German & Dutch Courses – Fall 2026

(3-4 credits)

• Lecture 001: MTWR 9:55 – 10:45 am
• Lecture 002: MTWR 11:00 – 11:50 am
• Lecture 003: MTWR 1:20 – 2:10 pm
• Lecture 004: MW 3:30-5:10 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.

(3-4 credits)

• Lecture 001: MTWR 11:00 – 11:50 am
• Lecture 002: MW 3:30 – 5:10 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)

• Lecture 001: MTWR 9:55 – 10:45 am

Instructor: Jolanda Vanderwal Taylor

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.)

(3-4 credits)

• Lecture 001: MTWR 9:55 – 10:45 am
• Lecture 002: MTWR 11:00 – 11:50 am
• Lecture 003: MTWR 12:05 – 12:55 pm
• Lecture 004: MW 3:30 – 5:10 pm

Instructor:

• Lectures 001 and 004: Jeanne Schueller 
• Lectures 002 and 003: Jeanne Schueller and Julie Larson-Guenette 

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 001: MTWR 11:00 – 11:50 am

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)

• Lecture 001: MTWR 12:05 – 12:55 pm

Instructor: Jolanda Vanderwal Taylor

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 001: TR 11:00 – 12:15 pm

Instructor: Jolanda Vanderwal Taylor

The Low Countries are famous for their close relationship with the water: windmills, dikes, and Hans Brinker’s silver skates are among the most persistent popular symbols of this “edge” of Europe. This course offers an introduction to the Low Countries, their history and their contemporary cultures, by focusing on their love/hate relationship to the water. The water means danger, and thus dikes, windmills, and— famously—the need to cooperate, but also trade, opportunity, beauty, and a persistent openness to the world. We will discuss what terps and polders are – but also the recent idea of the “polder model,” and which aspects of Dutch culture it has come to honor and criticize. We will look at the meaning of water in Dutch history and geography; at its effects on economic, military, and political life; at its treatment in art and literature; its times of

greatest damage (floods, including 1953) and Dutch responses (polders, windmills, the Delta plan, environmentalism). We will discuss the Hanseatic cities of the Low Countries, 17th-Century art, water as defense strategy, the V.O.C. (Dutch East-India Company), land reclamation, the Eleven- Cities skating race, (photos of) contemporary landscapes, and Dutch views of what all these mean.

Most importantly, this is a course in the ancient tradition of liberal arts education. This course particularly encourages students to expand their knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world. In acquiring this knowledge, we will practice a range of 21st- century skills, including: inquiry and analysis; critical and creative thinking; written and oral communication; intercultural knowledge and competence; and ethical reasoning and action. Students will select an individual project in consultation with the instructor that aligns with their other academic interests and areas of expertise, and will make a brief presentation to the class about their findings.

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: MWF 8:50 – 9:40 am
• Lecture 002: MWF 2:25 -3:15 pm

Instructor: Julie Larson-Guenette

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 001: MWF 9:55 – 10:45 am
• Lecture 002: 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 001: TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm
• Lecture 002: TR 1:00 – 2:15 pm

Instructor: Melissa Sheedy

Course Description: Fairytales, murder mysteries, sensational headlines, social media, and … emails? 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 credits)

• Lecture 001: 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.

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)

• Lecture 001: 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)

• Lecture 001: TR 1:00 – 2:15 pm

Instructor: B. Venkat Mani

Course Description: The main aim of this course is to discuss the human experience of migration, refuge, and forced displacements. Migration continues to be a highly contested topic in the world today. In 2016 the number of people living outside nations of their birth was highest in recorded human history. For 2025, the United Nations’ High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates 117.3 million forcibly displaced people around the world, highest since the recorded data available since the two World Wars. The proliferation of refugees and stateless people in the world has coincided with the resurgence of exclusive nationalism, and divisive rhetoric centered on securing and insulating borders. In Europe and North America, immigration has defined the demographic make-up of specific nations for centuries. Especially since the end of the Second World War, waves of mass-migration have had a major impact on politics, society, and culture, giving rise to forms of aesthetic expression in literature, film, and music.

In this course, we will focus on human stories and engage with “migration” as a social, cultural, political, and historical phenomenon. In addition to discussing migration as a journey from the nation of birth to the adopted nation of residence we will discuss migration as a multi-lingual movement of ideas. The focus of our course will be migration into Germany, but we will compare and contrast it with migration into the US, UK, and Canada.

What is so special about the German migration history in the 20th century? How does migration change the social fabric of Germany and other European nations? How has migration enriched literature, culture, music, food, and sports? How do racial, ethnic, religious, and other forms of discrimination pose challenges to inclusion of German/ European migrant subjects? What is the difference between willful and forced migration? How do we understand refugee narratives? These and other questions will be central to this course.

We will discuss how the understanding of migration in the Euro-American world has changed in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. We will analyze how migration as an experience is manifested in literature, cinema, and music, and how issues of identities and difference, tolerance and acceptance, nationalism and cosmopolitanism form and inform societies today. Most importantly, we will explore how categories such as home and elsewhere, the self and the other, belonging and cultural citizenship find expression in contemporary nations.

Prerequisites: NONE/ Open to Freshmen

Taught in English

Level – Intermediate
Breadth – Literature. Counts toward the Humanities req
L&S Credit Type – Counts as Liberal Arts and Science Credit

Also Counts toward:

International Studies Major [Culture in the Age of Globalization Track]

German Major

European Studies Certificate

South Asia Studies Certificate

(3 credits)

• Lecture 002: 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)

• Lecture 003: MW 4:00 – 5:15 pm

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 read works both by Turkish German writers such as Fatma Aydemir, Zafer Şenocak, Sevgi Özdamar, Aras Ören, and writers from Turkey including the Nobel Laurate Orhan Pamuk and Menekşe Toprak; we will watch and discuss films like Kebab Connection, artists such as Eko Fresh, film makers such as Fatih Akın, controversial soccer players such as Mesut Özil and many more. Berlin and Istanbul will form the backdrop of our course, and guest speakers 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 cognate toward the German major. It counts towards European Studies Certificate and Middle East Studies Certificate. Open to Freshmen; Fulfills Literature and Humanities Breadth Requirements. Meets-with LitTrans 276/German 276.

(3 credits)

• Lecture 004: TR 1:00-2:15 pm

Instructor: Matt Johnson

Course Description: Introduces students to the reading, analysis, and appreciation of great poems from the German tradition and beyond (all in English translation). Discussions and assignments will enable students to read poems with more depth and precision and to articulate their significance and stakes. We will consider how poems address deeply personal as well as large-scale social problems and how they may astonish, inspire, disturb, awaken, shatter, console, and – in both subtle and fundamental ways – change us. No knowledge of German is required; students who are learning German will have the option to read select poems in the original as well.

Prerequisites: Satisfied Communications A requirement

May appear as GERMAN/​LITTRANS  276 — SPECIAL TOPICS IN GERMAN AND WORLD LITERATURE/S

(3 credits)

• Lecture 005: TR 2:30 -3:45 pm

Instructor: Sabine Moedersheim

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)

• Lecture 006: TR 9:30 – 10:45 am

Instructor: B. Venkat Mani

Course Description: What makes “Great Books” so great? Who decides which literary works are classics or masterpieces? Why do some literary works become international bestsellers or “most read” books, while others do not? How do we, as readers in the 21^st century read and give new meanings to the so-called great books? How have our reading habits changed as we move from physical books to e-reading devices using screens? How do we account for the massive difference in the number of translated works from languages such as English, German, and French into other world languages and vice-versa? How does AI impact our reading habits? How and why do societies ban books?

These and other questions will guide us through this course, as we learn how literary works enter a larger world literary space through translations. We will engage with a few classics from the ancient to the modern eras alongside the magnificent histories of their circulation through orality, and later in print in translation. We will read and discuss some contemporary works that became instant bestsellers, and try to understand what made them so popular and well-received globally. We will also learn about how the world of literature transformed materially: from stone tablets to leaves, papyrus, paper and now to e-tablets. We will explore how literary awards such as the Nobel Prize impact literary markets and contribute to readerships. Last but not least, we will follow the “afterlives” of classic works and authors, both dead and alive, on film, TV, and social media platforms such as Book-Tube, Book-Tok and Bookstagram to see how readers today engage with them and re-circulate them globally in the digital age.

Prerequisites: NONE/ Open to Freshman

Level – Intermediate
Breadth – Literature. Counts toward the Humanities req
L&S Credit Type – Counts as Liberal Arts and Science Credit

Open to Freshmen; Fulfills Literature and Humanities Breadth Requirements

(3 credits)

• Lecture 007: TR 1:00 – 2:15 pm

Instructor: Sunny Yudkoff

Course Description: This course engages in the close reading of major works of modern Jewish literature. The selected texts examine the relationship of writing and the body across the twentieth century.

This course meets with JS 430. 

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: TR 4:00 – 5:15 pm

Instructor: Melissa Sheedy

Course Description: From wolves to witches, Rumpelstiltskin to Rapunzel, the German fairy-tale tradition is filled with rich imagery, familiar themes, and political and social subversion. Of enduring popularity and as constant subjects of reimagination and revitalization, German tales and their retellings serve as a unique lens through which to view the social, political, and cultural contexts in which they were produced. Through these texts, we will glimpse the underlying perceptions and values regarding family, gender, nation, nature, religion, and society, both in the first half of the 19th century and in the Germany of the last 25 years. With an eye to depictions of gender and gender roles as well as to conceptions of the environment and civilization, we will critically engage with these works and contextualize them within the social and political landscapes that shaped them. Our investigations will center on tales and their retellings in a variety of forms, with a special focus on fairytales by women writers. In recognizing and analyzing the Märchen’s influences in literature, art, music, poetry, and pop culture, we will begin to appreciate the fairy-tale’s enduring legacy and its place within German literary and cultural history. This course counts as a cognate course for the German major.

Prerequisites: Sophomore standing

Fulfills the humanities breadth requirement and literature requirement.

Honors optional

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: MTWR 9:55 – 10:45 am

Instructor: Jolanda Vanderwal Taylor

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 undergraduate students for 4 credits as GERMAN 111.)

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: MTWR 12:05 – 12:55 pm

Instructor: Jolanda Vanderwal Taylor

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 undergraduate students as GERMAN 113.)

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: T 2:30 – 3:45 pm
• Lecture 001 (Online): R 2:30 – 3:45 pm

Instructor: Jolanda Vanderwal Taylor

Course Description: In this course we will consider emotionally and intellectually challenging material, and practice discussing difficult topics with others. 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 has been the inspiration for many other cultural products and institutions: editions; biographies; works of fiction and non-fiction; plays; 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 have been received. In other words, in addition to reading her work closely and considering it as literature as well as testimony to history, we will also consider what was, and is being, “done” with the Diaries and with Anne Frank: how the Diaries and her life have been read, interpreted, used, and argued about. We will engage in critical thinking, asking not just: what? but also: why?, or could it have been different? We will consider what her work and life have to say to us as we face the legacy and reality of racism and antisemitism. We will take Anne seriously as a writer by reading her works attentively, and noting the process by which they came to us. We will consider the nature of literature and the role of adaptation, repurposing, and how stories and narratives move through time and across cultures.

You will become familiar with Anne Frank’s writings and with a range of receptions of her work; you will think about what distinguishes literature from non-literary texts, and what makes literary and non-literary texts effective. You will also learn about the context in which she wrote: the history of Jewish communities in the Netherlands, and of her family in particular; this context includes the history of the Netherlands leading up to and during the Nazi Occupation, why German Jewish people moved to the Netherlands before WWII, how the Nazis took control of the country, how the Dutch government and Dutch citizens did or did not respond, and that the Dutch record is the worst in Europe with respect to the percentage of Jewish citizens and residents who were murdered in the Holocaust. In the process, you will have an opportunity to work on honing intellectual skills that prepare you for twenty-first century challenges. To that end, we will together practice reading thoughtfully, asking questions (and answering some of them; we will also practice “sitting with” uncomfortable questions to which there may not be an easy answer), thinking and evaluating, and writing (both individually and in online discussions).

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: MWF 12:05 – 12:55 pm

Instructor: Hannah Eldridge

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.

In German 337, students will

• implement strategies for enhanced listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills;
• identify and develop elements of grammar needed to improve accuracy in speaking and writing;
• differentiate and apply vocabulary for discussion of topics spanning across genres and registers;
• examine and analyze cultural perspectives and products of the German-speaking areas.

Required Work and Grading: Coursework includes regular oral and written assignments; active preparation and participation for class discussions and group work; a presentation, vocabulary quizzes and two exams (mid-term and final).

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: MWF 1:20 – 2:10 pm

Instructor: Mark Louden

Course Description: In this course we will explore the cultural landscape of Switzerland from the perspective of its (socio)linguistic diversity. Focusing on German-speaking regions of the country, we will consider, among other topics, the use of dialectal and standard varieties in speech, writing, and media; variation across Swiss German dialects; contact between German and Switzerland’s three other national languages, especially Romansh; and the effects of migration on linguistic and cultural contact. We will also learn about diaspora varieties of Swiss German in Wisconsin and among the “Swiss Amish” of Indiana and other US states. Required readings/viewings will include a range of linguistic and literary works, videos and films, and a collection of essays, Schwiizerdütsch, by Marina Rumjanzewa, a Russian Swiss linguist and journalist.

Prerequisites: Completion of 249/258/262 or 249/285 prior to fall 2026

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: TR 4:00 – 5:15 pm

Instructor: Sabine Moedersheim

Course Description: In diesem Kurs werden wir deutschsprachige Science-Fiction-Literatur vom frühen 20. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart lesen. Wer liest Science-Fiction? Wer schreibt Science-Fiction? Was sagen die Erfindungen und Fantasien über die Gesellschaft? Wie wollen wir in der Zukunft leben? Science-Fiction gilt zwar weithin als männliches Genre, doch haben Frauen nicht nur bei der Erfindung des Genres eine wichtige Rolle gespielt, sondern es auch nachhaltig geprägt. Themen, die wir erforschen werden: Kalter Krieg der Sterne, Black to the Future, Amazonen im Weltraum, Steampunk, Ökopunk, Zukunftsromane, SF-Filme und -Fernsehserien. Dazu werden wir Texte von Thea von Harbou, Hans Dominik, Kurd Laβwitz, Myra Çakan, Marie Graßhoff, Marc-Uwe Kling  u.a. lesen. Texte und Materialien werden auf Canvas bereitgestellt.

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

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: TR 1:00 – 2:15 pm

Instructor: Julia Goetze

Course Description: International soccer tournaments and the Olympic Games often serve as catalysts to examine the relationship between sports and society and Germany is no exception. During such events, Germany’s public discourses regularly buzz with themes like nationalism, racism, ableism, and sexism in both elite and amateur sports. Should Germans wave a national flag to express their fandom given their nationalist past? Is public outrage justified whenever athletes with migration backgrounds do not sing the national anthem? How successful are the German Soccer Federation’s efforts to promote values of diversity, tolerance, and inclusion when Black German soccer players endure pervasive racism and racist attacks on and off the soccer field? How can it be that the women’s soccer national team only earns a fraction of the men’s team albeit having a greater success rate at international tournaments? Why are Olympic athletes publicly criticized and scrutinized for a lack of success when the government fails to adequately support them, leaving them to work (multiple) full-time jobs while simultaneous maintaining an elite sports career? Why do we continue to compare women’s athletic abilities against those of men’s and use them to evaluate a sport’s aesthetic value? This seminar uses these guiding questions and explores each of them through a critical lens throughout the semester. The course is taught in German.

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: TR 2:30 – 3:45 pm

Instructor: Melissa Sheedy

Course Description: This class explores the rich fairy-tale tradition of the German-speaking world. Seemingly simple on the outside, the fairytale conceals a host of underlying political and social commentary and underlying perspectives. We will read and engage with tales from the early 19th century to today, with a particular focus on those stories made famous by the Brothers Grimm—and the women who made them possible. We will examine stories via a range of lenses (psychoanalytical, feminist, queer, Marxist, and even monster theory) to contextualize them within their complex social and political backgrounds. With an eye to depictions of gender and gender roles, sexuality, disability, race, nation, and religion, we will consider how these tales came to life, and how they have transformed over time.

Prerequisites: Students enrolled in GER 676 will have additional requirements to fulfill the senior capstone criteria.

Meets with German 676.

Honors optional.

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: TR 9:30 – 10:45 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)

• Lecture 001: TR 4:00 – 5:15 pm

Instructor: Adam Stern 

Course Description: Selected moral and philosophical issues raised by the Holocaust such as when and whom to rescue; includes issues arising after the annihilation such as forgiveness and reconciliation.

Prerequisites: Sophomore standing.

Serves as a cognate course for German undergraduate majors.

(4 credits)

• Lecture 001: T 2:30 – 3:45 pm
• Lecture 001 (Online): R 2:30 – 3:45 pm
• Discussion 301: W 1:20 – 2:10 pm

Instructor: Jolanda Vanderwal Taylor

Course Description: In this course we will consider emotionally and intellectually challenging material, and practice discussing difficult topics with others. 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 has been the inspiration for many other cultural products and institutions: editions; biographies; works of fiction and non-fiction; plays; 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 have been received. In other words, in addition to reading her work closely and considering it as literature as well as testimony to history, we will also consider what was, and is being, “done” with the Diaries and with Anne Frank: how the Diaries and her life have been read, interpreted, used, and argued about. We will engage in critical thinking, asking not just: what? but also: why?, or could it have been different? We will consider what her work and life have to say to us as we face the legacy and reality of racism and antisemitism. We will take Anne seriously as a writer by reading her works attentively, and noting the process by which they came to us. We will consider the nature of literature and the role of adaptation, repurposing, and how stories and narratives move through time and across cultures.

You will become familiar with Anne Frank’s writings and with a range of receptions of her work; you will think about what distinguishes literature from non-literary texts, and what makes literary and non-literary texts effective. You will also learn about the context in which she wrote: the history of Jewish communities in the Netherlands, and of her family in particular; this context includes the history of the Netherlands leading up to and during the Nazi Occupation, why German Jewish people moved to the Netherlands before WWII, how the Nazis took control of the country, how the Dutch government and Dutch citizens did or did not respond, and that the Dutch record is the worst in Europe with respect to the percentage of Jewish citizens and residents who were murdered in the Holocaust. In the process, you will have an opportunity to work on honing intellectual skills that prepare you for twenty-first century challenges. To that end, we will together practice reading thoughtfully, asking questions (and answering some of them; we will also practice “sitting with” uncomfortable questions to which there may not be an easy answer), thinking and evaluating, and writing (both individually and in online discussions).

(4 credits)

• Lecture 001: TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm
• Discussion 301: W 11:00 – 11:50 am

Instructor: Jolanda Taylor

Course Description: The Low Countries are famous for their close relationship with the water: windmills, dikes, and Hans Brinker’s silver skates are among the most persistent popular symbols of this “edge” of Europe. This course offers an introduction to the Low Countries, their history and their contemporary cultures, by focusing on their love/hate relationship to the water. The water means danger, and thus dikes, windmills, and— famously—the need to cooperate, but also trade, opportunity, beauty, and a persistent openness to the world. We will discuss what terps and polders are – but also the recent idea of the “polder model,” and which aspects of Dutch culture it has come to honor and criticize. We will look at the meaning of water in Dutch history and geography; at its effects on economic, military, and political life; at its treatment in art and literature; its times of greatest damage (floods, including 1953) and Dutch responses (polders, windmills, the Delta plan, environmentalism). We will discuss the Hanseatic cities of the Low Countries, 17th-Century art, water as defense strategy, the V.O.C. (Dutch East-India Company), land reclamation, the Eleven- Cities skating race, (photos of) contemporary landscapes, and Dutch views of what all these mean.

Most importantly, this is a course in the ancient tradition of liberal arts education. This course particularly encourages students to expand their knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world. In acquiring this knowledge, we will practice a range of 21st- century skills, including: inquiry and analysis; critical and creative thinking; written and oral communication; intercultural knowledge and competence; and ethical reasoning and action. Students will select an individual project in consultation with the instructor that aligns with their other academic interests and areas of expertise, and will make a brief presentation to the class about their findings.

(1 credit)

• Lecture 001: R 12:05 – 12:55 pm

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, including in-class micro-teaching demos, 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)

• Lecture 001: MW 12:05 – 12:55 pm

Instructor: Jeanne Schueller

Course Description: This 2-credit course offers an introduction to principles and theories of second language acquisition and language pedagogy. It is intended for instructors of beginning – and intermediate-level collegiate German courses. A main 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)

• Lecture 001: TR 4:00 – 5:15 pm

Instructor: Julia Goetze

Course Description: Research on emotions in education and SLA has traditionally centered on achievement emotions, also known as emotions tied to standards, evaluation, and perceptions of success and failure, such as anxiety, enjoyment, boredom, shame, and guilt. While this focus reflects the widespread realities of standards-based and test-driven educational contexts, it leaves a distinct class of emotions related to knowledge construction itself comparatively underexplored.

This graduate seminar addresses this gap by examining epistemic emotions, including curiosity, confusion, surprise, and frustration, which arise in response to novelty, cognitive incongruity, and evolving understanding. We begin with a historical overview of emotion research in SLA, situating and comparing achievement and epistemic emotions within broader theoretical paradigms. The course then surveys emerging theoretical and empirical work on epistemic emotions and explores connections to established domains such as individual differences and motivation research (e.g., proactive learning theory).

Students will engage critically with conceptual and methodological approaches to emotion research and develop an original empirical research proposal focused on epistemic emotions in instructed SLA.

Prerequisites: Graduate Standing

(3 credits)

• Seminar 001: M 2:25 – 5:25 pm

Instructor: Sonja Klocke

(3 credits)

• Seminar 001: W 1:20 – 3:15 pm

Instructor: Katerina Somers