COURSE SCHEDULE

Spring 2009

Elementary & Intermediate Language Courses

Advanced German Language, Literature and Culture Courses

Level 1

Level 2

Courses in German Literature & Civilization
Conducted in English

Elementary and Intermediate German

GERMN 101 Elementary German I 3hrs, 3crs.
NOT CREDITED WITHOUT GERMN 102.

This course is intended for students with no prior knowledge of German.  Basic skills of speaking, reading, writing, and comprehension are taught with a strong emphasis on active student participation.

GERMN 102 Elementary German II 3hrs, 3crs.
Prereq: GERMN 101 or equivalent.

This course continues the work of GERMN 101, practicing the four basic language skills.

GERMN 103 Intensive Elementary German I & II 6hrs, 6crs.

This course is intended for students with no prior knowledge of German.  It covers in ONE semester the material normally covered in two semesters, in GERMN 101 and GERMN 102.  Basic skills of speaking, reading, writing and comprehension are taught with a strong emphasis on active student participation.  The class meets FOUR evenings a week and involves a considerable investment of time.  If you have questions, please consult the Chair of the Department about this accelerated course.

GERMN 201 Intermediate German I 3hrs, 3crs.
Prereq: GERMN 102 or 103 or equivalent.

Continued instruction in the four basic language skills. Introduction of advanced grammatical forms and review of elementary grammar. Reading and discussion of selected German writings. Continued practice in conversation and composition.

GERMN 202 Intermediate German II 3hrs, 3crs.
Prereq: GERMN 201 or equivalent.

Students at this level will normally be tested by both written and oral examination. Continued instruction in the four basic language skills.  Reading and discussion of selected literary texts.  Completion of this course fulfills the Hunter College foreign language requirement. 

GERMN 203 Intensive Intermediate German I & II 6hrs, 6crs.
Prereq:  GERMN 102 or 103 or equivalent.

This course covers in ONE semester the material normally covered in TWO semesters, in GERMN 201 and GERMN 202.  Instruction in the four basic skills is continued.  Advanced grammatical forms are introduced.  Selected literary texts are read and discussed.  The class involves a considerable investment of time.  If you have any questions, please consult the Chair of the Department about this accelerated course.

ADVANCED GERMAN COURSES

The advanced German courses are divided into two levels.  We expect students to take several courses at Level One before proceeding to Level Two.  If you are in any doubt which course you should take, please consult the chairperson of the Department or a departmental advisor.  All courses are conducted in German.

Language, Literature and Culture

Level I

These courses are intended for students who have recently completed GERMN 202 or 203 and/or GERMN 301.  They are not intended for native speakers of German.

GERMN 302 Advanced German Conversation & Composition 3hrs, 3crs.
Prereq:  GERMN 202 or 203 or equivalent.  GER 3/A 

The course is designed to develop the conversational and compositional skills.  There will be intensive practice to contemporary spoken and written German with emphasis on vocabulary and idiom, and on active mastery of grammatical forms.  Taped material will be used to strengthen comprehension skills.  Regular preparation in writing is required for group work and class dialogues.  The course prepares the students to take the examination Zertifikat Deutsch **, the professional certificate of basic language competence administered by the Goethe Institute.  ** Fees charged by outside examining agencies will be announced to students at the beginning of the term.

GERMN 321 Readings in Modern German Literature 3hrs, 3crs.
Prereq:  GERMN 202 or 203 or equivalent.  GER 3/A 

This course offers an introduction to the reading and critical appreciation of literary texts in German by well-known authors of the twentieth century. We shall work with prose narratives by Bertolt Brecht, Heinrich Böll and Franz Kafka (“Die Verwandlung”) and then turn to Max Frisch’s drama “Andorra.” The focus is on close reading where content as well as form will be discussed. Students will learn how to talk and write in German about literature.

GERMN 334 The German Short Story & Novelle 3hrs, 3crs.
Prereq:  GERMN 202 or 203 or equivalent.  GER 3/A 

We will read and discuss in detail short narrative prose primarily from the 19th and 20th centuries, by such authors as Tieck, Goethe, Storm, Kafka, Borchert, etc. Emphasis will be on close readings of texts and analysis of form. The cultural-historical background of the periods and genres in question will also be discussed. One of the aims of this course is to increase proficiency in German. The class will be conducted in German, and there will be oral and written assignments, as well as a midterm and final exam. Students will be required to buy three books; prices are approximate due to currency fluctuations.
Ludwig Tieck, "Der blonde Eckbert", $2.50
J.W. von Goethe, "Novelle", $3.00
Theodor Storm, "Immensee", $3.00

Level II

LEVEL II  LITERATURE & LANGUAGE

The following courses are intended for advanced students who have taken a number of 300 level German language and literature courses and who may be interested in going on to graduate school or to use the German language in other ways professionally.   They are thus regarded as “bridge course” helping students to move to the highest levels of the undergraduate program and beyond.

GERMN 350 Austrian Literature: Vienna around 1900  3hrs, 3crs.
Prereq: One course numbered from GERMN 320 to 359 or 444 or permission of the instructor, GER 3/A   PD/D

In this course, we will first focus on Vienna, capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the years around 1900, when there was an exceptional flowering of the arts and sciences in this city. We shall read major writers of the period, such as Schnitzler, Hofmannsthal, Freud, and we will look at some of the artists and decorative arts of the time, such as Klimt, and the Wiener Sezession. We will also read texts by a proletarian writer and authors form the later part of the century. As part of the course, we will have a guest lecture on music and we will visit the Neue Galerie, a museum in New York City with focus on Austrian and German art from the early part of the 20th century.

Texts: Arthur Schnitzler Reigen, Liebelei ISBN 978-3-596-27009-5; $ 10.00
Arthur Schnitzler, Leutnant Gustl ISBN-10:3-15-018156-9, $ 4.00
Adelheid Popp, Jugend einer Arbeiterin ISBN-10: 3801230023, n.a.
Carl E.Schorske, Fin-De-Sciecle Vienna: Politics and Culture. Price n.a.
Plus hand-outs available on ERES

GERMN 383 German Grammar for Upper Level Discourse  3hrs, 3crs.
Prereq: Three courses above GERMN 300 or equivalent or permission of the instructor, GER 3/A  

During the first half of this course, we shall aim at functional control of all items of basic grammar, working intensively with the tasks of narration and describing. Building on this, we shall proceed in the second half of the semester to work with the complex grammatical structures which the student must master in order to state and defend opinions, to hypothesize, to argue abstractly, in short, to speak and write at a high level of literacy. We shall work throughout the semester not only on the active skills of speaking and writing, but also on the ability to comprehend spoken and written German.

Discussion of grammar and syntax will take place in the English language and comparisons with English grammar will be made. All functional practice in class as well as reading and writing homework assignments will be in German.

GERMAN LITERATURE IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION

ALL READINGS, DISCUSSION, AND WRITTEN WORK WILL BE IN ENGLISH 

GERMN 241 German Fairy Tales  “W” 3hrs, 3crs.
Prereq or co-req:  Engl 120, GER 2/C   PD/D

Fairy tales are known all over the world.  The most famous European book of fairy tales is the one collected by the Brothers Grimm.  These stories have entered our collective unconscious but are not easily explained.  We shall look at various attempts at explaining what fairy tales are all about, look at older stories that served as models for the Brothers Grimm and study modern versions of the tales down to a Walt Disney movie and “politically correct fairy tales.”  Students will read fairy tales, tell one that they know, and write three short papers, a mid-term and final examination.  All readings will be in English.  This course has a “W” designation.

GERMN 379.54 Faust: A Renaissance Myth through the Ages: Marlowe, Goethe, Mann 3hrs, 3crs.
900 Honors College Course  GER 3/A 

The story of Doctor Faust is one of the great myths of the modern age and the “Faustian bargain” is one of the quintessential dangers of scholars and politicians today. Faust is an academic who makes a pact with the devil to gain knowledge, riches, and power, leads a wild life, sires a child with Helen of Troy, and then goes to hell. Originally based on a historical figure, the story soon morphed into a warning tale for scholars who would risk straying from their ‘God-given’ limitations. An exalted version of this was created by Christopher Marlowe in the age of Shakespeare. Marlowe’s play soon deteriorated into a puppet play that poked fun at ‘nerds’ trying to be better than their peers. The myth was then resurrected in the Age of Enlightenment and developed into what is generally considered the greatest work of German literature. Goethe’s Faust is unique in many respects, since Goethe worked on the play for about 60 years, creating a stunning masterpiece that shows the authentic voice and thinking of a youth, a middle-aged man, and a man of advanced age all at the same time. This great symbolic story about modern man’s existence in the universe was hugely successful, although often little understood, and spawned dozens of follow-ups from other artists. The most famous of the modern versions of Faust’s story is Thomas Mann’s Doctor Faustus, in which Mann uses the ‘Faust’ myth to explain the fate of a modern society (Germany) in its greatness and abysmal failure.

All readings, discussion and written work will be conducted in English.