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German Classes - Descriptions
Beginning German: 111, 112, 113
First year German consists of a three quarter sequence, meeting four hours a week with regular assignments to be completed outside the classroom.
The first quarter is designed for students with little or no prior experience with German. The focus of the first year sequence is on the students' ability to use the language for communicative purposes. Emphasis is placed on the development of German in a comprehensive nature, including proficiency building in all the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Attention is also given to the cultures of the German speaking world. Course activities include the following: Paired and group activities that require student participation and involvement.
Some instructors will offer an oral exam, usually in the format of an informal conversation, at the end of each quarter.
Several chapter exams and a final written exam comprise the remainder of the course grade.
Intermediate German: 211, 212, 213
The aim of the second year German series is to develop proficiency in all four skills (reading, listening, speaking, and writing).
Most of the fundamentals of the German language are systematically reviewed over the course of the 200 series,
but it is expected that you can will continue to build on the German that you have already learned. Progress in German depends on an increasing ability to recognize and to use vocabulary and grammatical forms. The study of grammar in this course involves using language in context. In preparing for daily discussions and for tests, you will be trained to put words into sentences instead of simply trying to memorize them in isolation from each other.
On a typical day in these classes, discussions and instruction will be conducted primarily in German.
The ultimate goal of reading in the second-year German program is a practical one: the acquisition of durable proficiency so that reading in German--for pleasure and for enlightenment--can become a lifelong habit, even if 213 is your last German class. Understanding a foreign culture and its literature involves more than the ability to translate it, although a grasp of basic meaning is essential. It also involves a consideration and appraisal of cultural and humanistic patterns.
The following is a sample of courses that have been offered in recent quarters. Please check with individual instructors for the current content of classes.
German 300 Series: Advanced Conversation and Composition
German 342
This course is the second in a yearlong series. It will focus on practicing the four language skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. We will continue the review of grammar started in 341, write essays and give presentations.
The course examines the representation of crime in contemporary German, Swiss and Austrian literature and film. By studying the genre 'crime story' we will gain insights into ideas, trends and discourses that have shaped contemporary German culture and society. We will work with texts from a coursepack, and most likely read an entire German novel.
German 343
This course is the third in a yearlong series. It focuses on the practice of the four language skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. We will continue reviewing the grammar started in 341 and 342, while concentrating on developing more advanced reading and writing strategies. Course projects will include oral reports, interviews, and essays.
By studying elements of humor in 20th century German literature, popular culture, and film, we will engage in ideas, trends, and discourses that have shaped contemporary German culture and society.
Course materials will include F. Dürrenmatt's Besuch der alten Dame as well as shorter texts by authors ranging from well-known Erich Kästner to the lesser known Turkish-German writer Senasi Dickmann and East German Helga Königsdorf.
German 345 -- Business German
This course is an introduction to German for business and economics. We will work simultaneously on increasing the language needed in a business context and learning about Germany as an important player in today's world economy. Topics to be covered will include, among others, Germany as an industrial country, Germany as global trading partner, Germany's social market economy. The course is designed on the concept of content-based instruction. We will work with the different skills, speaking, listening, reading and writing as well as building up cross-cultural awareness.
German 348 -- German Culture and Civilization
This course is an introduction to various aspects of German civilization, i.e. German history, culture and society. We will briefly deal with the periods before 1871, the main focus, however, will be on the hundred and thirty years from the first German unification in 1871 to the new millennium. Topics discussed will include German architecture, theatre, art, music, politics, national identity, social structures, and others. The textbook will be supplemented with excerpts from various authentic sources: newspapers, TV shows, movies, and magazines.
The language of instruction is German.
German 355 -- Introduction to the Study of German Literature
The course goals include the following:
1. increase knowledge of and appreciation for major figures, genres, and movements in German, Swiss, and Austrian literature, from the beginning through the 19th century. Texts will be chosen for their literary significance and for their value as representatives of specific genres and periods.
2. develop the techniques and vocabulary necessary for critical reading and interpretation of literary works.
3. develop the necessary German proficiency to write about and discuss the materials we read.
Format: Lectures and discussions, primarily in German
Grade: based on active, informed participation in class discussions; Tests; Final; reports and paper.
German 356 -- Introduction to German Literature
In this course, we will explore some of the major literary movements and authors from the beginning of the 20th Century through the present. The periods to be discussed will include the Fin de Siècle, Expressionism, the Weimar Republic, Exile literature, Post-war, GDR and contemporary literature.
Our major goal will be to build on the knowledge students have acquired in GER 355 and to continue developing appropriate techniques and vocabulary for oral and written analysis and interpretation of literary works. The class will be conducted in German and will consist of lectures and student discussions.
German 433 -- German Lyrical Poetry
A course designed to familiarize the student with German poetry as it has developed from the mid-eighteenth century to the twentieth- century. Special emphasis will be given to Klopstock, Goethe, Schiller, the Romanticists, Poetic Realists, George, and Rilke. Class discussion will focus on the form and content of the poetry and characteristics of the individual poets.
German 435 -- Contemporary German Literature and Culture
This pro-seminar will focus on contemporary German literature and culture from the 1980s and 1990s. The main themes will include confronting the German past, the pre- and post-unification periods as seen through the eyes of East German writers, and minority discourse. We will approach these issues through a number of mediums, including literature, film, and architecture. Students will gain a deeper understanding of today's German culture and its historical context.
German 439 -- German Grammatical Structure
This course concentrates on reviewing and expanding grammar skills to enable you to apply grammatical structures confidently and accurately.
The grammar texts ( a text book and a separate work book) offer a mixture of straightforward self-study exercises with answer keys provided, as well as more advanced open-ended and creative exercises designed for classroom use. This mixture allows you to catch up, as well as to move ahead.
Work in class will concentrate on aspects of German grammar that pose problems to English speakers when it comes to reading, writing and listening. Emphasis is put on meaningful and contextualized exercises that encourage practical and creative use of grammatical structures. Since most of the exercises are based on everyday situations, the added vocabulary will help you to get a hotel room, a good meal, or the next flight to ?or whatever else might come in handy.
A separate reader of contemporary German short stories will provide a reprieve from formal grammar studies without losing focus. Embedded in a selection of outstanding short-stories, you will recognize the grammatical structures you have been learning and with the help of guided exercises you will succeed in applying these concepts in a written context.
German 441 -- Stylistics
This course is a writing intensive course. The goal is a more sophisticated understanding of content, style, audience, and organization of writing. Through process-oriented writing practice we explore such different genres as the language of news reporting and advertising, of reviews and editorials, of scientific and narrative prose, and of lyric poetry. Students will write texts ranging from report to review, description to argumentation, and narrative to literary analysis.
