Courses - Spring 2015

German      Scandinavian      Swedish      Yiddish

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


 

German 1101.01 • German I

4 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

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 978-3-468-96993-5  Berliner Platz 1 Neu: German for Beginners: Student Pack PLUS, English Edition


German 1102.01 • German II

4 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

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 978-3-468-96993-5  Berliner Platz 1 Neu: German for Beginners: Student Pack PLUS, English Edition; ISBN 978-3-468-96994-2  Berliner Platz 2 Neu: Deutsch im Alltag: Student Pack PLUS; and ISBN 978-0-934034-38-8  English Grammar for Students of German*, fifth edition.


German 1103.01 • German III

4 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

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.
Texts: ISBN 978-3-468-96994-2  Berliner Platz 2 Neu: Deutsch im Alltag: Student Pack PLUS and ISBN 978-0-934034-38-8  English Grammar for Students of German, fifth edition.


German 1101.51 • 1102.51 • 1103.51  Self-paced Individualized

GE Foreign Language course
each course is 4 credit units | Spring Semester 2015


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

Karyekar | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015
Heck | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

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

Karyekar | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

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.
Texts:
ISBN 978-3-19-011657-7  Hering,  Matussek & Perlmann-Balme, Übungsgrammatik für die Mittelstufe. Hueber Verlag, 2009.
ISBN 978-3-12-676615-9  Mittelpunkt B2 + C1 Redemittelsammlung, Klett Verlag, 2008.


German 2251 • Berlin: Stories, Languages, and Ideas ~

German Literature and Popular Culture

Mergenthaler | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

Students will learn about the roles Berlin played in Europe's and the world's major upheavals, from the Thirty Years' War to the Fall of the Wall in 1990, and will gain insight into the increasing internationalization of Berlin from three perspectives: stories told by and about Berlin's citizens; philosophical & scientific ideas generated in Berlin; and multilingual dialects and variations.
GE lit course


German 2251 • German Literature and Popular Culture

  • Hammermeister | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015
    The German National Character

    What makes the Germans different from their neighbors in Europe and the other nations in the world? Which traits of their character account for their traditions, their social structures, their economic success, their religious attitudes and their ways of living? Together we will investigate the German national character and its manifestations.
    Taught in English. Repeatable to a maximum of 9 cr hrs. GE lit course.

  • Berman | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015
    Germany and the Middle East
    Taught in English. GE lit course.

    This course explores the dynamic between German and Middle Eastern states and empires from the time of the Crusades to the end of the Cold War. Focusing on German-language writings and other cultural material about the Middle East (including literary writings, maps, historical documents, religious literature, travel writing, and scholarship), we will evaluate the multiple layers of meaning contained in these works by considering culture contact; a wide web of political, economic, and social developments and practices; and material dimensions. The survey illuminates the complex relationships among cultural material on the one hand, and economic, social, and political processes and material dimensions on the other.
    Books (at SBX): Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Nathan the Wise; Nina Berman, German Literature on the Middle East: Discourses and Practices, 1000-1989
    * additional readings on Carmen


German 2253 • Magic, Murder, Mayhem

Grotans | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

Origins and highlights of German culture and life to 1648 as reflected in literary and poetic works, Germanic mythology, religion, and the arts.
Prereq: Not open to students with credit for 291. GE lit and diversity global studies course.


German 2367 • Across the Atlantic: German Literature and American Culture

Richards | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

German audiences have long been fascinated with America as a land of opportunity, a wild frontier, and a land where businessmen, gangsters and Hollywood starlets coexist. More recently, German authors have been championed by counterculture, conquered bestseller lists, poked fun at notions of identity and celebrity, and have found a solid foothold in the American psyche. In this course, students will work with popular and renowned works by modern German speaking authors and directors and discover the many-faceted social, cultural and historical moments that have produced resounding images of American and German Culture on both sides of the Atlantic.
Prereq: English 1110.01, 1110.02, and 1110.03 or equiv. Not open to students with credit for 367. GE writing and comm course: level 2. EN Admis Cond course.


German 2367 • "Amerika" and German Film/Literature: German Literature and American Culture

Karyekar | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

Depictions of America have always been varied in modern German literature – from the land of new opportunities to the land of wild frontiers, from the land of jazz to the land of Hollywood.

What is America for Germans? How has it been defined and portrayed?

This course aims to familiarize the students with different images of America in German literature by exposing them to the popular and renowned works by modern German speaking authors and directors on American culture. Starting with a few years before the 20th century with a depiction of America’s Wild West, we will discover and discuss many images of America portrayed through various uniquely shaped German perspectives. Towards the end of the course, we will also read and analyze excerpts from popular German novels and films that have achieved great critical and popular success in the States, thereby contemplating on the images of Germany in the American mind.
Taught in English.
Prereq: English 1110.01, 1110.02, and 1110.03 or equiv. Not open to students with credit for 367. GE writing and comm course: level 2. EN Admis Cond course.


German 3101 • Texts and Contexts III: Historical Perspectives

Heck | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

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.


German 3200 • Topics in German Literature, Art and Film

Fehervary | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

Bertolt Brecht’s epic theater revolutionized the modern stage and influenced playwrights and theater practitioners in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. As the South African writer and Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer said at his centenary in 1998, “Brecht is alive and well in places he never visited or even imagined.”

We will visit some of these places in four of Brecht’s best-known plays:
Der gute Mensch von Sezuan (China)
Der kaukasiche Kreidekreis (Caucasian Mountains)
Mutter Courage (Central and Northern Europe in the Thirty Years War)
Leben des Galilei (17th-century Italy)

This course is primarily focused on improving German reading, speaking, and writing skills. Short response papers by students provide the basis for in-class grammar review and class work on vocabulary and syntax.
As to the readings, Brecht’s plays have a clear plot-line, and the language is straightforward and fairly simple, certainly appropriate to the 3000-level. We will devote three weeks to each play and also watch some films of Brecht theater productions.
Grading is based on weekly short response papers. No midterm or final exam. The Suhrkamp paperback editions of the plays are relatively inexpensive and will be available at SBX.
Prereq: 2102 or equiv, or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 6 cr hrs. Admis Cond course.


German 3252 • The Holocaust in Literature and Film

Byram | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

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 399, or Yiddish 3399 (399). GE lit and diversity global studies course.


German 3300 • Deutsche auf Reisen ~ Topics in German Culture Studies, Social and Intellectual History

Hammermeister | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

After WW II, the Germans have become one of the most travel-curious nations on the planet. But even in the previous centuries, Germans have roamed far and wide to visit other continents to report about them. We will read texts that investigate various purposes of travel and that try to make sense of the experiences of foreign cultures.
This course is taught entirely in German. Content geared toward improving students' critical comprehension and communication skills in German.
Prereq: 2102 or equiv; or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 550. Admis Cond course.


German 3351 • Democracy, Fascism and German Culture

Davidson | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

Culture of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany in literature, film, the other arts; the roots of fascism and its echoes in postwar Germany. Taught in English.
Prereq: Not open to students with credit for 299. GE cultures and ideas and diversity global studies course.


German 4600 •   Deutsch: Sprachkontakt und Mehrsprachigkeit ~ Senior Seminar in German: Linguistics/Language (German)

Grotans | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015 

Seminar on aspects of the German language. Variable topics may include: structure, history, and variation of the German language; studies of German language acquisition; methods of the field of Germanic Linguistics and Philology. Taught in German.
Prereq: 3101, 3600, or equiv, and Sr standing, or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 6 cr hrs. FL Admis Cond course.


German 4602 • German for the Professions

Heck | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

Continued development of cultural knowledge and communication skills in German; study of business trends, traditions, and structures through audio, video, print materials; CEFR level B1-B2.
Prereq: 3602 or equiv, or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 302. FL Admis Cond course.


German 6102 • German for Research

Fehervary | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

Reading of difficult material at a reasonable rate of speed and with only infrequent use of dictionaries. No audit. Credit does not apply to the minimum hours required for the master's or doctoral degrees.
Prereq: A grade of C or above in 6101, or Grad standing, or equiv preparation demonstrated by placement test. Repeatable to a maximum of 6 cr hrs. Admis Cond course.


German 8200 • Constructions of Masculinity in German and British Literature (1880s-1930s): Seminar in Literature and Literary Culture

Horlacher | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

This course explores the challenges which the emerging field of masculinity studies presents to literary studies by introducing different theories concerning the conceptualization of masculinity and, more specifically, male gender identities. Moreover, we will examine the specificities of literary representations, or better: creations of masculinities with the help of a series of German and British novels, novellas, and plays. These include Gerhart Hauptmann's Bahn­wärter Thiel/[Flagman] Thiel, Frank Wedekind's Frühlings Erwachen/Spring Awakening and Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure, as well as Robert Musil's Die Ver­wir­run­gen des Zög­lings Törleß/The Confusions of Young Törless, D.H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers, and Joseph Roth's Radetzkymarsch/The Radetzky March. We will not only pay attention to the comparative aspects, but also to the various ways in which literary texts create different and alternative versions of masculinity. For students of German Literature, the German editions of Haupt­mann's, Wedekind's, Musil's, and Roth's texts are recommended, though all works are available in English translation and will be taught in English. Short presentations will be assigned for each of the books discussed.
Please contact instructor for details (stefan.horlacher@mailbox.tu-dresden.de).
Prereq: 6200, or Grad standing, or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 30 cr hrs. Admis Cond course.


German 8300 • The Philosophy of Poetic Language: Seminar in Intellectual History and Cultural Studies

Mergenthaler | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

In this course we will discuss important philosophical views of poetic language in the German tradition as well as their ongoing influence on contemporary theories of language and literature.
All readings will be made available on Carmen in German and English. Discussions in German or English, depending on participants’ wishes and subject matter. No knowledge of German is required; graduate students from departments other than GLL are very welcome.
Readings will include Herder, “The Origin of Language”; Novalis, “Monologue;” Schleiermacher, Hermeneutics and Criticism (sel.); Dilthey, Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations (sel.);Heidegger, On the Way to Language (sel.); Frege, “Sinn und Bedeutung;” Hamacher, “95 Theses on Philology”, Josef Stern, “Figurative Language”
Prereq: 6200, or Grad standing, or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 30 cr hrs. Admis Cond course.


German 8400 • The Ecological in Post-WWII German Film: Seminar in Film, Visual Culture and the Performing Arts

Davidson | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

The subheading of a particularly compelling article by a consortium of European scholars stresses the need for “integrating the social sciences and humanities in global environmental change research.”[1] In seeking to redefine the human component of the “Anthropocene,” Palsson et al note that

When the general awareness of our ecological predicament started to emerge in the early twentieth century, the human sciences contributed significantly. However, in line with modernist theories about technology and progress, the [post-WWII] framing of the environment fatefully reduced it to an object of natural science. (p4)

The conceptions of the environment descended from the decades following WWII are doubtless significant parts of our contemporary predicament; however, there was much cultural theory from that period that may help to challenge those conceptions. These authors tacitly claim as much by calling on Hannah Arendt to hold that “because what currently counts as ‘environmental’ is also social […] humanity’s knowledge enterprise needs to return its attention to social theory and the humanities” (p4).
            In this course we will examine some of that pertinent texts of the “late modernist” period (ca. ’46-82[2] -- among others by Adorno, Arendt, Bateson, Dürrenmatt, Frisch, Jonas, and Sartre) in order to pose a question omitted in the above framing of the problem: what is the role of aesthetic works here?  In particular, given the current prevalence of cognitive and visual cultural models, what are the potentials of visual works – still and moving – in this regard?  After familiarizing ourselves with pertinent examples from the visual art tradition trade will spread our attention across both mainstream features, documentary, and experimental films (by Lampert, Staudte, Resnais, Domnick, Vesely, Wolf, Kluge, Hein, Huillet/Straub, among other). What is held in the visual aesthetic field arising in the cultural landscape that had experienced the brunt of a lost war, seen the horrors of the holocaust and the results of atomic blasts, had begun to perceive the changes that post-war re-normalization would have on the environment, and was witnessing the rise of the televisual as a dominant cultural force?  In the final section of the course we will move closer to the present to consider what our reevaluation of the post-WWII visual field offers us.
                This course does not require knowledge of German or of film; both, however, could be useful.  This course will cover some materials from the German MA list for “Film, Visual Art, and Performance,” and it will provide students with analytical tools for approaching the film in visual traditions more confidently. Students will prepare fully and participate actively, provide on oral report, and either write a seminar paper or a final project including a short annotated bibliography and take-home exam.
[1] Palsson, Gisli, et al, “Reconceptualizing the ‘Anthropos’ in the Anthropocene: Integrating the Social Sciences and Humanities in Global Environmental Change Research,” Environmental Science & Policy 28 (2013) 3–13.
[2] Larson Powell, The Differentiation of Modernism: Postwar German Media Arts, Rochester: Camden House, 2013.
Prereq: 6200, or Grad standing, or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 30 cr hrs. Admis Cond course.


German 8500 • Doctoral Colloquium

CANCELLED! | 1 credit unit |

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. Admis Cond course.


German 8600 •  Putting it all together: Integrating Content and Language Learning in the L2 Classroom ~ Seminar in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics

Byram & Taleghani-Nikazm | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015  

This seminar will introduce students to the innovative curricular approach of Content-Based Instruction (CBI) in second language context. 
In this course we will:

  1. Learn about CBI’s principles and objectives of achieving/establishing a balance between language and content (culture) learning
  2. Engage with recent discussions and concerns about skills L2 students require for advanced “translingual and transcultural competences,” in other words, “the ability to comprehend and analyze the cultural narratives that appear in every kind of expressive form…”(2007 MLA Report). 
  3. Discuss reports on genre and literacy-based curricular initiatives and explore some recent studies on instructional strategies and projects that have focused on developing advanced L2 skills for language and culture competences  
  4. Focus on use of technology and ideas for integrating innovative digital and internet-based technology in upper-level language-content classes
  5. Explore and discuss various approaches to assessment in CBI

In addition to regular class discussions of readings and students’ projects, we will have invited guest speakers from campus and other institutions (via Skype).

Student Project:  1. Students will design and develop a content-based instructional unit focusing on teaching and learning of cultural literacy; 2.Students will develop a syllabus for an upper-division undergraduate content/topic course.
This course may count towards GIS in Second Language Studies.
Prereq: 6600. Repeatable to a maximum of 30 cr hrs. Admis Cond course.


 

 


 


Scandinavian 5150 • Introduction to Old Norse-Icelandic

Kaplan | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015
 

This course is an intensive introduction to the grammar of the Old Norse-Icelandic language. Students will learn crucial morphology and prepare translations of excerpts from medieval Icelandic texts of assorted genres. The diligent student will complete the course with the ability to read normalized Old Norse texts of intermediate difficulty on his or her own with the aid of a dictionary.
This course complements Scandinavian 3350: Norse Mythology and Medieval Culture, Scandinavian 5251: The Icelandic Saga, and the Swedish language sequence beginning with Swedish 1101. It may also be of interest to students of Old English language and literature.
Texts: E.V. Gordon, ed. An Introduction to Old Norse. 2nd ed. rev. A.R. Taylor. Oxford UP, 1983.
For students who expect to continue their study, the following text is recommended:
Geir T. Zoëga, ed. A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic. University of Toronto Press, 2004.
Prerequisites: Permission of instructor (for undergraduates). Not open to students with credit for Scandnav 710. A working knowledge of Swedish, German, Old English or another Germanic language is extremely helpful. Familiarity with case languages such as Latin may also be useful. Students who have never studied any foreign language are advised to postpone enrollment in this course until they have done so.


Scandinavian 5151 • Sámi Culture, Yesterday and Today

DuBois | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

This course makes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Sámi (Lapp) people of Scandinavia past and present. We'll examine indigenous modes of expression and worldview and contemporary cultural and political activism. Connections to Native American and Inuit experiences will be discussed, as well as the rise of US and other indigenous peoples’ movements.
Investigation of various given topics in Scandinavian studies.
Textbooks:  
Turi, Johan. An Account of the Sami. Nordic Studies Press, isbn 0977271455.
Demant Hatt, Emilie. With the Lapps in the High Mountains. University of Wisconsin Press, isbn 0299292347.
Questions? Contact the instructor at:  tadubois@wisc.edu  or the Director of the Scandinavian Program at: kaplan.103@osu.edu
Prereq: No instructor permission required for undergraduates. Repeatable to a maximum of 12 cr hrs.  


 

Swedish 1102 • Swedish II

Risko | 4 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

GE Foreign Language
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 1101. Not open to students with credit for 102.01, 103.01, 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).


Swedish 2101 • Texts and Contexts: Contemporary Swedish Language, Culture, and Society

Risko | 4 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

Development of communication skills and knowledge about recent social, political, and cultural developments in Sweden through texts, media, and film.  
Prereq: Grade of C- or better in Swedish 1103. Not open to students with credit for 201. GE for Lang Course. FL Admis Cond course.


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

Algar | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

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 3371 • Yiddish Literature in Translation

Miller | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

GE lit and diversity global studies course
Reading, analysis, and discussion of representative works and of the development of major movements and genres in Yiddish literature.
Prereq: Not open to students with credit for 371 or JewshSt 3371. Cross-listed in JewshSt. 


Yiddish 3399 • Holocaust in Yiddish and Ashkenazic Literature

Hamblet | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

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 399. GE lit and diversity global studies course.


Yiddish 4721 / 7721 • Studies in Yiddish Literature

Miller | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2015

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.