Module Brief - Additional Information Note: Please note that the information in this brief is tentative as faculty could still be in the process of developing or refining their module details. Module Code and Title YHU3299 Sex, Decadence & Decay: Weimar Berlin Module Description Exploring a transformative period in European history, this module will The 100 word course immerse students in the vicissitudes of the short-lived Weimar Republic description from Course (1918-1933) through the lens of Berlin’s roaring twenties and with Catalogue will be made particular reference to the life and work of the queer, Jewish sexologist available to students. Please and activist Magnus Hirschfeld. Weimar Berlin, the 1920s’ global capital provide additional information of decadence, offers an illuminating window onto past ambivalences if you wish. regarding democracy, liberalism, modernity, art, gender sex and social change wich are once again very much with us in the present. Learning Objectives This module is designed to let students engage with a range of important topics by making a cross-section of a historical juncture that connects the political problem of democracy with the societal legacy of World War, with the social consequences of economic breakdown and urban transformation, with the cultural impact of modernism and Americanization, and with the rise of revolutionary populism in times of crisis and polarization. During the Weimar Republic sex, gender and the urban underground often served as the focal points of celebrations and anxieties pertaining to social transformation. The case-study of Magnus Hirschfeld, who found himself at the intersection of all these tensions, will allow students to negotiate the historian’s problem of perspectivism through a variety of narrative sources. They will also learn to look historically at cultural products such as art, images and film as source materials as well as be confronted with the historiographical complexities of historical memory, memorialization, and mythology. The central goal is to allow for a seminar that appeals to students interested in the cultural history of politics, modern European history, the globalization of knowledge circulation, and issues of gender and sexuality. Modes of Learning & - in-class discussions Teaching - film analysis (takes up a central place) Please provide details of the - presentations on art history learning activities learners will - explorations of various types of primary sources participate in etc. - role playing - assisted research development Assessment Criteria In-class part. : 10% Please provide details of the Assignment 1 : 10% (group project roaring 1920s) assessment methods or what Assignment 2 : 20% (film review) proportion of the overall grade is composed by each Assignment 3 : 5% (research proposal) component of assessment Assignment 4 : 15% (presentation of work-in-progress & discussion leadership) Assignment 5 : 40% (final research paper) Required Reading List Required Reading List for Semester X AY20XX/20XX will be enabled at the following site during module registration: http://courses.yale-nus.edu.sg/required-reading-list/ Reading List (additional/supplementary) Any other Information YHU3299, Weimar Berlin: Urbanity and Sexology before the Nazis Second Semester, 2019-2020: Tuesdays and Fridays, 1:00-2:30pm, Room Y-CR1 Note: Classes end 10 minutes prior to the timetabled end time Instructor: Wannes Dupont Office Location: Cendana College, RC3-2-02I Office Hours: Tuesdays & Fridays, 2:30pm-3:30pm Always pre-book office hours via wannesdupont.youcanbook.me Email Address: [email protected] Course Description: Exploring a transformative period in European history, this module will immerse students in the vicissitudes of the turbulent Weimar Republic (1918-1933) through the lens of Berlin’s roaring twenties and with particular reference to the life and work of Magnus Hirschfeld, a Jewish physician who was the face of scientifically enlightened sexual reformism, who travelled the globe as the ‘Einstein of Sex’ and who became a prime target of Nazi oppression as the Weimar Republic collapsed in the early 1930s. Weimar Berlin offers an illuminating window onto Europe’s ambivalences regarding democracy, liberalism, modernity, social and sexual change in the early twentieth century. Learning Objectives or Course Goals: Students will gain an understanding of the most important episodes of Weimar history. They will learn to situate this history within the wider trajectory of European transformation. More particularly, students will learn to appreciate Weimar Berlin as a key site where (pan-Western) social, political and cultural problems of modernity crystallized, especially with regard to the crisis of democracy and the rise of totalitarianism. They will learn to combine a diversity of narrative sources, alongside images, architecture, artwork and films as some of the instruments in the historian’s toolbox. By zooming in on the figure of Magnus Hirschfeld, they will develop an appreciation of diverse methodological approaches to history writing, and engage with the complexity of biography and the post-factum and politically inflected construction of historiographical narratives. Course Materials: The bulk of required reading materials will be placed on reserve or made available through Canvas. In addition, even if one will be available in the library too, students may consider purchasing a personal copy of the following books (paperback or electronic): MARHOEFER Laurie, Sex and the Weimar Republic. German Homosexual Emancipation and the Rise of the Nazis, Toronto, Buffalo and London: University of Toronto Press, 2015. ROTH Joseph, What I Saw. Report from Berlin, 1920-1933, London: Granta, 2003 [1996]. 1 Course Assessment Breakdown: In-class part. : 10% Assignment 1 : 10% (group project roaring 1920s) Assignment 2 : 20% (film review) Assignment 3 : 5% (research proposal) Assignment 4 : 15% (presentation of work-in-progress & discussion leadership) Assignment 5 : 40% (final research paper) Description of Assignments For assignment due dates, please refer to the Schedule of Course Topics and Readings below. In-class participation: 10% Students are expected to complete all the required readings (or view the required films) before class. They are also expected to participate actively while discussing these materials when we meet. During each meeting the extent to which students’ have absorbed the literature will be gauged and afterwards notes will be made about their individual input. Assignment 1 : 10% - Group project roaring 1920s This is an exercise in communication, creativity and presentation techniques and co-operation. Each group will be graded on (a) the correctness and clarity of the way in which they introduce their assigned theme in condensed form to a peer audience, (b) the verve with which they give their oral presentations, (c) the design and effectiveness of their supporting materials, and (d) their personal contribution to a group effort. This last element will be weighed through anonymous peer-assessment. Assignment 2: 20% - Film review This is an exercise in associative ingenuity, analytical percipience, intertextuality, historical contextualization, and in clear and creative writing. Student papers will be graded on the basis of (a) the extent to which they can lucidly connect specific scenes, themes or techniques with the wider context of the Weimar Republic as well as (b) with the historiographical texts and debates addressed so far in the course. Wherever they refer to or draw on relevant sources, (c) correct and consistent references are required. Lastly, papers will be assessed on the basis of the precision of the language used, the intelligibility of the arguments made and the stylistic elegance and coherence of their writing. Assignment 3: 5% - Research proposal This third assignment constitutes the first and a critical phase of the research process finalised in assignment 5. It should constitute outcome of a heuristic, synthetic, critical and creative process. The goal here is to skilfully descry argue and articulate 2 a historical and historiographical problem that calls for elucidation through research. Rather than merely selecting a theme of topic for illustration at random, the successful research proposal (a) astutely identifies an unresolved issue or a tension between existing interpretations of a historical phenomenon, (b) conceives of relevant research questions that would help to resolve this issue or tension, and (c) makes informed suggestions about how these questions could be addressed empirically. Naturally, it will be taken into account that students are new to the historian’s craft, but their research proposals will be graded on the basis of which they are able to include the elements listed above, to go beyond mere description, to demonstrate targeted heuristic efforts already undertaken, and to think with analytical precision and methodological practicality. Assignment 4: 15% - Presentation of work-in-progress This constitutes a second exercise in oral presentation, but this time on an individual basis. Furthermore, part of the exercise is also the extent to which students can engage critically, but constructively, with the work of others. The point here is not to compete with, but to learn from and help each other. Therefore, Assignment 4 consists of two parts. The first is to present, with panache, concision and clarity, the reasons for and the historiographical relevance of your research,