German 310 CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION Fall 2005

Tues 1:00—2:40 / Thurs 1:00—1:50 Whitman 122 Instructor: Prof. Carol Strauss Office: Whitman Hall 169 Tel. 227-1201 E-mail [email protected] Office hrs: Mon 12—2 / Tues 2:45--4:15 / Thurs 3—4 / Fri 12—1 / and by appointment

Required Materials • Klaus Böhle, A Short History of the German People • Course Readers: anthology of readings (two of these). Course Reader I costs $11.00 and must be purchased in class (cash or check) this Thurs, Sept 1.

GR310 is a liberal studies course. As stated in the NMU Undergraduate Bulletin, our intent is to “study the individual human condition, needs, values, potentials and achievements, within the multiplicity of cultural values that shape it.” We “will examine, using critical thinking strategies, how peoples in different cultures, times and places deal with common human needs and concerns.” We “will review and evaluate . . . the intellectual, spiritual and ethical concerns of the human experience as recorded in literature, philosophy, religion, history or other similar areas.”

All German minors must (and any student with intermediate or higher proficiency in the may) enroll in GR 410, Advanced German Culture and Civilization. In this German-Across-The-Curriculum “trailer section” (one hour per week, one additional course credit) guided readings and discussions of German texts and visuals enrich, reinforce, and dovetail GR 310, the “parent course.”

Course Policies You are expected to attend class regularly and to participate actively in class discussions. No seriously intended question is a silly question! More than two unexcused absences will affect your final grade (a grade lower for each subsequent missed class). If you do miss a class due to necessity, make sure to cover the assignment for the missed class.

Carefully prepare all the readings for the class session indicated. The literary, philosophical, and sociological readings (Course Reader) serve both points of departure and enhancements to understanding a particular historical period or cultural phenomenon. You will benefit most from the course if you come to class having read all the assigned readings and prepared to discuss the topics.

LAPTOPS: are not to be opened unless directed to do so, relevant to a class activity; that is, they are not to be used for note-taking. See me during office hours if this is problematic for you.

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Grade Composition Participation/Attendance 15% Assignments / “pops”: 15% Project 25% Midterm 20% Final 25%

Brief note on the project, more to come: As part of the thrust toward critical thinking, connection making, and contextualization, we will utilize cities and individuals as springboards to understanding the ways political, economic, religious, philosophical, educational, cultural, and geographical forces have determined developments in one locale versus another.

Weekly Topics and Assignments

WEEK 1 (Aug 30/Sept 1) TOPICS: Setting the Stage: Tribes and Romans READ: Böhle, pp. 3—7 top (to Verdun 843) Reader #’s 1 & 2 : Tacitus, Germania;

WEEK 2 (Sept 6/8) TOPICS: Early Middle Ages READ: Tu Böhle, pp. 7—10 (to Knights, Citizens, Peasants) Reader # 3: Hildegarde von Bingen; Th Reader #4: , The Unfortunate Lord Henry

WEEK 3 (Sept 13/15) TOPICS: Late Middle Ages, Hapsburgs, Martin Luther, Minnesong, Meistersinger READ: Tu Böhle, pp. 10—14 (to When Christians Cannot Agree); Web assignment: Minnesong Reader #5: Walther von der Vogelweide Th Reader #6: “A Maker of Songs and Shoes” (re )

WEEK 4 (Sept 20/22) TOPICS: Reformation, Counter-Reformation, Thirty Years War READ: Tu Böhle, pp. 14—17 top (to Baroque Music) Reader # 7: Grimmelshausen, Simplicius Simplicissimus Th Reader #8: Luise Gottsched, The Witling

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WEEK 5 (Sept 27/29) TOPICS: Prussian Absolutism, Enlightenment, Storm and Stress, French Revolution, Napoleonic Occupation, Congress of Vienna READ: Tu Böhle, pp. 17-20 (to For Unity and Freedom) Reader #’s 9, 10, 11, 12: Lessing, Nathan the Wise; Kant, Categorical Imperative; Observations on the Beautiful and the Sublime; Hippel, On Improving the Status of Women

Th Reader #’s 13, 14, 15, 16, 17: Fichte, Addresses to the German Nation; G. Herz on Bach: letters by Mozart; L. Gorrell on the 19th-c. German Lied (art song); Poems/Lieder of Goethe, Heine, Schubert, Mozart

WEEK 6 (Oct 4/6) TOPICS: , Vormärz, Revolution of 1848, Bismarck, Unification READ: Tu Böhle, pp. 20—23 bottom (to Wilhelm II) Reader # 18: Tieck, “Blond Eckbert” Th Reader # 19: Marx, The Communist Manifesto Group Projects

WEEK 7 (Oct 11/13) TOPICS: Wilhelmene Germany, WW I, Expressionism READ: Tu Böhle, pp. 23 bottom—26 (to A Difficult Birth); Reader #’s 20, 21, 22: Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra; N. Cohn on the myth of Jewish world conspiracy; Theodor Herzl, “The Jewish State” Th Reader #’s 23, 24: E. Rose on Expressionism; Kafka, “The Judgment”

WEEK 8 (Oct 18/20) TOPICS: Expressionism in the Visual Arts READ: Tu Midterm Exam Th Reader II, #1: Dube, The Expressionists

WEEK 9 (Oct 25/27) TOPICS: Weimar Republic, Rise of Hitler READ: Tu Böhle, pp. 26—30 (to Terror) Reader #’s 2 & 3: Laqueur, Weimar; Thompson & Bordwell, Film History Th Reader # 4: Kracauer, From Caligari to Hitler

WEEK 10 (Nov 1/3) TOPICS: Dictatorship, WW II, Holocaust READ: Tu Böhle, pp. 30—34 bottom (to Prisoners-of-War) Web assignment: to be announced Th Reader #5: Hermann Kesten, “The Friend in the Closet”

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WEEK 11 (Nov 8/10) TOPICS: Aftermath of War, Germany Divided READ: Tu Böhle, pp. 34—39 middle (to Socialism or Free Market) Th Reader #6: Wolfgang Borchert, The Outsider

WEEK 12 (Nov 15/17) TOPICS: Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and German Democratic Republic (GDR) READ: Tu Böhle, pp. 39—43 top (to End of the Ice Age) Reader #7: Merritt, Living with the Wall Th Reader #8: Stefan Heym, “My Richard”

WEEK 13 (Nov 22) TOPICS: Reunification, Multiculturalism READ: Tu Böhle, 43—46 (to On the Way to Unifying Europe) Reader #’s 9, 10, 11, 12: Ueda, Testimony of the Twentieth Century ; Noelle-Neumann, “We are one people”; Interview of C. Ozdemir; Interviews by C. Ozdemir Th Reader #13: May Ayim, Showing Our Colors

WEEK 14 (Nov 29/Dec 1) TOPICS: European Union READ: Tu Böhle, to end Web assignment: to be announced; Group project Th Group projects

WEEK 15 (Dec 6/8) Group Projects

Last date to drop with a “w” grade: Nov 4

Final Exam: Thurs, Dec 15, 2:00, Whitman 122

DISABILITY SERVICES If you have a need for disability-related accommodations or services, please inform the Coordinator of Disability Services in the Disability Services Office at 2001 C. B. Hedgcock (227-1700; TTY 227-1543). Reasonable and effective accommodations and services will be provided to students if requests are made in a timely manner, with appropriate documentation, in accordance with federal, state and University guidelines.