Florence Feiereisen
Assistant Professor of German
Email: ffeierei@middlebury.edu
Phone: work802.443.5820
Office Hours: Tues 11:00 a.m. -12:00 noon.; Thurs 2:00-3:00 p.m., and by appointment
Download Contact Information
Courses
Courses offered in the past four years.
▲ indicates offered in the current term
▹ indicates offered in the upcoming term[s]
GRMN 0101 - Beginning German ▲
Beginning German
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.
Fall 2009, Fall 2012, Fall 2013
GRMN 0102 - Beginning German Continued
Beginning German Continued
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)
Winter 2010, Winter 2013
GRMN 0103 - Beginning German Continued
Beginning German Continued
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.
Spring 2010, Spring 2013
GRMN 0111 - Accelerated Beginning German
Accelerated Beginning German
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
Spring 2009
GRMN 0150 - German Cultural History
Tall Blondes in Lederhosen? A German Cultural History (in English)
In this course students will be introduced to Germany and its cultural history broadly conceived. Faculty will lecture on areas of special expertise, covering the period from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. We will embed important concepts, developments, events, and cultural artifacts in their broader (European) context. This course will lay a foundation for students wishing to study European
history, German, European Studies, Art History, Music, Philosophy, or Literature.
Spring 2013
GRMN 0310 - Holocaust in Literature
Representing the Unthinkable: The Holocaust in Literature (in English)
Can the Holocaust be described in words? Can images represent the horrors of Auschwitz? In this seminar we will explore the literary and artistic representations of the Shoah, their mechanisms, tensions, and challenges. We will approach the issues of Holocaust representations by considering a significant array of texts that span genres, national literatures, time, narrative and poetic styles, and historical situations. Readings will include theoretical texts on witnessing, memory, post-memory, and trauma by authors such as Sherman Alexie, Jean Amery, Hannah Arendt, Ilan Avisar, Tadeusz Borowski, Paul Celan, Chaim Kaplan, Ruth Kluger, Primo Levi, Bernhard Schlink, Art Spiegelman, Peter Weiss, and Eli Wiesel. 3hrs. sem.
Spring 2010
GRMN 0340 - The Structure of German
The Structure of German
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.
Fall 2009
GRMN 0350 - Advanced Writing Workshop ▲
Advanced Writing Workshop
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. (Formerly GRMN 0304) 3 hrs. lect.
Fall 2013
GRMN 0370 - Structure of German
The Structure of German
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. (Formerly GRMN 0340) 3 hrs. lect.
Fall 2012
GRMN 0410 - America in the GN Imagination
"America" in the German Imagination*
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) (Formerly GRMN 0420). 3 hrs. sem.
Spring 2011
GRMN 0435 / GRMN 0306 - German Pop Literature
Popliteratur/ and the Literary Archives of Pop Culture*
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. (Formerly GRMN 0306) 3 hrs. sem.
Spring 2009, Spring 2013
GRMN 0500 - Independent Study ▲ ▹
Independent Study
(Approval only)
Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
GRMN 0700 - Senior Research ▲ ▹
Honors Project
(Approval only)
Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014