printer friendly pageOBGYN 81Q: Perspectives on the Abortion Experience in Western Fiction
Explores the role of media in delivering abortion-related messages as well as the broader questions of how abortion and related issues are fundamentally integrated into the social fabric of US and global societies. Abortion remains one of the most controversial and polarizing challenges of our time. Yet, it has been a clinical, social, political, and cultural fact in a broad swath of societies for centuries. As is common for such lightning rod issues, the topic of abortion has featured prominently in novels and films. Each treatment provides a unique perspective on at least one aspect of abortion, whether it be clinical, social, political or cultural. How abortion is portrayed in novels and films provides the student of history, anthropology, and biology with insights into the author's or director's perspectives, and into societal attitudes and mores.
Last offered: Spring 2020
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ORALCOMM 123: Crafting Concept Albums: Big Tales, Small Grooves, and the Art of Musical Narrative
Cultures all around the world tell the stories of their history, beliefs, and identities through song. The Greeks set their epic tales of love, life, and death to music, Renaissance composers followed suit, and popular music artists do the same today. In this hybrid workshop-seminar, students will explore musical narratives by analyzing seminal concept albums and then producing their own single-story album through written lyrics. Students will examine how artists use craft elements such as setting, characters, and plot, cover art, and musical form and instrumentation, then apply that learning in their own productions. Creating music, beats, soundscapes, and artwork will be encouraged, but the final project need only be a cycle of recorded, spoken song lyrics. We¿ll focus in particular on narratives of race, class, gender, and sexuality and their social implications as we examine works from artists across musical genres¿from classic and punk rock artists such as Pink Floyd, David Bowie, and Green Day; to hip-hop, pop, and EDM performers such as Beyoncé, Lupe Fiasco, Janelle Monáe, Daft Punk, and Kendrick Lamar. Students will work in groups to choose genre, develop a sense of place and time, select narrative structures, and craft lyrics. No prior experience in music or creative writing is required.
Last offered: Spring 2020
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
OSPBER 17: Split Images: A Century of Cinema
20th-century German culture through film. The silent era, Weimar, and the instrumentalization of film in the Third Reich. The postwar era: ideological and aesthetic codes of DEFA, new German cinema, and post-Wende filmmaking including
Run Lola Run and
Goodbye Lenin. Aesthetic aspects of the films including image composition, camera and editing techniques, and relation between sound and image.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
OSPBER 28: German Opera
This course is designed to provide an introduction to opera in general and German opera in particular. The syllabus is linked specifically to productions of German operas currently being presented at Berlin's opera houses. During class we will prepare ourselves for the various performances by discussing each work in detail, looking at the libretto, analyzing the relationship between music and text, listening to recordings, and reading secondary literature. We will also share our post-performance impressions. The principal aim of the course is informed appreciation of the genre of opera.
Last offered: Winter 2020
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
OSPBER 60: Cityscape as History: Architecture and Urban Design in Berlin
Diversity of Berlin's architecture and urban design resulting from its historical background. Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his artistic ancestors. Role of the cultural exchange between Germany and the U.S. Changing nature of the city from the 19th century to the present.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPBER 66: Theory from the Bleachers: Reading German Sports and Culture
German culture past and present through the lens of sports. Intellectual, societal, and historical-political contexts. Comparisons to Britain, France, and the U.S. The concepts of
Körperkultur, Leistung, Show, Verein, and
Haltung. Fair play, the relation of team and individual, production and deconstruction of sports heroes and heroines, and sports nationalism. Sources include sports narrations and images, attendance at sports events, and English and German texts. Will be taught in German if there are enough students with sufficient knowledge of German.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II
OSPBER 77: "Ich bin ein Berliner" Lessons of Berlin for International Politics
History and theoretical concepts of International Relations, taking advantage of Berlin's unique history. Topics include: balance of power system, the era of total war, the East-West conflict, and the age of globalization, connecting these international political phenomena to sites and features of historical and contemporary Berlin. Core issues and theories of International Relations positioned in relation to the social and political history of Berlin, offering both a knowledge of Berlin as a global city of the twentieth century, and an understanding of International Relations through concrete examples.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
OSPBER 88: RELIGION & THE THIRD REICH
This course investigates the role of established religion and new religious ideologies in Nazi Germany. Students learn about religious ideologies employed by the Nazis in service of fascism (paganism, occultism, and "Positive Christianity") and the policies they implemented to promote their nationalistic vision and absolutist politics, ranging from Gleichschaltung, to the Reich Concordat Treaty with the Vatican, to the Final Solution. Students also study the impact of these policies on German Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and other religious minorities, and about the range of responses that Nazi religious propaganda and programs evoked, from accommodation to cooperation to resistance. The course facilitates this investigation in three ways: (1) discussion of common readings and video content in a weekly seminar setting; (2) regular local site visits for experience learning; (3) frequent, short written reflection in the form of responses to readings, video content, and site visits (Academic Journal).
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
OSPBER 101A: Contemporary Theater
Texts of plays supplemented by theoretical texts or reviews. Weekly theater visits and discussions with actors, directors, or other theater professionals. In German. Prerequisite: completion of
GERLANG 3 or equivalent.
Last offered: Spring 2020
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPCPTWN 55: Arts of Change
How might we understand the creative arts in South Africa in terms of their variety and impact? What social issues do they reflect? What impact might they yet have? Students will have the opportunity for a related practicum. Course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units to satisfy a Ways requirement.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
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