This course offers students a deeper analysis of literary and cultural studies taught in English. No prior knowledge of German is required. Course may be taken twice for credit, as content may change with the instructor.

This course is designed to engage students with various aspects of German Studies at the upper-division level. Course topic and content will vary by author, genre, and medium based on departmental needs and course instructor. Because course content varies, this course may be repeated once for credit.

Being green is not a new trend for Germans. In fact, Germany has consistently led the way, not only within Europe but also throughout the world, in how to be environmentally friendly and natural resource conscious. Germany is (and has been) a world leader in solar and wind technologies and boasts one of the smallest carbon footprints of any industrialized major economy in the world. Why are Germans so green?

The focus of this course is on didactic literature: fables, fairy tales--many of which serve both to teach and to entertain (docet et delectat, the Latin dictum)--and the modern-day parables of authors such as Franz Kafka.

Thirty years ago, on November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall opened. Less than a year later East and West Germany were politically and economically united, and the German Democratic Republic officially ceased to exist. Yet scholars, journalists, writers and filmmakers have continued to explore the 40 years of divided Germany, including tensions that continued after unification. This seminar explores some of the many literary and cinematic representations of the East both as a place many are glad to have left behind as well as a place of longing for others.

No one can hope to comprehend the challenges Germany faces today without confronting the triumphs and tragedies of the German past. Questions of sovereignty and individual freedom, as argued by bloggers and in the press, acquire supreme significance when viewed in light of Germany under Bismarck, the failure of the Weimar Republic, the nightmare of National Socialism, forty years of division, the Pandora’s box of unification, and Germany’s crucial role in the European Union.

This course explores the words, actions, thoughts, and feelings during one of the most tumultuous periods of early twentieth century cultural history. The course treats a wide variety of materials with a focus on the fascinating and groundbreaking innovations in visual and performing arts, material culture, and urban planning and architecture that relate to turn-of-the-century Europe, World War I, Weimar Germany, and the rise of German National Socialism.

Was National Socialism the incarnation of evil in the modern world? How could twelve years of Nazi control in Germany alter world history? Did its culture consist only of propaganda and party rallies? Why did the Nazi leadership consider art and culture so central to its political goals? In the past 25 years scholars have taken a serious look at Nazi culture and revealed a much more complex set of factors at work in all areas of cultural life.

This course surveys the history and development of German cinema after 1945, including canonical works by Staudte, Schloendorff, Wenders, Kluge, and Fassbinder. The course begins with the immediate post-WWII era and continues through contemporary films, examining major trends of German cinematography during four major periods: the Truemmerfilm, the New German Cinema of the Federal Republic, DEFA films in the GDR, and the cinematic trends after German reunification.

This course is intended for advanced students of German in their junior or senior years who participate in the undergraduate experiential teaching partnership at Washington Elementary School in Tacoma.