Spring 2007 Course Guide

• Advising
• Programs in German
• Freshman Seminars
• Language Courses
• Business German
• Literature and Culture
• Courses Taught in English
• Graduate Seminars
• CGS Courses
• Yiddish Courses
• Dutch Courses
• Swedish Courses

 

Programs in German

• Major in German: Choose from a wide variety of courses in language, business German language, culture, literature, and history. You can be confident that you will leave our program fluent in the language and at ease in the cultures and traditions of the German speaking countries
• Major in German Studies: This versatile program offers you fluency in the language, culture, and literature, in addition to enabling you to select five courses related to your German interests in other School of Arts and Science departments. An efficient way to double major and to prepare for graduate school or an international career.
• Double Major in German and Your Major of Choice: You are already in the Wharton School, International Relations, Computer Science, History, or Political Science. If you want to make yourself really competitive, then consider adding German as a double major. This could be just the edge you need.
• Minor in German: You have satisfied your language requirement, but elect to keep up your German with some advanced language courses. To obtain a minor only requires 6 credits beyond GRMN 104 and most of your courses satisfy other college requirements.
• Certificate in German Language Study: Students can receive a Certificate by completing 3 courses taught in German in addition to passing proficiency. Students must receive a minimum of a B+ average in the three courses, and may not take the courses on a pass/fail basis.
• Study abroad programs in Germany: The above mentioned options can readily be combined with Penn’s study abroad programs in Berlin, Frankfurt, and Munich. Do not forget these programs afford you Penn credit for the courses that you take. You will satisfy courses in your major, double major or minor as you become more fluent in the Germanic language via total immersion in one of three of Europe’s most exciting cities.
• European Studies Minor: European Studies at Penn is an interdisciplinary minor and an ideal addition to the study of many disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. It supplements majors in history, political science, sociology, and art history as well as in French, German, English, Spanish, Italian and Slavic languages. It is designed to give students access to
  • an understanding of Europe as a historical and cultural entity and its world leadership in business, politics, and culture; a great variety of countries, cultures, and languages whose interaction with each other and the United States is an essential part of transatlantic culture; the institutions of a new Europe -- Union, Council on Europe, European Court -- reflecting the largest experiment in building a global system of governance in history. The minor in European Studies is designed to intensify interdisciplinary studies by integrating the humanities and social sciences and prepare students to live and work in Europe .
  • For more information, please visit: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/europeanstudies/
    
  
  

Freshman Seminars

none offered in Spring 2007

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Language Courses

GRMN 101 (GRMN 501) Elementary German I
001 MTWRF 12 - 1 pm D. James
Designed for the beginning student with no previous knowledge of German. German 101, as the first course in the first-year series, focuses on the development of language competence in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. By the end of the semester, students will be able to engage in simple conversations about familiar things, know greetings and everyday expressions, they will be able to count and tell time, and negate sentences in day-to-day contexts. Furthermore, students will be able to speak about events that happened in the immediate past and express plans for the future. In addition, students will have developed reading strategies that allow them to glean information from simple newspaper and magazine articles and short literary texts. Because cultural knowledge is one of the foci of German 101, students will learn much about practical life in Germany and will explore German-speaking cultures on the Internet.

GRMN 102 Elementary German II
001 MTWRF 11 am - 12 pm S. Schlichting-Artur
002 MTWRF 12 - 1 pm G. Skwara
003 MWF 1 - 2 pm TR 1:30 - 2:30 pm D. James
This course is a continuation of GRMN 101 and is designed to strengthen and expand students’ listening, speaking, reading, and writing competence and to deepen an understanding of German-speaking cultures. By the end of the course, students will be able to handle a variety of day-to-day needs in a German-speaking setting and engage in simple conversations about personally significant topics. Students can expect to be able to order food and beverages, purchase things, and to be familiar with the German university system, the Arts, media, and current social topics. Students will begin to be able to talk about the past and the future, make comparisons, describe people and things in increasing detail, make travel plans that include other European countries, and make reservations in hotels and youth hostels. By the end of the course students will be able to talk about their studies and about their dreams for the future. In addition, students will develop reading strategies that should allow them to understand the general meaning of articles, and short literary texts. Furthermore, students will feel more able to understand information when hearing German speakers talking about familiar topics. Cultural knowledge remains among one of the foci of German 102, and students will continue to be exposed to authentic materials.


GRMN 103 Intermediate German I
001 MTRF 12 - 1 pm S. Schlichting-Artur
This course is designed to improve students’ writing and speaking competence, to increase vocabulary, to deepen grammar usage, and to help develop effective reading and listening strategies in German across literary genres and media as students interpret and analyze cultural, political, and historical moments in German-speaking countries and compare them with their own cultural practices. This course is organized around content- based modules and prepares students well for GRMN 104 and a minor or major in German.

GRMN 104 Intermediate German II
001 MTRF 11 am - 12 pm C. Lynn
002 MTRF 12 - 1 pm C. Lynn
003 MF 1 - 2 pm TR 1:30 - 2:30 pm C. Lynn
Expands students’ writing and speaking competence in German, increases vocabulary, and helps students practice effective reading and listening strategies. Our in-class discussions are based on weekly readings of literary and non-literary texts to facilitate exchange of information, ideas, reactions, and opinions. In addition, the readings provide cultural and historical background information. The review of grammar will not be the primary focus of the course. Students will, however, expand and deepen their knowledge of grammar through specific grammar exercises. Students will conclude the basic-language program at PENN by reading an authentic literary text: Thomas Brussig Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee offering the opportunity to practice and deepen reading knowledge and to sensitize cultural and historical awareness of German-speaking countries.


GRMN 107 Accelerated Intermediate German
001 MWF 10 - 11 am, TR 10:30 am - 12 pm A. Kiehne
This course is intensive and is intended for dedicated, highly self-motivated students who will take responsibility for their learning and creation of meaning with their peers. This accelerated course is designed to improve students’ writing and speaking competence, to increase vocabulary, to deepen grammar usage, and to help develop effective reading and listening strategies in German across literary genres and media as students interpret and analyze cultural, political, and historical moments in German-speaking countries and compare them with their own cultural practices. This course is organized around content- based modules. Students conclude the basic-language program at PENN by reading an authentic literary text: Thomas Brussig Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee offering the opportunity to practice and deepen reading knowledge and to sensitize cultural and historical awareness of German-speaking countries.

GRMN 180 German in Residence
301 TBA M. Belcher
This is a 1/2 credit course for students living in the Modern Language House.


GRMN 215 Conversation and Composition
Prerequisite(s): GRMN 104 or the equivalent. Required for the major, also carries credit for the minor in German.
001 MWF 12 - 1 pm C. Swope
Required for the major, also carries credit for the minor in German. Offers students the opportunity to improve significantly written and spoken discourse strategies and to raise language competence to an academic register. Students work across literary genres and media as they interpret and analyze cultural, political, and historical moments in German-speaking countries. Special attention is given to the development of an academic discourse style during in-class discussions and in written compositions. The course concludes with an in-class presentation of the collaborative creative project and the final paper.

 

 Business German

GRMN 220 Business German: A Micro Perspective
Foreign Languages Across Curriculum (FLAC)
Prerequisite(s): GRMN 215 or equivalent. Course taught in German.
001 TR 9 am - 10:30 am D. James
This course is designed to enhance your speaking, reading and writing skills, in addition to helping you build a strong foundation in business vocabulary. Course objectives include acquiring skills in cross cultural communication, teamwork, business management, and creating a business plan. German grammar will be covered on a need be basis. This course will prepare you to perform and contribute while in a German-speaking business environment.

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Courses Taught in English

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Literature and Culture
Taught in German

GRMN 216 / COLL 220 Introduction to Literature / Literatures of the World
412 MW 2:00 - 3:30 pm S. Richter
Arts & Letters Sector (All Classes) / Cross Cultural Analysis – Class of 2010 and After
Prerequisite(s): GRMN 104 or the equivalent. Required for the major, also carries credit for the minor in German.
The language of instruction, readings, and discussion is German.
Why a course on German literature for the student learning language? Literature is where language is at its most versatile, inventive, and entertaining. Literature knows no shame in putting the fantasies, hopes, fears, and desires of a culture on display. This is a course for students intent on further developing their abilities in language and their knowledge of German culture. Ranging widely across the literary genres—from the fable, the aphorism and the joke to poems, songs, stories, and plays, students will discover what language and literature can do. Focus on speaking and writing.

GRMN 362 (HIST 362) Coping with the Past - Texts and Debates of Postwar Germany
401 TR 1:30 - 3:00 pm P. Gassert
All readings and lectures in German
How did the Germans cope with the legacy of the Nazi regime? This course, taught in German, will examine the major texts and debates that took shape as East and West Germany created new societies after the crimes and the catastrophic demise of Hitler’s dictatorship in World War II. We will discuss their reflection in movies of the period; in visual representations of memory sites of the Holocaust; in literary works by Heinrich Böll, Günter Grass, Rolf Hochhuth, Luise Rinser, Martin Walser, Christa Wolf and other writers; and in the debates of philosophers (Jaspers, Adorno), and historians, including the famous “Historikerstreit” of the 1980s. The course will provide a lively introduction into the various ways Germans learned to face the terrible truth of their country’s past. It also will place the revolt of the young generation of 68ers in this context.

GRMN 364 Topics in German Literature - Contemporary German Literature
301 TR 3:00 - 4:30 pm H. Werlen
All readings and lectures in German
In this course, we will read a variety of prose texts representing the latest work of contemporary novelists from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The selected novels are meant as buoys in the vast sea of recent literary publications, marking current thematic and stylistic preoccupations in German literature. Readings include novels by Angela Krauß, Markus Werner, Charlotte Link, Daniel Kehlmann, and Thomas Glavinic.


GRMN 395 Senior Colloquium
301 tba C. MacLeod
Permission needed from Department
This course is intended for students completing their senior thesis for the German Major.

GRMN 399 Independent Study
000 See department for section numbers Staff
Permission needed from Department


GRMN 499 Independent Study
000 See department for section numbers Staff
Permission needed from Department

 

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Graduate Seminars

GRMN 535 (COML 536) Goethe's Novels
401 W 1:00 - 3:00 pm C. MacLeod
All readings and lectures in English.
With each of his major novels, Goethe intervened decisively and provocatively in the genre and wider culture. This seminar will analyze three of Goethe’s novels spanning his career: the sensational epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther; the Bildungsroman Wilhelm Meisters’s Apprenticeship, and the novel of adultery Elective Affinities. (We will also look ahead to his “archival” novel Wilhelm Meister’s Journeyman Years). Particular attention will be paid to the ways in which these novels address questions of modernization – technology and secularization, to name only two – through the lens of individuals who understand themselves in relation to artistic media. Seminal scholarship on the novels (e.g. Benjamin, Lukács) will be considered in addition to recent critical approaches.

GRMN 550 (CINE 550 / COML 552) Foreign Affairs - Travel in Post-War German and Austrian Film
401 T 3:00 - 6:00 pm I. Meyer
Film showings: M 4:00 - 6:00 pm
All readings and lectures in English. This course welcomes graduate and undergraduate students.
This course will focus on the representation of travel in post-war German and Austrian cinema. The trope of travel in post-war German and Austrian film allows for the cinematic exploration of questions linked to nation, national identity, and history. Issues such as self and other, historical burdens and responsibilities, migration, transnationality, colonialism, race, gender, and religion are advanced via cinematic representations of travel. The course traces the use of the trope of travel in post-1945 German and Austrian film as a reflection of and intervention in discourses on nation and national identity. Within these cultural contexts, these discourses are inextricably bound to the historical burdens of fascism and the Holocaust. The opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and German reunification in 1990 have further complicated conceptions of German nationhood. Prior to the lifting of the Iron Curtain, East and West Germany had found themselves on opposing edges of the ideological abyss separating two superpowers, Now, a reunited Germany has begun to assume a geopolitical position in the center of Europe, a fact that was also underlined in 2004, when a number of former Eastern Bloc countries joined the European Union. Meanwhile, in the wake of the 1955 State Treaty, Austria had sidestepped the participation in a public discourse on nation and the crimes of the Nazi past, a discourse that had long since begun to dominate the German cultural landscape. Since Austria’s entry into the European Union in 1995, though, it, along with its EU partners, has been confronted with questions concerning the expansion of the EU towards the east and the ways in which Turkey’s possible entry into the EU might alter European notions of national identity.
Over the course of the semester, we will screen films by, for instance, Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Frank Beyer, Tom Tykwer, Michael Haneke, Ayse Polat, Fatih Akin, Peter Timm, and Barbara Albert. Our discussions of the films will be framed by a selection of theoretical texts and secondary sources by, among others, Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Eric Rentschler, Thomas Elsaesser, Sabine Hake, Randall Halle, Johannes von Moltke, and Robert Stam and Ella Shohat.
List of films to be shown during the semester:
"Stroszek" (Werner Herzog)
"In July" (Fatih Akin)
"Kings of the Road" (Wim Wenders)
"Heaven" (Tom Tykwer)
"Time of the Wolf" (Michael Haneke)
"Sheer Madness" (Margarethe von Trotta)
"The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant" (R.W. Fassbinder)
"Schultze Gets the Blues" (Michael Schorr)
"Bandits" (Katja von Garnier)
"Good Bye Lenin" (Wolfgang Becker)
"Free Radicals" (Barbara Albert)
"Nowhere in Africa" (Caroline Link)
"The Practice of Love" (Valie Export)
"Bagdad Cafe" (Percy Adlon)
"Enlightenment Guaranteed" (Doris Doerrie)
"Journey to Kafiristan" (Donatello & Fosco Dubini)
"The Sons of Great Bear" (Josef Mach)
"Eolomea" (Herrmann Zschoche)

GRMN 552 (PHIL 466) Kant II
401 TR 10:30 am - 12:00 noon P. Guyer
A study of Kant's moral philosophy, political philosophy, and aesthetics, focusing on his GROUNDWORK FOR THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS, CRITIQUE OF PRACTICAL REASON, METAPHYSICS OF MORALS, and CRITIQUE OF JUDGEMENT.

GRMN 646 Novel of the 20th Century
301 R 3:00 - 5:00 pm F. Trommler
A study of the major developments in modern German narrative prose in its international context. Discussions of theories and techniques. Readings of authors such as Kafka, Thomas and Heinrich Mann, Doeblin, Seghers, Boell, and Grass.


GRMN 679 (ARTH 762 / DTCH 601) Antwerp in the Age of Bruegel
401 T 5:00 - 7:00 pm L. Silver


GRMN 990 Masters Thesis
000 see department for section numbers Staff
Permission need from Department

GRMN 995 Dissertation
000 see department for section numbers Staff
Permission need from Department

GRMN 999 Independent Study
000 see department for section numbers Staff
Permission need from Department

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CGS Courses

GRMN 102 Elementary German II
601 MW 6:30 - 8:45 pm D. Dixon
This course is a continuation of GRMN 101 and is designed to strengthen and expand students’ listening, speaking, reading, and writing competencies and to deepen an understanding of German-speaking cultures. By the end of the course students will be able to handle a variety of day-to-day needs in a German-speaking setting and engage in simple conversations about personally significant topics. Students can expect to be able to order food and beverages, purchase things, and to be familiar with the German university system, the Arts, media, and current social topics. Students will begin to be able to talk about the past and the future, make comparisons, describe people and things in increasing detail, make travel plans that include other European countries, and make reservations in hotels and youth hostels. By the end of the course students will be able to talk about their studies and about their dreams for the future. In addition, students will develop reading strategies that should allow them to understand the general meaning of articles, and short literary texts. Furthermore, students will feel more able to understand information when hearing German speakers talking about familiar topics. Cultural knowledge remains among one of the foci of German 102, and students will continue to be exposed to authentic materials.


GRMN 104 Intermediate German II
601 MW 6:30 - 8:15 pm A. Pichugin
Expands students’ writing and speaking competencies in German, increases vocabulary, and helps students practice effective reading and listening strategies. Our in-class discussions are based on weekly readings of literary and non-literary texts to facilitate exchange of information, ideas, reactions, and opinions. In addition, the readings provide cultural and historical background information. The review of grammar will not be the primary focus of the course. Students will, however, expand and deepen their knowledge of grammar through specific grammar exercises. Students will conclude the basic-language program at PENN by reading an abridged and glossed version of an authentic literary text; Max Frisch Homo Faber, offering the opportunity to practice and deepen reading knowledge and to sensitize cultural and historical awareness of German-speaking countries.

GRMN 256 (COML 241/CINE 352/RELS 236) The Devil's Pact in Literature, Music and Film
Arts & Letters Sector (All Classes)
601 T 6:30 - 9:30 pm S. Richter
For centuries the pact with the devil has signified humankind's desire to surpass the limits of human knowledge and power. From the age of Martin Luther to the time of Mick Jagger, from Marlowe and Goethe to key Hollywood films, the legend of the devil's pact continues to be useful for exploring our fascination with forbidden powers.

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Yiddish Courses

YDSH 102 (JWST 032 / YDSH 502) Beginning Yiddish II
401 TR 12 - 1:30 pm K. Hellerstein
Prerequisite: YDSH 101 / JWST 031 or permission of the instructor. Yiddish, a 1000-year-old language, with a rich heritage. In this course, you can continue to develop basic reading, writing and speaking skills. Discover treasures of Yiddish culture: songs, literature, folklore, and films.

YDSH 104 (JWST 034 / YDSH 504) Intermediate Yiddish II
401 MW 2:00 - 3:30 pm A. Botwinik
Prerequisite: YDSH 103 / JWST 033 or permission of the instructor. Continuation of YDSH 103. Emphasis on reading texts and conversation.

FOUR SEMESTERS OF YIDDISH FULFILLS THE LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT!

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Dutch Courses & Studies

DTCH 102 (DTCH 502) Elementary Dutch II
401 MW 5:00 - 6:30 pm R. Naborn
Prerequisite(s): Dutch 101 or equivalent. Continuation of Dutch 101.


DTCH 232 (ARTH 301) Rembrandt
Benjamin Franklin Seminar. Distribution Course in Arts & Letters - Class of 2009 and prior.
401 R 1;30 - 4:30 pm L. Silver


DTCH 399 Independent Study
000 see department for section numbers R. Naborn
Permission needed from Department


DTCH 601 (ARTH 762 / GRMN 679) Antwerp in the Age of Bruegel
401 T 5:00 - 7:00 pm L. Silver


DTCH 999 Independent Study
000 see department for section numbers R. Naborn
Permission needed from Department

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Swedish Courses

SCND 104 (SCND 504) Intermediate Swedish II
401 MWF 11 am - 12 pm K. Williams
Continuation of SCND 103/503.


SCND 399 Independent Study
000 TBA K. Williams
See Dept. for Section Numbers
Permission needed from Department


SCND 999 Independent Study
000 TBA K. Williams
See Dept. for Section Numbers
Permission needed from Department