German and German Studies

Bryn Mawr German and German Studies is a Bi-College Department with Haverford German. We offer a full curriculum of interdisciplinary coursework to investigate the role and resonance of German languages, literatures, and cultures to understand the essential questions of the past and present. Our program explores the diverse voices, perspectives, disciplines, and narratives that have emerged from and shape German-speaking regions and their relevance in the world today.

Students who pursue a course of study in German gain valuable communication and critical thinking skills to prepare them to be global citizens in the twenty-first century. Graduates of our program enjoy careers in law, medicine, translation, public policy, education, and more. Students interested in the social sciences and STEM fields profit from growing their language and intercultural communicative skills to access opportunities in German-speaking countries.

Our language instruction encourages students from the elementary level to become skilled in all modes of communication. Upper-level courses unfold a variety of topics while deepening their critical writing, reading, and presentational skills. Cross-disciplinary course offerings reflect the breadth and depth of our curriculum and support the academic and professional goals of our students. German majors are encouraged to take courses and cultivate interests in interdisciplinary areas that engage with German thought.

College Foreign Language Requirement

The College's foreign language requirement may be satisfied by completing two courses taught in German with an average grade of at least 2.0.

Department Learning Goals

By promoting knowledge of German speaking cultures, the Bi-Co German Department fosters skills and literacies for the twenty-first century. These include:

critical thinking for real-world and creative problem-solving
expository and analytical writing skills
a command of the critical theories and methodologies used to analyze and contextualize cultural artifacts, texts, and media from the past and present
intercultural competence by exploring different perspectives in a multilingual and multicultural world
interdisciplinary connections that grow from the global resonance of German Studies
communicational skills applicable across all fields in multilingual environments
skills for evaluating media and primary and secondary sources for research purposes.

These goals are informed by the learning outcomes of Bryn Mawr College, emphasizing writing skills, research skills, oral communication skills, critical thinking skills, and the ability to view problems and questions from multiple perspectives.

Academic Opportunities

Study Abroad

Students majoring or minoring in German are encouraged to spend time in German-speaking countries over the course of their studies. Short-term and long-term opportunities include:

immersive summer programs in the US and abroad
summer courses at German universities funded by DAAD (German Academic Exchange) scholarships, Thomas Raeburn White Scholarship, and Judy Loomis Gould Scholarship.
select semester and year-long study abroad programs including the Junior Year Abroad in Munich or IES Programs in Berlin, Freiburg, and Vienna
internships or other career-focused experiences arranged independently through study abroad opportunities

Major Requirements

The Department of German and German Studies offers a major and a minor. A German major consists of 10 credits above the elementary level. They typically consist of:

two intermediate German courses (101 and 102)
seven courses at the 200 and 300 level
one of the four senior capstone options

Students placed at the advanced level (at the 200 level) must still take 10 credits to fulfill major requirements. Out of the seven courses at the 200 or 300 level, up to two can be courses taught in English (without extra German session) on topics related to German Studies pending approval from the Chair of German.

All German majors must take at least one 200 and one 300 level course in the Bi-Co German Department. At least one course has to be at the 300 level with German as the language of instruction. For students studying abroad for one semester, up to four courses may count toward the major. For students studying abroad for an entire academic year, up to six courses may count toward the major. Approval from the department is required for awarding credits from abroad.

The Department of German and German Studies offers writing attentive and writing intensive courses. Majors are required to take two writing attentive courses to help them develop critical writing skills in German and work on their language proficiency across all modes of communication.

Senior Capstone Project

A senior project is required for all German majors. There are four options available to German majors and double majors to serve as meaningful capstones to their studies:

A senior thesis (40 pages) written in German. Students with German as their only major must register for GERM 400 and complete a senior thesis.
A combined thesis (40 pages) written in English for double majors in a related discipline with a strong German Studies component. A combined thesis has to be approved by the department. Students completing a combined thesis register for thesis work with one of their major departments, but are still required to complete 10 credits for their German major.
A senior essay (20 pages) written in German for double majors produced in a 300-level seminar in lieu of a final paper Students pursuing this option will take an additional 300 level seminar in German instead of GERM 400
A project (equivalent to a 40-page research paper) for double majors, which may be either a 15-20-minute film or an exhibition with a portfolio and summary in German. Students pursuing this option must consult with the chair and their thesis advisor and then enroll in GERM 400.

Senior Capstone Presentation

At the conclusion of their senior year, all majors are required to participate in a public presentation of their capstone projects. Minors are invited to present on a project they have done in their upper-level German coursework.

Senior Project Learning Goals

In completing the senior capstone, students should:

formulate a theoretically informed and well-designed research project
apply their German language skills to research, evaluate, and analyze cultural materials
hone analytical and expository writing skills through all stages of the project

Assessment of Senior Thesis

The quality of the thesis is evaluated based on the following criteria:

originality of topic
depth of analysis of texts or cultural phenomena
familiarity with and selection of relevant primary and secondary literature appropriate to genre of writing and discipline
original application of relevant theoretical discourses in field(s) of interest
clarity, coherence, and organization of writing and development of ideas
delivery of a presentation to an audience of peers

Honors

Any student whose grade point average in the major at the end of their senior year is 3.8 or higher qualifies for departmental honors. Students who have completed a thesis and whose major grade point average at the end of the senior year is 3.6 or higher, but not 3.8, are eligible to be discussed as candidates for departmental honors. A student in this range of eligibility must be sponsored by at least one faculty member with whom she has done coursework, and at least one other faculty member must read some of the student's advanced work and agree on the excellence of the work in order for departmental honors to be awarded. If there is a sharp difference of opinion, additional readers will serve as needed.

Minor Requirements

A minor in German and German Studies consists of six credits above the elementary level. They typically consist of:

two Intermediate German courses (101 and 102)
four German courses at the 200 and 300 level

All German minors must take at least one 200 and one 300 level course in the Bi-Co German Department. At least one course has to be at the 300 level with German as the language of instruction.

Students placed at the advanced level (at the 200 level) must still take 6 credits to fulfill minor requirements.

GERM B001 Elementary German (1 Unit)

Meets five hours a week with the individual class instructor, and one additional hour with a TA. This course is designed for students with no previous knowledge of German and will provide them with ample training across all modes of communication to develop their language competence in speaking, reading, listening, and writing. This course will cover an overview of German grammar and vocabulary that will allow students to talk about themselves and a variety of familiar and everyday topics, hold basic conversations, and describe events in the past while exploring contemporary life in German-speaking countries.

GERM B002 Elementary German (1 Unit)

Meets five hours a week with the class instructor, and one additional hour with a TA. This course is designed as a continuation of 001, building on all skills and topics covered in the first semester. Strong emphasis on communicative competence both in spoken and written German in a larger cultural context and expanding learners’ understanding of key aspects of contemporary life in German-speaking countries and selected literary genres. Prerequisite: GERM 001 or its equivalent as decided by the department and/or placement tes

GERM B101 Intermediate German (1 Unit)

Meets three hours per week with the course instructor, and one additional hour with a TA. This course is designed to improve students’ reading, speaking, listening, and writing skills through a thorough review of grammar and completion of exercises in composition and conversation. Study of selected literary and cultural texts and films will allow students to explore connections between language and culture and hone their communication skills. By engaging with authentic texts and materials, students will also explore the topography and recent history of contemporary Germany as visualized in the dynamic cityscapes across Germany and German-speaking countries. Prerequisite: Completion of GERM 002 or its equivalent as decided by the department and/or placement test.

GERM B102 Intermediate German (1 Unit)

Meets three hours per week with the course instructor, and one additional hour with a TA. This course is the continuation of GERM 101,. We will concentrate on all four language skills--speaking, reading, writing, and listening comprehension and build on the knowledge that gained in the elementary-level courses and then honed in the previous semester. Study of a variety of authentic media and literary texts on course topics prepare students for advanced coursework in German. Prerequisite: GERM 101 or its equivalent as decided by the department and/or placement test.

GERM B201 Advanced Training: Language, Text, Context (1 Unit)

Emphasis on the development of conversational, writing and interpretive skills through an introductory study of German political, cultural and intellectual life and history, including public debate, institutional practices, mass media, cross-cultural currents, folklore, fashion and advertising. Taught in German. Course content may vary. Current topic description: This course considers German-language works that focus on women's experiences and recollections of major historical events of the 20th- and 21st centuries, such as the turn of the century, the post-war period, division of Germany and multiculturalism. Selected works include television, film, dramas and short stories such as the Netflix series Charité (2017), Friedrich Dürrenmatt's Der Besuch der alten Dame (1956), Claudia Rusch's collection of short stories Meine freie deutsche Jugend (2005), and works from May Ayim, Yoko Tawada and Emine Özdamar.

GERM B202 Introduction to German Studies (1 Unit)

This is a topics course. Topics may vary.

GERM B217 Representing Diversity in German Cinema (1 Unit)

German society has undergone drastic changes as a result of immigration. Traditional notions of Germanness have been and are still being challenged and subverted. This course uses films and visual media to examine the experiences of various minority groups living in Germany. Students will learn about the history of immigration of different ethnic groups, including Turkish Germans, Afro-Germans, Asian Germans, Arab Germans, German Jews, and ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe. We will explore discourses on migration, racism, xenophobia, integration, and citizenship. We will seek to understand not only the historical and contemporary contexts for these films but also their relevance for reshaping German society. Students will be introduced to modern German cinema from the silent era to the present. They will acquire terminology and methods for reading films as fictional and aesthetic representations of history and politics, and analyze identity construction in the worlds of the real and the reel. This course is taught in English

GERM B223 Topics in German Cultural Studies (1 Unit)

This is a topics course. Course content varies. Taught in English.

GERM B245 Interdisciplinary Approaches to German Literature and Culture (1 Unit)

This is a topics course. Taught in German. Course content varies. Previous topics include, Women’s Narratives on Modern Migrancy, Exile, and Diasporas; Nation and Identity in Post-War Austria.

GERM B259 Unnatural Encounters: The Environment in German Literature (1 Unit)

Germany is recognized as world leader in innovative sustainability practices and has long been a site of social and political organization around the environment. This course will explore encounters with and in the natural world in German literature, film, and the visual arts as reflections of or agents of social, political, and technological change. While these encounters are rooted in the philosophical divide between self and world, they embody questions of gender, urbanism, preservation, alienation, marginalization, and “homeland” in ways that galvanize political and social movements locally and nationally, real and imagined. The course is centered on different loci of encounters with the environment, including forests of fairy tales, coastlines and rivers, mountains, mines, agricultural and industrialized urban spaces. It will also consider the human-made environment, waste, and energy sources as places of encounter and transformation.

GERM B320 Topics in German Literature and Culture (1 Unit)

This is a topics course. Course content varies. Taught in German. Recent topics include: Die Erzählkunst des Krimis; Funny Germans.

GERM B321 Advanced Topics in German Cultural Studies (1 Unit)

This is a topics course. Course content varies. Recent topic titles include: Asia and Germany through Film; The Letter, the Spirit, and Beyond: German-Jewish Writers and Jewish Culture in the 18th and 19th Century.

GERM B400 Senior Seminar (1 Unit)

Senior Seminar. Students are required to write a long 40-page research paper with an annotated bibliography.

GERM B403 Supervised Work (1 Unit)

Major Writing Requirement: Writing Intensive

GERM B421 German for Reading Knowledge (1 Unit)

This course is designed to prepare students to read and translate challenging academic texts from German into English. It presents an intensive examination of basic German grammar and syntax, together with strategies that will enable students to read and understand German texts essential for advanced study or learning in disciplines across the arts, social sciences, and humanities. Previous experience in German is an asset, but is not a class prerequisite. This course does not fulfill the Language Requirement

GERM 257 Fascist Cinemas (1 Unit)

COML B213 Theory in Practice: Critical Discourses in the Humanities (1 Unit)

What is a postcolonial subject, a queer gaze, a feminist manifesto? And how can we use (as readers of texts, art, and films) contemporary studies on animals and cyborgs, object-oriented ontology, zombies, storyworlds, neuroaesthetics? By bringing together the study of major theoretical currents of the 20th century and the practice of analyzing literary works in the light of theory, this course aims at providing students with skills to use literary theory in their own scholarship. The selection of theoretical readings reflects the history of theory (psychoanalysis, structuralism, narratology), as well as the currents most relevant to the contemporary academic field: Post-structuralism, Post-colonialism, Gender Studies, and Ecocriticism. They are paired with a diverse range of short stories across multiple language traditions (Poe, Kafka, Camus, Borges, Calvino, Morrison, Djebar, Murakami, Ngozi Adichie) that we discuss along with our study of theoretical texts. We will discuss how to apply theory to the practice of interpretation and of academic writing, and how theoretical ideas shape what we are reading. The class will be conducted in English, with an additional hour taught by the instructor of record in the target language for students wishing to take the course for language credit.

ITAL B221 What is Aesthetics? Theories on Art, Imagination, and Poetry (1 Unit)

This course investigates how global thinkers, poets, and artists reflected in their works on the roles and powers of art, poetry, and human creativity. The course approaches this theme through a cross-cultural and trans-historical approach, which encompasses the Italian Humanism, which argued for the first time for the importance of aesthetic knowledge, as well as the Age of Enlightenment, which founded ‘aesthetics’ as a specific scientific discipline. Readings from these writers will show how artistic products, human imagination, and poetry are not just light-hearted activities but powerful cognitive tools which can reveal aspects of human history. If the human being is deemed to be a combination of reason and feeling – soul and body – art and poetry, which border both the rational and irrational realms, appear the most appropriate scientific tool to reveal the human essence and its destiny. The discussion will focus on pivotal global writers and philosophers such as Giambattista Vico and Giacomo Leopardi, who pioneered aesthetic, historical, literary, and anthropological ideas which are still crucial in the current theoretical debate on arts and poetry. All readings and class discussion will be in English. Students will have an additional hour of class for Italian credit.

POLS B381 Nietzsche (1 Unit)

This course examines Nietzsche’s thought, with particular focus on such questions as the nature of the self, truth , irony, aggression, play, joy, love, and morality. The texts for the course are drawn mostly from Nietzsche’s own writing, but these are complemented by some contemporary work in moral philosophy and philosophy of mind that has a Nietzschean influence.

Academic Catalog