brookings Drive, CB 1104, St. Louis, MO 63130

W.G. Sebald, Austerlitz

Announcements

Please contact, Empress Sanders if you have further questions regarding course schedules.

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Twin Gabriel, Deutscher 1 (Goethe), 1992, Berlin

Twin Gabriel, Deutscher 1 (Goethe), 1992, Berlin

Courses

Undergraduate Courses - Fall 2008

For more information regarding our undergraduate courses, please contact Empress Sanders, Undergraduate Coordinator, or Matthew Erlin, Director of Undergraduate Studies.

The course listings below are also available as a download.

  • GER 100D CONTINUING GERMAN FOR STUDENTS WITH HIGH SCHOOL GERMAN Builds on students? previous knowledge of German language and culture, reviewing and reinforcing the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in cultural contexts with special emphasis on communicative competence. In addition to the regular class meetings, students sign up after the semester begins for a once-weekly subsection (time to be arranged). Prerequisite, placement by examination and at least two years of high school German, or permission of instructor. Students who complete this course successfully may enter GER 102D or 290D. Credit 3 units. MWF 10:00-11:00; Cupples I, Room 215. Staff. Subsections: A Tu 10:00-11:00; Cupples I, Room 207. Course Website
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  • GER 101D BASIC GERMAN: CORE COURSE I Introductory program; no previous German required. Develops the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in cultural contexts. Emphasis on communicative competence. In addition to the regular class meetings, students should sign up for a twice-weekly subsection. Students who complete this course successfully should enter German 102D or 290D. Credit 5 units. 1. MthruTh 10:00-11:00 Staff; Eads Hall, Room 203; 2. MthruTh 12:00-1:00; Cupples I, Room 218. Russo. Subsections: A TBA; B TBA; C TBA Course Website
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  • GER 102D BASIC GERMAN: CORE COURSE II Continuation of GER 100D or 101D. In addition to the regular class meetings, students should sign up for a twice-weekly subsection. Prerequisite, GER 100D, 101D, the equivalent, or placement by examination. Credit 5 units. 1 MthruTh 10:00-11:00; Lopata Hall, Room 302. Staff; 2 MthruTh 12:00-1:00; Cupples I, Room 216. Staff. Subsections: A TBA; B TBA Course Website
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  • GER 210D INTERMEDIATE GERMAN: CORE COURSE III Continuation of GER 102D. Reading and discussion in German of short literary and non-literary texts combined with an intensive grammar review. Further development of writing skills. In addition to the regular class meetings, students sign up after the semester begins for a subsection (time to be arranged). Prerequisite, GER 102D, the equivalent, or placement by examination. Students who complete this course successfully should enter GER 301D or 313. Credit 4 units. 1 MWF 10:00-11:00; Eads Hall, Room 205. Staff; 2 MWF 12:00-1:00; Eads Hall, Room 210. Layher; Subsections: A TuTh 10:00-11:00; Lopata Hall, Room 103. B TuTh 12:00-1:00; Duncker Hall, Room 101.
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  • GER 301D ADVANCED GERMAN: CORE COURSE IV Discussion of literary and non-literary texts combined with an intensive grammar review. Systematic introduction to the expressive functions of German with an emphasis on spoken and written communication. In addition to the regular class meetings, students should sign up for a twice-weekly subsection. Prerequisite, GER 210D, 290D, the equivalent, or placement by examination. Students who complete this course successfully should enter GER 302D. Credit 4 units. 1 MWF 10:00-11:00; Cupples I, Room 207. Staff; MWF 12:00-1:00; Eads Hall, Room 102. Erlin; Subsections: A TuTh 10:00-11:00; Lopata House, Room 22. B TuTh 12:00-1:00; Eads Hall, Room 205. C TBA
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  • GER 302D ADVANCED GERMAN: CORE COURSE V Continuation of GER 301D. Refinement and expansion of German communication skills (speaking, listening, writing, reading), deepening understanding of German grammatical structures, acquisition of more sophisticated and varied vocabulary, introduction to stylistics through discussion and analysis of literary and non-literary texts. In addition to the regular class meetings, students should sign up for a twice-weekly subsection. Prerequisite, GER 301D, the equivalent, or placement by examination. Students completing this course successfully may enter the 400 level. Credit 4 units. 1 MWF 12:00-1:00; McDonnell Hall, Room 361. McGlothlin; Subsections: A TuTh 12:00-1:00; Lopata Hall, Room 103. B TBA Course Website
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  • GER 313 CONVERSATIONAL GERMAN Practice in speaking and vocabulary development in cultural contexts. Prerequisite, GER 210D, 290D, the equivalent, or placement by examination. Two hours a week. May be repeated for credit. Credit 1 unit. Same as U14 German 313.1 TuTh 7:00-8:00; Eads Hall, Room 112. Staff
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  • GER 328 REVERSE ANGLES: THE FILMS OF MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI, JEAN-LUC GODARD, AND WIM WENDERS (Home-based in Film & Media Studies) See listing below.
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  • GER 340C GERMAN LITERATURE AND THE MODERN ERA Introduction in English to German writers from 1750 to the present. Discussion will focus on questions like the role of outsiders in society, the human psyche, technology, war, gender, the individual and mass culture, modern and postmodern sensibilities as they are posed in predominantly literary texts and in relation to the changing political and cultural faces of Germany over the past 250 years. Readings will include works in translation by some of the most influential figures of the German tradition, such as Goethe, Nietzsche, Freud, Kafka, Thomas Mann, Brecht, and Christa Wolf. Open to freshmen, non-majors, and majors. Required for admission to 400-level courses (except German 404 and 408D). Qualifies for major or minor credit when taken in conjunction with one-hour discussion section in German. The discussion section provides an introduction to critical German vocabulary and is open to students with prior knowledge of German (210D or equivalent, or placement by examination). Credit 3 or 4 units. Same as L79 EuSt 3400, L97 3402. TuTh 1:00-2:30; Eads Hall, Room 116. Tatlock. Discussion Sections:: A: In German; TBA. B: In German; TBA
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The following classes will be conducted in German unless otherwise indicated. Prerequisites for all courses conducted on the 400 level (except GER 404 and 408D):

1. Students must complete GER 301D and GER 302D or the equivalent, either by placement, examination, or permission of the instructor;

2. GER 340C is required for admission to all 400-level courses (except GER 404 and GER 408D)

NOTE: GER 404 (offered fall semester only) is recommended for students planning to participate in the Washington University Overseas Program in Tübingen, Germany. German majors are required upon their return to take at least one 400 level course for each semester spent in Tübingen, other than GER 497/498.

  • GER 404 GERMANY TODAY Introduction to the history, politics, and culture of contemporary Germany (1945 to the present). Topics include the cultural construction of identity in post-unified Germany; European integration and the post-wall economy; the German constitution, electoral system and current elections; current debates and controversies; political parties and leading political figures; the role of literature, film, music, the visual arts, media and popular culture; the role of universities. Discussion, readings, and papers in German. Recommended for students interested in the Overseas Program in Tübingen, Germany. Prerequisite, GER 302D (may be taken concurrently with GER 404), or permission of instructor. Credit 3 units. Same as L79 EuSt 404 and L97 IS 4040. TuTh 10:00-11:30; Eads Hall, Room 115. Schindler
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  • GER 4101 GERMAN LITERATURE 1750-1830: HEINRICH VON KLEIST: RESISTENCE AND LOVE Some two hundred years ago Heinrich von Kleist died, but his legacy in literature and thought can still be felt today. In his time he was like Kafka, Kleist’s ardent admirer – only known to a small circle of literary friends. It was the expressionist generation, that, after the First World War, understood the social displacement and psychological dislocation/homelessness of the characters in Kleist’s essays, stories and dramas. Ever since, the reputation of Kleist as one of the premier European writers has been growing internationally. In addition to questions of the aesthetics of narration and drama in the case of Kleist, we will study the author in the literary, philosophical, and art historical as well as in the political context of his time, considering the influences of Enlightenment, Classicism, and Romanticism as well as the impact of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. Important topics in the discussions will be the love relationships of Kleist’s heroes and their resistance against oppression. The suspense of Kleist’s writings is, to a high degree, a result of this peculiar interplay of love and resistance. Readings, discussions, and papers in German. 3 credits. MW 4:00-5:30; Eads Hall, Room 216. Lützeler GER 408D Library Resources Website
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  • GER 497 INDEPENDENT WORK FOR SENIOR HONORSStudents investigate a topic chosen in conjunction with their advisor on which they will research an Honors thesis. Emphasis on independent study and writing. Open to students with previous course work in German at the 400 level, an overall 3.0 GPA and at least a B+ average in advanced work in German. Prerequisite, senior standing and permission of the undergraduate advisor. Credit 3 units.
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  • GER 498 INDEPENDENT WORK FOR SENIOR HONORS Continuation of GER 497. Completion of the thesis. The quality of the thesis will determine whether the student will receive credit only or Honors in German for this work. Prerequisite, GER 497. Credit 3 units.
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The following courses may be of interest to undergraduate German majors and minors. Students considering these courses may take them as electives BUT NOT FOR GERMAN MAJOR OR MINOR CREDIT. The German Department does, however, encourage students to take these and similar courses to round out their education in literature and culture.

  • L93 Hum 205C TEXT AND TRADITION: THE RISE OF THE EUROPEAN STATE Through a wide sampling of Western literary works, the course explores themes and tones characteristic of the rise of modern consciousness from the Renaissance forward: we trace debates on aesthetics, the transformation of autobiography, writers' persistent distrust of books, and their relentless assaults on perversions of cultural idealism. Books by such authors as Cervantes, Diderot, Rousseau, Goethe, Balzac, Dostoevsky, Twain, Freud, Kafka, and Beckett. Same as L14 Eng 205C and L16 Comp Lit 255C. Preference given to TEXT AND TRADITION and IPH students. Credit 3 units. TuTh 11:30-1:00 Erlin
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  • L16 CL 494 SEMINAR: TRUTH OR FICTION? AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL FICTION AND FICTIONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY Examining how, in the last decade, literary and popular media have focused on several scandals involving fraudulent autobiographies (including the fake Holocaust memoir Fragments, by Benjamin Wilkomirski, and James Frey's fabricated account of drug addiction, A Million Little Pieces), this course raises important questions about the borders of the literary genre of autobiography. We will examine a variety of 20th-century narratives and films that self-consciously transgress the boundary between fiction and autobiography and violate the conventions of the "autobiographical pact." We will consider how these issues relate to the construction of the self through writing, the reliability of memory, and notions of authenticity in self-representation. Works to include modernist and postmodernist texts by Roland Barthes (Roland Barthes), Raymond Federman (The Voice in the Closet), Franz Kafka (Letter to the Father), Imre Kertész (Fatelessness), Maxine Hong Kingston (The Woman Warrior), Marcel Proust (Swann’s Way), Henry Roth (Mercy of a Rude Stream), Art Spiegelman (Maus), Gertrude Stein (The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas), and Benjamin Wilkomirski (Fragments); and films Europa Europa and I’m Not There. Same as U98 494. Credit 3 units. MW 2:30-4:00 McGlothlin
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  • L21 GER 328 REVERSE ANGLES: THE FILMS OF MICHAELANGELO ANTONIONI, JEAN-LUC GODARD, AND WIM WENDERS (Home-based in Film & Media Studies) The films of Italian director Antonioni (The Adventure, The Eclipse, Blow UP, The Passenger), of Swiss filmmaker Godard (Breathless, Alphaville, Pierrot Le Fou, Weekend) and of German-born Wenders (Alice in the Cities, The American Friend, Paris, Texas, Wings of Desire) have had a major influence on international art and avant-garde filmmaking since the 1960s. While their work clearly differs in style, narrative preference, and political orientation, they all share a highly self-reflexive interest in probing the relationship of cinematic images, sounds, and stories. Moreover, in spite of their different cultural backgrounds and institutional working bases, all three had a profound influence on each other, resulting in collaborations such as Beyond the Clouds (1996) and Berlin Cinema (1997). This seminar explores and compares the work of Antonioni, Godard, and Wenders. It will closely examine their most important films, situate their work in historical and film historical contexts, and theorize their concern with the aesthetics of cinematic representations, the politics of storytelling, and the vicissitudes of human existence. REQUIRED SCREENING TIME: Wednesday at 7 pm. Same FMS 458, Art History 328, English 4502, Comp Lit 4585, EuSt 458, and IS 459. Credit 3 units. TuTh 11:30-1:00; Life Sciences, Room 118. Koepnick + Screening: W 7:00 · Course website
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Germanic Languages & Literatures

314.935.5106; Fax: 314.935.7255; german@artsci.wustl.edu

One Brookings Drive, CB 1104, St. Louis, MO 63130