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This course explores German history, culture and politics by tracing five (largely untranslatable) words and exploring the debates they have engendered in Germany over the past 200 years. This course is intended as preparation for students wishing to spend a quarter at the Bing Overseas Studies campus in Berlin, but is open to everyone. Taught in English.

Writing about various topics in German Studies. Topics based on student interests: current politics, economics, European affairs, start-ups in Germany. Intensive focus on writing. Students may write on their experience at Stanford in Berlin or their internship. Fulfills the WIM requirement for German Studies majors.

Modern theatre in Europe and the US, with a focus on the most influential works from roughly 1880 to the present. What were the conventions of theatrical practice that modern theatre displaced? What were the principal innovations of modern playwriting, acting, stage design, and theatrical architecture? How did modern theatrical artists wrestle with the revolutionary transformations of the modern age? Plays by Büchner, Ibsen, Strindberg, Shaw, Chekhov, Wilde, Wedekind, Treadwell, Pirandello, Brecht, O¿Neill, Beckett, Smith, Parks, and Nottage.

This course explores Franz Kafka his literary work and biography, its themes and his contemporary significance through an array of heterogeneous materials and creative practices. Discussions of Kafka's short writings, correspondences and diary entries; feuilletons about Kafka, film and radio adaptations of his works. Exploring ways to make Krafka's creativity productive for their writing, students may study topics such as questions of textual criticism, humor, parody, the uncanny and the Kafkaesque in Kafka and today. Throughout, the seminar will tease out historical and cultural backgrounds of Kafka's work and life, and trace the crisis of modernity in his writings. Readings, discussions and writing creative projects and analytical writing in German.

What does a narrator who declares himself "insane" make us reevaluate as readers or viewers? How do literary texts portray sanatoriums and the people who inhabit them? From the unreliable narrator to the sudden twist ending, madness is often made into a literary trope; the insane asylum, too, becomes a symbol of broader socio-political concerns. This course looks at the representations of clinics and sanatoriums in classic German texts of the 20th century, engaging critically with these representations and the ways in which insanity and illness are depicted. We will compare texts from several genres (novel, film, drama, or video game), to see how the rules change depending on the form used. Texts will include Robert Wiene's masterful expressionist film "Das Cabinet des Doktor Caligari"; excerpts from Thomas Mann¿s "Der Zauberberg"; excerpts from Gunter Grass' postwar masterpiece "Die Blechtrommel"; Friedrich Dürrenmatt's "Die Physiker", a coldwar theatrical screed on the dangers of science in a nuclear age; and the mysterious point-and-click adventure game "Edna bricht aus." Taught in German. Prerequisite: GERLANG 3 or permission of instructor.

We read and discuss selections from works by the key master thinkers who have exerted a lasting influence by debunking long-cherished beliefs. Do these authors uphold or repudiate Enlightenment notions of rationality, autonomy and progress? How do they assess the achievements of civilization? How do their works illuminate the workings of power in social and political contexts? Readings and discussion in German.

Each student participates in a capstone interview and discussion with a panel of the German Studies faculty on topics related to German cultural and literary analysis. In prepration for the interview/discussion, students submit written answers to a set of questions based on several authentic cultural texts in German. The written answers, normally in English, should be well-formed and coherent. Within the interview/discussion, students must demonstrate a further understanding of the topic(s) posed, through cogent argument.

Repeatable for Credit. Instructor Consent Required