An interdisciplinary inquiry into seminal literary, artistic, social, political, and intellectual movements in the history of Germanic cultures and thought from the Middle Ages to the present. Taught by Prof. Levine, the course will include guest lectures by professors from Art History, Music, Philosophy, Jewish Studies, Political Science, History, and German Languages and Literatures. In addition to the particular topics covered, Introduction to German Studies is meant to be a way for students to meet German-related faculty at Rutgers and develop a sense of the conversations in which we, and our respective disciplines, are engaged. Topics include: German art, epic, social life in the Middle Ages; Luther and the Protestant Reformation; “tolerance” and the age of Enlightenment; Romantic music, painting and poetry; industrialization and social change in the 19th C; the impact of Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud; Yiddish language and culture; the Weimar Republic; urban cultures and counter-cultures; Nazism and the Holocaust; the two Germanies and (re)unification. Short readings of texts by Luther, Lessing, Kant, Goethe, the Brothers Grimm, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Kafka, and others. Films by Murnau, Lang, and Riefenstahl. Music by Mozart, Schubert, and Wagner. Course also includes museum visits and a night at the opera. No prerequisites. Open to first-year students.

Readings and discussions in English.