Mar 28, 2024  
2008-2009 
    
2008-2009 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions


 

English

  
  • ENG 294 - Studies in Modernism


    Instructor
    Churchill

    An examination of modernist literature and arts, with emphasis on formal experimentation within historical, political, and social contexts. Specific themes and texts may vary.

  
  • ENG 295 - Women Writers


    Instructor
    Staff

    Selected 19th and 20th-century British and American women authors. Explores how culture influences the writing, reading, and interpretation of literature and how women writers articulate their experience.

  
  • ENG 297 - Caribbean Literature


    Instructor 
    Flanagan

    An exploration of major themes and tropes in fiction, poetry and drama by writers of African, Asian, and European descent in the English, French, and Spanish speaking islands. Writers include figures such as V.S. Naipaul, Kamau Brathwaite, Maryse Conde, Paule Marshall, Derek Walcott, Jean Rhys, and Edouard Glissant.

  
  • ENG 301 - Writing Nonfiction Prose


    Instructor 
    Staff

    Advanced study of contemporary nonfiction prose, approaches to expository writing across the curriculum and editing; students may pursue special interests.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 303 - Writing Poetry II


    Instructor
    Staff

    Advanced work in writing poetry.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Permission of the instructor required.

  
  • ENG 304 - Writing Fiction II


    Instructor 
    Staff

    Advanced work in writing fiction.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Permission of the instructor required.

  
  • ENG 305 - Writing Plays


    Instructor
    Staff

    Offered in years when a professor in residence or a visiting professor of writing or theater focuses on playwriting.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Permission of the instructor required.

  
  • ENG 310 - The English Language


    Instructor 
    A. Ingram

    Introduction to theories of modern linguistics as they illuminate the historical development of English phonology, morphology, and syntax from Old and Middle English to Modern English. Attends to both written and spoken English; examines definitions and theories of grammar, as well as attitudes toward language change in England and the U.S. 

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 342 - Medieval Literature


    Instructor
    Gibson

    An interdisciplinary study of medieval English literature, visual art, and spirituality from the 8th through the 15th century.  Most texts in translation.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 343 - Chaucer


    Instructor
    Gibson

    Critical study of The Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde in Middle English with attention to their historical and cultural context.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 352 - Shakespeare


    Instructor
    R. Ingram

    Critical reading, discussion, and performance of selected plays.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 353 - Studies in English Renaissance Literature


    Instructor 
    Staff

    Topics in Renaissance literature such as Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, Renaissance schools of poetry, and Northern humanist culture.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 355 - Milton


    Instructor  
    R. Ingram 

    Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes, selected minor poems, selected prose.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 360 - Studies in British Literature


    Instructor
    Staff

    Special topics in British literature with attention to critical approaches.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 361 - The Eighteenth Century


    Instructor  
    Vaz-Hooper

    Historical and critical study of British literature from 1660 to 1800.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 362 - British Romanticism


    Instructor 
    Vaz-Hooper

    Poetry and prose of early 19th-century Britain.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 363 - History of the British Novel


    Instructor
    Fackler

    The origins of the novel in Britain and the circumstances, both historical and sociological, surrounding its emergence. 

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 370 - Davidson Summer Program at Cambridge University


    Limited to thirty students, the Davidson Summer Program at Cambridge focuses on the history and literature of late 18th- and 19th-century Britain. Students may receive credit for either English 370 or History 390.

  
  • ENG 371 - Victorian Literature


    Instructor 
    Vaz-Hooper

    Readings in the prose and poetry of the period.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 372 - British Fiction: 19th and 20th Centuries


    Instructor  
    Staff

    Selected British and Commonwealth fiction from 1800 to 2000.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 373 - Modern British and Irish Poetry


    Instructor
    Churchill

    Development of poetry in England and Ireland from Hopkins and Hardy to the present.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 380 - Studies in American Literature


    Instructor  
    Staff

    Special topics in American literature with attention to critical approaches.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 381 - American Fiction: 19th Century


    Instructor 
    A. Ingram 

    Historical and theoretical understanding of romanticism, realism, and naturalism, with attention to Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Twain, James, Crane, and others.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 382 - Nineteenth Century American Poetry


    Instructor
    Staff

    Historical and theoretical understanding of major trends in American poetry of the nineteenth century with special attention to Romanticism, Sentimentalism, and Realism. Major authors include Emerson, Whitman, Poe, Longfellow, Melville, Dickinson, Dunbar, among others.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 386 - American Fiction: 20th Century


    Instructor
    Nelson

    Historical and theoretical understanding of modernism, postmodernism, and contemporary literature, with attention to Dreiser, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Ellison, O’Connor, Welty, Bellow and others.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 387 - Modern American Poetry


    Instructor
    Staff

    Development of poetry in America from Whitman and Dickinson to the present.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 388 - Contemporary Theatre


    Instructor
    Fox

    Alternative and mainstream American and British theatre after 1950, from Pinter to Kushner, with emphasis on developments arising in political theatre, postmodern theatre, and solo performance.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 389 - Studies in Literature and the Environment


    Instructor 
    A. Ingram 

    Special topics in environmental literature, such as American nature writing, the Thoreauvian narrative, ecocriticism, and ecoliterature.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 391 - Literary Criticism


    Instructor 
    Kuzmanovich

    Analytic and comparative reading of major critical texts.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 392 - Studies in Literature by Women


    Instructor  
    Mills

    Special topics in women’s writing such as Inflections of the Self, Poetry and Female Identity, the Woman Hero, Gender and Text.  2008 Topic:  Literary Selves Emerging (Plath, Morrison, and Atwood.)

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 393 - Studies in Literature and the Visual Arts


    Instructor 
    Staff

    Special topics considering relationships between literature and the visual arts. Designed especially for students who wish to pursue the study of film beyond the level of English 293 and for students interested in relationships among painting, sculpture, and literature.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Permission of the instructor required.

  
  • ENG 394 - Studies in Modern Literature


    Instructor 
    Staff

    Special topics in modern literature, such as Modern International Fiction, Contemporary Poetry, Literature and Medicine, and Contemporary Drama.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    First-year students require permission of the instructor.

  
  • ENG 395 - Independent Study in Literature


    Instructor
    Staff

    Independent study under the direction of a faculty member who approves the topic and determines the means of evaluation.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Permission of the instructor required.

  
  • ENG 396 - Independent Study in Writing


    Instructor
    Staff

    Independent study under the direction of a faculty member who approves the topic and determines the means of evaluation.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Permission of the instructor required.

  
  • ENG 397 - Independent Study


    Instructor
    Staff

    Independent study under the direction of a faculty member who approves the topic and determines the means of evaluation.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Permission of the instructor required.

  
  • ENG 400-494 - Seminars


    Instructor
    Staff

    Seminars, numbered 400 through 494, are limited to twelve juniors and seniors with preference to English majors.

  
  • ENG 495 - Senior Colloquium


    Instructors
    Gibson, A. Ingram, R. Ingram

    Approaches a wide range of literature through specific topics, themes, or problems chosen by the course instructors. Topics may include a genre, a specific historical issue, or some other broad organizing principle. Emphasizes synthesis and analysis of material from disparate cultures and periods by reading, discussing, and writing about works that exemplify the course’s topics.  2008 Topic:  Literary Monsters.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Limited to senior English majors.  

  
  • ENG 498 - Senior Honors Research


    Instructor 
    Mills

    Reading and research for the honors thesis and field examination taught by the student’s thesis director and the departmental honors advisor. Culminates in an oral presentation to the student’s honors committee. Final evaluation conducted by the student’s thesis director. Ordinarily, taken in the fall of the senior year.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Permission of the instructor required.

  
  • ENG 499 - Senior Honors Thesis


    Instructor 
    Mills

    Writing of the honors thesis begun in English 498, supervised by the student’s thesis director and supported by instruction of the departmental honors advisor. Concludes with an oral defense of the thesis and a field examination administered by the student’s honors committee. Final evaluation conducted by the student’s thesis director in consultation with the student’s honors committee. Ordinarily, taken in the spring of the senior year.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Permission of the instructor required.


French

  
  • FRE 101 - Elementary French I


    Instructor 
    Kruger

    Introductory French course developing basic proficiency in the four skills: oral comprehension, speaking, writing, and reading. Requires additional work in drill sessions and the language laboratory.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Normally, for students with no previous instruction in French.

  
  • FRE 101W - First-Year Writing Seminar


    Instructor
    Staff

    Writing intensive (in English) study of selected topics.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Satisfies the composition requirement and distribution requirement in literature. Open only to first-year students.  (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • FRE 102 - Elementary French II


    Instructor
    Kruger

    Continuing development of basic proficiency in the four skills. Drill sessions and work in language laboratory.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    French 101 at Davidson or permission of the department.

  
  • FRE 103 - Intensive Beginning French (2 credits)


    Instructor
    Jacobus

    Beginning French. Learn conversational French quickly. Meets every day for 6 class-hours per week plus meetings with an assistant teacher (AT). Completes two semesters of French in one semester. Equivalent to French 101 and 102. Counts as two courses and prepares for French 201.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Fall only)

  
  • FRE 201 - Intermediate French


    Instructor
    Staff

    Development of skills in spoken and written French, with extensive oral practice and grammar review. Requires work in the language laboratory or the equivalent.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Fulfills foreign language requirement.

  
  • FRE 202 - Advanced Intermediate French


    Instructors
    Slawy-Sutton, Sutton

    Further cultivation of intermediate-level oral and written skills, with selected grammar review.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    French 201, placement examination, or permission of the department.

  
  • FRE 211 - French Conversation and Composition


    Instructor
    Beschea

    Advanced oral and written practice; review of selected grammatical topics.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    French 202, placement examination, or permission of the instructor.

  
  • FRE 220 - Portraits of Women: Love/Death


    Instructor
    Beschea

    Literature treating portraits of women in French and Francophone texts, films, music, and painting. Discussion of issues such as national identity, religion and morality, colonialism and the status of women. Typical authors: Marie de France,  Chrétien de Troyes, Marguerite de Navarre, Racine, Corneille, Laclos, L’Abbé Prévost

    Prerequisites & Notes
    French 202 or above. (Fall)

  
  • FRE 223 - Childhood and Youth


    Instructor
    Slawy-Sutton

    Literature treating the theme, “l’enfance et l’adolescence,’’ through different genres and literary periods. Typical authors: Maupassant, Colette, Prévert, Anouilh, Sarraute, Sebbar, Chedid.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    French 202 or above. (Fall)

  
  • FRE 224 - Innocence and Awareness


    Instructors
    Kruger, Sutton

    Literature treating the theme of self-discovery in different genres and literary periods. Typical authors: Voltaire, Flaubert, Camus, Molière, Duras.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    French 202 or above. (Spring)

  
  • FRE 225 - Rich and Poor


    Instructor
    Kruger

    Discussion of the themem of wealth and its place in a variety of literary forms and cultural contexts. Readings typically include plays, poetry, and fiction by French and Francophone authors such as Molière, La Bruyère, Balzac, Maupassant, Baudelaire, Prouix, Roy and La Ferrière.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    French 202 or above.  (Fall)

  
  • FRE 229 - Introduction to French Literature Abroad


    Course in literature taught by the Davidson program director in Tours.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Offered 2008-09.)

  
  • FRE 250 - French Phonetics and Translation


    Instructor
    Fache

    Systematic study of French pronunciation and intonation as they relate to underlying grammatical patterns and presentation of translation theory with exercises designed to reduce the number of anglicisms in written and spoken French. Extensive individualized instruction in the Language Resource Center.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    French 211 or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor. (Spring)

  
  • FRE 260 - Contemporary France


    Instructor
    Sutton

    Contemporary French social and political institutions, attitudes and values, emphasizing current events. Especially recommended for those planning to study in France.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    French 202 or above. (Fall)

  
  • FRE 285 - Phonetics and Translation Abroad


    A course in corrective phonetics and translation taken at a university in a French-speaking country.

  
  • FRE 287-288, 387-390 - Studies in Civilization and Culture Abroad


    Courses on topics related to francophone civilization (e.g., culture, history, politics) taken at a university in a French-speaking country.

  
  • FRE 290 - Masterworks of French Fiction in Translation


    Instructor
    Staff

    The course is an introduction to major works of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century French and Francophone literature in translation.  No prior knowledge of French is necessary.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • FRE 295, 296, 297 - Independent Study for Non-Majors


    Individual work under the direction of a faculty member who reviews and approves the topic of study and determines the means of evaluation.

  
  • FRE 320 - Adultery in Novel and Film


    Instructor
    Kruger

    Analysis of representation of female adultery in French literature and film, with emphasis on the social stereotypes and cultural myths at play in 19th century fiction. Typical authors: Flaubert, Barbey d’Aurevilly, Balzac, Sand, Maupassant, Mérimée.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Any course numbered French 220 or above, or permission of the instructor. (Spring)

  
  • FRE 321 - Autobiographies, Journals, Diaries


    Instructor
    Kruger

    Analysis of first-person narratives from a variety of periods. Typical authors: Diderot, Guillerargues, Graffigny, Camus, Gide, Duras.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Any course number French 220 or above, or permission of the instructor. (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • FRE 322 - North Africa in Novel and Film


    Instructor
    Slawy-Sutton

    Analysis of French texts of the 19th and 20th centuries (from French colonization to immigration) which deal with themes and images relative to North Africa, and of contemporary literature by North African immigrants in France.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • FRE 327 - Asia in Novel and Film


    Instructor
    Slawy-Sutton

    Reading and discussion of French texts of the 19th and 20th centuries which deal with themes and images representing Asia.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Fall)

  
  • FRE 329 - Studies in the Novel


    Instructor
    Staff

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Any course number French 220 or above, or permission of the instructor. (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • FRE 330 - French Drama


    Instructor 
    Staff

    Thematic and esthetic analysis of masterpieces of French theater, ranging from the classical to the romantic era through the contemporary period. Typical authors: Molière, Racine, Hugo, Musset, Claudel, Anouilh, Giraudoux, Montherlant, Sartre, Camus, Ionesco, Beckett, Genet.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Any course numbered French 220 or above, or permission of the instructor. (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • FRE 339 - Studies in the Theater


    Instructor
    Staff

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Any course numbered French 220 or above, or permission of the instructor. (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • FRE 340 - Symbolist Poets: Drugs, Music, Revolt


    Instructor
    Jacobus

    Study of late 19th-century innovators in poetry: Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine, Mallarmé, and of their use of metaphor, syntax, image, rhythm, tonality, and literary references.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Any course numbered French 220 or above.

  
  • FRE 341 - Poetry, Passion, Painting


    Instructor
    Jacobus

    Study of selected poets, such as Apollinaire, Reverdy, Dohollau, Eluard, Surrealists, Ponge, and Butor, and of their use of metaphor, syntax, image, rhythm, tonality, and artistic references.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Any course numbered French 220 or above, or permission of the instructor.

  
  • FRE 349 - Studies in Poetry


    Instructor
    Staff

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Any course numbered French 220 or above, or permission of the instructor. 

  
  • FRE 360 - Where is France Heading?


    Instructor
    Sutton

    Study of questions concerning French society, including national identity, the social welfare system, the French economy, secondary/higher education, and France’s relations to other states.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Any course numbered French 220 or above.

  
  • FRE 361 - Francophone Africa and the Caribbean


    Instructor
    Staff

    Literature and civilization of French-speaking Africa and the Antilles. Focus on social, political and prophetic roles of the writer.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Any course numbered French 220 or above. (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • FRE 362 - Maghreb: Francophone Authors


    Instructor
    Slawy-Sutton

    Francophone authors of the Maghreb: Literature and civilization of French-speaking North Africa. Focus on French colonial themes. Texts by major writers from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia (Djebar, Sebbar, Memmi, Chraibi, Dib).

     

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Any course numbered French 220 or above. (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • FRE 363 - Quebec: Literature, Society, and Culture


    Instructor
    Kruger

    Literature and civilization of Quèbec. Focus on the events, individuals and movements that have shaped this dynamic and diverse French-speaking society.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Any course numbered French 220 or above. (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • FRE 365 - Introduction to the History and Aesthetics of French Cinema


    Instructor
    Pettersen

    French films and filmmakers from origins of cinema to the contemporary period, emphasizing surrealism (Bunuel, Vigo, Cocteau), poetic realism (Clair, Renoir, Carne), and the “New Wave’’ (Resnais, Godard, Truffaut).

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Taught in English. Readings and all written work may be done in French for major credit in French. (Fall)

  
  • FRE 366 - Francophone Cinema


    Instructor

    Beschea-Fache

    This course is designed to foster cultural awareness and literacy about post-colonial French-speaking Africa while providing continuous training in the French language as the class discussions and most assignments will be conducted in French. The course will explore sub-Saharan French-speaking cinema, which, since its advent after the independence of the colonies from France in the early 1960s, has been extremely dynamic and daring and yet remains unknown to most Westerners. All films are subtitled in English.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    No previous training in film studies will be required.

    Satisfies a requirement for the major in French, concentrations in film studies and international studies concentration. Cultural diversity requirement.

  
  • FRE 369 - Studies in French Civilization


    Instructor
    Staff
     

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Any course numbered French 220 or above. 

  
  • FRE 384-386 - Studies in Literature Abroad


    Courses in francophone literature taken at a university in a French-speaking country.

  
  • FRE 395-397 - Independent Study for Majors


    Individual work under the direction of a faculty member who reviews and approves the topic of study and determines the means of evaluation. 

  
  • FRE 490 - Senior Major Seminar


    Instructor
    Kruger

    An advanced seminar treating a special topic in French literature and/or civilization chosen by the instructor each year. Offered in the fall semester and required of majors.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Fall)

  
  • FRE 491 - Senior Thesis


    An in-depth study of a literary theme, genre, movement, author, or topic of civilization in close consultation with a faculty advisor. Required of all senior majors in the spring semester, except those students enrolling in 499 Senior Honors Thesis.

  
  • FRE 499 - Senior Honors Thesis


    Seniors who satisfy requirements for admission to the departmental honors program enroll in 499. A written request containing a brief description of the thesis project and a working bibliography is submitted to the department for consideration no later than the fifth week of the fall semester of the senior year. Approval of project proposal constitutes permission to enroll in 499. An oral defense of the thesis is required.


German

  
  • GER 101, 102 - Elementary German I and II


    Instructor
    McCulloh

    For beginners. Introduction and development of the basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, along with presentation of the fundamental structures of German. Each course requires online work and participation in AT sessions.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Prerequisite for German 102: German 101 or placement. (101 offered in the Fall, 102 in the Spring.)

  
  • GER 101W - First-Year Writing Seminar


    Instructors
    McCarthy, McCulloh

    Writing-intensive study (in English) of selected topics.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Satisfies the composition requirement. Limited to first-year students. (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • GER 103 - Intensive Elementary German (2 credits)


    Instructor
    Henke

    For beginners. Introduction and development of the basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing along with presentation of the fundamental structures of German. Requires online work and participation in AT sessions. Meets six class hours per week. [Equivalent to German 101 and 102, counting for two courses.]

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Spring)

  
  • GER 201 - Intermediate German


    Instructor
    McCarthy
     
    Continuing work in developing language skills, with strong emphasis on speaking and writing. The course requires online work and participation in AT sessions. Fulfills the foreign language requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    German 102, 103, or placement. (Fall)

  
  • GER 230 - German Literary Masterpieces (in trans.)


    Instructor
    Henke

    Taught in English, this course offers students an overview of some of the major authors and works of German literature that are significant (1) in their own right, (2) for the German literary tradition, and (3) because of their relationship to English and American literature. We will explore a variety of periods (Enlightenment, Romanticism, Poetic Realism, Modernism, Postmodernism) and genres (drama, novella, novel, opera, poetry, and film).

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • GER 232 - Burning Books (in trans.)


    Instructor
    Henke

    Would the six million Jews have lived had the estimated 100 million books not been destroyed? What is it about books that suggests such a link to the human condition? Using the 1933 book burnings as its point of departure, this course explores the nature of literature in the context of the Third Reich. As you learn about Nazi Germany and the imaginary, literary resistance to it, you will also be introduced to some basic methods of literary criticism. The end of the course is devoted to literary representations of the Holocaust. Taught in English.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • GER 234 - Defining “Germanness” (in trans.)


    Instructor
    McCulloh

    This course explores the manner in which Germany and Germans are depicted in literature and film, primarily film adaptations of those literary works, including both German and “Hollywood” films. Fictional representations of “Germanness” are subjected to critical scrutiny and analysis, from Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front (1929) and its first American screen adaptation to the consummately wholesome The Sound of Music to the scathingly critical films of Fassbinder to the playfully satiric Schulze Gets the Blues. Texts are in English translation, German films have subtitles.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Fall)

  
  • GER 238 - Berlin Stories and Histories (in trans.)


    Instructor
    Henke

    Examines Berlin’s turbulent history–from its founding and the eventual rise of Prussia to German Imperialism, the Weimar Republic, National Socialism, the Cold War, unification, and European integration. Our goal will be to illuminate how German historical continuities and transformations are reflected, anticipated, legitimated in the arts; predominantly in literature, but also in architecture, painting, and film. Attendance at screenings is mandatory.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • GER 240 - German/American Connections on Film (in trans.)


    Instructor
    McCarthy

    Examines German and Hollywood cinema’s long history of mutually beneficial and antagonistic relations. Topics include German Expressionism, film noir, trans-Atlantic stars, New German Cinema’s representations of America, German cameramen Karl Freund and Michael Ballhaus, and today’s Hollywood-inspired German filmmakers.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • GER 242 - Hollywood Alternatives, From Germany and Beyond (in trans.)


    Instructor
    McCarthy

    An overview of historical and contemporary attempts to challenge Hollywood’s dominant cinematic codes, which examines Weimar and New German Cinema, Russian montage, French New Wave, “Art house” cinema of the 1960s, independent film of the 1990s, plus several contemporary European films.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • GER 244 - Screening Gender (in trans.)


    Instructor
    McCarthy

    A look at gender in German, Hollywood and various European films and how it reflects cultural assumptions, anxieties and fantasies. The larger social and historical context for representations of gender will also be examined.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • GER 250 - Introduction to German Literary Studies


    Instructor
    McCarthy

    An introduction to authors, genres, and periods in German literature as well as methods of literary criticism. Close reading, discussion, and analytical writing in German about key original texts from various periods and traditions.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    German 201 or placement. (Spring)

  
  • GER 260 - Introduction to German Cultural Studies


    Instructor
    Henke

    Close attention to the various answers to the questions: “Was ist Deutsch?” and “What does the study of German culture entail?” Texts drawn from various discourses, including history, literature, film, visual arts, political and social science, as well as journalism and popular culture.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    German 201 or placement. (Fall)

  
  • GER 270 - Contemporary Germany


    Instructor
    Denham

    Examination of contemporary life in Germany. Texts include current newspapers and magazines, supplemented by video and film. Emphasis on composition and conversation. Strongly recommended for students planning to study in Germany.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    German 201 or placement. (Fall)

  
  • GER 272 - German Mass Media


    Instructor
    Henke

    Taught in German, this course provides an overview of the foundations and organization of mass media in Germany. An in-depth, sometimes comparative look at specific newspapers, magazines, radio and television shows, as well as internet sites will illuminate how those media shape German notions of reality. The course is designed to help students improve their language skills: reading, writing, listening, dialogic and monologic speaking.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    German 201 or placement. (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • GER 298 - Independent Study


    Instructor
    Staff

    Independent study under the direction and supervision of a faculty member who reviews and approves the topics of the study, reviews the student’s work on a regular basis, and evaluates the student’s accomplishment. Either one major paper or a series of shorter ones will be among the requirements.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Permission of the instructor and the department chair. (Fall, Spring)

  
  • GER 330 - Goethe and Schiller (in trans.)


    Instructor
    Henke

    Taught in English, this course introduces students to the works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) and Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805), arguably the two most prominent figures of German literary history. We will trace their development from the defiant Storm and Stress years to the balanced harmony of the classical period while paying close attention to the literary and intellectual traditions in which the two authors participated.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • GER 332 - Modernism (in trans.)


    Instructor
    Denham

    An interdisciplinary study in English of modernist movements in Central Europe between 1890 and 1940. Topics covered include literary movements (Naturalism, Expressionism, New Realism); artistic movements (Blue Rider, the Bridge, Jugendstil, Neue Sachlichkeit, Bauhaus); music (Neo-Romanticism, Second Viennese School, Jazz); culture and politics (Freud, fascism, urbanism, film, anti-Semitism). Some key figures include: Kandinsky, Klee, Gropius, Rilke, Kafka, Luxemburg, Modersohn-Becker, Th. Mann, Musil, Döblin, Nietzsche, Lasker-Schüler, Hitler, Riefenstahl, Trakl, R. Strauss, Torberg, Jünger.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • GER 334 - Modern German Theater (in trans.)


    Instructor
    McCulloh

    This course concentrates on pivotal German, Swiss, and Austrian authors in the history of the modern stage. The list of influential writers includes, but is not limited to, Wedekind, Brecht, Frisch, Dürrenmatt, and more recent documentary dramatists such as Rolf Hochhuth and Heiner Kipphardt. Students will explore the political and social contexts in which the various works arose in early modern and pre- and post-war Europe, and, as in the case of Brecht, in exile in Scandinavia and the United States. It will be taught in English.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Spring)

  
  • GER 336 - Memory in Literature and Film (in trans.)


    Instructor
    McCarthy

    Examines personal and collective memory in a variety of cultural contexts and the strategies which film and literature use to represent it. We will also analyze the roles that truth-telling, trauma and national narratives play in memory’s construction. From the German context, we will look specifically at cultural and social memory in understanding Germany’s twentieth-century history. More generally, and in light of James Frey’s controversial autobiography, we will examine general assumptions around memory and the extent to which it can be accurately rendered.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Satisfies requirements for the Concentration in Film and Media Studies. (Not offered 2008-09.)

  
  • GER 340 - Environmentalism on Film (in trans.)


    Instructor
    McCarthy

    Examines environmentalism in the German and American context via filmic representations and their part, in turn, in shaping national identity.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Satisfies requirements for the Concentration in Film and Media Studies and the Environmental Studies Concentration. (Fall)

 

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