• First Year German I and II (01:470:107:03 and 01:470:108:03)

  Introduction to German language and culture. Four-skills (understanding, speaking, reading, writing) and communicative approach to the language of everyday life in German-speaking countries, the language of their histories and societies, their arts and letters.

• Intermediate German I and II (01:470:135:03 and 01:470:136:03)

Each of these courses builds language proficiency through a topic-oriented syllabus focusing on contemporary German-speaking cultures and societies (family, leisure, work, education, environment, current events)t. Provides a thorough review of German grammar. Authentic texts from a variety of media will provide the basis for discussion and cultural awareness.

• Advanced German in Berlin (01:470:231:03)

Reading and discussion of advanced material centered largely on contemporary Berlin. Development of written and oral proficiency in German, as well as insight into the cultural and historical aspects of the capital.

• Berlin Theater (01:470:391:03)

Based on the Berlin theater schedule, students will attend an array of German classical and contemporary theater, including political cabaret. We will focus on the renowned Berliner Ensemble made famous by Brecht, as well as the illustrious Deutsches Theater and the small, experimental venues (Gorki Theater, Volksbühne, etc.). We will read plays in advance so as to ensure comprehension; we will meet briefly after each production to answer basic questions and then proceed to place these works within the larger aesthetic and cultural tradition. Discussion, oral presentations, and short papers in German.

• Aspects of German Culture: Current Issues and Trends in Germany (01:470:343:03)

This course will focus on social and cultural topics currently discussed in Germany, such as ethnic diversity, environmental protection, German identity, minorities and equality, musical subcultures, and current debates in German politics, economics and society. The course will provide you with a view of German society from the inside, by analyzing German media and events and talking with Germans about the patterns of everyday life that are currently under public debate. We will use a variety of materials (newspaper articles, the internet, TV and film) and numerous excursions to museums (e.g. DDR Museum, Schwules Museum), culture events (e.g. visit and guided tour at the Energieforum) and festivals (e.g. Karneval der Kulturen, Christopher Street Parade) to explore these topics in detail. In this course, you will expand your cultural perspectives regarding contemporary Germany. You will also improve your communicative abilities in spoken and written German on an advanced level through presentations and creative projects.

Creative Writing

• English Writing: Creative Writing Workshop (01:351:306:03)

A city of great history, the site of one of the most devastating wars and one of the most visible commitments to freedom in the Twentieth century, Berlin holds astonishing literary, cultural, and historic lessons for Americans. Furthermore, the writing of German citizens and German-language writers still captures our attention: from the lyrical and spiritual poems of Rainer Maria Rilke to the acerbic social criticism and wit of Bertolt Brecht, the literature of Berlin provides many models for writing and the writing life. We will study the work of these authors and American authors who experienced Germany, reading poems in Twentieth-Century German Poetry as well as selections from other American authors. We will also watch films, take field trips, and explore the streets in an attempt to inspire ourselves. We will then write poems and prose that use Berlin and our experiences as a springboard, work-shopping through the observation method, producing new work, and coming to understand ourselves not just as American citizens, but as citizens of the world whose new knowledge deepens and expands our artistic and intellectual appreciation both of home and our new environment.

 

• Jewish Berlin (01:470:380:03)

Germany is the home of the Jewish Reform Movement, and Berlin in particular is the location of numerous important Jewish sites of interest: the world famous “Jewish Museum” (Jüdisches Museum), the Centrum Judaicum (built on the site of Berlin’s once lavishly outfitted “Neue Synagoge” –or New Synagogue), and the controversial “Monument to the Destruction of the European Jews.” Indeed, it is also home to numerous stunning memorials to the Holocaust—including the concentration camp Sachsenhausen, just north of the city. It was in Berlin that the “Women of the Rosenstrasse” protested the incarceration of their Jewish husbands—and actually got them released (the only time German civilians undertook such a protest effort). In this course, we will visit this aesthetically innovative and historically rich monument, as well as many others, including the so-called “Mirror Wall” of Steglitz, and the understated Memorial to Deportation in Grunewald. But we will also survey the astounding story of Jewish life and acculturation to German culture, beginning with Moses Mendelssohn (whose grave we will visit, along with the poignant Weissensee cemetery). In addition we’ll have the opportunity to attend services at the Pestalozzistrasse Synagogue (open to Jews and non-Jews alike).

 

• Art & Architecture of Berlin: Fifteenth to the Twentieth Century (01:470:390:03)

The main goal of this course is to provide students with an introduction to the visual arts of Germany from the 15th to the 20th century through lectures conducted in Berlin’s museums and cultural institution. Classroom lectures will be kept to a minimum so that students may encounter actual works of art in the city’s magnificent collections. Some lectures will be conducted by guest speakers, such as curators from the Bauhaus Archiv or the Neue Nationalgalerie. Students will learn about the German Old Masters, such as Albrecht Dürer and Lucas Cranach, as well German Romantic and Realist artists, including Caspar David Friedrich and Adolf Menzel. Germany’s powerful modernist art movements, such as Expressionism and New Objectivity, will be considered in relation to the many upheavals in modern German history. By the end of the course, students will not only have a broad understanding of the development of the visual arts in Germany but also of how art has served in the elusive search and articulation of German cultural identity. Includes architectural bus & walking tours, as well as an excursion to the castles of Potsdam.

 

• Berlin Since the War (01:470:382:03)

This course seeks to understand how Berlin remembers its famous and infamous past since the Second World War—and in some cases reaching back even further. In order to assess the efficacy of public memorials, monuments, museums and manifestos, students are first given a survey of the history of Cold War and post-Wall Berlin. The real work of the course commences as students then set out to explore—with the instructor—how “official” history is constructed, celebrated, contested, re-written—and not infrequently, simply ignored. In addition to seminar discussion, this course consists of numerous excursions to historical sites. The final project requires participants to evaluate the significance of a public memorial (or museum exhibition) based on criteria that are worked out during the course.

 

• NEW COURSE! Economics of Green Germany(01:470:392:03)

Comprehensive overview of Germany's effort to reshape its energy system, industry, transport system and building stock into a nuclear-free, low-carbon economy. Application of a range of analytical methods-including economic assessment tools, legal analyses and political science-to shed light on various facets of the process and to help others understand the public, political and scientific debates around it. Regular meetings with stakeholders and decision makers.

• Students should apply directly to Douglass College for funding by the early March deadline.
• All students living in the Douglass Global Village are eligible for study abroad support, regardless of where they want to go. A student living in the French house who wants to go to Germany can and should apply for support.