Courses - Spring 2014

German      Scandinavian      Swedish      Yiddish

 


 

German 1101 • German I

4 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

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.
Prereq: Not open to students with credits for 101.01, 4 sem cr hrs of 1101.51, or 5 sem cr hrs or 101.51. This course is available for EM credit. GE lit course. FL Admis Cond course.
Text: ISBN 978-3-468-96993-5  Berliner Platz 1 Neu: German for Beginners: Student Pack PLUS, English Edition


German 1102 • German II

4 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

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. Progress in sequential from one cr hr to the next, with proficiency at the level of 80% required for advancement. Not open to native speakers of this language.
Prereq: 1101, or 4 sem cr hrs of 1101.51, or concur: 1101.51, and permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 102.01, 102.51, 103.01, or 103.51. This course is available for EM credit. GE for lang course. FL Admis Cond course.
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 • German III

4 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

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. Progress seq from cr hr to next. 80% prof req for adv.
Prereq: 102, 1102, or equiv, 4 cr hrs of 1102.51, or 1266. Students may register for 1102.51 and 1103.51 concurrently with permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 104.01, 104.51, or to native speakers of this language through regular course enrollment or EM credit. This course is available for EM credit. GE for lang course. FL Admis Cond course.
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 2101 • Texts and Contexts I: Contemporary German Language, Culture and Society

| 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

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 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

| 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

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 • German Literature and Popular Culture

 

The Berlin Wall is the symbol for the 40 year separation of Germany into a capitalist West and a socialist East. This unique cultural and historical period strongly affected everyday life in Germany – separated friends, families, a nation and the world. The class will explore the cultural, political and historical significance of the Wall in West-, East, and the reunited Germany in literature, film, visual art and music. 
Repeatable to a maximum of 9 cr hrs. GE lit course. Taught in English.

  • K. Richards | 3 credit units | WF 12:45-2:05 | Spring Semester 2014

German Science Fiction
                           ... a genre of imagination and
                        speculation that predicts the future,
                     critiques society, constructs and deconstructs colonial fantasies,   
                 poses questions of identity and existence, explores alternate realities      
             and journeys through time, all while attempting to unravel the enigma of   
         alienation and estrangement of modern life.
Repeatable to a maximum of 9 cr hrs. GE lit course. Taught in English.


German 2252H • The Faust Theme

M. Malkmus | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

Major versions of the Faust story, their socio-cultural context, and their symbolic expression of recurring human concerns. Taught in English.
Prereq: Honors standing, and English 1110.01 (110) or equiv, or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 263H. GE lit and diversity global studies course. EN Admis Cond course.


German 2367 • Images of America ~ German Literature and American Culture

K. Richards | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

The promise and bewilderment of the land of opportunity, the excitement and danger of the wild frontier, the corruption and power of organized crime, the breakneck pace of a New York career, and the broken dreams of Hollywood fame; these moments and more have been captured by German writers to fascinate their audiences with insight, humor, and a critique of American culture.
In this course, students will read popular and renowned works by modern German speaking authors and directors and discover the many faceted landscapes of the United States as imagined through their uniquely German perspectives.

German perspectives on and in 20th-century American culture. Influence of German thought and writings on American culture; German views of American culture. 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

Mergenthaler | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

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 • German Writing about Latin America and the Caribbean across Two Centuries: Race Relations and Multiculturalism, Exoticism and Experience ~ Topics in German Literature, Art and Film

Fehervary | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

This course is primarily focused on improving your German reading, speaking, and writing skills. In terms of a topical focus, our readings and discussions will examine representations of race and multicultural experience from Alexander von Humboldt’s first voyages to Latin America in the time of Napoleon and Goethe to modern representations of Latin American and Caribbean life during and after World War Two. We will also look at some Mexican surrealist paintings and installations as by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Frida Kahlo.

Alexander von Humboldt: Short selection
Heinrich von Kleist: Die Verlobung in Santo Domingo
Egon Erwin Kisch: Entdeckungen in Mexiko, Short selection
B. Traven: Die Brücke im Dschungel, Short selection
Anna Seghers: Das wirkliche Blau
Hans Christoph Buch: Die Scheidung von Santo Domingo

Prereq: 2102 and 2350, or equiv, or permission of instructor. Admis Cond course.


German 3252 • The Holocaust in Literature and Film

Byram | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

Why, faced with a historical catastrophe of unimaginable proportions, would we devote a class to film and literature about it, rather than to “the facts”?

HOW YOU SAY THINGS MATTERS

Come find out why.

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. Cross-listed in Yiddish 3399.


German 3253 • The German Experience in North America

Jany | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

GE Cultures and Ideas
Introduction to literature, culture, and history of German immigrants to North America, especially to the Midwest and Ohio, from the seventeenth century into the twenty-first.
Prereq: Not open to students with credit for 360. GE cultures and ideas course.


German 3300 • Topics in German Culture Studies, Social and Intellectual History

B. Malkmus | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

Focused exploration of topics in the development of German-language culture and intellectual history. Content geared toward improving students' critical comprehension and communication skills in German.
This course is taught entirely in GERMAN. Content geared toward improving students' critical comprehension and communication skills in German.
Prereq: 2102 and 2350, or equiv; or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 550. Admis Cond course.


German 3353 • German Intellectual History: Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud

Holub | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Sigmund Freud were the most important theorists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century writing in German. They have had a lasting influence on economic, social, political, philosophical, and cultural thought for the past century.
This course deals with major dimensions of their writings, in particular how they viewed history and historical progress. Their thought is essential for anyone who wants to understand how we think about our society, our history, and ourselves.
GE cultures and ideas course.
Taught in English. All texts are in English.


German 3451H • Religion in Modern German Literature and Philosophy

Cancelled | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

GE Cultures and Ideas, GE Diversity: Global Studies, Honors Course

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain, and a century after Nietzsche’s famous proclamation that “God is dead,” we have allegedly been witnessing a global resurgence of religion and the beginning of a “post-secular age.”  New, vigorous debates have emerged on the pros and cons of religion and secularization with respect to national and international peace, social justice, scientific development, and quality of life. For instance, in September 2012, the notorious “Mohammed video” sparked demonstrations and violence all over the Islamic world and renewed debates about where freedom of speech ends and hate speech begins.  From the perspectives of the influential German traditions of philosophy, literature, psychology, and theology, this course explores the roles that religions can play in our modern societies.
 
We will begin with an exploration of Kant’s notion of an enlightened and, simultaneously, divine community. Our investigation of this attempt to reconcile the Enlightenment with religion will be followed by a critical analysis of Marx’, Nietzsche’s, and Freud’s claims that religious belief is the “opium of the people” (Marx), luring them into submission. We will then discuss influential 20th-century theories of secularization: Max Weber’s belief that the spirit of capitalism is protestant and Carl Schmitt’s claim that true politics must be theological––that a head of state needs to act like a sovereign God. In addition to theories of secularization, we will explore 20-century attempts to adopt theology to the secularization of the society, including Martin Buber’s dialogic philosophy, Hans Küng's Reform Catholicism, and Dorothee Sölle's feminist theology. Through a select number of group projects and interactive presentations, students will also learn about and discuss the current significance of the historical ideas covered in this class. We will for instance, explore current debates about the relationship between religion and rationality, and contemporary economic, biological, and psychological explanations of religion. Students are also welcome to develop their own projects, for instance to conduct interviews on campus or visit a house of religious worship in Columbus. Taught in English.
Prereq: Honors, and Soph, Jr, or Sr standing. Not open to students with credit for 590H. GE cultures and ideas and diversity global studies course.


German 4250 • Existentialism ~ Senior Seminar in German Studies: Literature, Art and Film (English)

Hammermeister | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

We will discuss both theoretical and literary text from Kierkegaard and Kafka to Heidegger and Sartre. Questions about the meaning of life are encouraged.
Counts toward fulfillment of advanced requirement for the major. Taught in English.
Prereq: 2350 or equiv, and Jr or Sr standing. FL Admis Cond course.     


German 4600 • History of the German Language ~ Senior Seminar in German: Linguistics/Language (German)

Grotans | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

In this course we will investigate the development of the German language over the past 1500 or so years with a look both at structural changes as well as the cultural context in which they took place. Sample topics to be covered:

   Indo-European Beginnings
   German and English: First Cousins
   The Carolingian Written Word
   The Language of Knights, Ladies, Minstrels and Merchants
   Printing and Other Revolutions
   Gentrifying German in the 16th century
   19th-Century Language and Nation
   20th-Century Language in Crisis

Taught in German.
Assessment:Class participation - 15% / Homework - 20% / Project (oral presentation + web page) - 35% (15 + 20) / 3 exams - 30%
Prereq: 3101, 3600, or equiv, and Sr standing, or permission of instructor. FL Admis Cond course.


German 4603 • Translation II

B. Malkmus | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

German-English/English-German translation; focus on literary language; emphasis on improvement of style; discussion of major theories of translation.
Prereq: 2102 and 3603, or equiv, or permission of instructor. FL Admis Cond course.


German 6102 • German for Research

Fehervary | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

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 7888 - Interdepartmental Seminar: Critical Translation Studies

Berman | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

This course draws on the framework of critical translation studies to explore aspects related to translating literary and non-literary texts from one language into another, from one cultural context into another, from one historical period into another.
Prereq: Permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 9 cr hrs. Admis Cond course.


German 8200 • 

Barbarians – Modern Renegotiations of an Ancient Concept

Seminar in Literature and Literary Culture

 | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

The notion of ‘barbarism’ and the figure of the ‘barbarian’ have played an important role in Western thought and been a constant part of our vocabulary since Greek antiquity. Within the age-old history of their usage, the terms ‘barbarian’ and ‘barbarism’ have always been regarded as being part of a dichotomous structure. ‘Barbarism’ is defined in opposition to ‘civilization’ or its equivalents. In this opposition, the ‘barbarian’ supports the superiority of those who assume the status of the ‘civilized’. ‘Barbarism’ reinforces the discourse of ‘civilization’ by functioning as its negative offshoot and antipode. As Reinhart Koselleck argues , this binary structure is characterized by an inbuilt asymmetry. It seems to draw a clear line between a ‘good inside’ and a ‘bad outside’, between a ‘we’ that assures itself of its superior value by pitting itself against an ‘other’ who is denied the achievements of civilization.  The notion of ‘barbarism’ figures as one of the most steadfast and semantically saturated concepts in Western discourse, and it seems to be rooted in one of the most rigid hierarchial oppositions this discourse has ever produced.

            In the eighteenth century, however, the semantics of barbarism undergoes a significant transformation, which destabilizes the hierarchical opposition. The spatial concept of barbarism (inside vs.outside) is temporalized. Attempts are made to differentiate between ‘savage’ and ‘barbarian’ people. Barbarism is conceived of as a transitory phase that mediates between the savage state of nature and the state of civilization. Barbarism thus acquires the value of a third term that irritates the binary opposition between the savage and the civilized, between nature and culture. These attempts are undertaken within different discursive contexts: social theory and cultural history, philosophy, ethnography, aesthetic theory and literature.

            The aim of the seminar is to analyze how the shift in the semantics of barbarity manifests itself in modern culture. It proceeds from the hypothesis that the destabilization of the dichotomy between barbarism and civilization opens up new possibilites of recasting the ‘barbarian’ in ambiguous, experimental or even positive terms, as it can be found in the writings of philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Walter Benjamin, as well as in the works of literary modernism and the avantgarde.

Prereq: 6200, or Grad standing, or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 30 cr hrs. Admis Cond course.


German 8400 • Working Man's Dead -- or, All This Useless Beauty: Labor and the Visual Tradition in Germany. Seminar in Film, Visual Culture and the Performing Arts

Davidson | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

This seminar examines the relationship between workers, conceptions of labor, and the visual tradition in Germany since the middle of the nineteenth century. It is spurred equally by: the recognizable difficulty of using the expertise of artists and intellectuals invested in progressive solidarity to build the bridges that further it, on the one hand; and, the firm conviction that just such labor is necessary to envision it, on the other. We will explore this tension by investigating questions such as:  How has “labor” been represented? What does it mean to “represent” workers? Why do workers seem to disappear from mainstream representations? Does self-representation answer that challenge? Is there a contradiction –necessary or productive or both – between aesthetic projects and the material realities determining and determined by work? What do new technical possibilities do to regimes of beauty, enjoyment, entertainment, and livelihood? What is the role of the history of art and thought in this?

Beyond graduate standing there are no pre-requisites for this course, which will be taught in English; it is conceived to offer students who recently completed courses on “The Frankfurt School” and/or “Vision and Power in Modernity” an opportunity to explore areas of interest further. Potential readings include works by Adorno, Apadurai, Bal, Balázs, Beck, Benjamin, Brecht, Crary, Elsaesser, Engels, Harvey, Jameson, Kracauer, Luhmann, Manovich, Marx, Negt/Kluge, Rancière, Simmel, Thompson, Till, Ward, and Weber.  Visual works by Connor, Becker, Beyer, Bitomsky, Dudow/Brecht, Farocki, Fassbinder, Gilbreth, Jutzi, Kluge, Lang, Lumière, Méliès, Richter, Sander, Sitte, Tübke, Tykwer, Ziewer…

Requirements: Preparation and participation (20%); Presentation on secondary material (15%); Research Paper (65%) OR Exam (designed by student & instructor -- 35%) plus selected annotated bibliography (five titles, topic determined by student with instructor -- 30%).

Advanced graduate seminar allowing students to broaden their engagement with non-literary culture based in German-speaking texts and to conduct research into targeted areas of interest.
Prereq: 6200, or Grad standing, or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 30 cr hrs. Admis Cond course.


German 8500 • Doctoral Colloquium

Mergenthaler | 1 credit unit | Spring Semester 2014

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 • Medieval German ~ Seminar in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics

Grotans | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

This course will introduce you to the many varieties of medieval "German" from the earliest attested texts ca. 750 until ca. 1200 (chronologically Old and Middle, geographically Upper, Middle and Low German dialects). By the end of the semester you should be able to read texts from an assortment of genres with the help of a dictionary and grammar. Class sessions will consist of translation and a discussion of grammar, the development of the language and of the cultural context in which this took place. For example, we will discuss phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic innovations; how and why German came to parchment and how it was actually written; language use and choice. Students can choose to either write a seminar paper or to write 2-3 take-home exams.

Knowledge of Modern German not necessary (but helpful). Knowledge of another historical Germanic language (Old English, Old Norse, Gothic) just as helpful.
Prereq: 6600. Repeatable to a maximum of 30 cr hrs. Admis Cond course.


 

Scandinavian

Contact Prof. Kaplan (kaplan.103) for information about the Scandinavian Program, our minor, and anything else Nordic.

Follow us at www.facebook.com/Scandinavian.OSU.


Swedish 1102 • Swedish II

Risko | 4 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

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 2014

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

Miller | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

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

M. Hamblet | W F  9:35-10:55 | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014
D. Berry | T Th  2:20-3:40 | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

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 • Studies in Yiddish Literature

Miller | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

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.


Yiddish 7721 • Studies in Yiddish Literature

Miller | 3 credit units | Spring Semester 2014

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. Specific topics not repeatable for credit.