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Search Catalog
German
The modern language curriculum is designed to give students an opportunity to become conversant in one or more languages from linguistic, literary and cultural perspectives. We encourage serious students to examine the social, philosophical and aesthetic themes in literature and to acquire fluency and sensitivity to structure and style in the languages offered which include French, German, and Spanish.
Careers in such fields as government, law, business, medicine, social service, journalism, or education are enhanced by the knowledge of foreign languages. Many graduate programs require proficiency in a foreign language.
Majors are offered in French, and Spanish, and also in modern languages and literatures (the study of three languages). Students should spend their junior year in an approved program of studies abroad, or participate in an approved program of summer studies. Minors are offered in French and Spanish. In cooperation with other academic departments, the department also participates in programs providing a minor in Latin American Studies. The programs are designed to encourage the student to combine her interests in a language with other disciplines. The student considering such a program, or planning to study abroad, should consult the department chair as soon as possible to assure proper preparation.
A student who chooses one of these majors is expected to achieve a reading, writing, and speaking knowledge of the language (or languages) in which she concentrates. The foreign language is used exclusively in all advanced courses and as much as possible in the others. Not more than one approved course given in English may be credited toward the major. The department recommends participation in a Junior Year Abroad program or a residence of six weeks or more in a summer school where the exclusive use of the foreign language is required. Courses taken in programs abroad must be evaluated and approved by the appropriate departmental faculty before credit is granted toward the major. A student who has begun the study of a language in college will still find it possible to fulfill the major requirement in the language by arranging her courses in consultation with her major professor.
The Department of Modern Languages does not approve credit for online courses taken at any level. No course being counted toward the V.3 general education knowledge area may be taken on a P/CR/NC grading option.
GRMN 101
Elementary German I
CR:
4.0 For beginners. Four class periods and two laboratory periods.
GRMN 102
Elementary German II
CR:
4.0 Prerequisite: GRMN 101. A continuation of GRMN 101. Four class periods and two laboratory periods.
GRMN 201
Intermediate German I
CR:
4.0 Prerequisite: GRMN 102 or placement. Formal study and practice in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding German. Regular laboratory attendance is required.
GRMN 202
Intermediate German II
CR:
4.0 Prerequisite: GRMN 201. A continuation of GRMN 201. Formal study and practice in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding German. Regular laboratory attendance is required. V.3
GRMN 225
Readings in Modern German Literature I
CR:
3.0 Prerequisite: GRMN 202 or placement. Selected readings from literature of the period between 1890 and 1933. Authors included are Kafka, Mann, Rilke, George Trakl, Hofmannsthal, Schnitzler, Heym, and Benn. Emphasis on the novelle and lyric poetry. Offered alternate years. III.W, V.2, V.3
GRMN 226
Readings in Modern German Literature II
CR:
3.0 Prerequisite: GRMN 202 or placement. German literature after 1945. Works of writers from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Offered alternate years. III.W, V.2, V.3
GRMN 231
German Conversation and Composition
CR:
3.0 Prerequisites: GRMN 202 and permission of the instructor. Practice in written and oral expression with discussions and essays based on contemporary topics and literary selections. Offered alternate years. III.O, III.W, V.3
GRMN 243
German Volksmarchen and Kunstmarchen
Prerequisite: GRMN 202. An introduction to the German fairy tale with an emphasis on Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm's Kinder und Volksmarchen and Kunstmarchen (literary fairy tales) of German Romantic writers. Offered alternate years. V.2, V.3
GRMN 251
Introduction to German Culture I
CR:
3.0 Prerequisite: GRMN 202. A study of various historical, cultural, political, literary, and social trends in the German-speaking countries from the Middle Ages until 1900. Offered alternate years. III.O, V.1, V.3
GRMN 252
Introduction to German Culture II
CR:
3.0 Prerequisite: GRMN 202. A study of various historical, cultural, political, literary, and social trends in the German-speaking countries after 1900. Included will be a study of German Nationalism, the “völkisch movement,” National Socialism, life in the post-war divided country, and the German reunification. Offered alternate years. III.O, V.1, V.3
GRMN 254
German Culture through German Films
CR:
3.0 Prerequisite: GRMN 202. In this course students will view and discuss both older and more recent German films. Emphasis will be placed on the image these films portray of German society during the Weimar Period, the time of National Socialism, life in East and West Germany during the Cold War, and Germany since the reunification. Taught in English with a special discussion session in German. May be counted toward the minor in film studies. May be counted toward the majors in German and German studies or minor in German for those who elect the German discussion session and do all written work in German. Offered alternate years. V.1, V.6a
GRMN 261
Directed Study
CR:
1.0 Prerequisites: One GRMN course and permission of the instructor. The study of introductory level material by an individual student or by a small group of students under the immediate supervision of a faculty member.
GRMN 311
History and Structure of the German Language
CR:
3.0 Prerequisite: One course in German beyond GRMN 202. Through the reading of sample texts derived from the whole of German literary history, from the present back to the Old High German of the early ninth century, this course will investigate patterns of historical development and impart the skills to describe them systematically, creating, in effect, rather than just learning of, a descriptive history of the development of the German language. Offered alternate years. V.1
GRMN 322
German Literature Before 1700
CR:
3.0 Prerequisite: One course in German beyond GRMN 202. A study of trends in literature in relation to the social, historical, and religious conditions in Germany from the Middle Ages through the Baroque. Offered alternate years. V.2
GRMN 351
The Age of Goethe I: German Classicism and Its Precursors
CR:
3.0 Prerequisite: One course in German beyond GRMN 202. A study of the Enlightenment, Sturm und Drang, and Early Classicism. Readings from Lessing, Wieland, Lichtenberg, Lenz, Klinger, Goethe, and Schiller. Offered alternate years. V.2
GRMN 352
The Age of Goethe II: Later Classicism and Romanticism
CR:
3.0 Prerequisite: One course in German beyond GRMN 202. Selections from the later works of Goethe and Schiller, the works of Tieck, Novalis, Brentano, Arnim, Arndt, Eichendorff, the Schlegels, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Chamisso, Kleist, Hölderlin, and others. V.2
GRMN 361
Special Study
CR:
1.0 Prerequisites: 100-level GRMN course and permission of the instructor. The study of an intermediate level topic by an individual student or by a small group of students under the immediate supervision of a faculty member.
GRMN 371
German Literature of the 19th Century
CR:
3.0 Prerequisite: One course in German beyond GRMN 202. Selections from the writers of Jungdeutschland, Grabbe, Lenau, Mörike, Droste-Hülshoff, Hebbel, Grillparzer, Nestroy, Stifter, C.F. Meyer, Keller, and Fontane. Offered alternate years.
GRMN 372
The German Novelle
CR:
3.0 Prerequisite: One course in German beyond GRMN 202. A study of the Novelle as a genre from the 18th to the 20th century. Offered alternate years. V.2
GRMN 377
Internship
CR:
1.0 Prerequisites: Three credits in GRMN and permission of the instructor, department chair, and dean. This course is graded P/CR/NC only.
GRMN 384
The Modern German Drama
CR:
3.0 Prerequisite: One course in German beyond GRMN 202. Naturalism and move through Expressionism, Neue Sachlichkeit, post-war and present-day theatre. Emphasis will be placed on the development of dramatic theories, dramatic styles and staging as well as on the analysis of individual works. Selected plays by such dramatists as Gerhart Hauptmann, Frank Wedekind, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Ernst Toller, Georg Kaiser, Bertolt Brecht, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, and Max Frisch. Offered alternate years. III.W, V.2, V.6a
GRMN 452
Senior Seminar
CR:
3.0 Prerequisite: Required of seniors majoring in German and other qualified students by permission. III.O, III.W
GRMN 461
Independent Study
CR:
1.0 Prerequisites: One 100-level GRMN course, one 200-level GRMN course, and permission of the instructor. Pursuit of an upper level research project determined in advance by the student in consultation with a faculty member who will act as the sponsor.
