German Courses Fall 2024

(4 credits)

• Lecture 1: MTWRF 9:55 – 10:45 am
• Lecture 2: MTWRF 11:00 – 11:50 am
• Lecture 3: MTWRF 12:05 – 12:55 pm
• Lecture 4: MTWRF 1:20 – 2:10 pm
• Lecture 5: MWR 3:30 – 4:50 pm

Instructor: Jeanne Schueller

Course Description: German 101/401 is an introductory course designed for beginners in German who have no previous knowledge of the German language. By the end of the first semester, you should be able to communicate effectively with others in German on a variety of topics, such as personal and public identity, family, education, career goals, and fitness. This class will expose you to authentic texts from a variety of sources in different genres and modes, for you to develop your reading, viewing, and listening skills and engage in critical thinking. Grammar and vocabulary will be introduced in context. Assessments focus on all skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). Throughout the semester, you will learn more about yourself and deepen your linguistic and culture knowledge of the German-speaking world. You will also improve your language-learning strategies. To be successful and achieve course learning outcomes, you will be expected to complete homework on time and participate in class. Attendance is required. This course cannot be audited. The textbook, Augenblicke: German through Film, Media, and Texts (2e), is available at the UW Book Store for around $45 and is used in first-, second-, third-, and fourth-semester German. Contact the course supervisor, Dr. Jeanne Schueller (jmschuel@wisc.edu), with any questions about the course or appropriate placement.

Prerequisites: None

(This course is also offered to graduate students for 3 credits as GERMAN 401.)

(4 credits)

• Lecture 1: MTWRF 11:00 – 11:50 am
• Lecture 2: MWR 3:30 – 4:50 pm

Instructor: Jeanne Schueller

Course Description: German 102/402 is a continuation of German 101. Students need to have completed German 101 or achieve an appropriate score on the placement exam to enroll. By the end of the second semester, you should be able to communicate effectively with others in German on a variety of topics, such as soccer, technological innovations, and national identity. This class will expose you to authentic texts from a variety of sources in different genres and modes, for you to develop your reading, viewing, and listening skills and engage in critical thinking. Grammar and vocabulary will be introduced in context. Assessments focus on all skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). Throughout the semester, you will learn more about yourself and deepen your linguistic and culture knowledge of the German-speaking world. You will also improve your language-learning strategies. To be successful and achieve course learning outcomes, you will be expected to complete homework on time and participate in class. Attendance is required. This course cannot be audited. The textbook, Augenblicke: German through Film, Media, and Texts (2e), is available at the UW Book Store for around $45 and is used in first-, second-, third-, and fourth-semester German. Contact the course supervisor, Dr. Jeanne Schueller (jmschuel@wisc.edu), with any questions about the course or appropriate placement.

Prerequisites: GERMAN 101 or appropriate score on the placement exam.

(This course is also offered to graduate students for 3 credits as GERMAN 402.)

(4 credits)

MTWR 9:55 – 10:45 am

Course Description: One of the advantages of studying at the UW is being able to take courses in Dutch. Although the study of Dutch linguistics and literature has steadily expanded at major American universities in recent years, many universities do not offer this language. Since Dutch is a Germanic language—linguistically related to both German and English—and since the Dutch have always had close ties, Dutch is a logical choice as an additional language for American students from a range of majors or areas of interest.

Prerequisites: None

(This course is also offered to graduate students for 3 credits as GERMAN 311.)

(4 credits)

• Lecture 1: MTWR 9:55 – 10:45 am
• Lecture 2: MTWR 11:00 – 11:50 am
• Lecture 3: MTWR 12:05 – 12:55 pm
• Lecture 4: MW 3:30 – 5:10 pm

Instructor: Jeanne Schueller 

Course Description: German 203/403 is a continuation of German 102. Students need to have completed German 102 or achieve an appropriate score on the placement exam to enroll. By the end of the third semester, you should be able to communicate effectively with others in German on a variety of topics, such as civic and social engagement, legends and myths, and traditions and celebrations. This class will expose you to authentic texts from a variety of sources in different genres and modes, for you to develop your reading, viewing, and listening skills and engage in critical thinking. Grammar and vocabulary will be introduced in context. Assessments focus on all skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). Throughout the semester, you will learn more about yourself and deepen your linguistic and culture knowledge of the German-speaking world. You will also improve your language-learning strategies. To be successful and achieve course learning outcomes, you will be expected to complete homework on time and participate in class. Attendance is required. This course cannot be audited. The textbook, Augenblicke: German through Film, Media, and Texts (2e), is available at the UW Book Store for around $45 and is used in first-, second-, third-, and fourth-semester German. Contact the course supervisor, Dr. Jeanne Schueller (jmschuel@wisc.edu), with any questions about the course or appropriate placement.

Prerequisites: GERMAN 102 or appropriate score on the placement exam.

(This course is also offered to graduate students for 3 credits as GERMAN 403.)

(4 credits)

• Lecture 1: MTWR 9:55 – 10:45 am
• Lecture 2: MW 3:30 – 5:10 pm

Instructor: Jeanne Schueller

Course Description: German 204/404 is a continuation of German 203. Students need to have completed German 203 or achieve an appropriate score on the placement exam to enroll. By the end of the fourth semester, you should be able to communicate effectively with others in German on a variety of topics, such as city and rural life, how film influences cultural perspectives, the concept of home, and migration, immigration, and integration. This class will expose you to authentic texts from a variety of sources in different genres and modes, for you to develop your reading, viewing, and listening skills and engage in critical thinking. Grammar and vocabulary will be introduced in context. Assessments focus on all skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). Throughout the semester, you will learn more about yourself and deepen your linguistic and culture knowledge of the German-speaking world. You will also improve your language-learning strategies. To be successful and achieve course learning outcomes, you will be expected to complete homework on time and participate in class. Attendance is required. This course cannot be audited. The textbook, Augenblicke: German through Film, Media, and Texts (2e), is available at the UW Book Store for around $45 and is used in first-, second-, third-, and fourth-semester German. Contact the course supervisor, Dr. Jeanne Schueller (jmschuel@wisc.edu), with any questions about the course or appropriate placement.

Prerequisites: GERMAN 203 or appropriate score on the placement exam.

(This course is also offered to graduate students for 3 credits as GERMAN 404.)

(4 credits)

MTWR 12:05 – 12:55 pm

Course Description: One of the advantages of studying at the UW is being able to take courses in Dutch. Although the study of Dutch linguistics and literature has steadily expanded at major American universities in recent years, many universities do not offer this language. Since Dutch is a Germanic language—linguistically related to both German and English—and since the Dutch have always had close ties, Dutch is a logical choice as an additional language for American students from a range of majors or areas of interest.

Prerequisites: GERMAN 112 or appropriate score on placement exam. Open to First-Year Students.

(This course is also offered for graduate students as GERMAN 313.)

(3 credits)

• Lecture 1: MWF 8:50 – 9:40 am
• Lecture 2: MWF 11:00 – 11:50 am
• Lecture 3: 2:25 – 3:15 pm

Course Description: Drawing mainly on contemporary audio and video materials from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, students will explore linguistic and cultural variation of German by learning how native speakers vary their use of sound structures, vocabulary, and grammar according to speech situation.

Learning Outcomes: By the end of the course, the aim is for students to:

• improve their comprehension and production of spoken German via exposure to the language in use in audio and video formats and through use of the International Phonetic Alphabet;
• develop communication strategies to increase oral fluency;
• promote their awareness of how spoken German varies according to speech situation and region mainly in terms of sound structures, vocabulary, and pragmatics of speech;
• enhance their understanding of contemporary German-speaking cultures in Europe and the central role that language plays in shaping these cultures.

Prerequisites: GERMAN 204 or appropriate score on placement exam or consent of the course supervisor. This course can be taken subsequent to, prior to, or concurrent with GERMAN 262, GERMAN 258, and GERMAN 285. Open to first-year students.

(3 credits)

• Lecture 1: MWF 9:55 – 10:45 am
  • Instructor: B. Venkat Mani
• Lecture 2: MWF 1:20 – 2:10 pm
  • Instructor: Jeanne Schueller

Course Description: This course is designed to acquaint you with German literary, cultural, and historical texts and provide an overview of cultural developments in German-speaking countries. An important goal of this course is to offer explicit instruction on reading strategies to help students improve their comprehension of a range of texts. In German 258, you will recognize different genres (text types) and identify applicable reading strategies; implement critical reading skills for reading and comprehending different genres and written registers; identify, define, and implement vocabulary related to the topics covered in class; situate a text within its cultural and historical contexts in the German-speaking world; demonstrate the ability to read autonomously; and select and interpret a text based on individual academic interests. Two books and a course pack are required and can be purchased at the UW Book Store. All other materials will be available on Canvas. Contact the course coordinator, Dr. Jeanne Schueller (jmschuel@wisc.edu), with any questions about the course or appropriate placement.

Prerequisites: GERMAN 204 or placement into GERMAN 249, 258, or 262. Open to first-year students.

(Fulfills Literature Breadth)

(3 credits)

• Lecture 1: 11:00 am – 12:15 pm
  • Instructor: Julia Goetze
• Lecture 2: TR 1:00 – 2:15 pm
  • Instructor: Melissa Sheedy
• Lecture 3: TR 2:30 – 3:45 pm
  • Instructor: Katerina Somers

Course Description: Fairytales, murder mysteries, film reviews, and … resumes? Welcome to Intermediate German Writing! In this class, students will expand and enhance their writing skills in German by exploring a variety of different text types and genres reflecting the diversity of the German-speaking world. Daily course participation will involve active in-class discussion as well as collaborative and individual writing activities. Learners will work with authentic texts, music, and film, and they will also engage with synonyms, regional variations, and register to develop the skills to express themselves effectively and creatively in German. Through the composition of a variety of text types, from the practical to the fanciful, course participants will expand their individual comfort zone and improve their own communication skills as well as comprehension of written texts. Materials and in-class discussions will be in German.

Prerequisites: German 204 or appropriate score on placement exam or consent of instructor. This course can be taken subsequent to, prior to, or concurrent with German 249 and German 258.

(Honors Optional)

(3-4 credits)

• Lecture 002 –  W 11:00 am (4 cr. Comm-B) when students enroll in Disc 301 or 302
• Lecture 004 –  W 12:05 pm (4 cr. Comm-B) when students enroll in Disc 303 or Disc 304
• Lecture 005 – W 11:00 am (3 cr. No Comm-B)
• Lecture 006 – W 12:05 pm (3 cr. No Comm-B)
• Discussion Section 1: M 11:00 – 11:50 am
• Discussion Section 2: F 11:00 – 11:50 am
• Discussion Section 3: M 12:05 – 12:55 pm
• Discussion Section 4: F 12:05 – 12:55 pm

Instructor: Pamela Potter

Course Description: Using the medium of Yiddish song to explore the culture and history of Jews in the diaspora, we will focus on their experience as a minority first in Europe and then in the United States. Facing discrimination, oppression, and marginalization on both sides of the Atlantic, Jews used Yiddish song as a vehicle to express their pain as well as their pride. The goals of this course are to increase students’ capacity to value the unique qualities of Yiddish song as a reflection of the Jewish experience by appreciating the depth of expression conveyed in its sounds and its lyrics, as well as to gain insight into the process of immigration and acculturation in the United States from the perspective of a persecuted group, the challenges it faced in confrontation with new forms of discrimination and marginalization, and the outlet this group found in the performing arts for documenting their struggles and for finding a creative niche in their new surroundings. The experiences of the Jews in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries are then used as a basis for comparison for the experiences of migrants and the state of antisemitism in America today. The format of this course is blended/flipped: students will work through on-line modules and assessments on their own and meet once a week for in-class activities in the multifunctional WisCEL classroom. Those who opt for Comm-B will attend an additional section once a week and receive an additional credit. There is no text required for purchase for this course.

Prerequisites: None

(Disc 301, 302 have Comm-B designation and enroll into Lec 002. Disc 303, 304 have Comm-B designation and enroll into Lec 004.)

(3 credits)

TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm

Instructor: Sunny Yudkoff

Course Description: Exploration of European Yiddish fiction, poetry, folklore, and cinema, with a focus on works of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In the American cultural imagination, European Jewish life and the history of Yiddish culture is often represented by the image of Jewish men. What happens to that image when women’s stories and women’s legacies are placed at the center? The following course introduces students to classic and lesser-known works of the Yiddish literature and culture that take as their central concern the gendered experience of modern Jewish life.

Covering material from the seventeenth century until today, we will explore a variety of texts, including memoirs, prayers, short stories, poetry, and visual art produced in Yiddish—a language that has been both praised and derided as mame-loshn, or “mother tongue.” The course texts will also familiarize students with major historical events of European Jewish history, including messianic movements; the Jewish Enlightenment; the rise of Jewish nationalism, socialism, and communism; and the Holocaust. The course also investigates the legacy of these works for contemporary theorists of Jewish culture and gender.

This course presumes no previous knowledge of Yiddish literature or language, or Jewish cultural literacy.

Prerequisites: None

(Fulfills the Literature requirement. Elementary level.)

(3 credits)

TR 9:30 – 10:45 am

Instructor: Adam Stern

Course Description: Explores the historical connections between capitalism and religion. Considers if and how religious ideas and practices facilitated the rise of capitalism; asks whether religious institutions have supported the reproduction of social inequalities, unjust labor practices, and exploitative economies; and studies the role played by religious actors in the critique of capitalism. Pays attention to the historical specificity of the capitalist system, its conditions of emergence in the Christian West, and the effects of its globalization on non-Christian traditions. Covers topics including classical social theories of religion and capitalism; contemporary examples of religious practice and capital accumulation; and the relationship between religious movements and social-economic justice.

Prerequisites: None

(Honors optional)

(3 credits)

TR 4:00 – 5:15 pm

Instructor: Melissa Sheedy

Course Description: Singing mice, torture machines, academic monkeys, bureaucracies run amok, and of course giant insects: Franz Kafka (1883-1924) is an author whose impact on world literature cannot be overestimated. He is perhaps the only German-language author whose name has become an adjective–and certainly the only one with an imaginary airport named after him by The Onion!  In this course, we will engage with Kafka’s puzzling, challenging, and frequently very funny works as well as the international body of authors, visual artists, musicians, and film-makers he has inspired, from My First Kafka to Orson Welles, Yoko Tawada to graphic novelists Peter Kuper and David Zane Mairowitz. Following Kafka’s wide-ranging interests, we’ll divide his works and the works of other “Kafkaesque” authors into 5 themes: work, law, colonialism, animals, and the absurd.

Because Kafka inspires such strong responses from thinkers, artists, and activists, the main assignments in this course ask you to “write,” “make,” and “do”—that is, write a paper on how the works have changed your thinking, make an artistic response to one of the works (film, music, painting, graphic novel, digital art…), and take an action to change one of the systems in which you find yourself, whether politically, in the institution of the university, or in broader social/cultural life. You’ll share each assignment with your fellow students and discuss what you chose and how you did it, bringing Kafka out of the classroom and into the world.

Authors/directors include: Sharon Dodua Otoo, Boots Riley, Yoko Tawada, Virginia Woolf, Hiyao Miyazaki, Haruki Murakami, Annette von Droste Hülshoff, Michael Götting, Jordan Peele, and W.G. Sebald.

Prerequisites: Satisfied Communications A requirement.

(Honors Optional) (Fulfills literature and humanities breadth requirements)

(3 credits)

TR 4:00 – 5:15 pm

Instructor: Katerina Somers

Course Description: This course is about Germanic barbarians as they have been imagined and reimagined in Europe and North America. Our origins story for the barbarian is Tacitus’s Germania, in which the Roman senator created the fierce and wild-eyed savages who destroyed three Roman legions at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE. In the medieval Lay of the Nibelungs, these same barbarians acquire the civilized veneer of courtly manners and opulent wardrobes, but retain their propensity for brutal acts of violence. They are more thoroughly rehabilitated in the centuries to follow, when German-speaking intellectuals cultivate and promote a sense of nationalism in the absence of a German nation. During this time, the barbarian attains a new status, embodied in characters like Siegfried and Brünhilde in Wagner’s four-opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelung and Hermann the German in Heinrich von Kleist’s play, The Battle of Hermann. Yet the myth of the German barbarians, their imagined indigeneity and racial purity, their supposedly ancient and uniquely German culture that reflects the true nature of the Volk, is treated as fact. Even worse, it becomes the template for what all Germans should strive to be. Finally, we investigate the migration of the Tacitean ideal to North America, where it appears in the form of the liberty-loving Anglo-Saxon. We end the course by tracing its influence in the formation of a US-American national identity.

Prerequisites: Satisfied Communications A requirement.

(Breadth – Literature. Counts toward the Humanities requirement)

(3 credits)

TR 2:30 – 3:45 pm

Instructor: Sabine Mödersheim

Course Description: “Climate Fiction “ is an emerging genre of literature, graphic novels, and film exploring the consequences of climate change in the age of the “Anthropocene”, the epoch in which human impacts on the planet’s ecological systems reach a dangerous tipping point. The aim of this course is to discuss the human experience of climate change on a global scale through analyses of works by German authors such as Christa Wolf, Yoko Tawada, Ilija Trojanow as well as writers from around the world, including Margaret Atwood, Octavia E. Butler, Amitav Ghosh, and others. We will explore dystopian, and apocalyptic stories but also works that imagine a more just future of resilience and social equality.

All materials will be in English translations or with English subtitles. Lectures and discussions will be in English. Prior knowledge of German welcome but not required.

Prerequisites: Satisfied Communications A requirement.

(Level: Intermediate. Breadth: Literature. L&S credit type: Counts as LAS credit (L&S))

(3 credits)

TR 9:30 – 10:45 am

Instructor: Nâlân Erbil 

Course Description: Love Berlin and Istanbul but cannot travel? Here is a course for you! This course is about two great cities: one entirely in Europe and one half in Europe and half in Asia. Berlin and Istanbul are connected by histories of political power, cultural exchange, and in the twentieth century by Turkish migration into Germany. The course starts with post WWII guest worker movement into West Germany and spans what is now the fourth generation of Turkish-Germans making Berlin the third largest Turkish city in the world after Ankara and Istanbul.

We will focus on Turkish-German food such as Döner kebab, Turkish-German rap and hip-hop, films, literature, sports (soccer), and social media influencers from the Turkish-German community. The course will offer students the opportunity to understand how the Turkish presence has influenced and transformed the German-speaking world and more generally how migration from outside Europe shapes the cultures of European cities.

To this end, we will watch and discuss films like Kebab Connection, artists such as Eko Fresh, film makers such as Fatih Ak n, controversial soccer players such as Mesut Özil and many more. Berlin and Istanbul will form the backdrop of our course, and guest speakers (virtual) from Germany will enrich our discussion.

All materials will either be in English translations or with English subtitles. Lectures and discussions will be in English. Prior knowledge of German and Turkish appreciated but not required. This course may be counted as a cognate toward the German major. It satisfies Humanities Credit and counts towards European Studies Certificate and Middle East Studies Certificate.

Prerequisites: None.

(This is a Comm B course.)

(This course meets with GNS 270.)

(3 credits)

TR 1:00 – 2:15 pm

Instructor: Mary Hennessy

Course Description: This course will provide a survey of one of the most influential national cinemas in the world. We will begin with the celebrated films of the Wilhelmine era (until 1918) and the Weimar Republic (1919-1933), before proceeding to films made under the Nazis (1933-45); post-war popular cinema (Heimatfilme); cinema depicting life in socialist East Germany; films of the critically acclaimed New German Cinema of the 1970s; historical dramas; and art house and international favorites of the contemporary period. We will consider the parameters of national cinema, asking to what extent a nation’s films can be seen as a projection screen for cultural hopes and anxieties. We will also analyze how the films represent gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity, class, and more. We will likewise consider these films in light of the limits of national categorizations for cinema in a globalizing world and, specifically, in “post-migrant” Germany.

This course counts as a cognate for the German major.

Prerequisites: None; open to first-year students and taught in English

(Humanities – breadth. Level – Elementary. Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S)

(3 credits)

T 2:30 – 3:45 pm

This class meets in person on Tuesdays and is synchronous, interactive, on Zoom, on Thursdays. Please plan your schedule such that you are in a quiet spot during the Thursday class and able to engage in (mostly small-group) discussions.

Instructor: Jolanda Vanderwal Taylor 

Course Description: Anne Frank counts as one of the most widely read writers in recent world history, and yet some wonder whether she should be called a writer. Her work is widely loved. It has been the inspiration for many other cultural artifacts and institutions: editions; biographies; works of fiction and non-fiction; plays; autobiographies (e.g. by friends of Anne Frank); scholarly research: literary-, cultural-, historical-, as well as research in the various sciences of manuscript authentication; exhibitions; museums; foundations. In this course we will study the context in which the Diaries were written and consider the various ways in which they were received. We will look at what was done with the Diaries and with Anne Frank: how they have been read, interpreted, used, and argued about. We will engage in critical thinking, asking not just: what? but also: why? We will consider what her work and life have to say to us as we face the legacy and continued scourge of racism. We will certainly consider some of her laments as we consider out own, somewhat confined, existence. We will take Anne seriously as a writer by reading her works (the Diaries and other short texts) attentively. And then we will also think about the nature of literature: is what Ms. Frank wrote literature? Why, or why not?

Prerequisites: Satisfied Communications A requirement.

(3 credits)

MWF 9:55 – 10:45 am

Instructor: Julie Larson-Guenette

Course Description: German 337 is designed to synthesize and advance language skills building on previous German coursework with specific aims to enhance and improve speaking, listening, reading and writing of German. Course content covers a range of topics related to contemporary German society and culture along with grammar review. Texts span a range of topics and genres to include short stories, poetry, news articles, cartoons, music, documentaries, podcasts, contemporary film, and a novel.

Prerequisites: (GERMAN 249, 258, and 262) or (GERMAN 249 and 285)

(3 credits)

MWF 12:05 – 12:55 pm

Instructor: Mark Louden

Course Description: In this course, which is taught in German, students will learn to analyze how sounds, words, and sentences are formed in German and how these structures vary regionally. The focus in the first half of the course will be mainly on the sounds of German: how they are produced and how we transcribe them. We then consider how these sounds have changed over the history of German as reflected in both the standard language and modern dialects. In the second half of the course we will look at processes involved with forming German words. We will then look at how words are combined to form phrases and sentences in German. The course will conclude by examining topics broadly dealing with contact between the German and English languages, including what is popularly known as “Denglisch” (English-influenced German) and German varieties spoken in the United States.

Prerequisites: GER 249+258+262 or 249+285, completed before fall 2024

(3 credits)

MWF 11:00 – 11:50 am

Instructor: Zach Ramon Fitzpatrick

Course Description: From Berlin’s Thai Park and Dong Xuan Center to award-winning writers Yoko Tawada and Mithu Sanyal, the Asian diaspora has become increasingly visible in present-day Germany. This course will focus on East, Southeast, and South Asians in Germany and the broader German-speaking world. Beginning with the early 20th century, we will cover such historical topics as Hamburg’s former Chinatown, Chinese/Indian student protests of the 1920s, post-World War II migration, racist attacks of the 1980s and 90s, and the ongoing development of an Asian German identity and community, despite struggles with societal “Unsichtbarkeit” (invisibility) and the spike of anti-Asian racism during the pandemic. We will engage with concepts like yellow peril, Orientalism, the “model minority,” internalized racism, colorism, erasure, empowerment, self-representation, and activism. Materials will include excerpts from novels, comics, plays, theoretical texts, news reports, films, TV episodes, podcasts, and social media, exploring the German-speaking Asian diaspora through the lenses of race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, generation, (post-)migration, postcolonial studies, food studies, and more.

Prerequisites: (GERMAN 249, 258, and 262) or (GERMAN 249 and 285)

(3 credits)

TR 1:00 – 2:15 pm

Instructor: Julia Goetze

Course Description: On May 8, 1945, the Wehrmacht unconditionally surrendered, marking the end of World War II in Europe. The time following the capitulation is often referred to as Zero Hour (Stunde Null), during which Germany attempted to dissociate itself from the Nazi regime. While the term Stunde Null is contested in academic and political discourses today, it generally encapsulates the idea of tabula rasa – a radical break with the past and a sweeping new beginning and innovation. But what did Stunde Null actually look like in Germany? This course takes this question and examines life in Germany between May 1945 and 1949 through the analysis of different text and media (including audiovisual material).

The course will begin by equipping you with a foundation of historical knowledge regarding the social, political, and economic state of Germany in the time between May 1945 and 1949. Next, we will examine these aspects of life through a variety of literary texts that were published between 1945 and 1949, including radio plays, short stories, movies, and graphic novels. Specifically, we will discuss how WWII survivors come to terms with their new reality. Therefore, the course is not only a historical content class, but also an introduction to how to read and talk about various kinds of literary texts in German. Put differently, the course will equip you with historical and theoretical knowledge, as well as language learning strategies, while simultaneously building your vocabulary and communicative competence in German. The course targets the development of all language skills (i.e., reading, writing, listening, and speaking), as well as the development of critical thinking skills.  All course assignments and classroom discussions will be in German.

Prerequisites: German 249+258+262 or German 249 + 285

(Taught in German)

(3 credits)

MW 8:00 – 9:15 am

Instructor: Julie Larson-Guenette

Course Description: This course is intended for those who wish to develop primarily reading skills in German.  A thorough presentation of German grammar will be coupled, from the start, with regular practice in reading and translation.  Various levels of academic prose will be covered with a twofold goal: (1) participants will develop skills at comprehension in reading expository German in general; and (2) individuals will have the opportunity to begin reading German in their own research areas as well. 

Prerequisites: Senior standing.

(3 credits)

MWF 8:50 – 9:40 am

Instructor: B. Venkat Mani

Course Description: What is “German?” Is it a linguistic term, a cultural adjective, a nationality, or something more? What does being “German” mean in the multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multicultural societies of German-speaking world today? What distinguishes “German” cultural production—literature, cinema, music, print- and digital cultures—from other European and non-European countries during the course of the 20^th and 21^st centuries? How do political realities and historical events—the two World Wars, antisemitism, the Holocaust, the ideological division of Germany into GDR and FRG, and German Reunification—leave their marks on the intellectual and cultural production in the German language? How does decolonization around the world, and the steady flow of migrants and refugees Germany into the USA and UK, and from Asia and Africa into German speaking countries after World War II transform our socio-cultural understanding of what is German today?

These and other questions will be central to the course German 411. The course aims to offer a deeper understanding of the German speaking world in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. Together we will read literary and non-literary texts, watch films, and also look at transformations in the print and digital cultures in Germany. We will discuss these texts through frameworks of beauty and hope, crises and perseverance, nationalism and cosmopolitanism, exile and migration, among others.

Prerequisites: (GERMAN 249, 258, and 262) or (GERMAN 249 and 274) or (GERMAN 249 and 284) or (GERMAN 249 and 285)

(Readings and discussions in German; some texts provided in English; all efforts will be made to provide access to texts and films through library reserves.)

(3 credits)

T 4:00 – 6:30 pm

Instructor: Sonja Klocke

Course Description: Discussions about borders and border-crossings play a significant role not only in politics, but also in literature and film. In particular, the so-called “migration crisis” following the massive influx of refugees in Europe and particularly in Germany in 2015 as well as the most recent forced immigration from Ukraine following Putin’s attack on Ukraine has led to the publication of a great variety of texts, from Germans with and without a migration history as well as migrants who have settled in Germany recently. In a variety of texts, we will consider various borders and means to overcome them. These include cultural, linguistic, and geographic borders as well as limitations of the body or limits imposed due to artificially constructed gender categories. In our discussions, we will figure out how borders develop, how various categories of borders intersect (e.g. gender, race, and cultural identity), and how individuals negotiate and challenge existing borders. In this context, questions pertaining to (post-)colonialism and migration in the age of globalization will play a significant role.

We will consider and discuss these as they manifest in fictional writing, non-fictional writing, and film. Apart from the novels which students need to purchase, additional materials will be made available on canvas. Language of Instruction: German. Contact Sonja KLocke (sklocke@wisc.edu) with any questions about the course. Evaluation: Attendance; Participation; Canvas Posts; Group Presentation; Final Research Paper

Prerequisites: GERMAN 683 requires students to be declared in Honors program.

(1 credit)

F 11:00 – 11:50 am

Instructor: Jeanne Schueller

Course Description: This 1-credit course works in tandem with German 722 by providing a forum for discussing German-language specific instruction. Praxis-oriented tasks build on assignments and projects assigned in German 722. Emphasis is on teaching German and developing your identity as a language instructor. Language of instruction: English and German. Please contact Dr. Jeanne Schueller (jmschuel@wisc.edu) with any questions.

Prerequisites: German MA or PhD student

(2 credits)

MW 11:00 – 11:50 am

Instructor: Jeanne Schueller

Course Description: This 2-credit course offers an introduction to principles and theories of second language acquisition as well as foreign language pedagogy. It is intended for instructors of beginning – and intermediate-level collegiate German courses. The goal is to help you understand key concepts of communicative, literacy-oriented language teaching and related techniques for classroom instruction. This course will provide the foundation for success in teaching language courses. Course participants will demonstrate understanding of key concepts of communicative, literacy-oriented language teaching and classroom techniques for communicative, literacy-oriented language teaching; how to design instructional materials, lessons, and assessment tools related to communicative, literacy-oriented language teaching; and the ability to engage in pedagogical discourse on collegiate language teaching and learning. You will be encouraged to explore your identity as a teacher, to get to know the UW–Madison language programs, and to familiarize yourself with the profession at large. Assessments will be assignment- and project- rather than exam-based. The overall theoretical nature of the course is complemented by practice-oriented work. Journal articles and accompanying reading guides to be downloaded from the course website. Required textbook TBD. Language of instruction: English. Please contact Dr. Jeanne Schueller (jmschuel@wisc.edu) with any questions.

Prerequisites: Graduate student in the Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic+

(3 credits)

MWF 1:20 – 2:10 pm

Instructor: Mark Louden 

Course Description: In this course we will explore the basic structures of German syntax against the backdrop of primarily generative theory. We will begin by addressing some big-picture questions about what syntax is, how it differs from prescriptive grammar, and how it mediates between form and meaning. Then we move on to the mechanics of “doing syntax” by learning about diagnostics for constituency and the basic template for phrase structure set down in X-bar theory. In weeks 4–7, we examine the details of nominal syntax: structures involving nouns, articles, adjectives, prepositions, but also adverbs. The second half of the course will focus mainly on verbal syntax and clause structure. With few exceptions, class readings and discussions will be conducted in German.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing

(Undergraduate students who have taken GER 351 and at least one other advanced-level German course may email the instructor about being permitted to take this course.)

(3 credits)

T 4:00 – 6:30 pm

Instructor: Mary Hennessy

Course Description: Do media determine our situation? What are the overlapping relationships among media and critique, ideology and epistemology, technology and experience? Are histories of gender and sexuality, labor, fascism, and colonialism also media histories? Taking Walter Benjamin’s foundational “Work of Art” essay as our starting point, we will explore these and other questions through a range of theoretical and disciplinary perspectives on media and mediation: critical theory, (German) media theory, film studies, sound studies, memory studies, and more. Considered together, these critical traditions and interdisciplinary fields highlight the urgency of attending to the ways in which new modes of storing, transmitting, and processing information have exerted pressure on the production, consumption, and reception of cultural artifacts. Readings and discussions in English.

Prerequisites: Graduate/professional standing

(Grad 50% – Counts toward 50% graduate coursework requirement)

(3 credits)

R 4:00 – 6:30 pm

Instructor: Sabine Mödersheim

Course Description: “Climate Fiction” ist ein neue Genrebezeichnung für Literatur, Graphic Novels und Filme, die sich mit den Folgen des Klimawandels im Zeitalter des Anthropozäns auseinandersetzen. Ausgehend von der Definition des Anthropozäns als der Epoche, in der menschliches Handeln als einer der wichtigsten Einflüsse auf die Ökosysteme des Planeten messbar ist, werden wir diskutieren, wie fiktionale Texte diese Problematik aufgreifen und ein breites Publikum erreichen können. Wir werden Gedichte, Kurzgeschichten, Romane, Graphic Novels lesen und analysieren, wie stilistische Merkmale und Bildsprache auf Leser:innen wirken.

Dieser Kurs bietet eine Einführung in die literaturwissenschaftliche Methode des Ecocriticism, mit Schwerpunkt auf deutschsprachiger Literatur, sowie Diskussionen zur Unterrichtsspraxis, wie das Thema und Cli-Fi-Texte im Fremdsprachenunterricht eingesetzt werden können.

Prerequisites: Graduate/professional standing