Beginning German Geared toward quick and early proficiency in comprehension and free expression. Grammatical structures are practiced through group activities and situational exercises (e.g., role-playing games and partner interviews). Active class participation by students is required and will be counted toward the final grade. Since this is an integrated approach, there will be laboratory assignments but no special drill sections. Classes meet five times a week. Students take GRMN 0102 as their winter term course.

Beginning German Continued This course is the intensive continuation of GRMN 0101 which will further the development of your language skills in an immersion-like environment, and will include bi-weekly cultural readings in English. Classes meet for two hours each morning, then lunch at the language tables, in addition to afternoon and evening activities (e.g. film screenings). Completion of this course is a prerequisite to enrollment in GRMN 0103.

Beginning German Continued This course is a continuation of GRMN 0101. Increased emphasis on communicative competence through short oral presentations and the use of authentic German language materials. Introduction to short prose writings and other documents relating to contemporary German culture. Five class meetings per week.

Accelerated Beginning German This class is aimed at students who wish to begin the study of German on the fast lane. In one semester, we will cover a year's material, the equivalent of GRMN 0101, 0102, and 0103. We will develop all four skills in an intensive, immersion-style environment, allowing students to continue German in the regular second-year classes in the fall. Classes meet five times per week, including two 75-minute meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and an additional drill session. Students are expected to fully participate in all departmental  activities. No prerequisites. 6 hr lect./disc./1 hr. drill

Intermediate German GRMN 0201/0202 is a culture-based intermediate language sequence that focuses students' attention on intercultural aspects of language acquisition, vocabulary expansion, reading and writing strategies, and a review of grammar. It moves from a focus on issues of individual identity and personal experiences to a discussion of Germany today (GRMN 0201), explores national identity in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and supplies an overview of cultural history, literary achievements, and philosophical traditions in the German-speaking world

Intermediate German Continued GRMN 0201/0202 is a culture-based intermediate language sequence that focuses students' attention on intercultural aspects of language acquisition, vocabulary expansion, reading and writing strategies, and a review of grammar. It moves from a focus on issues of individual identity and personal experiences to a discussion of Germany today (GRMN 0201), explores national identity in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and supplies an overview of cultural history, literary achievements, and philosophical traditions in the German-speaking world

Holocaust Refugees in the Global South In this course we will undertake an interdisciplinary exploration of often underrepresented experiences of the forced migration ofHolocaust refugees to colonial locations during the Second World War. Our study of global refugee transit experiences in places like Shanghai, India, South Africa, Kenya, South America, Mauritius, and the Caribbean will reveal entanglements between occupied Europe and the colonial world that significantly shaped Holocaust refugee trajectories. This course employs interdisciplinary approaches, blending (diasporic) historiography with literary and postcolonial studies and delving into personal narratives. It seeks to uncover nuanced dimensions of the refugee experience, challenge Eurocentric perspectives and established victim/perpetrator binaries and examine complex forms of “implication.” Course materials are in English, but students with linguistic competency are encouraged to analyze documents in other languages. This course is part of the Axinn Center for the Humanities’ Mellon Foundation Public Humanities Initiative.

Queerness and Collectivity in German Cinema How has cinema engaged critically with sexuality across German history? Through the analysis of German queer film, students will develop skills in close reading and critical thinking and gain a grounding in the German queer movement. We will watch works by von Praunheim, Fassbinder, Carow, Petzold, read queer theory, and learn about the history of the various queer movements in East, West and Unified Germany. These films interrogate how power operates in society, both through sexuality’s regulation and through normative, oppressive attitudes towards sexuality. To develop our skills in analysis, we will read scholarly works from classical film theory, and film theory drawing from queer and affect studies.

Literary Responses to the Holocaust (in English) Can the Holocaust be described in words? Can images represent the horrors of Auschwitz? In this seminar we will explore the literary and artistic representations of the Shoah and its legacies, their mechanisms, tensions, and challenges. We will approach the issues of Holocaust representations by considering a significant array of texts that span genres, national literatures, time, narrative and poetic styles, and historical situations. Readings will include texts on witnessing, memory, post-memory, and trauma by authors such as Art Spiegelman, Hans J. Massaquoi, Primo Levi, Ruth Klüger, Nora Krug, Paul Celan, Sherman Alexie, and Hannah Arendt. 3hrs. sem.

Black German History Although more than a million people in Germany identify as Black, Germany’s Black community and its history remain largely invisible in public discourse, historiography, and collective memory. In this course we will examine the history of Blacks in Germany from colonialism to the present. We will discuss early encounters of Africans with Germany, Germany’s brutal colonial ambitions, Black communities in early 20th century Germany and during National socialism, the histories of Black communities in East and West Germany after World War II (including their connections to the U.S. Civil Rights Movement), and the emergence of an Afro-German identity from the 1980s until today.

Weimar Germany Revisited (in English) In this course we will examine the brief but intense period of artistic creativity and political upheaval in Germany's first democracy, the Weimar Republic. Beginning with Germany's defeat in World War I, we will discuss the implications of the Versailles Treaty, the "stab-in-the-back" theory, and the growing political polarization leading to Hitler's rise to power. Contrasting this political decline with the period's increased cultural productivity, we will examine important movements like Expressionism, Dadaism, and New Objectivity in literature, the visual arts, theater, and film. Readings will include texts by Döblin, Th. Mann, Kracauer, Kästner, and Brecht. Reflecting on Weimar Germany's echo today, we will end the term with a critical evaluation of Netflix' hit show "Babylon Berlin." This course will be taught in English. This course is part of the Public Humanities Labs Initiative administered by the Axinn Center for the Humanities./

Literary Responses to the Holocaust (in English) Can the Holocaust be described in words? Can images represent the horrors of Auschwitz? In this seminar we will explore the literary and artistic representations of the Shoah and its legacies, their mechanisms, tensions, and challenges. We will approach the issues of Holocaust representations by considering a significant array of texts that span genres, national literatures, time, narrative and poetic styles, and historical situations. Readings will include texts on witnessing, memory, post-memory, and trauma by authors such as Bernhard Schlink, Art Spiegelman, Hans J. Massaquoi, Primo Levi, Ruth Klüger, Nora Krug, Paul Celan, Sherman Alexie, and Hannah Arendt. 3hrs. sem.

Screening and Streaming Germany: Film, Television & Netflix We will interrogate the role that various media forms play in the writing and re-writing of history and the creation of historical memory and identity. Questions that will guide the course include: How have depictions of Germany and German history changed over time? How do film and television influence national and group identity, both intentionally and unintentionally? How has the viewer's behavior changed with the development of new technologies such as Netflix, and how does that affect what stories are told, how they are told, and how they are received? Students will examine the assigned films and televisions series through both an historical and a comparative-media lens.

Berlin: History, Architecture, and Urbanism in Faust’s Metropolis (in English) In this course we will investigate the rich and complicated built environment of Berlin. By looking at both visual evidence and textual sources we will uncover how the city has been transformed from a cultural backwater during the early modern period to the current capital of a reunified Germany. By the conclusion of this course, you will be comfortable “reading” buildings and spaces and will be able to navigate both the physical city of Berlin and the many layers of history buried within.

Advanced Writing Workshop The goal of this course is to train students to present their thoughts, ideas, and arguments in correct, coherent, and effective writing. Students will expand their active vocabulary and aim for a consistently high level of grammatical accuracy through daily homework assignments focusing on advanced-level linguistic structures. In addition to a thorough review of major grammatical structures, some class time will be used for creative, structured, or contemplative writing practice. Grammar topics will be covered within the context of writing, through targeted teaching of linguistic structures.

German in Its Cultural Contexts The course invites students to explore social and cultural developments in Germany from 1871 to the present day from a historical perspective. We begin by examining Germany’s birth as a nation state and end by looking at recent events in today’s reunified Federal Republic. The course aims to lay the foundation for a critical understanding of German culture in its contemporary global context. Writing the biographies of fictional Germans throughout the semester, students will follow the radical changes in German society during the (long) twentieth century and gain an understanding how ‘ordinary’ people in Germany might have lived. A montage of written and visual materials will expose students to elite, mainstream, and marginal cultures alike. Taught in German. (Formerly GRMN 0310)

German Linguistics (in German) This course simultaneously presents an overview of the major subfields of linguistics as they apply to the German language and a discussion of how today's Standard German evolved. We will pay attention to important concepts in phonetics/phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. In addition to these theoretical and descriptive aspects, we will discuss sociolinguistic issues such as language and gender and regional variations within Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Luxemburg. Lectures and discussions will be conducted in German.

Rethinking Literature This course focuses on the "literary" as a force within cultural discourse. A thorough understanding of literary periods and genres serves as the background for a critical investigation of modern theoretical approaches to literary texts. Discussing major works of German literature, students explore the notion of "literariness" in its various cultural contexts.

Dramatic Changes and Challenges In this course we will analyze and discuss major changes and challenges to German Drama since the 17th century. Shifting social and political world views in Europe continuously challenge artistic expression and demand new approaches to the production of plays. With Aristotle’s Poetics as a backdrop, students will familiarize themselves with important German plays that altered traditional views on drama and staging. Examining works by Hans Sachs, Lessing, Lenz, Goethe, Schiller, Hauptmann, Wedekind, Brecht, Dürrenmatt, Löhle, and Jelinek, we will follow major shifts in dramatic theory and practice throughout the centuries. 3 hr sem.

Economization of Power in 21st Century German Cinema How is power exercised interpersonally and locally in our present age? Who possesses it, and who is subjected to it? How does the increasing centrality of the market bring itself to bear on individual lives? In this course we will analyze the slow-burn thrillers of the Berlin School as well as comedies and dramas by the likes of Maren Ade and Fatih Akin. Through their depictions of contemporary European life, these films interrogate individual and structural power as they intersect with gender, race, class, and sexuality.

Colonialism, Exoticism, Race In this course we will examine Germany’s short era of colonialism (1894-1918) and its long-lasting legacies. We will examine concepts of “race” as they have existed since the 18th century as categorizing terms referring to humans. We will also discuss examples of exoticism, the fascination with and representation of cultures perceived as foreign or different, e.g. during “Karneval” in German culture. Through our analysis of literary and non-literary texts, interviews, photography, documentaries, films, museum exhibitions and many other materials, we will gain an understanding of race politics and exoticisms during the colonial period, under the National Socialist regime, in post-war and in post-reunification Germany. (GRMN 0202 or placement exam) 3hrs. sem.

Exiles, Refugees and Migrants from/in Germany In this course we will study experiences of exiles, refugees, and migrants and their escapes both from and to Germany. We will focus on two time periods: 1933 to 1945, when people fled persecution from Nazi Germany, and the “refugee crisis” in Germany between 2015 to 2018. Using literary texts, letters, autobiographies, films, current news coverage, and documentaries, we will place flight narratives in their historical contexts, follow escape routes across borders, study post-flight lives of refugees in their reception countries, and learn about international refugee and asylum politics. Taught in German

German Architecture and Power (in German) Architecture reveals not only the aesthetic and formal preferences of the architect or client in charge but grants insight into a society’s aspirations and power struggles. In this course we will study Berlin’s public buildings (and architectural proposals that never came to fruition) to understand the many complex forces that have shaped Germany’s old and new capital city. Recognizing that a building’s meaning changes over time depending on its cultural context, we will use semiotic models and historical background information to “read” a variety of iconic buildings as symbols for Germany’s identity formation processes. Examples to be scrutinized include the Brandenburg Gate, the various faces of the Reichstag, Hitler’s bombastic visions for the Welthauptstadt Germania, Stadtschloss, Palast der Republik, Şehitlik Mosque, Jewish Museum, and others. (GRMN 0202 or equivalent)

Fin-de-siècle Vienna Major innovations in art, architecture, music, and literature occurred in Vienna at the turn of the century. Politically the Habsburg monarchy was, unknowingly, nearing its end. Despite contributions by Gustav Klimt, Otto Wagner, Arnold Schönberg, and Arthur Schnitzler, scholarship often viewed fin-de-siècle Vienna as a period of decline and decay in which art and literature were characteristically apolitical. In this course an introduction to the historical, political, and cultural events of the Habsburg monarchy serves as background information through which to examine Austria-Hungary’s literature, music, and arts around 1900. Readings will include texts by A. Schnitzler, R. Musil, H. v. Hofmannsthal, and P. Altenberg. (Formerly GRMN 0460).

German Theatre in Action In this course, students will prepare and stage a full production of a German play. After five weeks of seminar-style academic discussions of this work in context (the genre, the author, the topic, the time) and aspects of theatrical performance (theory), the class will prepare the show for the last week of the semester (two rehearsals/ week). Students will make informed staging decisions as a group and come to understand performance as a powerful mediator in the never-ending process of negotiating literary meaning.

Contemporary Germany & Sustainability (In German) Already known as the country of poets and thinkers, Germany is becoming a land of ideas for sustainability and environmental innovation.  In this course we will take a closer look at the origins of the German environmental movement and explore the three major components of sustainability–economy, society, and environment–in contemporary Germany. We will draw on political, literary, and scientific texts, films, works of art, and online resources while making frequent comparisons with global developments. Texts include Quaschning's Trash Sorters, Muesli Eaters, and Climate Protectors: We Germans and our Environment, and Wagenhofer’s We Feed the World. (GRMN 0202 or placement) 3 hrs lect./disc.

Law and Justice in German Literature This course focuses on the concepts of “Recht, Gerechtigkeit, Justiz” in German literature. A long literary tradition has seen authors inquire into the complex relationships between what is just and what is the law, and author-activists or judge-authors are frequent participants in public discourse about these issues. Discussion topics include the relationship between “Recht” and “Gerechtigkeit”, vigilante law, divine/ poetic justice, and the judicial system. Texts by F. Schiller, H. Kleist, G. Büchner, F. Kafka, A. Döblin, H. Böll, F. Dürrenmatt, Chr. Brückner, and F. von Schierach.

Reasonable Doubts This course gives an introduction to various responses to the idea of "Enlightenment" and the "Age of Reason" in eighteenth century German literature and culture.  Starting with definitions of the term "Aufklärung" students will gain familiarity with proponents and critics of this notion as well as modern twentieth century approaches to it.  We will focus on works by Kant, Lessing, Goethe, Schiller, Lenz, and Kleist and the critical reflections of Adorno, Habermas, Lyotard, and Foucault, among others.

How Grim Are the Grimm Brothers? Rereading Fairy Tales This course focuses on modern (re)readings of the Grimm brothers' fairy tales. Starting with a discussion of the brothers' lives and the cultural setting at the beginning of the nineteenth century, we concentrate on contemporary issues in these tales. Various approaches to literature allow us to create many spheres of interpretation. Historical, textual, psychological, and philosophical readings generate an array of possible meanings for modern audiences.

Sounds and the City: German Urban Cultural History of the 20th and 21st Century In this course, we will seek to understand the cultural history of  20th and 21st century Germany by examining its soundscapes. Analyzing recordings of selected events, we will discuss how history can be portrayed as an acoustic experience.  Sound profiles of city spaces before, during, and after World War II and the Cold War will illustrate sound's impact on German society and its ability to create utopian/dystopian spaces. This line of inquiry invites us to rethink noise, silence, language, identity, power, and-considering the history of recording technologies-the nature of knowledge itself. We will consider works by literary scholars, historians, anthropologists, and musicologists.

The Berlin Wall: Then and Now From 1961 to 1989 the Berlin Wall was a physical reminder of the ideological divide separating East and West Germany. We will examine the wall's inception, its history, and the role it played in the political, cultural, and literary landscapes of divided Germany. We will also investigate the evidence of a persistent "inner wall" that continues to separate East and West Germans after political reunification. Our texts will interrogate the perspectives of both East and West and will include journalistic accounts, speeches, films and documentaries, and fiction from writers such as Christa Wolf and Peter Schneider.

Colonial Legacies: Namibia and Germany In this course we will first learn about the history of German colonialism in (Southwest) Africa, including the 1904 Herero/Nama genocide, and then will move on to the challenges and obstacles in working through, acknowledging, and commemorating the colonial past in Germany and Namibia (in scholarship, public memory, diplomatic relations; activism). We will go on a 14-day trip to Germany (Bremen, Hamburg) and Namibia (Windhoek, Swakopmund) for a place-based, intercultural learning experience. There, we will explore (visible and invisible) colonial legacies and sites of colonial memory, and (through meetings with scholars of (post-)colonialism, museum practitioners, and activists) learn about ongoing conflicts stemming from colonialism and stakeholder’s strategies to find solutions. No longer accepting applications.

Kafka and his Influence This course is an intensive inquiry into the work and reach of Franz Kafka.  In addition to reading his novels, his stories, his letters and diaries, and his aphorisms, we will take up some of the voluminous and often highly imaginative writings on Kafka, with an eye towards fashioning some ideas, and some writings, of our own. (This course is a junior/senior seminar for ENGL majors; others by instructor approval).

Screening German History In this course we analyze movies portraying events or issues of cultural and historical significance in Germany’s past and present. We will focus on visual meaning-making, i.e. on how movies produce a meaning that simultaneously comments on the time they depict and the time in which they were produced: how does this process of adapting hi/story to the screen affect our understanding of that hi/story? No prior knowledge in film-analysis required. But since you love watching movies, please share with us any movies you know that make a comment on the present while telling a story from the past.

Bettina Matthias

Erin Sassin

Florence Feiereisen

Heike Fahrenberg

Natalie Eppelsheimer

Robert Cohen

Roman Graf

Thomas Preston

Thor Sawin

Viola Huang

Read 87 reviews for German courses at Middlebury College. Find the best German professors and courses.  Discover your new major today!

This course is no joke, but if you put in the required effort then you will, somehow, come out knowing German after 12 weeks. The worst part about the class are the online homework assignments, which are daily and incredibly annoying. However, everything else is awesome. Bettina is an outstanding instructor but also a great person and will answer all your questions and is super accommodating. This course is not for the faint of heart but I am very glad I took it. 

This course focuses on drawing a connection between German history (mostly in the 1900s) and German architecture. Assignments are mostly pretty short and easy. Your performance is assessed by completing homework and putting effort into papers and projects. The content of this course is very interesting and provides a valuable lens to interpret German history and power dynamics. Florence is very kind and enthusiastic. 

I enjoyed the course overall, I felt like I took away a lot from the course that I previously would not have known. However, I do find the course to be a bit challenging when it comes to your subjective view on things. If you have take-aways from homework that don't align with what the professor wanted you to take away then it may be troublesome. If you struggle with remembering specifics of homework i may stay away from the course, because the professor takes things personally sometimes-- like if you mistake one person for another. Overall I would recommend the course, I just did not have the most positive experience in the class.