Courses that satisfy the College language requirement only are designated as such. Other courses can satisfy either the language requirement or fulfill a Humanities distribution requirement.
The Department of German Studies will review the course selection of all entering students, taking into consideration school and AP records together with the results of the placement exam.
All students with prior knowledge of German who plan to elect German in either semester must complete this exam carefully. Final course placement will be based on the following considerations: the student’s specific training in German, the results of the student’s online placement exam, and scheduling possibilities. Students should take the online placement exam prior to registration, if possible.
Students in Groups II–IV, as described below, are required to complete the online placement exam. Students may choose their courses according to the following guidelines, but all students are encouraged to consult with the chair of the department during the summer or upon arrival on campus. Email: kremmler@mtholyoke.edu
All students contemplating spending all or part of their junior year in Germany should elect German in the first semester of their first year, since two continuous years of German in college are normally required for junior year programs in Germany.
GRMST-101 Elementary German
This course introduces speaking, reading, and writing German. Cultural and literary readings together with frequent use of video and other online resources dealing with everyday situations and experiences in the German-speaking countries sensitize students to the cultural context in which the language is used. Weekly conversation sessions with a German language assistant supplement class work.
GRMST-102 Elementary German
Continuation of the elementary German course; practice in speaking, reading, and writing German. Cultural and literary readings together with frequent use of online resources dealing with everyday situations and experiences in the German-speaking countries sensitize students to the cultural context in which the language is used. Weekly conversation sessions with a German language assistant supplement class work.
GRMST-201 Intermediate German
This course emphasizes further development of contextual reading, writing, and speaking skills in German. Focus on strategies that help students learn vocabulary and use grammatical structures in appropriate ways. Discussion of a variety of texts and genres, as well as exploration of topics such as immigration and social justice. Frequent writing assignments and speaking opportunities.
GRMST-205 Decentering Europe: An Introduction to Critical European Studies
Europe embodies crossroads of multiple cultures, memories, migrations, and political demarcations. Taking a critical view of conventional paradigms of European nation states and "master" narratives, we study shifting European cultures and identities through multiple perspectives across time and space. What remains of the ancient and modern regimes? How have global movements, historical upheavals, and shifting boundaries within and adjacent to European borders, from early empires to contemporary global networks, affected the transformation of lives? Where is Europe heading today? Faculty from across the disciplines will join us to discuss Europe as a subject of global imagination and networks.
GRMST-213 The Gender of Yiddish
Yiddish and questions of gender have a long history. The language was called "mame-loshn" (mother tongue); it was associated with home and family. Jewish women were the primary intended readers of Yiddish, beginning with religious literature for those who could not read Hebrew and developing into a modern, secular, often moralizing literature. Despite the strong connections between Yiddish and women, women writers have been marginalized and underestimated. This course will explore the gendered history of Yiddish, including through the lens of queer theory. We will also read English translations of literature by modern Yiddish women writers who are being rediscovered today through new translations and scholarly attention.
GRMST-221 German Culture and Histories
Topics in German Studies provide students with an intensive study of major themes, issues, and paradigm shifts in German cultural studies.
GRMST-221CW German Culture and Histories: 'Crafting Witches: Tracing the Historical Persecution of Racialized and Gendered Bodies Through Accusations of Witchcraft'
This course focuses on the persecution of people accused of witchcraft, beginning with European pagan religions and the spread of Christianity; the "Burning Times" in early modern Europe, and 17th-century New England. We examine the connections between the persecution of those accused of witchcraft and the oppression of colonized subjects through global perspectives, looking at aspects of persecution that illuminate broad ideas about race and gender that arose concurrently with colonization and capitalism. Course materials include readings and film examining witch persecutions from contemporary feminist and postcolonial perspectives.
GRMST-221DE German Culture and Histories: 'Decolonial Approaches to German Culture'
This course revisits German cultural production (textual and visual representation) through the lens of decolonial practices. We explore how modes of power, transnational exchange, cultural upheaval, and constructions of identity from the mid-18th century to the present are represented in German-speaking realms, both real and imaginary. What role does colonialism play in shaping early and present-day German national identities? How do particular historical movements, events, and narratives create multifaceted constructions of race, gender, and ethnicities? We will address these questions and others through case studies of pivotal moments in German history.
GRMST-221GN German Culture and Histories: 'The Graphic Novel in Germany: Histories and Identities in Words and Pictures'
In this course we will read a selection of German-language graphic novels, including Nora Krug's 2018 Heimat: Ein deutsches Familienalbum, Birgit Weyhe's 2016 Madgermanes and Simon Schwartz's 1983 Drüben!. We focus on themes such as the representation of the Holocaust, reunification and migration and we examine the graphic novel as a unique literary genre that has garnered controversy in recent history. We will analyze the relationships between visual art and texts, as well as gain an understanding of how to read the graphic novel.
GRMST-221TH German Culture and Histories: 'Black, Jewish and Muslim Cultures in Germany'
This course examines historical, cultural, and political developments that continue to frame debates about the twentieth century, World War II, the former GDR, German unification, and contemporary German identities. As much as German culture is riddled with extreme examples of persecution and nationalism, the presence of those deemed non-German, such as Black Africans, African Americans, Jews, and Muslims, shape cultural expression and cultural exchange. Drawing from critical race theory, critical ethnic studies, and gender studies, we consider work by non-Germans as well as the representation of others in German canonical and popular cultural production. Thematic focus helps students develop accuracy, fluency, and complexity of expression. Reading, writing, and speaking in German are consistently integrated. Special emphasis is placed on text organization toward expanding students' language abilities, with a gradual movement from personal forms of expression to written and public discourse.
GRMST-223 Topics in German Studies
Topics in German Studies provide students with an intensive study of major themes, issues, and paradigm shifts in German cultural studies.
GRMST-223AR Topics in German Studies: The Art and Science of Revolution in German Cultures from 1789 to the Present'
Revolutions are deeply embedded in cultural, economic, political, and environmental structure. Some are violent, some are peaceful; some evolve out of historical processes over long periods of time; and others emerge spontaneously without warning. Still others are material in nature, such as the industrial revolution or the end of the Berlin wall. The seminar explores the causes, forms, and impact of major revolutions in German cultures from the invention of the printing press to the most recent "Wende" that led to unification. Other revolutions include the French Revolution, the German Revolution of 1848, the founding of the Weimar Republic, and the student movement in 1968.
GRMST-223FR Topics in German Studies: 'Fascism, Gender and Sexuality: Gender and Far-Right Movements in 20th Century Europe'
This course explores the use of gender in historical and contemporary fascist movements, examining the ways in which fascist movements construct images of "masculine" and "feminine" to shape ideology. We will look at the rhetoric of gender equity to enforce regression and oppression systems, and how these rhetorics are used as tools to enforce xenophobic and racist narratives against immigrants to the United States and Europe. This course will incorporate theoretical readings from political and social histories of 20th century Europe, gender and sexuality, as well as media sources like film, journalism and social media.
GRMST-223MG Topics in German Studies: 'Migration, Identity, and Place in German Cultures'
In 2015, Germany opened its borders to over a million asylum-seekers. The ensuing debates about German national belonging, identity, and rights often overlook the contributions of immigrants, refugees, and displaced persons throughout Europe since the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). Indeed, migrants continue to shape European and German cultures today. Through close-readings and analyses of visual images, narratives, and films produced by or about the experiences of migrants and refugees from the 18th century to the present, this seminar traces how immigrant cultures shape contemporary German culture.
GRMST-231YN Topics in German and European Studies In A Global Context" 'Yiddish Nation: Language as Homeland'
For roughly 1000 years Ashkenazi Jewish culture has existed in exile. Since these stateless people were living in diaspora, without a sovereign territory, the Yiddish language itself became a symbolic homeland. This course will explore how some Yiddish-speaking Jews embraced their stateless existence not as a historic tragedy but as a revolutionary form of identity called diaspora nationalism. We will explore Yiddish cultural identity through literature, music, film, and politics. We will read works of history and cultural theory and seek points of intersection with other migrant, refugee, stateless, and diasporic cultures.
GRMST-295 Independent Study
GRMST-325 Advanced Seminar in Transnational and Transdisciplinary German Studies
What constitutes contemporary German culture within global perspectives? How might we apply critical race theory, critical social theory, ethnic studies, and queer studies, in order to interpret trajectories of German cultures, histories, and memories? Building on interdisciplinary close-readings of German-speaking cultural production ranging from novels to documentary film, students develop a research topic that spans the humanities, sciences, and/or social sciences. Students may build on previous scholarly work in German studies and other disciplines, community-based learning, internships, and/or learning abroad to consider major concepts, issues, or problems in an original manner.
GRMST-395 Independent Study
