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Placement: All students with previous study of German should take a placement examination before registering for their first courses in those languages; see under “Placement Examinations” in the Academic Policies section of this bulletin. The departmental placement process consists of a consultation with the director of language programs to choose the level of language instruction most appropriate to the individual student’s needs and abilities.
Language Requirement: The department offers courses allowing students to complete the College of Arts and Science language requirement in German. Students may choose either the extensive sequence of four 4-point courses or the intensive sequence of two 6-point courses. Students planning to major in German are advised to follow the intensive sequence.
BASIC LANGUAGE COURSES IN GERMAN
All German language courses use communicative methodology. Elementary level courses introduce students to essential linguistic and social conventions of contemporary spoken German, with an emphasis on establishing conversational skills. Intermediate level courses introduce more complex features of the language and focus on building reading and writing skills while continuing to develop conversational ability.
EXTENSIVE SEQUENCE
Elementary German I
V51.0001 Open only to students with no previous training in German; others require permission of the department. Offered every semester. 4 points.
Elementary German II
V51.0002 Continuation of V51.0001. Prerequisite: V51.0001 or assignment by placement examination or permission of the department. Offered every semester. 4 points.
Intermediate German I
V51.0003 Prerequisite: V51.0002 or V51.0010 or assignment by placement examination or permission of the department. Offered every semester. 4 points.
Intermediate German II
V51.0004 Continuation of V51.0003. Prerequisite: V51.0003 or assignment by placement examination or permission of the department. Offered every semester. 4 points.
INTENSIVE SEQUENCE
Intensive Elementary German
V51.0010 Open to students with no previous training in German and to others on assignment by placement examination or with permission of the department. Offered every semester. 6 points.
Intensive course that completes the equivalent of a year’s elementary work (V51.0001 and V51.0002) in one semester. Emphasizes spoken and written communication skills. Introduces students to the basic conventions, idioms, and structures of contemporary spoken German.
Intensive Intermediate German
V51.0020 Prerequisite: V51.0010 or assignment by placement examination or permission of the department. Minimum grade of B in elementary German. Offered every semester. 6 points.
Intensive course that completes the equivalent of a year’s intermediate work (V51.0003 and V51.0004) in one semester. Continuing emphasis on developing spoken and written communication skills. Students learn more advanced features of the language and begin to read longer and more complex texts.
POSTINTERMEDIATE COURSES IN LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND LITERATURE (100 LEVEL)
These are “bridge” courses between basic language study and more advanced courses. The common goal of courses at this level is to consolidate students’ command of spoken and written German, to review advanced structures of the language, and to provide core information that will be needed in advanced study of literature and culture. Particular emphasis is placed on the development of complex reading and writing skills and their integration with speaking skills. All courses at this level are conducted in German.
Prerequisites: All German courses at the 100 level require successful completion of V51.0004 or V51.0020 or permission of the department.
German Conversation and Composition
V51.0111 Offered every year. 4 points.
Aims to improve students’ proficiency in writing and speaking German in three functional areas: description, narration, and argumentation. Grammar and vocabulary are reviewed and practiced as appropriate. Students examine and discuss texts of various genres and then draft and present work of their own in each genre. Discussion and writing components are closely coordinated. Activities include presentations, peer review, guided writing, and editing.
Advanced Composition and Grammar
V51.0114 Offered every year. 4 points.
Improves students’ proficiency in writing German at an advanced level. Students develop skills in the functional areas of analysis, interpretation, and argumentation. The composition endeavor is constructed as a process of drafting, peer review, guided editing, and redrafting. Includes a systematic review of advanced grammar, idioms, and structures necessary for the effective written expression of abstract concepts.
German for Business
V51.0124 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Familiarizes students with the conventions and specialized language of business and commerce in the German-speaking countries. Emphasizes development of oral and written communication skills in business contexts and awareness of appropriate social behaviors.
Germany: 1989 and Beyond
V51.0132 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Investigates cultural and political issues that have arisen in postunification Germany. Aims to equip students with the knowledge, language tools, and comprehension strategies they need to understand and respond to German-language discussions of contemporary events. Focuses on issues of German identity/anxiety such as foreigners in Germany, “East” versus “West” Germans, and the role of Germany in Europe. Various genres are explored, including fiction, essays, newspaper articles, Internet publications, and satellite news broadcasts from Berlin.
German Culture 1890-1989
V51.0133 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Overview of modern and postmodern culture in the German-speaking countries from 1890 to 1989. From the fin de siècle through Weimar Germany, fascism/exile, and the postwar era to the fall of the Wall, the course traverses the heights and depths of German cultural topography.
German Civilization to 1890
V51.0143 Offered periodically. 4 points.
What does “German” mean? Using maps, texts, and pictorial documents, this course introduces students to various ways of thinking about “German” language, culture, history, and nation. The overview includes a brief sketch of the Germanic tribes and mythology and Germany in the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation, and modern period to 1890. Contemporary critical issues are introduced, including the relationship between Germans and “non-Germans” as well as notions of boundaries and their transgression.
Introduction to German Literature
V51.0152 Offered every year. 4 points.
Introduction to representative authors and works of German literature, with emphasis on the modern period. Students learn basic conventions of literature and literary interpretation, as well as strategies for the effective reading of shorter and longer prose works, drama, and poetry. Guided writing assignments focus on developing the language skills necessary for effective written analysis and interpretation of literary texts in German.
Techniques of Translation
V51.0153 Offered periodically. 4 points.
This course introduces students to the history, theory, and practice of translation through German and English texts taken from a variety of cultural backgrounds. While engaging in the craft of translation first hand, students encounter diverse contrastive grammatical, syntactical, and stylistic problems, thus gaining a deeper understanding of the German language. The course also stresses the acquisition of vocabulary and complex idiomatic structures necessary for effective reading comprehension as well as written expression.
ADVANCED LITERATURE AND CULTURE COURSES CONDUCTED IN ENGLISH (200 LEVEL)
Courses at the 200 level are conducted in English. Literature-oriented courses at this level may count in fulfillment of the minor in German literature in translation. Many of these courses are cross-listed with other NYU departments or programs. No knowledge of German is required for courses at this level.
Prerequisites: None.
Marx, Nietzsche, Freud
V51.0240 Offered periodically. 4 points
Examines the work of these three seminal authors by focusing on their notions of interpretation, history, subjectivity, politics, religion, and art. The seminar does not present their work chronologically, but rather creates a dialogue between the authors around each topic and, thereby, delineates the origins of much modern thought.
The German Intellectual Tradition
V51.0244 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Designed to familiarize students with the major currents of German intellectual and literary history. The course is organized thematically, conceptually, or according to the trajectories associated with crucial thinkers. Special emphasis is placed on the impact those thinkers have had on literary and aesthetic phenomena.
Introduction to Theory
V51.0249 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Focuses on crucial theoretical developments in German literary and philosophical discourses. Introduces students to contemporary theoretical issues at the forefront of academic debate and seeks to give students a sense of ground and foundation in terms of the origins of current discussions. The course includes considerations of literary phenomena, critical legal studies, feminist and deconstructive theories, the Frankfurt School, and psychoanalysis.
Topics in German Cinema
V51.0253 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Introduces special topics in acquainting students with significant contributions emerging from the German cinematic tradition. Selections are studied generically, thematically, or by historical period. Emphasis is also placed on issues of film analysis and theory. Possible course topics are new German cinema, film and feminism, early German film, and film and nationalism.
Expressionism and Modernity in Literature and in the Arts
V51.0255 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Discussion of German contributions to literature and the arts in a European context during the first half of the 20th century. Course examines Weimar culture, expressionism, new objectivity, political repression, and the contemporary scene. The era is characterized by the works of important writers (Wedekind, Brecht, Benn, Kafka, Hesse, Mann); filmmakers (Wiene, Murnau, Lang, Dido, Papst); and painters (Kirchner, Marc, Macke, Nolde, Klee, Kokoschka, Kandinsky, Grosz, Feininger).
Modernism
V51.0265 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Focuses on the emergence of mass culture and shows how the modernist and avant-garde movements question the very institution of art in work. Materials include works of literature, theory, film, and the visual arts.
Representations of the Holocaust
V51.0275 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Examines the possibilities in literature, historiography, film, and other forms of testimony bearing witness to the Holocaust as the event that calls into question basic assumptions about European intellectual traditions. Topics include the limits of representation; the aestheticization of violence; the difference between event and experience; the question of survival; the problem of testimony; the individual, institutional, and historical dimensions of justice, memory, and forgetting. Materials include literary, theoretical, and documentary readings; and film and video viewings.
Madness and Genius
V51.0285 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Explores the relationship among talent, inspiration, and psychological instability in works of the 19th and 20th centuries. Considers the link between inspiration and possession; Western culture’s valorization of originality; the political purpose of characterizing originality as psychologically transgressive; and the allegorization of the creative process through depictions of madness.
Law and Literature
V51.0295 Identical to V45.0290 and V29.0290. Offered periodically. 4 points.
Explores the relationship of literature to law in significant literary works whose principal themes involve legal and transcendental confrontations. Readings include works by Mary Shelley, Freud, Kafka, Sacher-Masoch, and Derrida.
Topics in 19th-Century Literature
V51.0297 Identical to V29.0180. Offered periodically. 4 points.
Topics in 20th-Century Literature
V51.0298 Offered periodically. 4 points.
ADVANCED LITERATURE AND CULTURE COURSES CONDUCTED IN GERMAN (300 LEVEL)
Courses at this level provide a broad historical overview of specific periods in German literary and cultural development. Advanced German language skills are practiced, with particular emphasis on the ability to summarize and on the expression of supported opinion. Students read more texts of greater linguistic and conceptual complexity than those used at the 100 level, although readings consist primarily of short works and excerpts. Readings are drawn from literary and nonliterary sources.
Prerequisites: It is recommended that students complete V51.0152 or the equivalent before enrolling in courses at the 300 level.
Romanticism
V51.0349 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Traces the development of romanticism in Germany in the period 1789-1830. Examines the philosophy of idealism and its aesthetic effect on the various phases of the romantic movements. Considers the Jena, Heidelberg, and Berlin schools in light of their works and their artistic and sociopolitical theories. Representative writings include poetry, novellas, fairy tales, and essays.
German Literature of the 19th Century
V51.0355 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Study of German prose and drama from the end of romanticism to the development of expressionism before the turn of the century. Selected texts deal with poetic realism, the rise of new literary forms leading to naturalism, and Austrian and German manifestations of impressionism and expressionism.
20th-Century German Prose
V51.0366 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Investigates significant prose texts of German-language authors from 1900 to the present. Genres discussed include the short story, the novella, and the novel.
Post-1945 German Literature
V51.0369 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Examines works by some of the major German-language writers in the decades following World War II. Concerned with the historical and intellectual background of the period and the confrontation with both the past and the future in representative works.
Modern German Drama
V51.0377 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Development of German-language drama from the early plays of Brecht. Concerns include political motivations of dramatic development; problems in writing 20th-century tragedy; meaning of the grotesque and the absurd; neonaturalist elements.
German Poetry
V51.0385 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Survey of significant authors and developments in German poetry, with emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. Traces basic themes; examines narrative, dramatic, and lyric structures in poetry.
ADVANCED SEMINARS CONDUCTED IN GERMAN (400 LEVEL)
These courses examine authors, groups of works, and intellectual, aesthetic, and social movements of particular significance in the development of German literature and culture. These courses have a narrower focus than do those at the 300 level; the emphasis is on in-depth examination rather than on overview. Readings are longer and more linguistically demanding than those used at the previous level. Language work focuses on conjecture and the expression of abstract concepts, both in written and in spoken German.
Goethe
V51.0455 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Examines Goethe as the pivotal literary figure of his time. Considers Goethe’s prose, poetry, and drama from the late Enlightenment through storm and stress to classicism and beyond.
The Age of Goethe
V51.0456 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Examines German reaction to the Enlightenment in the literature of storm and stress and of classicism. Considers irrationalism, social protest, and Humanitätsdichtung as successive stages of the expansion of consciousness in an age in which Goethe was the central, but not the only significant, literary figure. Readings include Herder, Von der Urpoesie der Völker and selected poems; Lenz, Die Soldaten; Schiller, Die Räuber, Kabale und Liebe, Maria Stuart, and selected poems; Hölderlin, selected poems.
Faust
V51.0457 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Examines the figure of Faust in legend and literature, beginning with its first appearance in the 16th century. Discussion of the influence of Faust in German and other European literary traditions. Readings include excerpts from the 1587 Historia von D. Johann Fausten; Goethe’s Urfaust and excerpts from his later dramatic versions (Faust, Ein Fragment; Faust I and II); and Thomas Mann’s Doktor Faustus.
Literature of the Weimar Period
V51.0468 Offered periodically. 4 points.
The chaotic Weimar period (1918-1933) began with a revolution and ended with the takeover by the Nazis. During these few years, German modernism evolved from expressionism to the aesthetics of New Sobriety (Neue Sachlichkeit). From the more traditional (Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse) to the experimental and revolutionary (Bertolt Brecht, Anna Seghers), the works of this period draw into question its subsequent glorification as the golden ’20s. Readings include works by Brecht, Hesse, Roth, Seghers, Klaus Mann, and Thomas Mann.
Minority Discourses
V51.0475 Offered periodically. 4 points.
In recent years, literary productions have emerged that fall under the heading of “minority” literatures, often understood as texts written in German by so-called foreigners. This course examines this notion critically and also analyzes the impact of individual works in relation to current debates on multiculturalism, integration, and national identity.
Seminar on 19th-Century Authors
V51.0487 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Seminar on 20th-Century Authors
V51.0488 Offered periodically. 4 points.
Each of these courses provides advanced students of German with an in-depth knowledge of one major author of either the 19th or 20th century. Works of the chosen author are examined in terms of how he or she contributes to, and possibly challenges, prevailing aesthetic, political, and cultural trends of his or her time.
HONORS AND INDEPENDENT STUDY
Honors Thesis
V51.0500 Prerequisite: permission of the department. Offered every spring semester. 4 points.
Honors Seminar
V51.0999 Prerequisite: permission of the department. Offered every fall semester. 4 points.
Advanced seminar for honors students.
Internship
V51.0977, 0978 Prerequisite: permission of the department. Offered periodically. 2 or 4 points per term.
Work-Study in Germany
V51.0985 Prerequisite: permission of the department. Offered periodically. 2-6 points.
Consult the director of undergraduate studies for information.
Independent Study
V51.0990 Prerequisite: permission of the department. May be repeated for credit. Offered every semester. 2-4 points.
GRADUATE COURSES OPEN TO UNDERGRADUATES
Graduate courses offered by the department are open to seniors with the permission of the director of undergraduate studies. A student wishing to take a graduate course conducted in German must be able to demonstrate sufficiently advanced German language ability.
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