Course and Faculty Archive

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    2007 Graduate Courses

2008 Seven-week Course Archive

GN 101-102-103 Elementary German
Instructors: Mittler (coordinator), LaFountain, Morrison, Murti, Russi

Daily activities include four hours of classroom instruction, plus additional work in the language laboratory and computer center. Emphasis will be placed on the grammatical structures of German as well as on conversation and correct pronunciation. Reading comprehension skills are introduced through primary texts, including literature. Throughout the program, audio-visual presentations supplement regular classroom activities. (3 Units)

Required texts: Moeller/Liedloff et al., Deutsch Heute, 8th edition: text with workbook, lab manual, video workbook, multimedia CD. (Houghton Mifflin); Additional materials will be made available 

Note: All students who have prior knowledge of German and want to be placed beyond the Elementary German level (101-102-103) are required to take an analytical placement examination involving all four skills. On the basis of the test results, students will be advised concerning their course selections.

GN 198-199-200 Early Intermediate German
Instructors: Heck (coordinator), Obrath

The successful completion of this course corresponds to the equivalent of second and third semester German. The active use of all major points of basic grammar and vocabulary is stressed in order to bring students to a common working level in the four skills. During the second half, a greater emphasis will be placed on the development of writing skills and reading strategies with appropriate cultural and literary texts. Audio-visual materials supplement the four hours of daily classroom instruction. Listening comprehension and pronunciation practice require the use of the language laboratory. (3 Units)

Required texts: Moeller/Liedloff et al., Kaleidoskop, 7th ed. (Houghton Mifflin); Spaethling & Weber, Literatur Eins, 2nd edition (Houghton Mifflin) 

GN 201-202-203 Intermediate German
Instructors: Djukic-Cocks (coordinator), Ostermann-Healey, Russi

This is an integrated program consisting of four hours of classroom instruction and some work in the language laboratory. To develop the four skills, students take three basic courses: Grammar Review, Composition and Conversation, German Culture and Life, plus one literature module for each half of the term. (3 Units)

Required texts: Rankin & Wells, Handbuch zur deutschen Grammatik, 3rd ed. (Houghton Mifflin) with workbook; Irene Motyl-Mudretzkyj & Michaela Späinghaus: Anders Gedacht (Houghton Mifflin) with workbook; Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Der Besuch der alten Dame (Houghton Mifflin);

GN 301-302-303 Advanced German
Instructors: Graf (coordinator), Wegel, Morrison

The courses at the 300 level are designed as an integrated program for language learning. The program includes advanced grammar/conversation and composition, contemporary German culture and literature. Some additional language and computer work is required. (3 Units)

GN 301 Advanced Grammar and Communication
Instructors: Graf, Wegel

This course meets two hours per day to analyze and provide advanced grammatical structures, provide intensive written and oral language training, offer insights into German ways of perception, and teach strategies of communication and language learning. For this course, some additional language and computer laboratory work is required. (1 Unit)

Required texts: Dreyer/Schmitt: Lehr- und übungsbuch der deutschen Grammatik. Neubearbeitung. (2000 edition, Hueber Verlag)

GN 302 Modern German Literature                                         Instructor: Morrison

This course will use short German prose to enrich cultural context, increase vocabulary, reinforce grammatical and communicative structures, and introduce methods of literary interpretation. (1 Unit)

Required text: Roetzer, Deutsche Literatur in Beispielen (CC Buchner Verlag).

GN 303 German Culture and Society                                            Instructors: Graf, Wegel

This course introduces aspects of the German cultures – arranged in weekly themes – and some historical background to facilitate a better understanding of the German cultures and societies, as well as increase vocabulary and reinforce grammatical and communicative structures. (1 Unit)

Required texts: Mattes et al.: Politik erleben: Sozialkunde (Schöningh Verlag). Additional materials from the Web will be used.

Note: Students at the third level are encouraged to take the examination Zertifikat Deutsch als Fremdsparache administered through the Goethe Institute in Boston for a small additional fee.

GN 401-410 Advanced German II
Instructor: Geffers-Browne (coordinator)

The courses at the 400 level seek to develop the speaking and writing strategies applicable to specific types of discourse and to apply them to the study of literature and culture. This level has a three-pronged offering. In addition to the two courses listed below, the student will select a third course from the six-week program.

GN 401 Stylistics, Expository Writing, and Communication

This course meets for about two hours daily and forms the core of the 400 level program. It aims at strengthening the student's ability to write and speak German at an advanced level through development of speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills with an emphasis on advanced elements of communication and style. Attention will be paid to fine points of grammar, use of idioms, appropriate register. Classroom activities are enhanced by audio and video material as well as visitations by, and subsequent discussions with, German School guests and visitors. Lectures, films, and other cultural events of the German School will be incorporated into the course. (1 Unit)

Required texts: Rug/Tomaszewski, Grammatik mit Sinn and Verstand (Klett); additional materials will be available.

GN 410 20th Century Literature of the German Speaking Countries
Based on literary texts of various lengths the course explores issues of cultural and historical importance as reflected by literature throughout the century. The course aims at expansive classroom discussions, creative writing assignments of increasing difficulty, students' presentations on different literary topics and also incorporates audio and video material appropriate and related to the various literary pieces being elaborated on in class. (1 Unit)

Required texts: Thomas Mann, Tristan; Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Die Physiker; Bernhard Schlink, Der Vorleser; and stories and poetry as handouts

Note: Students at the fourth level are encouraged to take the examination Zentrale Mittelstufenprüfung administered through the Goethe Institute in Boston for a small fee.
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2008 German for Singers and Vocal Coaches

The German for Singers and Vocal Coaches program includes two basic components: language learning and musical performance. The language component provides daily instruction in grammar and conversation at a level appropriate to the student's proficiency as demonstrated on a placement test. Special attention will be given to German diction, conversational style, and poetic interpretation. For the language portion of this program two units of credit are awarded, and the courses are offered on four levels:

GN 105-106 Elementary German for Singers                               Instructor: Matthias

Daily activities include 3 hours of classroom instruction, plus additional work in the language laboratory and the computer center. Emphasis will be placed on the grammatical structures of German, conversational survival skills, diction, and pronunciation, as well as music vocabulary. (2 Units)

Required texts: )DiDonato, Clyde & Vansant: Deutsch, Na Klar! 5th edition (McGraw-Hill) with lab book and workbook; Recommended text: Barber, German for Musicians (Indiana University Press); Additional materials will be available.

GN 205-206 Intermediate German for Singers

Daily activities include two hours of grammar review, conversation, and composition practice to develop the four basic language skills. Pronunciation and diction are an integral part of this course, which also requires some activities in the language laboratory and the computer center. (2 Units)

Required texts: Wells, Handbuch der deutschen Grammatik, 3rd ed. (Houghton Mifflin); Irene Motyl-Mudretzkyj & Michaela Spainghaus: Anders Gedacht (Houghton Mifflin); Spaethling/Weber, Literatur Eins (W.W. Norton); Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Der Besuch der alten Dame (Houghton Mifflin).

GN 305-306 Advanced German for Singers

Advanced Grammar and Communication meets two hours per day to analyze and practice advanced grammatical structures, to provide intensive written and oral training, to offer insights into the German way of perception, and to develop communication and reading skills. Some additional work in the language and computer laboratories is required. (2 Units)

Required texts: Dreyer/Schmitt: Lehr- und übungsbuch der deutschen Grammatik. Neubearbeitung. (2000 edition, Hueber Verlag)
Roetzer, Deutsche Literatur in Beispielen (CC Buchner Verlag)

GN 405-406 Advanced German for Singers II

Stylistics, Expository Writing, and Communication meets two hours per day and aims at strengthening the student's ability to write and speak German at an advanced level. (2 Units)

Required text: to be announced.

Performance Component

The performance component of the German for Singers and Vocal Coaches program carries one unit of credit. Enrollment in one of the following four courses includes enrollment in voice and coaching.

GN 104 Elementary Lyric Diction (1 Unit)

McDonald and staff

GN 204 Intermediate Lyric Diction (1 Unit)

McDonald and staff

GN 304 Advanced Lyric Diction I (1 Unit)

McDonald and staff

GN 404 Advanced Lyric Diction II (1 Unit)

McDonald and staff

For a complete description of the program see : German for Singers and Vocal Coaches.

2008 Six-week Graduate Course Descriptions

Required texts: Rug/Tomaszewski, Grammatik mit Sinn und Verstand (Klett); Sick, Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod, Bd. I-III (Kiepenheuer & Witsch)
Recommended texts: Duden, Das Stilwörterbuch, 8th ed.(Langenscheidt) 

GRMN 6619 Applied Linguistics
- Angewandte Linguistik
(3-week workshop, 7/1-7/24)
Lischke, 2:30 - 4:20 pm

This course will introduce principles in applied linguistics and language pedagogy necessary for teaching a foreign language and explore specific issues in the teaching of German. Topics include: second language acquisition, socio-linguistics and pragma-linguistics, phonetics, recent changes in usage in the German language, different assessment tools, and the introduction to The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages as a model for curriculum development. (1 Unit)

Required texts:  Hans Jürgen Heringer, Interkulturelle Kommunikation (A. Franke Verlag); Lightbown & Spada, How Languages are Learned. 3^rd ed. (Oxford University Press); and handouts and prepared materials.

GERMAN STUDIES:

GRMN 6620 The German Media - Guarantor of Democracy?
- Die deutsche Medienlandschaft - Garant der Demokratie?
(Seminar)
Dirks, 11:00-11:50 am

For democracy to survive, independent media are indispensable, a kind of fourth power. Freedom of the press, freedom of opinion and speech – until unification in 1990 both German states, the BRD and the DDR, interpreted and administered freedom in different ways. How much freedom, how much openness does democracy need? And how much influence should government be allowed to exercise, especially in the face of terrorism and violence? The seminar offers a survey of the German press and mass media in recent German history.  (1 Unit)

Texts: To be announced

GRMN 6651 Two States - One Nation: The History of a Divided Germany 1945-1990
- Zwei Staaten - eine Nation: Zur Geschichte des geteilten Deutschlands 1945-1990
(Seminar)
Nicolaysen, 2:30-3:20 pm

A survey of the development of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland and the Deutsche Demokratische Republik from their founding in 1949 to the unification on October 3, 1990. The most important characteristics of both systems such as parliamentary democracy vs. Realer Sozialismus, social market economy vs. planned economy, NATO membership vs. membership in the Warschauer Pakt will be analyzed and discussed against the background of the East-West-conflict. Other topics include the youth culture, the role of women, the educational systems, the media as well as attitudes towards consumerism and recreational activities in both states.  (1 Unit)

Required text: Jürgen Weber, Kleine Geschichte Deutschlands seit 1945 (Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag).
Recommended text: Deutsche Geschichte im 20. Jahrhundert. Ein Lexikon. Hg. von Axel Schildt (Verlag C.H. Beck).

GRMN 6654 Project Europe: The European Union and the Role of Germany in the Process of European Integration
- Projekt Europa: Die europäische Union und die Rolle Deutschlands im europäischen Integrationsprozess
(Seminar)
Nicolaysen, 9:00-9:50 am

Based on the background of the historical development of the European Union, the course explores the origins of the EU, its membership including future applicants, the election process for the European parliament as well as its limitations of power, and the reasons why some EU countries do not use the Euro. In addition to questions concerning institutional, legal and economical aspects, problems of European identity will be discussed including the question of unity and diversity in European history and culture. Emphasis will be placed on the German part in the process of European integration. (1 Unit)

Required texts: Wolf D. Gruber/Wichard Woyke: Europa-Lexikon. Länder-Politik-Institutionen. 2^. erw. Aufl. (Verlag H.C. Beck); Franz Knipping, Rom, 25. März 1957. Die Einigung Europas (Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag)


GRMN 6625 Between Guilt, Atonement and Disremembering – Vergangenheitsbewältigung in Literature and Film since 1945 (Seminar)
Dirks, 10:00-10:50 am

From Kahlschlagliteratur to the verdict that poetry could not be composed anymore after Auschwitz; from collective guilt and charges against the Vatergeneration to the meticulous research of particular cases, literature and film gave crucial impulses for dealing with the German past. Lately, however, facts are changed into fiction, the downfall of Germany is turned into a movie, and the Third Reich runs as a “docu-soap opera” on TV. Is the time right for such fictionalization? And above all, is German society stable enough for this process? (This course may alternatively be counted to fulfill one Literature requirement.) (1 Unit)

Required texts: Jurek Becker, Jakob der Lügner (Suhrkamp); Günter Grass, Im Krebsgang. Eine Novelle (Deutscher Taschebuch Verlag); Uwe Timm, Am Beispiel meines Bruders (Kiepenheuer & Witsch).

LITERATURE:

GRMN 6610 Introduction to Text Analysis
- Einführung in die Analyse von Texten aus Literatur, Film und Kunst
Härter, 9:00-9:50 am

This course offers an introduction to reading and interpreting “texts” from various sources: writing (fiction and theory), film, and art. Students will investigate the structures and strategies of these texts, and will explore traditions of culture, thought and composition at work in them. The goals of the course are refined reading skills, a heightened awareness and knowledge of the structural elements that constitute any text, and access to concepts of literary theory. (1 Unit)

Texts: Keller: Kleider machen Leute (Reclam); Mann: Tristan (Reclam); Vanderbeke: Ich sehe was, was du nicht siehst (Fischer).


GRMN 6660 Discoveries, Expeditions, Transits - Travel Literature
- Entdeckungen, Expeditionen, Uebergänge und -fahrten - Reiseliteratur mit Fokus auf den amerikanischen Kontinent (Literatur, Film und Kunst)
(Seminar)
Härter, 12:00-12:50 pm

Adventures of traveling and exploring, exciting or uncanny encounters with foreign lands, somber scenes of cultural conflict have made travel literature one of the most intriguing genres. Travel literature reflects the experience of foreign cultures, but also exposes the fact that such experience is shaped by the traveler’s (and writer’s) own cultural background. Therefore travel literature sheds light not only on foreign cultures and regions, but on the familiar world from which the journey began as well. This course focuses on German travel literature about exploration, real or fictitious, of the American continents. Strategies of representation of the foreign, reaching from the documentary to the fantastic, from fact to fiction, will be investigated. Literature, films and works of art will also be discussed. (1 Unit)

Texts:  Kehlmann: Die Vermessung der Welt (Rowohlt); von Kleist: Die Verlobung in St. Domingo. Das Bettelweib von Locarno. Der Findling. (Reclam); Roth: Hiob. Roman eines einfachen Mannes (dtv); Handke: Der kurze Brief zum langen Abschied (Suhrkamp); Federspiel: Die Ballade von der Typhoid Mary (Suhrkamp).

GRMN 6680 German Romantik as Reflected through the Kunstmärchen. (Painting, poetry, music and theoretical texts will also be used as examples).  May also count as German Studies.
- Die deutsche Romantik im Spiegel des Kunstmärchens (mit zusätzlichen Beispielen aus der Malerei, Musik, Lyrik und Theorie)
(Seminar)
Speier, 11:00-11:50 am

The Kunstmärchen is used as an introduction into the literature and culture of the German Romantik. Compared to the Volksmärchen, the Kunstmärchen is characterized by self-reflection and a utopian perspective, and it contains essential elements of romantic fiction. In addition to the analysis of the texts, central concepts and topics of romanticism are explored such as: Romantic irony, Universalpoesie, magic, nature symbolism, the Doppelgänger motif, and the role of madness and dream. The discussion includes poetry, short theoretical essays as well as examples from painting and music. (This course may alternatively be counted to fulfill one German Studies requirement.)  (1 Unit)

Required texts: Monika Schmitz-Emans, Einführung in die Literatur der Romantik (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft); Ludwig Tieck, Der blonde Eckbert. Der Runenberg (Reclam, UB 7732); E.T.A. Hoffmann, Der goldene Topf (Reclam, UB 101); Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, Undine (Reclam,UB 492); Adelbert von Chamisso, Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte (Reclam, UB 93)

GRMN 6684 Poetry in the 20th Century
- Lyrik des 20. Jahrhunderts
(Seminar)
Speier, 12:00-12:50 pm

The seminar explores changing concepts and traditions of German poetry in the 20^th century and focuses on exemplary analysis of poetic texts by poets including Hofmannsthal, Rilke, Benn, Brecht, Bachmann, Celan, Enzensberger and Grass as well as texts known as konkrete Poesie. The course introduces basic concepts and terminology used for literary analysis and demonstrates different methodological approaches to the interpretation of poetic text. Authors will be introduced with their literary and historical background.

Required texts: Deutsche Lyrik. Eine Anthologie. Hg. von Hanspeter Brode (Suhrkamp); Dieter Burdorf, Einführung in die Gedichtanalyse (Verlag J.B. Metzler).

TEACHING METHODOLOGY:

(3-WEEK WORKSHOP FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS OF GERMAN)

GRMN 6619 Applied Linguistics for the Teaching of German - Angewandte Linguistik für den Deutschunterricht
Lischke, 2:30-4:20 pm
July 1 – July 24
(1 unit)

Description: see under LANGUAGE

This workshop is open to qualified students enrolled in the six week graduate program as well as to teachers of German who only want to take 1 course.

2008 German School Faculty Archive

Administration

Director: JOCHEN RICHTER, Mary Biehler Professor of German,
Professor of German, Allegheny College
Ph.D., Syracuse University.

Associate Director: KARL OBRATH, Associate Professor of German,
Associate Professor of German, University of Cincinnati
Ph.D., University of Cincinnati.

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Faculty

CYNTHIA CHALUPA
Assistant Professor of German, West Virginia University; Ph.D., The Ohio State University

HENRIETTE DEHLER
Dramaturgin am Mecklenburgischen Staatstheater Schwerin; M.A.; Humboldt Universität Berlin

LIANE DIRKS
Freie Schriftstellerin, Köln; Diplom-Verwaltungs-wissenschaftlerin, Universität Köln

ANA DJUKIC-COCKS
Assistant Professor of German, SUNY College at Oswego; Ph.D., University of Cincinnati

CHRISTINE GEFFERS-BROWNE
Associate Professor of German and Director of German Language Program, Brandeis University; DML., Middlebury College

HANS GABRIEL
Assistant Professor of German, North Carolina School of the Arts; Ph.D., University of Virginia

ROMAN GRAF
Associate Provost for Institutional Diversity and Associate Professor of German, Middlebury College; Ph.D., University of North Carolina

ANDREAS HÄRTER
Dozent für deutsche Sprache und Literatur, Universität St. Gallen; Dr. phil., Universität Zürich

KARL-HEINZ HARTMANN
Dozent für deutsche Sprache und Literatur, Freie Universität Berlin; Dr. phil., Freie Universität Berlin

BARBARA HECK
Instructor of German, Teacher of ESL, Universität St. Gallen; M.A., The Ohio State University

BETTINA MATTHIAS
Associate Professor of German, Middlebury College; Ph.D., University of Washington

JAMES McDONALD
Faculty Member, Voice Department, New England Conservatory; D.M.A., University of Iowa

RUTH ANN McDONALD
Faculty Member, Collaborative Piano Department, New England Conservatory; D.M.A., Catholic University of America

IRENE MITTELBERG
Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin, Lehrstuhl Angewandte Linguistik, Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Ph.D., Cornell University

ALEXANDRA MITTLER
Instructor of German, Syracuse University; Dr.phil., Bayrische Julius-Maximillian Universität

KLAUS MODICK
Freier Schriftsteller, Oldenburg; Dr. phil., Universität Hamburg

MARIA MORRISON
Instructor of German, Colby College; M.A., University of Virginia

RAINER NICOLAYSEN
Privatdozent für Neuere Geschichte, Universität Hamburg, und Lehrbeauftragter für Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte, Universität Lüneburg; Dr.phil., Universität Hamburg

CAROLYN OSTERMANN-HEALY
Learning and Electronic Classroom, Arlington Public Schools; M.A., University of Cincinnati

VERONICA OSTERTAG
Instructor of German, University of Arizona at Tucson; M.A., University of Arizona at Tucson

STEVEN RANDALL
Instructor of German, University of Arizona at Tucson; M.A., University of Arizona at Tucson

ROGER RUSSI
Assistant Professor, Central Piedmont Community College; Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

CLAUDIA SANDBERG
Instructor of German, University of Southampton, Great Britain; M.A., University of Arizona at Tucson; M.S., Universität Hamburg

HANS-MICHAEL SPEIER
Autor und Literaturwissenschaftler, Freie Universität Berlin; Gastprofessor, University of Cincinnati; Dr. phil., Freie Universität Berlin

RENATA SZCZEPANIAK
Juniorprofessorin, Johannes-Gutenberg Universität Mainz; Dr.Phil., Johannes-Gutenberg Universität Mainz

CHRISTINA WEGEL
Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Ph.D., University of California at Los Angeles

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Administrative Staff

CHRISTINA ELLISON
Coordinator, German School; B.A., Middlebury College
cellison@middlebury.edu

TESSA WEGENER
Bilingual Assistant; M.A., University of Kentucky

JESSIE BROWN
Bilingual Assistant; M.A., Middlebury College

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2007 Six-week Graduate Course Descriptions

Language

German Studies

GRMN 6632 “Sonderfall Schweiz?” An Introduction to the History, Culture and Identity of Switzerland

GRMN 6644  Opportunities and Crises of the First German Democracy: Social and Cultural History of the Weimar Republic 1918 - 1933

GRMN 6631  German Expressionism: Art, Film, Literature and Music

Literature

GRMN 6610  Introduction to Text Analysis

GRMN 6681  Faust Seminar

GRMN 6645 The Battle of the Sexes: About Lust und Last der Liebe in German Literature after 1945

Teaching Methodology

GRMN 6643  Visual Text and Gesture in German Language Teaching
(3-week workshop)



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