Oral practice based on articles in current periodicals and other subjects of general interest. Taught by a German language assistant from the University of the Saarland, under the supervision of a German instructor. Designed primarily for students who have completed German 102. Graded on Credit/No Credit basis; attendance is mandatory. Approximately two hours of work outside of class time required each week. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: German 102 or permission of instructor.
1 unit

An advanced course to build up comprehension as well as oral and writing skills. Reading and discussion of literary and cultural texts, supplemented with video films and T.V. news on current events in Germany. Practice in essay writing. Prerequisite: German 102 or equivalent.
CORE REQUIREMENT MET: EUROPE

This course covers major trends and developments of the cultural history of post­war Germany. Topics include the reconstruction of culture after 1945, the makeup of cultural institutions, the mass media, popular culture vs. traditional culture, the counter culture of the sixties and early seventies, and the problems of unification after 1989. Taught in German, with emphasis on oral presentations and essay writing. Readings include literary texts and documentary material, newspaper and magazine articles. Prerequisite: German 201 or permission of instructor.
CORE REQUIREMENT MET: EUROPE

Continuation of 251. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: German 251 or permission of instructor.
1 unit

The rise and fall of National Socialism is one of the most intensively studied topics in European history. Over six decades after its collapse, Nazi Germany continues to fascinate the general public, and with good reason. Although the fascist state lasted only for twelve years, it started history's most destructive war while committing crimes of unprecedented proportions. For the most part, it did so with the acquiescence of the German public. This class will investigate the rise of National Socialism as a political, social, and cultural phenomenon. The central focus will be on the decisive role of film and the visual arts as most popular means of mass manipulation. Prerequisite: 1st year students cannot enroll in this class.
CORE REQUIREMENT MET: EUROPE

Probing the Limits of Representation: The Holocaust in Literature and Film The Holocaust has been positioned at the limits of representation -- as the indescribable, the incomprehensible. The impossibility of adequately expressing the atrocities of the Holocaust stands in contrast to the need to transmit knowledge about this event to later generations. Attempts to represent the Holocaust, to describe and understand this event and its implications, are numerous and have occurred across a wide range of media forms (literature, film, photography, art, music, monuments, etc.), and genres (as in documentary, drama, comedy, science fiction). As the Holocaust recedes in time and the numbers of living historical witnesses and survivors decline, these representations increasingly shape our perception and understanding of the event. This course will investigate literary, filmic, and artistic representations of the Holocaust, focusing in particular on questions of ethics, aesthetics and history. We will begin with a historical survey and then turn to examining the various debates and controversies surrounding the issue of representation of the Shoah and discuss some of the theoretical texts that have shaped the area of Holocaust Studies. Finally, we will explore the ways in which these written, filmic, and artistic cultural artifacts have attempted to narrate the events of the Holocaust, and examine exemplary responses to the Shoah in a variety of media forms and genres. The course will deal with questions of ethics and aesthetics, such as the meaning of art and the limits of historical representation. What are the aesthetic and ethical implications of creating art about the Holocaust? Does all representation entail an aestheticization of horror? What are the implications of the commercialization of the Holocaust? Students will obtain a basic grasp of the historical events; they will gain an interdisciplinary, personalized, historical, and cultural understanding of this genocide; and are exposed to ongoing debates regarding the limits of representation of the Holocaust. The course is taught in English. Prerequisite: 202 or 232 for German minors and Group Language majors. SAME AS ECLS 359
CORE REQUIREMENT MET: INTERCULTURAL

Bertolt Brecht and the Twenties. Bertolt Brecht is one of the most influential playwrights and aesthetic thinkers of the 20th century. In order to understand the scope and dimension of his work and its world wide influence this course will focus on the artistic development of young Bertolt Brecht who, in the early Twenties, moved to Berlin, the capital of newly founded democratic Weimar Republic and one of the most important cultural centers of the 20th century, and participated in practically all innovative tendencies and art forms of the time, from Expressionism and Dadaism to New Objectivity, from experimental theatre to radio and film. Some of his great early works, such as the "Three Penny Opera", will be seen in the context of the time, especially the very turbulent last years of the Weimar Republic before Hitler's rise to power. We will also look at Brecht's legendary film "Kuhle Wampe" and visit at least one contemporary production of a Brecht play staged at a theatre in Los Angeles.

Bertolt Brecht: The Great Plays. Brecht's great plays changed the stage of world theatre. In order to understand and appreciate their powerful and long lasting influence, all major plays written during Brecht's exile, i.e. in the years between 1933, when he was driven out of Germany, and 1948, when he returned to Switzerland and ultimately Berlin, will be discussed. Aside from detailed analyses of plays such as "Mother Courage", "The Good Woman of Sezuan", "The Caucasian Chalk Circle", or "Life of Galilei" Brecht's developing theory of epic theatre and the general conditions and dilemmas of exile will be discussed. We will also look at Brecht's role in Hollywood, his collaboration on the film "Hangmen Also Die", and his successful attempts to direct his own plays on German and European stages after 1950. Students minoring in German, or majoring in Group Languages or IPS will read most of the texts in the original. Prerequisite for German minor and Group Language majors: German 202 or 232. Open to all other non-first year students. The course is taught in English, no knowledge of German is required.
CORE REQUIREMENT MET: EUROPE ● FINE ARTS

Memory, Trauma, and Victim Culture This course is concerned with the cultural politics of memory and trauma after the catastrophic events of the Holocaust and World War II. We will start with basic questions, such as: Whose memories are sought, and commemorated in the public sphere? What problems do traumatic events present for those attempting to represent them? Is trauma a useful cultural concept? What are the differences between individual and collective memory? The first part of the course analyzes memory and trauma on both the individual level and the collective level, and turns then to the specific processes that occur when traumatic events are remembered by survivors as well
as the collective processes involved when memories of traumatic events, such as the Holocaust, are shared with an audience who has no first-hand experience of them.- The second part of the course aims to identify the recent fascination, especially in European and American culture, with the phenomenon of trauma, suffering and victimhood. We will study the cultural politics of trauma and memory in relation to two events - the Holocaust and German suffering during World War II. The unit "Holocaust victimhood and American-Jewish identity" explores how the kitsch nature of popular culture representations of the Holocaust (from the Anne Frank movie of to the very successful TV-series Holocaust to the Hollywood movie Schindler's List) created the paradigm for trauma culture at large. The unit "Germans in collective memory between perpetrators and victims" discusses contemporary German memory discourse which primarily focuses on the experience of German suffering as a consequence of the war and the Third Reich.
However, to recast Germans as victim is highly problematic since the position of victim is already occupied by those people who were persecuted and murdered by the Germans/Nazis. Memory, trauma, and victimhood are crucial aspects of the experiences of Jews and Germans after 1945. A systematic exploration of these aspects (as manifested in a broad variety of cultural forms) promises important insights into recent history and culture.
CORE REQUIREMENT MET: INTERCULTURAL
Offered in spring 2012

Nazi Culture.  After the Nazis came to power in 1933, they took over control of all aspects of German life. One of the first tasks the new government undertook upon their ascension to power was a synchronization of all professional and social organizations with Nazi ideology and policy. Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda, began an effort to bring German arts and culture in line with Nazi goals.
The government purged cultural organizations of Jewish and other officials alleged to be politically suspect or who performed or created art works which Nazi ideologues labeled "degenerate." Some 650 works by such renowned artists as Max Beckmann, Marc Chagall, Otto Dix, Wassily Kandinsky, and Paul Klee were declared "degenerate art" and removed from German museums. The Nazi "cultivation of art" also extended to the modern field of cinema, theater, music, architecture, youth education, and even to the lower levels of popular culture. Throughout the duration of the Nazi regime, ‘culture' in all its manifestations played a crucial role. Political rallies, military parades, sports events, open air festivals, and other skillfully organized events were used from the beginning to suggest a "national awakening" and the "revolutionary spirit" of the new regime. The efforts of the Nazis to regulate German culture corresponded to what historian George Mosse calls an effort "toward a total culture," i.e. an effort to influence at the most basic level the lives and actions of all Germans. This course will explore the various forms of culture during this time and will raise the question to what extent ‘Nazi culture,' or culture under Nazi domination, was capable of stabilizing the regime until its very end in 1945.
German minors and group language majors have to complete either German 202 or 232 since they will read some of the material in German.
CORE REQUIREMENT MET: EUROPE
Offered in fall 2011

Marx, Freud, and the Frankfurt School. This seminar will explore the origins of the world famous Frankfurt School, a group of German social philosophers and theoreticians which emerged at the Institute for Social research of the University of Frankfurt am Main in the 1920s who wanted a) to analyze the conditions of modern capitalism and its impact on society in general, on family and social structures, value systems and mass culture, b) critically review the theories of Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and Max Weber, and c) to establish the principles and foundations of a ‘critical theory.' We'll read and discuss major works by Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Herbert Marcuse, Erich Fromm, Siegfried Kracauer, Leo Loewenthal and others. The seminar will focus on the ‘first phase' of the Frankfurt School, its beginnings and its work and development during the thirties and forties - when the school relocated to New York and many of its collaborators lived in other American cities or abroad - and the immediate post WWII period. (A second seminar will follow next year and explore the school's development and its world wide impact in the sixties and seventies.) The course is taught in English. Students minoring or majoring in German will read some of the original texts (especially Marx, Freud, Benjamin, and Kracauer) in German. Prereauisite:Restricted to Junior/senior.  Same as CTSJ 370
CORE REQUIREMENT MET: EUROPE

The Frankfurt School, 1945 to the Present.  Social Analysis, Cultural Theory, and Political Action. This seminar will explore the history of the Frankfurt School after World War II when it was re-established in Frankfurt and began to play a crucial role in the development of a ‘critical theory' of society and culture during the West German ‘economical miracle;' afterwards, with the onset of the German (and international) student movement of the mid-Sixties, it gained international reputation and impacted social, political, and cultural discourses in countries like France, Great Britain, Italy, or the United States. We will study primarily some of the major writings of Th. W. Adorno (especially on art, music, cultural theory, and the lessons of Fascism), H. Marcuse (whose writings on social theory and aesthetics, on ‘repressive tolerance' and ‘liberation' exerted a strong influence on the student movement), and of J. Habermas who became one of the most influential European intellectuals in the decades after 1970. This seminar is the continuation of an earlier class on the beginnings of the Frankfurt School and its history until 1945; participation in that earlier seminar is not required. The course is taught in English. Students minoring in German or majoring in Group Language or IPS will read some of the original texts in German.
CORE REQUIREMENT MET: EUROPE

Homer's epics feature some of the best known and varied heroes of antiquity, like Achilles, Hector, Odysseus, and Penelope. In this class we will read selections from the "Odyssey" and "Iliad" as a way to examine ancient conceptions of heroism. For students studying ancient Greek this will primarily be a translation course and will serve as an introduction to epic poetry. Students without Greek are also welcome and can expect to approach the topics of the class by reading translated texts and modern scholarship. Prerequisite: Greek 102.
4 units.
Core requirement met: Europe, pre-1800.

Advanced readings in Latin literature and/or philology, in coordination with a classics course in ECLS (or another department affiliated with the classics pogram). Prerequisite: Latin 102.
4 units
Core requirement met: Europe, pre-1800.

Development of reading skills through the use of original texts by Bulgakov, Chekhov, Pushkin and others; improvement of conversation skills accompanied by a review and expansion of grammar. Films and laboratory assignments complement in-class work. Prerequisite: Russian 102 or equivalent.
5 units
CORE REQUIREMENT MET: EUROPE

Using Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace, this class will explore the issues of cultural identity, nationalism, religion, societal norms, and human progress. The class will also examine the novel's place in the traditions of Russian literature and the historical novel.
CORE REQUIREMENT MET: EUROPE

An examination of Slavic myths and their manifestation in folk culture, literature and film. The course will also apply critical theories such as feminist theory, deconstruction and psychoanalytical theory to these myths and their ability to persist to the present. Subjects to be covered include vampires, werewolves, nature spirits, shamanistic beliefs and rituals, and pagan calendar rituals. Readings will include medieval legends, stories by Nikolai Gogol, Mikhail Lermontov, Aleksei Tolstoy, and Mikhail Bulgakov. No knowledge of Russian required.
CORE REQUIREMENT MET: EUROPE