printer friendly pageOCEANS 158H: Science Meets Literature on the Monterey Peninsula (ENGLISH 158H, OCEANS 258H)
(Graduate students register for 258H) This course will consider the remarkable nexus of scientific research and literature that developed on the Monterey Peninsula in the first half of the 20th century and how the two areas of creativity influenced each other. The period of focus begins with the 1932 association of John and Carol Steinbeck, Ed Ricketts, and Joseph Campbell, all of whom were highly influenced by the Carmel poet, Robinson Jeffers ¿ and ends with the novels Cannery Row (1945) and Sweet Thursday (1954). An indisputable high-tide mark, Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely of Travel and Research (1941) will be considered in detail. Weekend field trips will include intertidal exploration, a tour of the Jeffers Tor House in Carmel, and whale watching on Monterey Bay. Formally
BIOHOPK 158H & 258H.
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
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
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Kramer, K. (PI)
OSPBER 22: Everyday Life in a Global Metropolis: Exploring Berlin through History, Society, and Culture
What is Berlin, who is a Berliner, and how have the inhabitants of this global metropolis made their city? We will seek answers to these questions by exploring central topics in everyday life - youth, music, and popular culture; food and drink; religion; nature; and the connection between history and memory. We will discuss research papers, visit sites, and talk to Berliners from different backgrounds. In this process, we will co-create a product that communicates our findings and invites our audience to engage with our answers.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Schmieding, L. (PI)
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 33: The Politics of Memorializing World War II
This course will explore the politics of memorializing World War II specifically in the city of Berlin, as the city offers numerous examples of how the past is rendered present. Students will consider debates surrounding the Holocaust Memorial established once the Wall came down. They will engage the ethical conundrums of memorializing perpetrators along with victims, and the political issues of memorializing the resistance. Finally, memorializing mass murder and genocide also raises a number of aesthetic conundrums. All these issues will be engaged by visiting a variety of memorials in Berlin, along with an introduction to the relevant literature and documentation.
Last offered: Winter 2022
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
OSPBER 55: Music and Society: Perspectives from Berlin
This course examines music's place in society - its production, its consumption, and its contested role in social relations and structures. Why do we prefer certain songs, artists, and musical genres over others? How do we 'use' music to signal group membership and create social categories like class, race, ethnicity, and gender? How does music perpetuate, but also challenge, broader inequalities? Why do some songs become hits? What effects are technology and digital media having on the ways we experience and think about music? Course readings and lectures will explore the various answers to these questions by introducing students to key concepts and ideas. Class time will be spent moving between core theories, listening sessions, discussion of current musical events, and an interrogation of students' own musical experiences. Students will undertake short research and writing assignments that call on them to make sense of music in their own lives, in the lives of others, and in society at large.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Stuart, F. (PI)
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: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Pabsch, M. (PI)
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
Instructors:
Junghanns, W. (PI)
OSPBER 73: CyberKant: a User Interface
We take online traffic for granted. It is well known that readily intelligible navigation of today's virtual surround was made possible by the graphical user interface. This driver of digital literacy, famously associated with Xerox PARC, was popularized by Steve Jobs in the 1980s. Less well known is that the visual vocabulary informing our computational practices first developed with the urban sprawl of Berlin. Kantian philosophy and German High Modernism played a key role in the process. These cultural resources advanced a workable template for the user-friendly conceit of intuitive signage and wayfinding. We will visit sites across the city that speak to this historical legacy.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors:
von Xylander, C. (PI)
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