German Studies Program

Courses and Requirements

Several students seated in a classroom listening to a German lecture

GECS 188B — Human/Nature: European Perspectives on Climate Change

To view the complete descriptions of the courses that satisfy the requirements for the German Studies major/minor, please visit the University Bulletin.

For course times, locations, and additional details, please visit the Schedule of Classes on the University Registrar's website.

Spring 2023

GER 20B: Continuing German

Spring 2023 Mode: Instruction for this course will be offered in-person. 

Professor Kathrin Breuer

Four class hours per week.

Continuation of comprehending, reading, writing, and conversing in German, with an emphasis on basic grammar concepts. Special attention is paid to the development of speaking skills in the context of cultural topics of the German-speaking countries. Extensive language lab, video, and computer-aided exercises supplement this course.


GER 102B: Küche, kochen, Kuchen: Advanced German Grammar, Pronunciation, and Baking

Spring 2023 Mode: Instruction for this course will be offered in-person. 

Professor Sabine von Mering

Prerequisite: GER 30a.

Designed in response to student demand, includes weekly pronunciation sessions focused on tough sounds like 'e', 'l', 'r', 'ü', or 'ch' are combined with grammar review and bi-weekly baking sessions.


GER 103A: German Culture Through Film

Spring 2023 Mode: Instruction for this course will be offered in-person. 

Professor Kathrin Breuer

Prerequisite: GER 30a.

Approaches an understanding of contemporary German culture through film by focusing on one of the most fascinating and turbulent of national cinemas. Landmark films from the 1920s to the present and pertinent essays, articles and studies will provide a historical perspective on decisive social and cultural phenomena. Major themes include Vergangenheitsbewältigung, multi-ethnic societies, terrorism, life in the GDR, and cultural trends at the beginning of the 21st century. Students learn also about the technical side of filmmaking and produce their own short film under professional guidance.


GECS 130B: The Princess and the Golem: Fairy Tales

Spring 2023 Mode: Instruction for this course will be offered in-person. 

Professor Sabine von Mering

Conducted in English.

Compares Walt Disney's films with German and other European fairy tales from the nineteenth and twentieth century, focusing on feminist and psychoanalytic readings.


 CROSSLISTED COURSES

COML 100A: Introduction to Global Literature

Spring 2023 Mode: Instruction for this course will be offered in-person. 

Professor David Powelstock


COML 120A: Disordered Loves and Howling Passion: European Romanticism

Spring 2023 Mode: Instruction for this course will be offered in-person.

Professor Steve Dowden


ECS 100B: European Cultural Studies Proseminar: Making of European Modernity,  1250 to 1650

Spring 2023 Mode: Instruction for this course will be offered in-person.

Professor Michael Randall


HIST 137B: World War I

Spring 2023 Mode: Instruction for this course will be offered in-person.

Professor Paul Jankowski


NEJS 37A: The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry

Spring 2023 Mode: Instruction for this course will be offered in-person.

Professor Laura Jockusch


PHIL 168A: Kant's Critique of Pure Reason

Spring 2023 Mode: Instruction for this course will be offered in-person.

Professor Kate Moran


POL 189A: Marx, Nietzsche, and Twentieth-Century Radicalism

Spring 2023 Mode: Instruction for this course will be offered in-person.

Professor Bernard Yack


THA 146A: Theater and the Holocaust

Spring 2023 Mode: Instruction for this course will be offered in-person.

Professor Dmitry Troyanovsky