1999-2000 Germanic and Slavic Languages

1999-2000 Bulletin Entry for:


Germanic and Slavic Languages

(file last updated: [7/6/1999 - 13:10:36])


Faculty


Stephen Dowden, Chair and Undergraduate Advising Head, German

German modernism. Romanticism. The Novel: Kafka, Bernhard, Thomas Mann, Broch, Musil, Goethe. Austrian literature.

Joan Chevalier

Foreign language pedagogy. Second language acquisition. Slavic linguistics. Sociolinguistics.

Eberhard Frey

Eighteenth-, 19th-, and 20th-century German literature. German and general stylistics.

Robin Feuer Miller

Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. Nineteenth-century Russian literature and comparative literature. The novel. Reader-response criticism.

Andrew Swensen

Nineteenth- and 20th-century Russian literature. Russian and comparative Romanticism. Russian and comparative literature of the fantastic.

Robert Szulkin, Undergraduate Advising Head, Russian

Nineteenth- and 20th-century Russian literature. Soviet literature.

Sabine von Mering

Eighteenth- and 19th-century German literature. German women writers. Feminist theory. Language pedagogy. Drama.


German Language and Literature

(file last updated: [7/6/1999 - 13:10:36])


Objectives


The German section of the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages offers instruction in the German language and literature aimed at providing access to many aspects of the culture, past and present, of Germany, Austria, and parts of Switzerland. German has always been one of the prime languages of international scholarship, and the recent reunification of Germany has drawn renewed attention to the European and indeed worldwide importance of that country. In past years, German majors have gone on to graduate school in German literature to prepare for a career of teaching and research or to professional schools in law, medicine, or business, entered government work, or found employment with publishing companies or business firms with international connections.


How to Become a Concentrator


The department welcomes all students to become concentrators in German language and literature. Both non-concentrators and concentrators are offered computer-aided instruction in German, and work in the classroom and the Language Media Center is supplemented with regular German-speaking luncheon tables at a dining hall. Concentrators in German literature are encouraged to participate in the annual Brandeis Summer Program at Augsburg, Germany, or spend their junior year in Germany or any other German-speaking countries. In addition to the major in German literature, the section offers a minor in German literature and participates in the program in European Cultural Studies. (The abbreviation GECS denotes German and European Cultural Studies courses.) Virtually all German literature courses are given in German.


Requirements for Concentration


A. ECS 100a (European Cultural Studies: The Proseminar), to be completed no later than the junior year.

B. Advanced language and literature study: Any two of the following: GER 103a, 104a, or 106a. Additionally, any five German literature/culture courses above GER 106a.

C. Concentrators are required to enroll in and complete one of the following options in the senior year: GER 97a or b (Senior Essay), GER 99d (Senior Thesis), a full-year course. Students who wish to be considered for departmental honors must elect the thesis option. Honors will be awarded on the basis of cumulative excellence in all courses taken in the concentration, including the Senior Thesis.


Requirements for the Minor in German Literature


Four semester courses are required from List B above. These must include GER 106a. Successful completion of GER 14b or 103a or the equivalent is a prerequisite of the minor.


Courses of Instruction



(1-99) Primarily for Undergraduate Students


GER 10a Beginning German

Enrollment limited to 18.

Intended for students with little or no previous knowledge of German. Emphasis is placed on comprehending, reading, writing, and conversing in German, and the presentation of basic grammar. Class work is supplemented by extensive computer-aided exercises. Usually offered every year.

Staff

GER 20b Continuing German

Prerequisite: GER 10a or the equivalent. Enrollment limited to 18.

Conclusion of the basic grammar presentation started in GER 10a. Continued practice of reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills in the context of German cultural topics. The textbook from GER 10a is supplemented by a vocabulary-building reader and extensive computer-aided exercises. Usually offered every year.

Staff

GER 30a Intermediate German

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Prerequisite: GER 20b or the equivalent. Enrollment limited to 18.

The major objectives are systematic grammar review with emphasis on some fine points, expansion of vocabulary, reading of literary and expository prose, writing of short essays, and conversation in German. A review grammar and reader will be used, with occasional newspaper, magazine, and video material. Some individual choice of emphasis may be available through special projects. Usually offered every semester.

Staff

GER 39a Intermediate German: Honors

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Prerequisite: GER 20b, 30a, or the equivalent. Signature of the instructor required.

An intensive course covering essential elements of a third and fourth semester language sequence in one semester. Review of grammatical trouble spots; reading, viewing, and discussion of cultural material, and extensive vocabulary building will require independent student effort. A final grade of B- or better in this course will provide direct access to 100-level German courses. Three class hours and one scheduled lab hour per week. Usually offered every year.

Staff

GER 40b Advanced German

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Prerequisite: GER 30a, 39a, or the equivalent.

Continued enhancement of the various language skills and of cultural sensitivity through readings, writing, discussions, group activities, special events, and immersion in our rich language media and computer environment. Review of grammatical trouble spots and building of special vocabulary may be individualized to some extent. Three class hours and one scheduled lab hour per week. Usually offered every year.

Staff

GER 97a Senior Essay

Signature of the instructor required. Students should consult the advising head.

Usually offered every year.

Staff

GER 97b Senior Essay

Signature of the instructor required. Students should consult the advising head.

Usually offered every year.

Staff

GER 98a Independent Study

May be taken only with the permission of the advising head. Signature of the instructor required.

Readings and reports under faculty supervision. Usually offered every year.

Staff

GER 98b Independent Study

May be taken only with the permission of the advising head. Signature of the instructor required.

Readings and reports under faculty supervision. Usually offered every year.

Staff

GER 99d Senior Thesis

Signature of the instructor required. Students should consult advising head.

Usually offered every year.

Staff


(100-199) For Both Undergraduate and Graduate Students


The abbreviation GECS denotes German and European Cultural Studies courses.

GER 103a Readings in German

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Prerequisite: GER 40b, 39a, A- or better in GER 30a, or the equivalent.

Intended to prepare students for the extensive reading in German literature seminars, for study abroad and other advanced uses of German, this course will focus on increasing speed of reading, using literary and nonliterary texts, on taking lecture notes, and on further developing oral and written communication skills. Usually offered every year and also in the annual Brandeis Summer Program at Augsburg, Germany.

Ms. von Mering

GER 104a German Conversation and Grammar

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Prerequisite: GER 40b, 39a, A- or better in GER 30a, or the equivalent.

Intensive study and exercise of contemporary spoken German with an emphasis on fluency of expression, idiomatic accuracy, and proper pronunciation. Oral reports, discussions, speeches, and debates on a variety of intellectually challenging topics will be based on material derived from dramatic dialogues, radio plays, films, essays, the daily press, and guest speakers. Usually offered in even years.

Mr. Frey

GER 106a German Composition and Style

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Prerequisite: GER 40b, B- or better in GER 39a, or the equivalent.

Exercises ranging from simple letters, stories, and dialogues to more complex analyses will improve personal writing style. Stylistic sensitivity and analytical abilities will be enhanced through the study of contemporary short stories, films, advertisements, and writings of the great masters. Usually offered in odd years.

Mr. Frey

GER 110a Goethe

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Intensive study of many of Goethe's dramatic, lyric, and prose works, including Goetz, Werther, Faust I, and a comprehensive selection of poetry. Lectures and readings in English. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the fall of 1995.

Mr. Dowden

GER 112a German Literature Before 1700

(Formerly GER 102a)

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Prerequisites: GER 40b, B- or better in GER 39a, or the equivalent. (GER 103b is recommended.) Lectures and readings in German.

Though the emphasis will be on Minnesang, the Middle High German epics, and Baroque literature, there will be some attention to the Gothic and Old High German periods as well as the literature of the Reformation. Lectures and readings in the original. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the spring of 1995.

Ms. von Mering

GER 120a German Enlightenment and Classicism

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Prerequisites: GER 40b, 39a, A- or better in GER 30a, or the equivalent.

Careful reading and discussion (in German) of some of the most moving dramatic scenes and lyrical poems written by Lessing, Klopstock, Lenz, Goethe, Schiller, Hölderlin, and others will provide an overview of those fertile literary and intellectual movements--Enlightenment, Storm and Stress, Idealism--that eventually culminated in German Classicism. A lower reading load and an optional grammar review make this course a good transition to more advanced German courses. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the fall of 1998.

Ms. von Mering

GER 121a German Lyric Poetry

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Focuses on poets, poems, and cycles of poems in the German lyric tradition since Goethe, and introduces the various forms of poetry. Acquaints the student with some important critics of German lyric, including Adorno, Benn, Gadamer, Heidegger, Heller, Hofmannsthal, Kommerell, Szondi, and others. Conducted in German. Usually offered every third year. Will be offered in the spring of 2000.

Mr. Dowden

GECS 130b Jewish German Women Writers

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Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in German and in English translation.

Explores the writing of Jewish German women from the 17th century to the present. Examines how women approach the challenge of their dual identity as Jewish and German, how women experience the horrors of the Holocaust and how they create a new Jewish life in Germany and abroad after 1945. Usually offered every third year. Will be offered in the spring of 2000.

Ms. von Mering

GER 140a German Literature in the Nineteenth Century

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Prerequisites: GER 40b, B- or better in GER 39a, or the equivalent. (GER 103b is recommended.) Lectures and readings in German.

A study of German, Austrian, and Swiss prose, poetry, and drama from Heine to Hauptmann, including the major figures of Young Germany, Poetic Realism, and Realism. Conducted in German. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the spring of 1995.

Mr. Dowden

GER 160b German Drama and Poetry from Naturalism to World War II

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Prerequisites: GER 40b, B- or better in GER 39a, or the equivalent. (GER 103b is recommended.) Lectures and readings in German.

A survey of major trends in these genres, with an emphasis on close analysis of selected works by such writers as Hauptmann, Hofmannsthal, Schnitzler, Kaiser, Brecht, Rilke, and George. Lectures and readings in German. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the spring of 1993.

Mr. Frey

GECS 165a German Film in Cultural Context

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Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in English translation.

A study of important German films, from the time of silent movies to the present, and their relationship to the literary, artistic, and political developments of their time. Films are chosen to highlight their varied functions as works of art, entertainment, information, propaganda, and social criticism and to allow comparison with their literary sources. Usually offered in even years.

Mr. Frey

GECS 166b Dreams and Nightmares: The Third Reich on Film

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Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in German and in English translation.

Explores the reflection of National Socialism and life under its regime in the films of the Third Reich (1933-1945), and looks at the reaction to its triumphs and horrors in post-war German films and abroad. Unabashed propaganda, use of mass psychology, escapism and estheticism, conformity and individuality, and collaboration and resistance are some of the topics we discuss. Conducted in English with special assignments for German concentrators. Usually offered in odd years.

Mr. Frey

GECS 170b Starting from Zero: German Literature since World War II

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Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in German and in English translation.

We will trace efforts of a new generation of writers to come to terms with the horrors of war and totalitarianism, with post-war

materialism, and with Germany's east-west division and reunification. Literary investigation, supplemented by films, will focus on major writers and poets such as Grass, Borchert, Wolf, Böll, Celan, Dürrenmatt, Frisch, Weiss, and Handke. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the spring of 1994.

Mr. Frey

GECS 180b European Modernism and the German Novel

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Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in German and in English translation.

A study of selected novelists writing after Nietzsche and before the end of World War II. This course will explore the culture, concept, and the development of European modernism in works by Broch, Canetti, Döblin, Jünger, Kafka, Mann, Musil, Rilke, and Roth. Readings and discussions in English. Usually offered in even years.

Mr. Dowden

GER 181a Franz Kafka

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Prerequisites: GER 40b, B- or better in GER 39a, or the equivalent. (GER 103b is recommended.) Lectures and readings in German.

A detailed exploration of Kafka's works, life, and thought. Emphasis will be given to his place in the larger scheme of literary modernism. Conducted in German. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the spring of 1996.

Mr. Dowden

GECS 182b Nietzsche

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Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in English translation.

Covers Friedrich Nietzsche's life and writings, emphasizing the historical and cultural setting. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the spring of 1998.

Mr. Dowden

GECS 183b A History of Death

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Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in German and in English translation. Signature of the instructor required.

How has the literary imagination responded to the perpetual outrage of death? We survey ancient and modern works of literature that explore the meaning of life from the standpoint of death. Special emphasis falls on death in German philosophy and literature. Topics include disease, war, murder, suicide, eroticism (Liebestod), immortality, aestheticism, and humor. Usually offered in even years.

Mr. Dowden

GER 190b Vienna at the Turn of the Century

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The literary and cultural scene in imperial Vienna during the final decades of Franz Joseph's reign is explored through the works of such writers as Schnitzler, Hofmannsthal, Zweig, Altenberg, Herzl, and Kraus. Attention will be paid to the relationship between men of letters and innovative thinkers, artists, and musicians: Freud, Wittgenstein, Klimt, Loos, Schiele, Mahler, and Schönberg. Conducted in German. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the fall of 1996.

Mr. Dowden

GECS 195b German Modernism and the Fascist Backlash

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Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in German and in English translation.

Focusing on Berlin in the heady twenties and troubled thirties, we explore German literature and film, theater and cabaret, and art and architecture, which initially flourished in excessive freedom and then reacted to intense political pressure and repression. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the spring of 1996.

Mr. Frey


Cross-Listed Courses


ECS 100a

European Cultural Studies: The Proseminar