17001

GER 106

Intensive German

Franz Kempf

T W Th F 8:30am-11:30am

OLINLC 120

FLLC

8 credits Intensive German is designed to enable students with little or no previous experience in German to complete three semesters of college-level German within five months: spring semester at Bard, plus four weeks from June 10 to July 10 at Bard College Berlin (upon successful completion carrying four additional credits). Students will meet ten hours a week (including a one-hour conversation class with the German language tutor). Outside of class, students will have the opportunity to connect and prepare for course work with innovative teaching and learning experiences online. The communicative approach actively involves students from day one in this class. As the course progresses, the transition is made from learning the language for everyday communication to the reading and discussion of classical and modern texts (such as Goethe, Heine, Kafka, Brecht) as well as of music and film. The concluding four weeks of the program will be spent at Bard’s sister campus in Berlin: Students will further explore German language and culture in a twenty hours per week course, which is accompanied by guided tours introducing participants to Berlin’s intriguing history, architecture, and vibrant cultural life. Students interested in this class must consult with Prof. Kempf before on-line registration (Need-based financial aid for the Berlin section of the course is available; please discuss further details with instructor.) Class size: 15

17048

GER 303

Grimms Marchen

Franz Kempf

T Th 1:30pm-2:50pm

OLIN 305

FLLC

“Enchanting, brimming with wonder and magic, the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm are the special stories of childhood that stay with us throughout our lives,” writes translator and Grimm scholar Jack Zipes. Unfortunately, we seem to know these tales only in adaptations that greatly reduce their power to touch our emotions and engage our imaginations. Through a close reading of selected tales, with emphasis on language, plot, motif, and image, this course explores not only the tales’ poetics and politics but also their origins in the oral tradition, in folklore and myth. The course considers major critical approaches (e.g., Freudian, Marxist, feminist) and conducts a contrastive analysis of creative adaptations (Disney, classical ballet, postmodern dance) and other fairy-tale traditions (Perrault, Straparola, Arabian Nights). Creative and critical writing assignments. Conducted in German. Class size: 12

17049

GER 422

Contemporary German Literature & Film after 1989

Thomas Wild

Screenings:

T Th 11:50am-1:10pm

T 6:30pm-8:30pm

OLINLC 118

PRE 110

FLLC

What is at stake for contemporary German writers, filmmakers, and intellectuals? What topics do they address in their movies and documentaries, which problems do they discuss in their novels, poems, and plays? How do these artworks reflect Germany's multi-ethnic society and its pivotal role in a rapidly changing Europe? During the Cold War, the country had been divided between East and West for forty years – how present is this past in contemporary Germany, twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989? Has ‘1989’ changed the modes of writing? The basis for our discussion of these questions will be texts by major contemporary writers such as German Nobel Prize winner Herta Müller, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, W.G. Sebald, Ingo Schulze, Terézia Mora, Irina Liebmann, Emine Sevgy Özdamar, Tankred Dorst, or Uwe Kolbe. We will examine distinguished feature films, such as Fatih Akin's Head On, Hans-Christian Schmid’s Lichter, and Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon, as well as outstanding documentaries, among them The Wall, and Der Kick. Our analysis of literary texts and films will be complemented by close readings of theoretical writings by the respective artists as well as contemporary criticism. Taught in German. Class size: 14

17258

ARTH 262

20th Century German Art

Tom Wolf

W Th 10:10am-11:30am

OLIN 102

AART

Cross-listed: German Studies Class size: 22

17212

LIT 2481

Theater and Politics

Thomas Wild

T Th 4:40pm-6:00pm

OLIN 201

ELIT

Cross-listed: German Studies; Theater Class size: 18

17468

PHIL 245

Marx, Nietzsche, Freud

Ruth Zisman

T Th 11:50am-1:10pm

OLIN 205

MBV

HUM

Cross-listed: German Studies Class size: 22