German

Professors: Michael Geisler (VP Language Schools, Schools Abrd, Grad Programs), Roman Graf (on leave academic year 2009-10); Associate Professor: Bettina Matthias (chair); Assistant Professors: Natalie Eppelsheimer, Florence Feiereisen; Visiting Assistant Professor: Roger Russi; Emerita Professor: Kamakshi Murti; Department Coordinator: Judith Olinick

The Department of German provides its students with a thorough training in German language and culture, enabling them to interact freely and easily with German native speakers in all areas of linguistic competency. The emphasis of the Middlebury German major is on German Studies. Thus, students will acquire a fundamental understanding of the major social, cultural, and historical forces that have shaped contemporary German society, and will be able to recognize, identify, and interrogate the major cultural and historical markers that have shaped the German national narrative.
     The integration of the Middlebury program in Germany with the curricula of the Freie Universität in Berlin and the Johannes-Gutenberg Universität in Mainz gives students a unique opportunity to work alongside German students in regular German undergraduate classes. It also significantly broadens choices in pursuing a German major or a double major. Students who choose to attend the Middlebury German School during the summer may use these credits to satisfy part of their major requirements.   
     Requirements for the Major: Students are normally required to complete eight courses in German, above GRMN 0299, including at least one advanced level seminar or an 0700 level honors thesis during the senior year. Where appropriate, one course may be taken in English. At the beginning of each term a placement test is administered for incoming students to determine which course would be most suitable for their level of competence. The department expects that majors will spend at least one semester of study in a German-speaking country before graduating. Normally, they will spend one or two semesters at the Freie Universität in Berlin and/or the Johannes-Gutenberg Universität in Mainz.
     Honors: To be a candidate for honors, students must have an average of at least B+ in German. Honors work is normally done during a student's last year at Middlebury.
     Minor in German: The German minor consists of a sequence of five courses, taught in German, starting at or above the 0200-level. At least three of those courses must be at the 0300-level or higher. First-year students who place above the 0200-level in the placement test must take at least one 0400-level course as part of their minor. One course may be satisfied through advanced placement (AP) credit in combination with a departmental placement test. Students who receive AP credit start their minor on the 0300-level.
     Credit for Advanced Placement is given for scores of 4 or 5, a high score on the departmental placement test, and a placement conference with the student. In addition, the student must successfully complete at least one course above the 0200-level in the department, taught in German, to qualify for AP credit.

Germany
The Middlebury School in Germany has sites located in Berlin and Mainz.
     Berlin is Germany's capital and largest city. With the fall of the wall, the city has thoroughly reinvented itself, developing a new vigor and excitement that is unique indeed. The new Berlin has begun attracting young people, students, artists, musicians, and activists from all over the world. It is a city of contrasts and rich diversity, offering an amazing range of cultural possibilities, from the Museuminsel (the island of museums), the Berlin Philharmonica and the Bauhaus-Archiv, to the Brandenburger Tor, the SONY-Center at the Potsdamer Platz and the techno-music festival, the Love Parade. More than 160 museums, 50 theaters, and three opera houses make Berlin truly the cultural capital of Germany. The European exuberance of this multicultural metropolis manifests itself everywhere, as can be seen in the annual Berlin Film Festival.
     Mainz is the state capital of the Rhineland-Palatinate, a city with historical roots reaching back more than 2,000 years to Roman times. Today Mainz serves, among other things, as headquarters of the ZDF, one of Europe's largest television networks. Centrally located, the city provides easy access to Frankfurt/Main, as well as other cultural centers in Germany and neighboring France. The Mainz Fasenacht (Mardi Gras), celebrated each year in mid-February, is famous throughout Germany for its colorful parades. And the university's name celebrates Johannes Gutenberg who in the year 1440 changed the literary world with the invention of the printing press.
     The Middlebury School in Germany is open to all qualified students, German majors as well as others. Students interested in attending the program in their junior year should consult with the department as early as possible, but at the latest in the fall of their sophomore year. Prospective participants in the Berlin or Mainz programs must have completed at least two courses beyond the 0200-level by the time they go to Germany. They must have an overall average of B or better and at least a B average in German.
     A wide range of courses is available to Middlebury students abroad, including offerings in other departments, such as history, political science, or economics. By planning ahead in consultation with their advisors, students may find that they will be able to satisfy a significant part of their German major while studying in Germany, as well as making progress toward a potential second major by taking courses in that area.
     Most courses taken at Berlin and Mainz will count toward the Middlebury German major, provided that they relate to German studies or German literature. However, each course may be counted only once: either toward German or toward another major. Final determination of which courses may be counted toward the German major will be made by the department chair in consultation with the director of the School in Germany who resides in Mainz.

     All courses listed below are taught in German unless otherwise noted.

GRMN 0101 Beginning German (Fall)
Geared toward quick and early proficiency in comprehension and free expression. Grammatical structures are practiced through group activities and situational exercises (e.g., role-playing games and partner interviews). Active class participation by students is required and will be counted toward the final grade. Since this is an integrated approach, there will be laboratory assignments but no special drill sections. Classes meet five times a week. Students take GRMN 0102 as their winter term course. 5 hrs. lect. LNG (F.Feiereisen)

GRMN 0102 Beginning German Continued (Winter)
This course is the intensive continuation of GRMN 0101 which will further the development of your language skills in an immersion-like environment, and will include bi-weekly cultural readings in English. Classes meet for two hours each morning, then lunch at the language tables, in addition to afternoon and evening activities (e.g. film screenings). Completion of this course is a prerequisite to enrollment in GRMN 0103. (GRMN 0101 or equivalent) LNG (F.Feiereisen, R. Russi)

GRMN 0103 Beginning German Continued (Spring)
This course is a continuation of GRMN 0101 and 0102. Increased emphasis on communicative competence through short oral presentations and the use of authentic German language materials (videos, songs, slides). Introduction to short prose writings and other documents relating to contemporary German culture. Five class meetings per week. (GRMN 0101 plus winter term GRMN 0102, or equivalent) 5 hrs. lect. LNG (F. Feiereisen, N. Eppelsheimer)

GRMN 0111 Accelerated Beginning German (Spring)
This class is aimed at students who wish to begin the study of German on the fast lane. In one semester, we will cover a year's material, the equivalent of GRMN 0101, 0102, and 0103. We will develop all four skills in an intensive, immersion-style environment, allowing students to continue German in the regular second-year classes in the fall. Classes meet five times per week, including two 75-minute meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and an additional drill session. Students are expected to fully participate in all departmental  activities. No prerequisites. 6 hr lect./disc./1 hr. drill LNG (B. Matthias)

GRMN 0201 Intermediate German (Fall)
GRMN 0201/0202 is a culture-based intermediate language sequence that focuses students' attention on intercultural aspects of language acquisition, vocabulary expansion, reading and writing strategies, and a review of grammar. It moves from a focus on issues of individual identity and personal experiences to a discussion of Germany today (GRMN 0201), explores national identity in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and supplies an overview of cultural history, literary achievements, and philosophical traditions in the German-speaking world (GRMN 0202). (GRMN 0103 or equivalent) 4 hrs. lect. LNG (N. Eppelsheimer)

GRMN 0202 Intermediate German Continued (Spring)
GRMN 0201/0202 is a culture-based intermediate language sequence that focuses students' attention on intercultural aspects of language acquisition, vocabulary expansion, reading and writing strategies, and a review of grammar. It moves from a focus on issues of individual identity and personal experiences to a discussion of Germany today (GRMN 0201), explores national identity in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and supplies an overview of cultural history, literary achievements, and philosophical traditions in the German-speaking world (GRMN 0202). (GRMN 0201) 4 hrs. lect. LNG (R. Russi)

The course format is the same as GRMN 0201. Modern German texts will be read and interpreted, and the students will be introduced to the methods of literary analysis. The course will further increase the students' fluency in spoken German and their facility in reading.(GRMN 0201 or equivalent) 4 hrs. lect.  LNG (R. Russi)

GRMN/WAGS 0226 To Veil or not to Veil: Germany and Islam (in English) (Not offered 2009-10)
Women's status in Islam is one of the most controversial and serious issues of our time. For those Muslim women who reside in a Judeo-Christian environment, their status is further obfuscated by tensions between contested constructions of gender. This course offers a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective on gender construction in Germany as relating to Islam. We will interrogate some of the assumptions made about the formation and representation of "femininity" within different cultural frameworks. Primary readings will include works by Özdamar, Senocak, Ören, Özakin, and Tekinay. This course is taught in English. It can also be taken for WAGS credit. (Students taking GRMN 0226 will not be allowed to take GRMN 0426 in subsequent semesters). 3 hrs. lect./disc. LIT SOC CMP

GRMN/WAGS 0228 Women's Fictions in German-Speaking Countries (in English) (Not offered 2009-10)
This course provides an overview of women's cultural productions from the Weimar period to Reunification and explores issues of gender, female authorship, personal and national identity, and the politicization of the private sphere within the German cultural context. Required texts include May Opitz, Showing Our Colors, Ingeborg Bachmann, The Thirtieth Year, Christa Wolf, What Remains, Lukens and Rosenberg, Daughters of Eve, Sue-Ellen Case, ed., The Divided Homeland.3 hrs. lect./disc.  LIT SOC EUR

(Prerequisite for all 0300-level courses and higher is GRMN 0202 or the equivalent. All courses listed here are taught in German unless otherwise noted.)

GRMN 0304 Advanced Writing Workshop (CW 10) (Fall)
With its emphasis on grammatical structures, this course is designed to develop students' writing skills, bridging the 0200-level courses and the advanced 0300 and 0400 levels. From initial sentences and short paragraphs to a final term paper the course tries to assist individual students with their specific problems with German compositions. In addition to frequent written assignments, students also read excerpts from several German papers and magazines in order to familiarize themselves with a variety of narrative styles.3 hrs. lect. LNG (B. Matthias, R. Russi)

GRMN 0306 Popliteratur and the Literary Archives of Pop Culture (Not offered 2009-10)
In 1968, a new genre of literature emerged in Germany: Popliteratur. Grounded in Dadaism, the Beat Generation, and Pop Art, its young authors attacked the literary establishment and its highbrow dogma with works bridging the gap between high and low culture. In this course, we will investigate the crossover characteristics of Popliteratur, reading it as the literary equivalent of pop music, with an eye to American influence on pop culture in postwar Germany. Through theoretical lenses ranging from Adorno's classic Kulturindustrie to Fiedler's Playboy article, "Cross the Border, Close the Gap"! we will examine primary works by Brinkmann, von Stuckrad-Barre, and Meinecke alongside other products of pop culture, particularly of the last decade. 3 hrs. lect. LIT EUR    

GRMN 0309 Escape to Life: Exile Experiences 1933-1945 (Not offered 2009-10)
"Exile is strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience," writes Edward Said in the opening lines of his Reflections on Exile. This course focuses on the condition of exile and takes as its main example the migrations in Germany between 1933 and 1945. It investigates exile as a defining experience and examines the dialectical relationship between imagined/remembered homelands and transnational identities and between language loss and bi-and multilingualism. We will not only read works of prominent literary figures like Mann, Brecht, Seghers, and Keun, but also investigate the exile experience of "ordinary people" who, after all, formed more than 90% of all exiled persons, as it is portrayed in memoirs, autobiographical novels, interviews, and documentaries. 3 hrs. lect. LIT EUR

GRMN 0310 German in Its Cultural Contexts (CW 6) (Spring)
The course invites students to explore the culture and civilization of the German-speaking world from hindsight. Beginning with the year 2000, we will discuss texts in reverse chronological order, allowing us to start our inquiry within the more accessible world of the present and then proceed to the less familiar past. Such an inversion will utilize our familiarity with events of the recent times to enhance comprehension of what preceded them in history. Thus, the more removed a topic is, the more insight the reader can bring to its investigation. A montage of written and visual materials will expose students to high-brow, mainstream, and marginal cultures alike. 3 hrs. lect.  EUR (F. Feiereisen) 

GRMN 0311 German Culture Since World War II (Not offered 2009-10)
Introduction to the culture, history, and society of contemporary Germany (East and West). The course draws on a wide variety of texts: short stories, films, television productions, essays, newspaper reports, as well as legal and historical documents. Topics include the reconstruction of Germany after World War II, the 1953 East German workers' uprising, the 1968 student rebellion, the origins of European terrorism, post-war German art movements, Germany's attempts to cope with the legacy of the Holocaust, and the political and intellectual developments since reunification. Readings by Heinrich Böll, Peter Weiss, Christa Wolf, Peter Schneider, Jürgen Habermas, and others. EUR

GRMN 0313 How Grim Are the Grimm Brothers? Rereading Fairy Tales (CW 6) (Fall)
This course focuses on modern (re)readings of the Grimm brothers' fairy tales. Starting with a discussion of the brothers' lives and the cultural setting at the beginning of the nineteenth century, we concentrate on contemporary issues in these tales. Various approaches to literature allow us to create many spheres of interpretation. Historical, textual, psychological, and philosophical readings generate an array of possible meanings for modern audiences. LIT EUR (R. Russi)

GRMN 0314 German Cinema (Not offered 2009-10)
Major trends and movements of German film history from the classic period of German Expressionism (Wiene, Lang, Murnau, Pabst) to the Fascist propaganda film (Harlan, Riefenstahl), the post-World War II "rubble films," and finally the rise and fall of New German Cinema (Fassbinder, Kluge, Wenders, Herzog, von Trotta). Issues to be discussed include history in film and film as history, the "aestheticization of politics" in Nazi cinema, "auteurist cinema," German film theory and criticism (Arnheim, Benjamin, Kracauer, Wenders), and finally, film as an instrument of public discourse. ART EUR

GRMN 0325 Representing the Unthinkable: The Holocaust in Art and Literature (Not offered 2009-10)
Since the end of World War II, historians, social scientists, and psychologists have tried to find reasons and explanations for the Holocaust in Germany. Yet these accounts cannot fully satisfy our quest for understanding. Can art and literature illuminate those dimensions left unanswered by historical and psychological approaches? This course presents an overview of Holocaust representations in art and literature. Examining paintings and films, and reading survivors' testimonies, novels, poetry, and even comics, we address the following questions: How can art and literature represent the Holocaust? How can words express Auschwitz? Can the Holocaust be represented at all? 3 hrs. sem. LIT EUR

GRMN 0330 Rethinking Literature (Not offered 2009-10)
This course focuses on the "literary" as a force within cultural discourse. A thorough understanding of literary periods and genres serves as the background for a critical investigation of modern theoretical approaches to literary texts. Discussing major works of German literature, students explore the notion of "literariness" in its various cultural contexts. 3 hrs. lect/disc. LIT EUR

GRMN/LITP 0333 Dealing with the Devil: The "Faust" Tradition (in English) (Not offered 2009-10)
Would you sell your soul to the devil if you could receive whatever you wanted in return? Faust made that deal for ultimate knowledge. Did he achieve his goal? Can the devil be trusted? Who wins in such a scenario: Faust or the devil? The search for knowledge and its inherent pitfalls have occupied cultures for centuries. The "Faust" Stoff emanates from a literary tradition that revolves around this search and connects it with the inexplicable forces of the supernatural. We can find "Faust" in music, literature, and the visual arts not only all over Europe, but also in the United States. This course focuses on a discussion of "Faust" in music and literature, primarily in the works of Marlowe, Goethe, Gounod, Liszt, Mann, Bulgakov, and Kerouac. 3 hrs. lect./disc. LIT EUR

GRMN 0334 Eternal Striving: Faust and Mephistopheles (Not offered 2009-10)
Alongside modern scientific thought, the idea of the individual in an enlightened age, and twentieth century modern and post-modern notions of society, we find various myths that relate to the astrologer and alchemist Johannes Faust and his alleged pact with the devil. In this course we will trace the Faust legend in German literary history from its origins in the sixteenth century to its twentieth century renditions. Each version of the myth reveals specific aesthetic and cultural values that construct the world around them. We will focus on Goethe's Urfaust, Faust I and II, Klaus Mann's Mephisto and Thomas Mann's Doktor Faustus. (In German) LNG LIT

GRMN 0336 German Rhythms: Poetry, Ballads, Songs  (Not offered 2009-10)
Germany is known as "the country of poets and thinkers," but courses rarely address the literal meaning of this term. This class will explore German poetry from the Middle Ages to contemporary German poetry; the forms and "costumes" that poetry comes in (ballads, songs, aphorisms, commercials etc.); and the topics that make Germans 'muse.' At the same time, this class will introduce students to various ways of reading and interpreting (poetic) texts, to tools and approaches that will help unlock texts that, traditionally, have the reputation of being less easily accessible than prose.  LIT EUR

GRMN 0338 What's so Funny? The German Comedy and Its Cultural Context (Not offered 2009-10)
Even though the German literatures abound with comedies, humor is rarely mentioned as a German trait.  In this course we will challenge the notion of "humor" as a universal, and examine the general ramifications that frame the comical as a cultural phenomenon.  Drawing on theoretical texts such as Freud's Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious (1905), we will discuss the German sense of humor and its manifestations in everyday life as well as in literary representations.  Readings include texts by G. E. Lessing, F. v. Kleist, H. v. Hofmannsthal, and P. Süskind.  LIT EUR

GRMN 0340 The Structure of German (Fall)
This course simultaneously presents an overview of the major subfields of linguistics as they apply to the German language and a discussion of how today's Standard German evolved. We will pay attention to important concepts in phonetics/phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. In addition to these theoretical and descriptive aspects, we will discuss sociolinguistic issues such as language and gender and regional variations within Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Luxemburg. Lectures and discussions will be conducted in German. 3 hrs. lect. LNG EUR (F. Feiereisen)
 

GRMN/RELI 0365 The German Jews: From Moses Mendelssohn to the Holocaust (in English) (Not offered 2009-10)
See Department of Religion for course description. PHIL HIS EUR

GRMN 0403 From Weimar to Hitler (Not offered 2009-10)
This course examines the brief and intense period of artistic creativity and political upheaval in Germany's first democracy, the Weimar Republic. Beginning with Germany's humiliating defeat in World War I, we will cover the implications of the Versailles Treaty, the Dolchstoß (stab-in-the-back) theory, the stillborn revolution of 1918-1919, and the growing political polarization and apathy leading to Hitler's rise to power. Contrasting the political decline with the increase in cultural productivity, we will discuss the artists' outcry for spiritual rebirth, examining the development of Expressionism, Dadaism, and New Objectivity in literature, visual arts, theater, and film. Readings include texts by Lasker-Schüler, Toller, Fallada, Kafka, Brecht, and Thomas Mann. LIT EUR

GRMN 0412 The Berlin Wall: Then and Now (Fall)
From 1961 to 1989 the Berlin Wall was a physical reminder of the ideological divide separating East and West Germany. We will examine the wall's inception, its history, and the role it played in the political, cultural, and literary landscapes of divided Germany. We will also investigate the evidence of a persistent "inner wall" that continues to separate East and West Germans after political reunification. Our texts will interrogate the perspectives of both East and West and will include journalistic accounts, speeches, films and documentaries, and fiction from writers such as Christa Wolf and Peter Schneider. SOC LNG EUR (B. Matthias)

GRMN 0415 Colonial Fantasies (Spring)
Lasting from 1884 to 1918, Germany's scramble for overseas colonial territory began late and was relatively short lived. However, the nation's lack of colonies did not keep Germans from dreaming and fantasizing about faraway lands and their inhabitants. In this course we will explore such "Colonial Fantasies" (Zantop), and will also consider Germany's era of actual colonialism in Africa and the South Pacific. We will examine literary and cinematic representations of colonial life and political debates about the colonies, and discuss traces of colonialism and colonial thinking in contemporary Germany. Readings will include texts by Kleist, Heine, Keller, May, Timm, Ayim, and Hahn-Hahn. 3 hrs sem. LNG LIT EUR (N. Eppelsheimer)

GRMN 0416 Identity Politics in a Unified Germany (Not offered 2009-10)
The debate over German identity has taken on more conflicted dimensions since the recent unification of the two Germanys. The increasingly multicultural nature of the German society foregrounds questions about the homogeneity of the German identity. This course explores a variety of texts dealing with identity construction in which attempts to create a coherent and cohesive identity use 'others' based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, and physical ability. Texts: Volker Braun, Unvollendete Geschichte; Gertrud Kolmar, Eine jüdische Mutter; Kemal Kurt, Was ist die Mehrzahl von Heimat?; Christa Wolf, Auf dem Weg nach Tabou; May Ayim, Grenzenlos und unverschämt.

GRMN/MUSC 0417 "Musically Speaking": Close Encounters of Music and Literature in the Nineteenth Century (Not offered 2009-10)
In this course we will look at the German musical-literary landscape in the nineteenth and early twentieth century with special emphasis on forms that merge music and literature (the "Lied," the "Künstlernovelle," the musical poem, opera). Eighteenth-century aesthetics prepared the ground for a new approach to artistic production, and the nineteenth century witnessed an intense experimentation with the limits and possibilities of various artistic media and a deep concern with the (social) status of the artist. Taking a closer look at these "mixed" genres will provide insights in the development of the aesthetics of music and literature in the nineteenth century.. This course also provides music credit. 3 hrs. sem.

GRMN 0418 German Theatre in Action (Spring)
In this course, students will prepare and stage a full production of a German play. After five weeks of seminar-style academic discussions of this work in context (the genre, the author, the topic, the time) and aspects of theatrical performance (theory), the class will prepare the show for the last week of the semester (two rehearsals/ week). Students will make informed staging decisions as a group and come to understand performance as a powerful mediator in the never-ending process of negotiating literary meaning. (At least two 0300+-level courses or by waiver) 3 hrs. lect/disc. LIT ART EUR  (B. Matthias)

 GRMN 0420 "America" in the German Imagination (Not offered 2009-10)
This course looks at "America" as the great imaginary Other of German culture. Discussions focus on the way America was functionalized as a shifting metaphor by diverse political and cultural factions from Weimar modernism to the racist connotations inscribed by the Nazis, the Americanization of (West) German culture after World War II, and the anti-Americanism of the sixties and seventies. The course traces the impact of the American Dream on the German collective imaginary as documented in literature and drama (Brecht, Johnson), reportage, travelogue, and essay (Kisch, Enzensberger), and, above all, popular literature (Karl May's German "westerns"), film, and media (Wenders, Adlon).

GRMN 0430 Reasonable Doubts (Not offered 2009-10)
This course gives an introduction to various responses to the idea of "Enlightenment" and the "Age of Reason" in eighteenth century German literature and culture.  Starting with definitions of the term "Aufklärung" students will gain familiarity with proponents and critics of this notion as well as modern twentieth century approaches to it.  We will focus on works by Kant, Lessing, Goethe, Schiller, Lenz, and Kleist and the critical reflections of Adorno, Habermas, Lyotard, and Foucault, among others. LIT EUR 3 hrs. lect/disc.

GRMN 0450 Sites and Stories of Berlin (Not offered 2009-10)
In this course we will read Berlin as a multiple sign: the city bearing marks of the discontinuous past of four German states; the center of the Weimar-era avant-garde; the hub of the Nazi power; the symbol of Cold War division and of German unification.  We will discuss novels and short stories, documentary and feature films, maps and monuments, and analyze heated discussions surrounding the Holocaust memorial and the proposed rebuilding of the Hohenzollern city palace.  To contextualize our reading of Berlin narratives, we will explore the changing "look" of the city from Schinkel through Speer to the socialist-realist aesthetics of East Berlin and the post-unification urban planning. 

GRMN 0460 Fin-de-siècle Vienna (Not offered 2009-10)
Major innovations in art, architecture, music, and literature occurred in Vienna at the turn of the century. Politically the Habsburg monarchy was, unknowingly, nearing its end. Despite contributions by Gustav Klimt, Otto Wagner, Arnold Schönberg, and Arthur Schnitzler, scholarship often viewed fin-de-siècle Vienna as a period of decline and decay in which art and literature were characteristically apolitical. In this course an introduction to the historical, political, and cultural events of the Habsburg monarchy serves as background information through which to examine the literary texts. We explore works by representative authors within this socio-historical setting to find evidence of the authors' political engagement. LIT EUR 
 
GRMN 0500 Independent Study (Fall/Spring)
(Approval only) (Staff)

GRMN 0700 Honors Project (Fall/Spring)
(Approval only) (Staff)