German Studies (GRMN)

Critical Questions and Big Ideas in German Studies An exploration of significant questions and concepts, beliefs and creative visions, theories and discoveries in German Literary and Cultural Studies and the Humanities for first-year students. Although topics vary, the courses also seek to improve students' communication skills beyond the written word. Sample topics might include: Friendship, The Idea of Justice from Ancient Times to the Present, What is Literature?

Training in grammar, pronunciation, listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. All scheduled sessions associated with the course are required.

Training in grammar, pronunciation, listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. All scheduled sessions associated with the course are required.

An exploration of a specific topic in German Studies. A grade of C- or better fulfills the COLL 150 requirement. Although topics vary, the courses emphasize academic writing skills, reading and analysis of texts, and discussion. Sample topics might include: Responses to the Holocaust, Bombing Germany, The Fairy Tale, Expressionism in Literature, Art and Film.

Training in grammar, pronunciation, listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. All scheduled sessions associated with the course are required.

Readings of German cultural and literary texts. Training in pronunciation, speaking, listening comprehension, reading and writing. All scheduled sessions associated with the course are required.

Includes practical training in everyday life skills, abroad cultural sensitivity and the ways to get the most out of study abroad. Required of all participants in William & Mary summer study abroad programs in German-speaking countries.

An intensive reading and grammar course focusing on canonical children’s books including texts by the Grimms, Kaestner, Ende and others. Students will read several children’s books, write short essays and give oral presentations.

A course beyond the College’s foreign language requirement proficiency level stressing the cultural and linguistic notions of oral discourse in developing communicative ability in the language. Practice in simulated foreign cultural contexts through discussion and student presentations on themes in contemporary German life.

Introduction to the methodologies of German Studies. The course examines the construction of culture and the ways it is studied.

This course will provide students with the advanced German language skills and the intercultural knowledge necessary to understand the world of commerce from the German perspective.

A chronological overview of the history of German cinema. Screenings outside of class. Lecture and discussion.

In English. An examination of the most significant fairy tales, myths, and legends in German culture, and the role they have played in the evolution of national and cultural identity.

Taught in German. Topics will be indicated in the schedule of classes.

In this course, we will read a handful of “classic” plays from German literary history, research the numerous and often controversial productions that these plays see even today, and realize how large of a presence the theater has occupied, and continues to occupy, in German cultural life and national identity. Careful analysis of historical context, dramaturgy, and the most important historical performances of the plays. An important component of this class will be your own performances and video tapings of select scenes, where alongside your analysis you will also hone your speaking and pronunciation skills. Authors may include Lessing, Goethe, Schiller, Kleist, Büchner, Wedekind, Schnitzler, von Horvath, Bauer, Bernhard. Conducted in German.

This course presents the most important elements of Germanic civilization and is designed as an introductory step to other 300-level courses. It includes illustrated lectures, readings and films.

This is an advanced language course for students who wish to further and deepen their competency in German. Difficult aspects of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics will be covered. Advanced stylistics, levels of discourse, and methods of formulation will be practiced through close analysis of different types of texts and essay writing.

Examination of important German philosophical texts 1670 - 1830, which address such questions as the public vs. the private, the validity of moral and aesthetic judgment, the claims of interpretation, and the nature of political power. Students with advanced language skills, with the consent of instructor, may take a 4th credit for reading and discussions (one additional hour per week) in the original language.

Examination of important German philosophical texts 1830 to the present which address such questions as the validity of moral and aesthetic judgment, the claims of interpretation, the nature of political power and the individual’s relation to political power. Students with advanced language skills, with the consent of instructor, may take a 4th credit for reading and discussions (one additional hour per week) in the original language.

An introduction to German literary studies and the history of modern German literature from 1750 to the present through the close reading and analysis of selected texts in their historical-cultural contexts. Authors to be considered include Lessing, Schiller, Goethe, Hoffmann, Kleist, Büchner, Heine, Droste-Hülshoff, Hauptmann, Hofmannsthal, Kafka, Celan, Grass, and Bachmann.

Heimat,“roughly translated as “home” or "homeland,"is a highly contested concept in German-speaking culture.For some, it evokes a sense of belonging and connection, while others associate it with the National Socialist past and contemporary modes of exclusion. This course will explore how Heimat has been constructed, critiqued, and reconceptualizedin a variety of contexts. Topics include regional and nationalidentities, relationships with nature, immigration and exile, and the genres of Heimat literature and film.

Thinking, imagining and filming the city requires preliminary theoretical work (Mumford, Lefebvre, Benjamin, Agamben). Each iteration of this course will then examine issues of politics, culture, race, gender, class, temporality, individuality, nationalism and national identity through an in-depth analysis of one or more cities.

In this course we will read selected texts about or from German artists, politicians and thinkers who lived and worked in exile. Each instructor will organize the course around certain groups of exiles and/or specific questions raised by exile.

Although Germany's colonial empire was relatively short-lived (1884-1919), it had enduring repercussions for both the colonized regions and German society. This course takes a cultural studies approach to Germany's violent colonial history and its aftermath, examining a variety of texts and cultural objects from the 19th century to the present. Topics include German conceptions of race and citizenship, indigenous resistance, the genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples, as well as contemporary debates about public memory and restitution. Taught in English. Students with advanced German language skills, with the consent of instructor, may take a 4-credit section which includes reading and discussions (one additional hour per week) in the original language

Topic will be indicated in the schedule of classes.  Students with advanced language skills, with the consent of instructor, may take a 4th credit for reading and discussions (one additional hours per week) in the original language.

Taught in German. Topic will be indicated in the schedule of classes.

Independent research conducted abroad, either independently, or on a study-abroad program.

This course serves as the capstone experience in the German Studies major. Each seminar is organized around a specific topic that will change each year. Students will undertake a research project, write an extensive research paper, and present their projects to a general audience. Taught in English, with an additional mandatory credit–hour in German for seniors taking the course as their senior capstone event. Qualified non-seniors may take the course with permission of the instructor. Course may be repeated for credit when topics differ.

Taught in English. Topic will be indicated on the Schedule of Classes, and will vary.

This course is designed to permit an in-depth study in an area of literature not available in current course offerings. A written petition to the instructor and approval of the Coordinator for German are required before registration.

A mentored teaching internship experience for students to work closely with a faculty member in teaching either a language or content course.

This is an advanced seminar that investigates both the theory and the genre of detective fiction in the German-speaking world and exposes the student to specific practices and methodologies of German Studies. Authors to be discussed includee Dürrenmatt, Brecht, Biermann, Arjouni, Gercke, Rüster, and others.

What was the German Enlightenment, and how did it differ from its European counterparts? How did key Enlightenment figures seek to unify science, religion, aesthetics, politics and morality? Readings from Leibniz, Wolff, Thomasius, Mendelssohn, Nicolai, Lessing, Herder, Kant as well as the critical reception by Marx, Hegel, Adorno and Habermas.

Pre-Req: 300 level German course or permission of instructor. An investigation of Berlin and Vienna at the turn of the 19th century, with a focus on the notion of the modern. Readings of literary texts, dramas, art movements and scientific/philosophical movements.

What was the Weimar Republic, and why did it ultimately fail? This course offers a close look at Germany in the 1920’s through reading the works of writers, artists, journalists and filmmakers from the only German republic before Nazism.

This class investigates the former German Democratic Republic and the unification of the two Germanies as they are represented in official government publications as well as in literature and film. Readings include texts by Christa Wolf, Stefan Heym and films such as ‘Run, Lola Run’ and ‘Good-Bye, Lenin.’

How is the Holocaust represented in German literature and film? Is this a Jewish or a German story? How do German Jews and non-Jews write about it? We will read several important literary texts, poems and films which attempt to work through this terrible period in German history.

A workshop for language or cultural enhancement through content studies in German.