DEPARTMENT OF GERMAN STUDIES
FALL 2009 COURSES
German Placement Exams
Basic German Placement Exam
The German Placement exam is scheduled for Saturday, August 22, 2009, at 3:00
p.m., in the computer language lab in Language Resource Center (near Beebe Lake).
The German placement make-up exam is scheduled for Tuesday, September 1, 2009,
at 7:00 p.m., in the computer language lab in Language Resource Center (near
Beebe Lake).
German CASE Exam
Monday, August 24, 2009, at 9:00 a.m., in 142 Goldwin Smith Hall.
Please contact Gunhild Lischke (gl15@cornell.edu;
255-0725) if you have any questions.
SCROLL DOWN OR SELECT FROM THE FOLLOWING:
FIRST-YEAR
WRITING SEMINARS.
3 credits. No knowledge of German is expected.
GERST 1105 LANGUAGE OF ALCHEMY: THE ROMANTIC TALE
TR 10:10-11:25, A. Glazova
Alchemy, the precursor of modern chemistry, was a scientific endeavor which
attempted to express the rules of nature in terms of forces binding and separating
the elements. This science of combining chemical substances claimed validity
in many areas of knowledge and creativity. Literature has been widely receptive
for the influence of alchemy. Alchemical terminology and its insights (especially
mediated through the writings of Paracelsus) were particularly vividly received
by authors of German Romanticism and became transformed into literary paradigms
in their writings. In this seminar, we will read texts which invoke alchemy
and analyze their relation to the natural as well as supernatural in the sphere
of human interaction. We will read works by Goethe, Novalis, Hoffmann and also
more recent texts such as Hofmannsthal's "Andreas" and Paul Celan's
poems "Solve" and "Coagula." A number of short essay assignments
will help the students to improve their writing skills.
GERST
1109 (formerly GERST 109) FROM FAIRY TALES TO THE UNCANNY: EXPLORING THE ROMANTIC
CONSCIOUSNESS
Seminar 101, MW 8:40-9:55, A. Rotaru
Seminar 102, TR 1:25-2:40, K. Nousek
This seminar will explore a variety of themes (doubles, madness, incest, cyborgs,
alchemy) expressing a fascination with the paranormal, the supernatural, and
the uncanny in the German folktale and its transformations in Romantic fiction
and beyond. Reading and writing assignments range from fairy tales of the Brothers
Grimm and short narratives by Romantic writers (e.g., E. T. A. Hoffmann, Tieck,
Kleist) to other traditions, such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, tales
of Edgar Allan Poe, and modern cinematic works by both Disney and Hollywood.
GERST
1170 (formerly
GERST 170) MARX, NIETZSCHE, FREUD
Seminar 101, MWF 11:15-12:05, B. McBride
Seminar 102, MWF 12:20-1:10, J. Schellhammer
To understand—and criticize—contemporary discourses in the core
disciplines of the social sciences, the humanities, and even the natural sciences
it is necessary to have a basic grasp of Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud. This seminar
introduces: (1) these three revolutionaries who have exerted a massive influence
globally on modern and postmodern thought and practice; and (2) key terms and
analytic models of political economy, philosophy, and psychoanalysis, including
the differences and intersection points among them. Focus is on short texts
or short passages from longer texts, essential to understand their work and
to produce a critical analysis of contemporary world society, politics and culture.
The core problem: Do alternative ways of thinking and acting exist in opposition
to how we always already think and act?
GERST
1210 EXPLORING GERMAN CONTEXTS I
4 credits.
Intended for students with no prior experience in German or
with an LPG score below 37 or an SAT II score below 370.
Lectures: T 11:15-12:05 or 12:20-1:10, G. Lischke, Coordinator
Discussion 201, MWRF 10:10-11:00, G. Lischke
Discussion 202 MWRF 11:15-12:05, N. Rodriguez
Discussion 203 MWRF 12:20-1:10, M. Hayakawa
Discussion 204 MWRF 1:25-2:15, K. Kaakinen
Students develop basic abilities in listening, reading, writing and speaking
German in meaningful contexts through interaction in small group activities.
Course material including videos, short articles, poems, and songs provide students
with varied perspectives on German language, culture and society.
GERST
1220 EXPLORING GERMAN CONTEXTS II
4 credits.
Prerequisite: German 1210 or an LPG score of 37-44 or an SAT
II score of 370-450.
Lecture: R 11:15-12:05 or 12:20-1:10, G. Matthias, Coordinator
Discussion 201, MTWF 10:10-11:00, G. Matthias
Discussion 202, MTWF 12:20-1:10, A. Phillips
Students
build on their basic knowledge of German by engaging in intensive and more sustained
interaction in the language. Students learn more advanced language structures
allowing them to express more complex ideas in German. Discussions, videos and
group activities address topics of relevance to the contemporary German-speaking
world .
GERST
1230 EXPANDING THE GERMAN DOSSIER
4 credits.
Limited to students who have previously studied German and
have an LPG score of 45-55 or an SAT II score of 460-580.
Seminar 101, MTWF 10:10-11:00, A. Mascan
Seminar 202, MTWF 11:15-12:05, G. Matthias
Students continue to develop their language skills by discussing a variety of
cultural topics and themes in the German-speaking world. The focus of the course
is on expanding vocabulary, reviewing major grammar topics, developing effective
reading strategies, improving listening comprehension, and working on writing
skills. Work in small groups increases each student's opportunity to speak in
German and provides for greater feedback and individual help.
GERST
2000 GERMANY: INTERCULTURAL CONTEXT
3 credits. (CA)
Prerequisite: GERST 1230, LPG scores of 56-64, or SAT II score
of 590-680 or placement by examination. Satisfies Option 1.
Seminar 101, MWF 10:10-11:00, G. Gemmell
Seminar 202, MWF 1:25-2:15, G. Matthias
A content-based language course on the intermediate level. Students examine
important aspects of present-day German culture while expanding and strengthening
their reading, writing and speaking skills in German. Materials for each topic
are selected from a variety of sources (fiction, newspapers, magazines, and
the Internet). Units address a variety of topics including studying at a German
university, modern literature, Germany online, and Germany at the turn of the
century. Oral and written work, individual and group presentations emphasize
accurate and idiomatic expression in German. Successful completion of the course
enables students to continue with more advanced courses in language, literature
and culture.
GERST
2040 WORKING WITH TEXTS
3 credits. (CA)
Prerequisite: GERST 2000, or placement by examination (placement score and CASE).
Satisfies Option 1.
MWF 12:20-1:10, B. McBride
Emphasis on improving oral and written expression of idiomatic German. Enrichment
of vocabulary and appropriate use of language in different conversational contexts
and written genres. Material consists of readings in contemporary prose, articles
on current events, videos and group projects. Topics include: awareness of culture,
dependence of meaning on perspective, German news broadcasts, reading German
newspapers on the Internet.
GERST
2060 GERMAN IN BUSINESS CULTURE 3
credits. (CA)
Taught in German. Prerequisites: GERST 2000, or placement by examination. Students
without previous knowledge of Business German are welcome. Satisfies Option
1.
MWF
1:25-2:15, G. Lischke
Learn German and understand German business culture at the same time. This is
a German language course that examines the German economic structure and its
major components: industry, trade unions, the banking system, and the government.
Participants will learn about the business culture in Germany and how to be
effective in a work environment, Germany's role within the European Union, the
role of the Bundesbank, the importance of trade and globalization, and current
economic issues in Germany. The materials consist of authentic documents from
the German business world, TV footage, and a Business German textbook. At the
end of the course, the external Goethe Institut exam "Deutsch für
den Beruf" will be offered.
GERST
3010 SCENES OF THE CRIME: GERMAN MYSTERY AND DETECTIVE FICTION 4
credits. (LA)
Taught in German. Prerequisites: GERST 2020, GERST 2040,
GERST 2060, or equivalent or permission of instructor, or placement by examination.
This course may be counted towards the requirement for 3000-level language work
in the major.
MWF
10:10-11:00, B. Buettner
An exploration of German crime, detective, and mystery writing in texts ranging
from the early nineteenth century to contemporary fiction. Authors to be studied
may include: Kleist, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Dürrenmatt, Schatten, Süskind,
Handke, Ören, Arjouni, Ani, and Glauser. In addition to exercising hermeneutic
skills (and, by extension, that gray matter of which Sherlock Holmes and Hercule
Poirot were so fond), this course aims at improving proficiency in aural and
reading comprehension, as well as speaking and writing skills, with emphasis
on vocabulary expansion, advanced grammar review, and stylistic development.
Recommended to students interested in a combined introduction to literature
and high-level language training.
GERST
3210 AFTER THE FIRES: DIVIDED GERMANY 1945-1989
4 credits. (CA)
Taught
in German. Prerequisites: GERST 2020,GERST 2040, GERST 2060 or equivalent or
permission of instructor.
TR 11:40-12:55, L. Adelson
Introduction to the history and culture of postwar Germany, the development
and unification of the two Germanys, and their societies. The emphasis is on
cultural and social institutions as well as political and intellectual debates.
Focal topics include responses to the Nazi past, Germany and Europe, protest
movements, migration patterns, women, mass media, and popular culture. We will
consider contemporary Germany in relationship to both its postwar past and a
newly European future. Some films will also be shown.
GERST
4050 INTROUDCTION TO MEDIEVAL GERMAN LITERATURE I
4 credits. (LA)
Prerequisites:
reading knowledge of German
MWF 9:05-9:55, A. Groos
After a brief introduction to basic aspects of the medieval universe, ranging
from cosmology to psychology, reading will focus on introductory texts of late
twelfth-century courtly culture. Using the predominant genres of aristocratic
self-representation, the heroic epic (Nibelungenlied), Arthurian romance
(Hartmann's Iwein), and Minnesang, discussions will investigate the
court as the locus of conflicting forces in the rise of the secular culture
in Germany, examining such issues as the first vernacular construction of social
and sexual identity, generational conflicts within the communal-dynastic order,
the rise of individualism (the knightly quest), and subjectivity (the love lyric).
GERST
GERST 4100 SENIOR SEMINAR: WHAT IS POETRY?
4 credits. (CA)
Prerequisite: Any course at 3000-level taught in German or
equivalent or permission of instructor. Reasings and discussions in German.
TR 10:10-11:25, P. Gilgen
The question posed in the title of this course is indeed
its guiding thread: What is poetry? What makes a series of words into
a poetic utterance? What does it mean to speak poetically? The attempt to answer
these questions will proceed on two levels: On the one hand, we will read in
depth a series of poems written in German from the Middle Ages to the present
(with a strong emphasis on contemporary texts). On the other hand, we will also
focus on poetics and models of intertextuality and self-reference. To this purpose,
we will read a number of theoretical texts that deal with questions of poetics
and poetic language. Authors may include: Giorgio Agamben, Ingeborg Bachmann,
Roland Barthes, Paul Celan, Jonathan Culler, Jacques Derrida, Oswald Egger,
Hans-Jost Frey, Hugo Friedrich, Martin Heidegger, Friedrich Hölderlin,
Roman Jakobson, Leo Spitzer, Emil Staiger, Paul Valéry, Peter Waterhouse,
Ludwig Wittgenstein et al.
GERST
4150 MARX, FREUD, NIETZXCHE
(also COML 4250 and GOVT 4735) 4 credits. (CA) #
TR 11:40-12:55, G. Waite
This is an introduction to the three 'master thinkers' who have helped determine
the discourses of modernity and post-modernity. We consider basic aspects of
their work: (a) specific critical and historical analyses; (b) theoretical and
methodological writings; (c) programs and manifestos; and (d) styles of argumentation,
documentation, and persuasion. This also entails an introduction, for non-specialists,
to essential problems of political economy, continental philosophy, psychology,
and literary and cultural criticism. Second, we compare the underlying assumptions
and the interpretive yields of the various disciplines and practices founded
by Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud: historical materialism and communism, existentialism
and power-knowledge analysis, and psychoanalysis, respectively. We also consider
how these three writers have been fused into a single constellation, 'Marx-Nietzsche-Freud,'
and how they have been interpreted by others, including L. Althusser, A. Badiou,
A. Camus, H. Cixous, G. Deleuze, J. Derrida, M. Foucault, H.-G. Gadamer, M.
Heidegger, L. Irigaray, K. Karatani, J. Lacan, P. Ricoeur, L. Strauss, S. Zizek.
This is a lecture course but there will be plenty of time for discussion. There
are no prerequisites.
GERST
4310 THEORY OF THEATRE AND DRAMA (also THETR 4310/6310)
4 credits. (LA)
R 2:30-4:25, H. Yan
This course is a survey of dramatic theory and theories of theatrical representation
from Aristotle to the present. Although covering a span of over two thousand
years, the point will be to focus our analysis on a smaller number of key representative
texts from the European, American, and postcolonial traditions. In so doing
we will seek to develop a close reading of each text, while at the same time
exploring both their reception within the context in which they emerged as well
as their importance in the ever-evolving process of the institutions of theatre
and drama over greater periods of time. Participants will be expected to read
carefully the primary and background texts assigned for each session and come
to class prepared to raise and answer questions about the material at hand.
GERST
4510 INDEPENDENT STUDY 1-4 credits each term.
Prerequisite: permission of instructor.
Hours to be arranged. Staff.
GERST
4530 HONORS RESEARCH
4 credits.
Hours to be arranged. Staff.
DUTCH
1210 ELEMENTARY DUTCH 4 credits.
Will not fullfill Arts College Language requirements.
MTWF 12:20-1:10, C. Hosea
Intensive practice in listening, speaking, reading, and writing basic Dutch
in meaningful contexts. The course, which is taught in Dutch, also offers insight
into Netherlandic language, culture, and society worldwide.
DUTCH
2030 INTERMEDIATE DUTCH
3 credits.
Prerequisite: Dutch 122 or permission of instructor.
TBA, C. Hosea
Improved control of Dutch grammatical structures and vocabulary through guided
conversation, discussion, compositions, reading, and film, drawing on all Dutch-speaking
cultures. Taught in Dutch.
DUTCH
4500 INDEPENDENT STUDY
1-4 credits.
TBA, C. Hosea
SWED
1210 INTRODUCTORY SWEDISH 4
credits.
Will not fullfill Arts College Language requirements.
MW 8:40-9:55 and F 9:05-9:55, C. Alm
Participants gain fundamental Swedish language proficiency and functional
communication skills, as well as cultural insights into Sweden and its
Nordic context. Oral and written expression and skills in listening and
reading are developed in an interactive immersion classroom, enriched by a
textbook, additive multimedia and textual materials, as well as practical
activities using web tools. Brief podcasts introduce issues of current
interest, and participants explore Swedish or Scandinavian language,
culture and society in guided portfolios. Intended for students without
prior experience in Swedish.
SWED
2030 INTERMEDIATE SWEDISH 3
credits.
Prerequisite: Swedish 1220 or equivalent Swedish-language
background.
MWF 1:25-2:15, C. Alm
By studying the Swedish language alongside cultural and societal content,
participants further enhance their skills of the forms and functions of
Swedish at the intermediate level, while enriching stylistic and
expressive variation in their use of Swedish and strengthening their
understanding of Sweden and its Nordic context. Topics of exploration and
discussion may include Norse mythology, the Swedish popular music
industry, history of the Scandinavian languages, corporate practices in
Swedish-speaking contexts, contemporary diversification of Sweden, and
Swedish design. An interactive classroom that fully immerses participants
in the Swedish language is combined with reading a novel, media, film,
music, selections from factual and literary texts (including Norwegian and
Danish samples in original version), web activities, and virtual
fieldwork. Participants are given opportunities to develop specialized
interests in language and culture creatively in an online collaborative
writing project and in guided portfolios.
SWED
4500 INDEPENDENT STUDY 1-4 credits.
TBA, C. Alm
SPECIAL INTEREST COURSES FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS
GERST
4070 DEUTSCH ALS FREMDSPRACHE / TEACHING GERMAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
4 credits.
Intended primarily for graduate students preparing to teach
German.
TBA, G. Lischke
GERST
6310
READING ACADEMIC GERMAN I
3 credits.
Intended for graduate students with no prior experience in
German.
MWF 9:05-9:55, C. Gelderloos
This course emphasizes the acquisition of reading skills in German, using a
variety of prepared and authentic texts. The follow-up course, GERST 632, Reading
Academic German II, is offered in the spring only.
GRADUATE
COURSES
GERST 6131 GERMAN PHILOSOPHICAL TEXTS
(also PHIL 6030) variable 1-4 credits.
TBA, M. Kosch
Reading,
translation, and English-language discussion of important texts in the German
philosophical tradition. Readings for a given term are chosen in consultation
with students. Prerequisites: Basic
reading (not necessarily speaking) knowledge of German, and the permission of
the instructor.
GERST 6190 INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEMS THEORY
(also COML 6185) 4 credits.
All readings will be available in English
T 7:30-9:25 p.m., P. Gilgen
Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory is one of the great theoretical edifices
of the last few decades. Ostensibly a sociological theory, Luhmann’s work
arguably has had its most disruptive, and most enduring, influence in the humanities.
On the basis of his Introduction to Systems Theory, this course will
provide a thorough examination of Luhmann’s theoretical edifice and its
theoretical building blocks, such as Talcott Parsons’s systems theory,
Heinz von Foerster’s second-order cybernetics, George Spencer Brown’s
"calculus of decision," Gregory Bateson’s theory of information,
and Humberto Maturana’s concept of autopoiesis. In addition, we will follow
the development of Luhmann's own theory and analyze closely several of Luhmann's
other texts, such as Observations of Modernity, Ecological Communication,
Love as Passion, and The Reality of the Mass Media.
GERST
6420 OPERATIC STATES: IMAGINING COMMUNITY IN MUSIC-DRAMA
(also MUSIC 7223) 4 credits.
M 1:25-4:25, A. Groos
This seminar will explore how states and communities are represented in opera
from the eighteenth century to the end of World War II. Discussions will begin
with representations of the absolutist state in baroque opera, examining its
preoccupation with paradigms of good and bad rulership before turning to attempts
in operas such as Die Zauberflöte and Fidelio to imagine
implications of the absolutist legacy for civil society and the emerging bureaucratic
state. Other sessions will be devoted to nineteenth-century opera, focusing
on responses to the French Revolution and the changing role of the masses and
“the people,” before turning to the years immediately before and
during World War II, ranging from the Zeitoper of the 1920s to alternative
musical universes (Strauss) and Viktor Ullmann’s Der König von
Atlantis, composed in Theresienstadt concentration camp.
GERST
6500 THE CULTURE OF WEIMAR GERMANY
4 credits.
R 2:30-4:25, P. McBride
This survey course is an introduction to the major developments in the culture
of Weimar Germany. Individual works will be drawn primarily from literature
and the visual arts and will be studied in relation to relevant cultural, political,
and social contexts. Lectures and discussions will focus both on detailed interpretation
of individual texts as well as on the general historical background and developments
of the period.
GERST
6650 HEIDEGGER'S LITERATURE
(also COML 6235) 4 credits.
W 2:30-4:25, A. Schwarz
Compared to other philosophers Heidegger very rarely mentions literary authors
in his works. When he does, however, attention needs to be paid to the reasons
for his specific choices. Of course, Heidegger also devotes entire essays to
particular authors and literary works but those are also singular and beg the
question why certain authors and works enter Heidegger's thought and others
not. In this seminar we shall analyze the relationship between Heidegger's philosophical
project and his examinations of literary works. Guiding questions for the seminar
will be: What is the status of a literary or poetic text in Heidegger's conceptualizations
of language? Do literary texts serve as mere examples for philosophy or do they
write their own philosophies? What is the status of "named" works
of art in Heidegger's thought? We shall also discuss Heidegger's relationship
to pre-Romantic and Romantic philosophies of language (Herder, Hamann, Humboldt,
Schelling). Other authors under study will include: Goethe, Schiller, Stifter,
Rilke, Trakl, Nietzsche, George, Sophocles, Hölderlin et al. Secondary
texts will be compiled in a reader. Primary texts will be available in both
German and English.
GERST
6860 ALTHUSSER AND LACAN
(also COML 6860, FREN 6230 and GOVT 6795) 4 credits.
T 2:30-4:25, G. Waite
This seminar takes up the old "dialogue" or "confrontation"
between Marxism and psychoanalysis as it continues in our "postmodern"
or "post-communist" era, based on close readings of selected works
by Louis Althusser and by Jacques Lacan. Specific topics include: the significance
of their personal relationship; the role of "anti-philosophical" Lacanian
concepts in Althusser's philosophy or "aleatory materialism"; writers
of common interest (from Spinoza to Freud); the homology between the "return
to Marx" and the "return to Freud"; their modes of interpretation
and argumentation; the technique of "symptomatic reading"; differing
concepts of "structure," "overdetermination," and "contradiction";
the question whether "ideology is (the) unconscious"; and their critiques
of Marxism, Stalinism, and capitalism. Other writers include: Badiou, Balibar,
Butler, Copjec, Freud, Gramsci, Machiavelli, Marx, Mao, Negri, Spinoza, Zizek.
GERST
7530 INDEPENDENT STUDY
1-4 credits.
Prerequisite: permission of instructor.
Hours to be arranged. Staff
GERST
7531 COLLOQUIUM
1-4 credits.
F 3:00-5:00
RETURN TO THE DEPARTMENT OF GERMAN STUDIES HOME PAGE