Spring 2022 Class Schedule

• Spring 2022 Class Schedule
• Spring 2022 Course Descriptions

Spring 2022 class Schedule 

Spring 2022 course descriptions

German 101-1,2,3 : Beginning German 

The Beginning German sequence offers students a systematic introduction to German language and culture emphasizing the four modalities: speaking, listening comprehension, reading and writing. The first quarter (101-1) offers a systematic review of basic German words, phrases with a cultural focus on Germany, an introduction of simple grammar items, and short interview practice at the end of the quarter. The second quarter (101-2) includes a variety of writing assignments, cultural presentations, reading poems by Goethe, the visit of a Mystery Guest, as well as intensive work with the strong and irregular verbs. In the third quarter (101-3), students will read and discuss short stories and plays by Grimm, Brecht and Kafka! The highlight will be an in-class skit performance which culminates in the almost famous *Evening O' Skits* featuring the best student selected skits from first and second-year German.
Prerequisite in German for 101-1: None or one year of high-school German.
Prerequisite in German for 101-2: 101-1 or placement exam results.
Prerequisite in German for 101-3: 101-2 or placement exam results.

German 101-2-25/101-3-26 : Beginning German (Intensive)

This is an intensive 2-unit elementary German course that covers the material in German 101-2 and 101-3 during Spring Quarter.  Many students in this course are continuing from the special course the department offered during Winter Quarter (German 101-1 MTuThF 3 or 4 p.m.) and there are others who began learning German in high school or who finished the first quarter of the 101 sequence at Northwestern.

German 101-2 takes place from Monday, March 28- Tuesday, April 26 and German 101-3 takes place from Thursday, April 28 – Tuesday, May 31.

We will continue to focus on developing proficiency in all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, while using the culture and history of the German speaking countries as basic source materials.

German 101-2  We will work more with texts this quarter and will be reading some poetry from Heinrich Heine and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Preparations during the quarter lead up to an interview with an invited guest from Germany. (Mystery Guest).

German 101-3 During this final quarter of elementary German, readings and class activities focus on providing interesting perspectives on German life and culture. We will work with selected writings of Grimm, Brecht and Kafka, using them for discussion, performance and language acquisition activities.

German 102- 1,2,3 : Intermediate German

The Intermediate German sequence offers students a systematic review of German language and culture to increase linguistic proficiency and cultural literacy. The pedagogy used fosters learning in the four modalities: speaking, listening comprehension, reading and writing. Each quarter has a specific focus: In the Fall Quarter (102-1) students concentrate on speaking and communication and on the history of the GDR and the 20th anniversary of Germanyʼs reunification, in the Winter Quarter (102-2) on writing and on contemporary German culture, and in the Spring Quarter (102-3) on reading, theatre, and performance and on 20th -century literature by German-speaking authors.
Prerequisite in German for 102-1: 101-3 or placement exam results
Prerequisite in German for 102-2: 102-1 or placement exam results.
Prerequisite in German for 102-3: 102-2 or placement exam results.

GER 104-6-1 : First Year Seminar - Marvelous or Monstrous?

Marvelous and monstrous beings can represent crucial cultural anxieties or imaginaries, such as deep social fears about change through secularization, modernization, and changing understandings of markers of modern identity such as gender, sexuality, race, and species or life-forms. Through a selection of narrative fiction, visual representation, films, and critical essays, this seminar examines significant sites of cultural fascination and the anxieties played out in these representations. As our course is a First-Year Seminar, we will also discuss various aspects of college academic life, as well as working towards a consolidation and an expansion of analytical and writing skills that you have already developed during your first year as a university student.

This is a first year seminar 

German 115 – Intensive Beginning German through Musical Journeys in Vienna

The fascinating musical and cultural history of the metropolis Vienna serves as the basis for this
Intensive Beginning German course which provides musically interested students with the option to acquire German language skills through an intensive immersion in the topic in an interdisciplinary context. The goals of the course include the contextualized development of speaking, writing, reading, and listening skills in German and the acquisition of a basic general and musical vocabulary as well as a solid grammatical basis. Activities will draw on the lives and works of composers between 1750 and 1950 including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johann Strauß, and Alban Berg. Students will read short biographies, letters, poetry and prose, watch relevant films and videos, study paintings and maps of Vienna, learn about important institutions and historical facts about the city, and explore current cultural events.
Prerequisite in German: None or one year of high-school German.

German 203-0 – Focus Speaking

This course is designed to enhance the aural/oral skills by training students in listening comprehension and speaking. Vocabulary and idioms employed in everyday conversational German will be introduced and practiced in communicative activities such as role-playing, listening to and creating podcasts in German and small group discussions. New cultural concepts will be introduced through multimedia presentations and German podcasts. A final project will involve the creation of a short podcast in German by the students.

Prerequisite in German: German 102-2. (This course will not count for the language requirement as it may be taken concurrently with 102-3.)

German 221-2 : Introduction to Literature: 1900-1945

This course, designed for majors and non-majors, introduces students to the historical dimension of a literary era, the first half of the 20^th century marked by a)the demise of the German Empire in the course of the First World War, b) a short-lived democratic experiment, the Weimar Republic (1918-1933), and c) the Rise and Fall of the “Third Reich.” Furthermore, the course is to improve the students’ writing skills in terms of style and expression by way of three shorter essays.  A secondary, yet strong emphasis is on making the students able and comfortable to conduct a discussion on fairly sophisticated issues in German. By keeping the number of students in the class relatively small, there will be ample opportunity to practice the close reading of literary texts and the analysis of complex works of art in a foreign language.

Prerequisite in German: One 200-level course in German or permission of the DUS.

This course counts for Distribution Area VI.

German 224-0 – Contemporary Germany - Black Deutschland: Germany and the African Diaspora

Courses under this rubric focus on the German political, social, and cultural scene after 1945. Topics vary,  current topic: Black Deutschland: Germany and the African Diaspora. Though Germany has long conceived of itself as a white nation, people of African descent have lived in the German-speaking world since the Middle Ages. And white Germanophone authors from Franz Kafka to Günter Grass have celebrated and appropriated elements of Black popular culture in their work. Taking its name from a 2016 novel by the Black American author Darryl Pinckney, this course will largely confine itself to the post-war and post-wall periods (1945 to today) in exploring images of Germany in the works of Black writers, filmmakers, and musicians from Germany and abroad and images of Blackness in the works of white German authors and filmmakers. In doing so, it will treat the contemporary legacies of German colonialism, transformations of discussions about race and racism following World War II and the Holocaust, and conceptions of multiculturalism and Europeanism. East German homages to Black activists and political leaders like Angela Davis and Nelson Mandela and West German claims of the ‘utopic potential’ of African American culture will provide material for discussions of internationalist solidarity and cultural appropriation. Moreover, students will engage with the works of Black German and Afro-German writers and artists who critique Germany’s self-conception as white, as well as texts by thinkers from the African diaspora (e.g., W.E.B. Du Bois and Audre Lorde) for whom experiences in Germany served as sources of intellectual and artistic stimulation. German 224 may be repeated for credit with different topics.
Prerequisites: None.
This course counts for Distribution Area IV. 

German 266-0 – Introduction to Yiddish Culture: Images of the Shtetl

In collective memory the shtetl (small Jewish town) has become enshrined as the symbolic space of close-knit, Jewish community in Eastern Europe; it is against the backdrop of this idealized shtetl that the international blockbuster Fiddler on the Roof is enacted. This seminar explores the spectrum of representations of the shtetl in Yiddish literature from the nineteenth century to the post-Holocaust period. The discussion will also focus on artistic and photographic depictions of the shtetl: Chagall and Roman Vishniac in particular. The course will include a screening of Fiddler on the Roof followed by a discussion of this film based upon a comparison with the text upon which it is based, “Tevye the Milkman.”
Prerequisites: None.
This course counts for Distribution Area VI.

German 337-0 – Science and Culture in Germany

Germany is often regarded as being at the forefront of European developments concerning issues such as climate change and recycling, transport and renewable energy sources. This class will trace the scientific, political, philosophical, and aesthetic history of Germany as a ‘green nation’ from the 18th century until today. What are the roots of the ideology of environmentalism as it is represented in concepts like environment, ecology, or sustainability, which were all invented or popularized by German scientists (von Uexküll, Haeckel, von Carlowitz)? The course will also examine recent developments in German environmental policies like the so-called “Energiewende” and the “Diesel-Skandal”.

Prerequisite in German: Three 200-level courses in German (at least one in literature) or permission of the DUS.

This course counts for Distribution Area IV and Area VI.

German 346-0 – Topics in German Literature and Culture - Figurations of Jesus in German-Jewish Literature

Courses under this heading examine at an advanced level selected topics in German literature and/or pivotal periods in German culture. Current Topic: Figurations of Jesus in German-Jewish Literature. The figure of Jesus is a recurring motif in Jewish literature. We will read German-Jewish literature from different historical contexts and discuss how they adopt and transform narratives and symbols central to Christian majority culture. We will also reflect on the connection of community building and violence as well as on blaming strategies as exposed by the texts. Please consult Caesar for current topic. German 346 may be repeated for credit with different topics.
Prerequisites: None.
This course counts for Distribution Area VI.

GERMAN 405 – Basic Issues in Foreign Language Teaching: Theory and Practical Applications (1)

This course focuses on basic principles of second language acquisition and language teaching methodology. It introduces students to the major trends and theories in language teaching. The critical reflection of pedagogical practices is emphasized.

GERMAN 441 – Studies in Communication and Culture

At the end of the 20^th and the beginning of the 21^st century, self-descriptions in German literature and cultural theory remarkably often allude to ‘the Baroque.’ The aim of this course is to study these receptions and iterations of the Baroque. The term Baroque was used only ex post in order to describe period and style of the 17^th century. Hence, rather than reconstructing the ‘original’ early modern Baroque, we will focus on the question what kind of Baroque is created through its recent applications to literature and cultural theory, which connect to early 20th century discourse formations (e.g. Wölfflin, Benjamin, Wellek). How do they recode ‘the Baroque’ and why? What is new about the Neobaroque? Where does its particular quality lie, locally and globally? How does it differ from other actualizations of the Baroque in the 20^th and 21^st centuries? The class will be held in German and English. Texts will be read in German and English. 

Back to top