Courses - Autumn 2018

Please note that this webpage will be updated as information becomes available

For GE courses, please check out our General Education Web page.

German 1101.01 • German I

4 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

GE Foreign Language course
Introduction to language and culture of the German-speaking world, with emphasis placed on the acquisition of basic communication skills in cultural context. CEFR Levels A1/A2. Not open to native speakers of this language through regular course enrollment or EM credits, or to students with 2 or more years of study in this language in high school, except by permission of dept.
Text: ISBN 978-3-12-606128-5  Netzwerk A1: Deutsch als Fremdsprache

German 1102.01 • German II

4 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

GE Foreign Language course
Continued development of German-language skills and cultural knowledge for effective communication. Emphasis on more advanced language structures, sustained interactions, reading and writing. CEFR Levels A2/B1. Not open to native speakers of this language.
Prereq: 1101.01, or 4 sem cr hrs of 1101.51.
Texts: ISBN 978-3-12-606128-5  Netzwerk A1: Deutsch als Fremdsprache;
    and ISBN 978-3-12-606998-4 Netzwerk A2: Deutsch als Fremdsprache

German 1103.01 • German III

4 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

GE Foreign Language course
Development of skills for independent use of German. Discussions, presentations, writing, & listening/viewing activities that address topics of contemporary German-speaking world. CEFR Level B1. Not open to native speakers of this language through regular course enrollment or EM credit.
Prereq: 1102.01, or 4 sem cr hrs of 1102.51, or 1266.
Text: ISBN 978-3-12-606998-4 Netzwerk A2: Deutsch als Fremdsprache

German 1101.51 • 1102.51 • 1103.51  Self-paced Individualized

GE Foreign Language course
each course is 4 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

German 2101 • Texts and Contexts I: Contemporary German Language, Culture and Society

tba | 3 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018
Taleghani-Nikazm | 3 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

Development of communication skills and knowledge about recent social, cultural, and political developments in German speaking countries through texts, media and film; CEFR level A2/B1. Closed to native speakers of this language.
Prereq: 1103.01 or 1103.51, or equiv, or permission of instructor. No audit. FL Admis Cond course.

German 2102 • Texts and Contexts II: 20th-Century German Language, History and Culture

Heck | 3 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

Continued development of communication skills; gain an understanding of major social and cultural developments in 20th century German history through texts, media, film. CEFR level B1/B2. Closed to native speakers of this language.
Prereq: 2101 or equiv, or permission of instructor. FL Admis Cond course.
Text:
Damals war es Friedrich (Hans Peter Richter), ISBN: 978-3-423-07800-9.

German 2254 • Grimms' Fairy Tales and their Afterlives

Richards | 3 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

In the present course, we will be trying to understand the meaning and the enduring appeal of one of Germany’s greatest successes in the realm of cultural exportation—a book whose circulation figures are exceeded in Western culture only by those of the Bible, namely, Grimms’ fairy tales.  This will mean asking a series of interlocking questions.  How did the fairy tales come about?  What were the aims of their compilers?  How do the tales play to those aims?  How do they exceed them?  How do the tales tend to work structurally?  What have their social and psychological effects been?  How have they helped shape—and been reshaped by—popular cultures outside Germany, like popular culture in the U.S.  In reckoning with these questions, we will be enlisting the help of a parade of great critics, including Vladimir Propp, Bruno Bettelheim, Erich Auerbach, and Jack Zipes.
Required Texts:
Jack Zipes, The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
Assigned films will be available at drm.osu.edu
Other readings will be posted on Carmen.
All works in English translation; taught in English.
Repeatable to a maximum of 9 cr hrs. GE lit course.

German 2350 • Introduction to German Studies

Reitter | 3 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

This course provides a broad introduction to German history and culture and to the field of German Studies. Taught in English, it is an ideal course for students considering a major or minor in German, or for those with a general interest in German-language history and culture.

The course will have four components

• lectures on history (social, cultural, political, and linguistic)
• lectures on contemporary German-language society and culture
• discussion about works of literature, film, philosophy, art, music, etc.
• introductions to methods for studying language and culture

In the end, students will have a broad overview of German-language history and culture and a catalog of questions that will include tools for analyzing everything from medieval sagas to television shows, political speeches to the words they use.
Taught in English.
Required books (in recommended English editions):
Das Niebelungenlied: The Lay of the Niebelungs.Oxford Classics, ISBN 978-0199238545
The Sorrows of Young Werther. Oxford Classics, ISBN: 978-0199583027
These books are also available as open-access editions, or contact instructor for information about German or German-English editions.
Recommended book:
Mary Fulbrook, A Concise History of Germany, ISBN: 978-0521540711

German 3101 • Texts and Contexts III: Historical Perspectives

Grotans | 3 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

Development of intermediate/advanced communication skills; broadening of cultural and historical knowledge through interaction with literary and non-literary materials informed by historical perspective; CEFR level B2. Closed to to native speakers of this language.
Prereq: 2102 or equiv, or permission of instructor. FL Admis Cond course.
All texts will be provided by the instructor.

German 3102 • News and Views: Conversations about Current Issues in the German-Speaking World

Mergenthaler | 3 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

This course has a dual aim: 1) to inform you about events, issues, and trends in the German-speaking world today and 2) to increase your speaking and auditory German language skills.
Topics covered will include the rise of (extreme) right-wing political movements in Europe, the migrant situation, the state of the EU, and Europe and Russia. The course is meant to help you expand your ability to gather information about these events from German-language sources (print, audio, and video); to summarize and analyze these sources; and to express your thoughts and opinions in a variety of oral and some written genres (e.g. conversation, formal presentation, email, twitter, news blog/commentary, short narratives, and reaction pieces). Special attention will also be given to German phonetics and pronunciation practice.

German 3252 •  The Holocaust in German Literature and Film

Richards | 3 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

Reading, analysis, and discussion of representative works pertaining to the Holocaust from the perspectives of the German and Ashkenazic traditions. Taught in English.
Prereq: Not open to students with credit for Yiddish 3399. GE lit and diversity global studies course.

German 3254H •  Representations and Memory of the Holocaust in Film

Holub | 3 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

GE Visual and Performing Arts, GE Diversity: Global Studies, Honors Course

Students will view, discuss, and examine major filmic representations of the Holocaust from several countries from the 1940s through the 1990s. Students will learn how these films have contributed to our understanding of a complex phenomenon of WWII and how the directors have coped with the thorny issues of representing something that many people consider to be unrepresentable. Taught in English.
Prereq: Honors, and Soph, Jr, or Sr standing, or permission of instructor.

German 3600 • Die Vielfältigkeit und Entwicklung der deutschen Sprache - Topics in German Linguistics/Language

Grotans | 3 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

In this course we look at HOW the German language as it used today. We’ll start out with a brief review of the structural elements of German, e.g., its sounds, words (and how to make them) and how they’re put together. Next we’ll look at the numerous varieties that make up the German language, including dialects, sociolects and ethnolects.

Further topics:

-  the influence of foreign languages on German, especially English (Denglisch)
- modern attitudes toward standardization and language change
- the role of German in the EU
- minority and immigrant languages in Germany
- German in the media and advertising

Class is taught in German.
Prereq: 2102 or equiv, or permission of instructor.

German 3602 • German for the Professions 1

Heck | 3 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

Development of cultural knowledge and communication skills for the professions; introduction to the world of German business through audio, video, print materials; CEFR level B1-B2.
Prereq: 2102 or equiv, or permission of instructor. No audit.

German 4300 • Kulturelle Reflexionen über die Natur /Cultural Reflections on Nature - Senior Seminar in German: Cultural Reflections on Nature - Culture Studies, Social and Intellectual History (German)

Mergenthaler | 3 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

This course will introduce students to German philosophical, theoretical and literary reflections on nature from the 18th century to the present, including short readings by Kant, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Hartmut Böhme. We will closely read and analyze these and other authors' texts and apply them to pertinent examples from German literature, film, visual & media art, dance, music, and popular culture. Students will develop their own research project on a cultural product of their own choosing. 

The course aims to further 1. students’ language skills in 1. listening, speaking, and writing, 2. their ability to understand and evaluate theoretical and philosophical texts in German, and 3. to describe, contextualize, and critically analyze various cultural creations.

Taught in German. Counts toward fulfillment of advanced requirement for the major.
Prereq: 3101, and one course at the 3000 level, and Sr standing; or permission of instructor.

German 6400 • Introduction to German Film

Davidson | 3 credit units | T/Th 3:55-5:15 pm   Autumn Semester 2018

Taught in English, this Introduction to German Film is designed to familiarize graduate students to central texts, historical periods, and formal analysis relevant to the study of German cinema. This course will be divided into units that each address a particular (sub-)period and theme. The class will meet twice per week in 80-minute class sessions covering:

• Introductory lecture, discussion of historical period, and one or more formal cinematic element;
• Film discussion and analytical application [viewing assignments completed outside of class]

The aim of the course is to equip students with the tools needed to engage with film and visual material critically as they encounter it in further coursework and/or stages of scholarly development, be that further work in cinematic research or in preparation for Area 3 of Germanic L&L’s Master’s Assessment. Those who successfully complete this course should be able to integrate German film into their teaching profile as generalists in Germanistik or in a European cinema-studies context. This class counts in the Film Studies graduate program.

Prereq: Grad standing, or permission of instructor.

German 6601 • Teaching Practicum

Taleghani-Nikazm | 1 credit unit |  Autumn Semester 2018

This course is for GTAs who are teaching a 1000-level German language class. The course provides graduate students with instruction and practice in designing and implementing instructional materials for their undergraduate classes. It offers best practices in creating tests, developing speaking portfolios, designing culture components, and becoming reflective practitioners.
Prereq: Grad standing, and permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 10 cr hrs. This course is graded S/U.

German 8200 • Queer Literature - Seminar in Literature and Literary Culture 

Birkhold | 3 credit units | Mon.  4:00-6:30 pm    Autumn Semester 2018

German thinkers have long engaged concepts of queerness. A German coined  the word “homosexual” in 1869. And in 2017, Germany legally recognized the existence of a third gender. The word “queer” even comes from the German. How queer is German literature? In this course, we’ll examine how German literature took (and takes) part in social, legal, medical and philosophical questions about sex and gender. Beginning in 1800 with the biologization of gender, we’ll read canonical and overlooked novels, foundational texts from the 1930s and 1970s gay movements, and classic works of queer theory. Authors include: Dorothea Schlegel, Wilhelm von Humboldt, Thomas Mann, Robert Musil, Christa Winsloe, Rosa von Praunheim, and contemporary works by Zora del Buono and Fabian Hirschmann. Plus: Butler, Foucault, Sedwick, Bersani.

All works can also be read in English. Taught in English.

Prereq: 6200, or Grad standing, or permission of instructor.

German 8300 • On theories of Bildung and Wissenschaft from Humboldt to Weber ~ Seminar in Intellectual History and Cultural Studies 

Reitter | 3 credit units | Wed.  4:00-6:30 pm   Autumn Semester 2018

Concepts, representations, and institutions of German culture in an international context; German intellectual history; theories of literature, arts, and culture.
Prereq: 6200, or Grad standing, or permission of instructor.

German 8500 • Doctoral Colloquium

Fischer | 1 credit unit | ARR  Autumn Semester 2018

Regular student-driven discussions of ongoing dissertations, current topics in the professional field, and new research approaches to Germanic Studies.
Prereq: Successful completion of Ph.D. candidacy exams or permission from Director of Graduate Studies and instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 9 cr hrs. This course is graded S/U.

Scandinavian 3350 • Norse Mythology and Medieval Culture

Kaplan | 3 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

Swedish 1101 • Swedish I

Risko | 4 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

GE Foreign Language course
Introduction to language and culture of Sweden with emphasis on the acquisition of basic communication skills in a cultural context. Closed to native speakers of this language.
Prereq: Not open to students with credit for 101.01, or to students with 2 or more years of study in this language in high school, except by permission of dept. GE for lang course.
Text: Althén, Anette. Mål 1 Lärobok (textbook with CD); Althén, Anette. Mål Övningsbok (workbook). Both Stockholm: Natur och Kultur (2007 edition).

Swedish 1103 • Swedish III

Risko | 4 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

GE Foreign Language course
Development of skills necessary for the independent use of Swedish. Discussions, presentations, writing and listening/viewing activities address topics of contemporary Sweden.
Prereq: Grade of C- or better in 102. Not open to students with credit for 103.01, 104.01, or to native speakers of this language through regular course enrollment or EM credit. GE for lang course. FL Admis Cond course.
Text: Althén, Anette. Mål 2 Lärobok (textbook with CD); Althén, Anette. Mål Övningsbok (workbook). Both Stockholm: Natur och Kultur (2007 edition).

Yiddish 2367 • Jewish-American Voices in U.S. Literature

Algar  | 3 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

GE Cultures and Ideas, GE Writing and Communication: level 2
Introduction to Jewish-American literature; development of expository writing and argumentation skills through systematic and critical reflection upon their own country from the perspective of an ethnic community.
Prereq: English 1110 (110) or equiv. Not open to students with credit for 367. GE writing and comm: level 2 and cultures and ideas course.

Yiddish 3399 • Holocaust in Yiddish and Ashkenazic Literature

Hamblet  | 3 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

GE lit and diversity global studies course
Reading and analysis of texts, films and music pertaining to the topic of the Holocaust, the genocide perpetrated by Nazi Germany against European Jewry, and its impact on Ashkenazic-Jewish civilization.
Prereq: Not open to students with credit for German 3252. GE lit and diversity global studies course.

Yiddish 7721 • Studies in Yiddish Literature

 | 3 credit units | Autumn Semester 2018

Advanced study of specific literary periods, figures, and/or topics involving extensive reading and discussion of appropriate primary and secondary source materials.
Repeatable to a maximum of 9 cr. hrs.