1 - 10 of 18 results for: GERMAN

The German writers Georg Büchner (1813-1837) and Frank Wedekind (1864-1918). Many of the most important theater and film directors of the last century, including Max Reinhardt, G. W. Pabst, Orson Welles, Robert Wilson, and Werner Herzog, have wrestled with their works, as have composers and writers from Alban Berg and Bertolt Brecht through Christa Wolf and Thalia Field. Rock artists as diverse as Tom Waits, Lou Reed, Duncan Sheik, and Metallica have recently rediscovered their urgency. Reading these works in translation and examining artistic creations they inspired. Classroom discussions and written responses; students also rehearse and present in-class performances of excerpts from the plays. The aim of these performances is not to produce polished stagings but to creatively engage with the texts and their interpretive traditions. No previous theatrical experience required.

For Seniors who are declared German Studies majors. How to write about various topics in German Studies for a wide public through opinion pieces or blogs. Topics based on student interests: current politics, economics, European affairs, start-ups in Germany. Intensive focus on writing. Taught in English. Fulfills the WIM requirement.

Key moments in German history through documents: personal accounts, political speeches and texts, and literary works. The course begins with the Prussian monarchy and proceeds to the crisis years of the French Revolution. Documents from the 1848 revolution and the age of Bismarck and German unification follow. World War I and its impact on Germany, including the rise of Hitler, as well as the aftermath, divided Germany in the Cold War through the fall of the Berlin Wall. Taught in German.

Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track: majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature. Issues may include authorship, selfhood, truth and fiction, the importance of literary form to philosophical works, and the ethical significance of literary works. Texts include philosophical analyses of literature, works of imaginative literature, and works of both philosophical and literary significance. Authors may include Plato, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Borges, Beckett, Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas, Pavel, and Pippin. Taught in English.

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

Eighteenth-century culture seen as permeated by intellectual and artistic practices and plays pushing principles of reason and rationality to an extreme that becomes self-undercutting. Such obsessions and practices are becoming more visible and prominent now, as the traditional concept of "Enlightenment" (synonymous with the 18th century) is undergoing a profound transformation. Among the protagonists of this seminar will be: Diderot as a philosopher and novelist; Lichtenberg as a scientist and writer of everyday notes; Goya, accusing violence and obsessed with nightmarish visions; Mozart as the excessive master of repetition and variation.

Walter Benjamin's work as cultural historian, critic, literary author and philosopher, seen from the trajectory of a German-Jewish intellectual life in the context of the first half of the 20th century. Providing such a historical perspective will be the condition for an actively critical reading of Benjamin's works; a reading that -- counter to the predominant Benjamin-reception -- will try to distinguish between works of purely biographical and historical interest and those Benjamin texts that prove to be of great and lasting intellectual value. Taught in English.