Course Schedule

GER 101 – Beginning German I

Introduction to German language and culture, developing basic communication skills for learners with no prior knowledge of German (not including GER courses offered in English for General Education).

GER 102 – Beginning German II

Introduction to German language and culture, extending basic communication skills (second semester).

GER 114 – How to Learn a Foreign Language

Gen Ed Attribute: Quantitative Reasoning · Gen Ed Attribute: Writing · Gen Ed: Building Connections

The goal of the course is to provide students with important tools to help them become successful foreign language learners. Students will become familiar with basic elements of language such as parts of speech and the pronunciation of new sounds as a means of enabling them to anticipate and effectively deal with problems in pronunciation, vocabulary building, and sentence formation that often come up in foreign language study. They will also learn about the intertwining of culture and language, such as how expressions of politeness and body language differ across cultures. They will also be exposed to different language teaching and learning styles, typical mistakes language learners make, and strategies for making language learning more effective. This information will be presented in the context of the wide variety of languages taught at the University of Arizona

GER 150B1 – Becoming Transcultural: Maximizing Study Abroad

Gen Ed: Tier 1 Individuals & Societies/150 · Gen Ed Attribute: Diversity and Equity · Gen Ed Attribute: World Cultures and Societies · Gen Ed: Building Connections

This course helps students prepare for challenges of intercultural communication during study, work, and travel abroad and in their home country. Using perspectives and methods from various disciplines, we analyze differences in verbal and nonverbal behavior, communication style preferences, intercultural relationships, conflict resolution styles, and adaption to life in culturally different environments(including in education, tourism, business, and healthcare contexts).

GER 160D1 – Eroticism and Love in the Middle Ages

Gen Ed: Tier 1 Traditions and Cultures/160 · General Education: TRAD 104

Courtly love was a discovery of the High Middle Ages and became the dominant theme in literature, the arts, philosophy, and even in religion. This course will examine the concept of love as discussed by medieval poets from the 11th through the 15th centuries and cover the wide spectrum of European history culture seen through the lenses of the theme of "love."

GER 160D2 – Gesundheit!: Health and Well-Being in German-Speaking Cultures

Gen Ed: Tier 1 Traditions and Cultures/160 · Gen Ed Attribute: Diversity and Equity · Gen Ed Attribute: World Cultures and Societies · Gen Ed: Exploring Perspectives, Humanist

This course brings together perspectives on health and well-being from the humanities, medicine, social sciences, and education to investigate representations of pain and healing in German-speaking texts (e.g., literature, film, art, other media). Throughout the course, students will reflect on systemic questions of power, identity, and language/talk, and how these have influenced values and practices around health and well-being in German-speaking texts and US-American cultural contexts. Taught in English.

GER 201 – Intermediate German I

Introduction to German language and culture, refining communication skills (third semester).

GER 202 – Intermediate German II

Topic-based practice of communication skills in German (listening, reading, speaking, writing), systematic review of German grammar (fourth semester).

GER 246 – German Culture, Science and Technology

Gen Ed: Tier 2 Humanities · Gen Ed Attribute: Writing · Gen Ed Attribute: World Cultures and Societies · Gen Ed: Exploring Perspectives, Humanist

This course explores shifting attitudes towards science, technology, nature, and the environment in the German-speaking world, through a range of cultural works (e.g., media documents, literary texts, films). In addition to examining the ways in which technological and ecological ethics have changed over history, the course will also consider what roles cultural works have played in public debates around scientific discoveries and technological advances.

GER 273 – Wicked Tales and Strange Encounters: German Romanticism and Beyond

Gen Ed: Tier 2 Humanities · Gen Ed Attribute: World Cultures and Societies · Gen Ed: Exploring Perspectives, Humanist

The 19th century introduces us to the strange figures with which we have become fascinated: We only need to turn on the TV to find these same fairy tales and magical events, mythical creatures and hybrid monsters, ghosts and other undead. These motifs, their contexts, and their development in the past and present will guide us in our exploration of 19th-century literature, art, and music of the German-speaking countries from romanticism to the cusp of modernism. Taught in English.

GER 276 – Crisis and Rebellion: Germany and Beyond

Gen Ed: Tier 2 Humanities

What innovations can a moment of extreme crisis bring to a society? From the radicals and reactionaries of Weimar Berlin to the student movements of the 1960s and the fall of the Berlin Wall, German society has born witness to unprecedented traumatic and regenerative moments of social crisis and creative rebellion. Focusing on the economic, aesthetic, moral, and political transformations of one particular moment of crisis, this course explores how deep collective uncertainty can lead to booms of creativity across boundaries in music, literature, fine arts, pop culture, architecture, and film. Taught in English

GER 303 – German through Contemporary Media

German 303 is an intermediate/advanced course designed to foster students' language abilities through contemporary cultural works, e.g. short stories, podcasts, music, and digital texts. The course emphasizes the development of literacy and intercultural awareness. This course is not open to native or near-native speakers of German. Taught in German.

GER 310 – Present Day German: Its Structure and Uses

Overview of current topics in the analysis of German, including phonetics/phonology, morphology, syntax, the lexicon, pragmatics, and sociolinguistics. Taught in German.

GER 312 – War, Death, and the Hero: Medieval Epics: Beowulf, Nibelungenlied, and Rolandslied

Gen Ed: Tier 2 Humanities

Introduce students to at least three of the most important European/German heroic epics and to challenge them in their thinking about war and death, and the role of the hero.

GER 325 – German Cinema

Gen Ed: Tier 2 Humanities · Gen Ed Attribute: Writing · Gen Ed: Exploring Perspectives, Humanist

This course provides a historical overview from the 1920s to the present, with a focus on genres and movements such as expressionism, film noir, propaganda, New German Cinema, the Berlin School, by filmmakers such as Lang, Murnau, Riefenstahl, Ade and Akin. Films will be analyzed and discussed as aesthetic works and historical cultural products, and social issues such as gender, class, race, ethnicity and national identity will be explored. This course may be applied toward the major or minor.

GER 371 – Contemporary German Culture

Gen Ed: Tier 2 Humanities · Gen Ed Attribute: Writing · Gen Ed Attribute: World Cultures and Societies · Gen Ed: Exploring Perspectives, Humanist

This course introduces students to topics that shape contemporary Germany. We will examine a broad range of topics addressed in films, literature, public debates and consider Germany's role in a global setting. Taught in English.

GER 420 – Topics in German Culture

This course highlights a particular topic in German culture of the present and/or past, featuring works from literature, visual culture, and other cultural artifacts. Taught in German.

GER 498H – Honors Thesis

Honors Course

An honors thesis is required of all the students graduating with honors. Students ordinarily sign up for this course as a two-semester sequence. The first semester the student performs research under the supervision of a faculty member; the second semester the student writes an honors thesis.

GER 101 – Beginning German I

Introduction to German language and culture, developing basic communication skills for learners with no prior knowledge of German (not including GER courses offered in English for General Education).

GER 102 – Beginning German II

Introduction to German language and culture, extending basic communication skills (second semester).

GER 114 – How to Learn a Foreign Language

Gen Ed Attribute: Quantitative Reasoning · Gen Ed Attribute: Writing · Gen Ed: Building Connections

The goal of the course is to provide students with important tools to help them become successful foreign language learners. Students will become familiar with basic elements of language such as parts of speech and the pronunciation of new sounds as a means of enabling them to anticipate and effectively deal with problems in pronunciation, vocabulary building, and sentence formation that often come up in foreign language study. They will also learn about the intertwining of culture and language, such as how expressions of politeness and body language differ across cultures. They will also be exposed to different language teaching and learning styles, typical mistakes language learners make, and strategies for making language learning more effective. This information will be presented in the context of the wide variety of languages taught at the University of Arizona

GER 150A1 – Becoming Multilingual: Learning and Maintaining Two or More Languages

Gen Ed: Tier 1 Individuals & Societies/150 · Gen Ed Attribute: Diversity and Equity · Gen Ed Attribute: Writing · Gen Ed: Exploring Perspectives, Social Scientist

This course explores the human ability to acquire and maintain two, three, or more languages over a lifetime (i.e., the ability to become multilingual). It examines the factors that contribute to successful language learning and maintenance and that counteract language forgetting and loss. It discusses ways (methods, approaches, and strategies) through which languages can be taught in child-and adulthood, in family and school settings, and demonstrates the importance of multilingual and multicultural skills in a variety of professions. At the end of the course, participants will have gained insights that will help them make informed decisions with respect to their own language learning and use while in college, in their professional careers, and in their (future) families.

GER 160A1 – From Animation to Zombies: The Ethics, (Bio)Politics and Aesthetics of Defining Life

Gen Ed: Diversity Emphasis · Gen Ed: Tier 1 Traditions and Cultures/160 · Gen Ed Attribute: Writing · Gen Ed: Building Connections

What is life? This course invites you to probe the definitions of one of the most central terms of human existence from A like animation (or animals, AI, aliens) to Z like zombies. In order to understand and critically examine what constitutes life in diverse cultural contexts and at different historical moments, and how these definitions have been shaping the way various life forms have been treated, we will engage with interdisciplinary perspectives from the sciences, arts, and humanities that will help us explore the ethical, (bio)political, and aesthetic consequences of defining life and its limits.

GER 160D1 – Eroticism and Love in the Middle Ages

Gen Ed: Tier 1 Traditions and Cultures/160 · General Education: TRAD 104 · Gen Ed Attribute: Writing · Gen Ed Attribute: World Cultures and Societies · Gen Ed: Building Connections

This course introduces students to the culture and mentality of the Middle Ages, focusing on attitudes toward love, sex, and marriage. Concepts of the body, of human relationships, and hence of eroticism in its cultural significance will be highlighted. Students should learn that the discourse on love represented the central issue of social and cultural life in medieval times. The issue of love was not a matter of private, individual concern, but rather a topic of public debate. Love in the Middle Ages was seen as a highly sophisticated matter, in fact, almost a public art form. Nevertheless, despite its different appearance in literary texts, love in the Middle Ages was of similar relevance as it is for people today, so this course will connect the past discourse with the present discourse. We will examine the differences in approaches then and the similarities in ethical and moral concerns today. Also, love as a theme served as a point of public debate within the Church and outside regarding the meaning of life and human's earthly existence. The discussion in class will center on the main aspect of how medieval authors dealt with the erotic and love, that is, how they utilized the theme of courtly love to produce their literary works. But this course does not simply linger on the idyllic nature of love in the past, but brings to light also the dark sides, such as violence, betrayal, lying, etc. because the erotic and love are fundamental issues in all human existence, bringing joy and sorrow. The discussion of eroticism and love in the Middle Ages, specifically in its physical manifestation, will also lead to insights regarding spiritual epiphany, both in the past and in the present.

GER 201 – Intermediate German I

Introduction to German language and culture, refining communication skills (third semester).

GER 202 – Intermediate German II

Topic-based practice of communication skills in German (listening, reading, speaking, writing), systematic review of German grammar (fourth semester).

GER 244 – Real Talk: Why Language Matters

Gen Ed: Tier 2 Individuals and Societies · Gen Ed Attribute: Diversity and Equity · Gen Ed Attribute: Writing · Gen Ed: Exploring Perspectives, Social Scientist

In this course, students study conversational talk and its relationship to broader topics like identity, sexism, racism, and linguistic discrimination in the humanities, literary studies, cultural studies, and applied linguistics. This course emphasizes the conversational experiences of those who experience privilege and marginalization, drawing on intercultural texts and perspectives originating in German-language contexts. Using the tools and methods of conversation analysis, students collect and analyze their own conversations and learn how to write for a variety of discipline-specific contexts and genres. Taught in English.

GER 246 – German Culture, Science and Technology

Gen Ed: Tier 2 Humanities · Gen Ed Attribute: Writing · Gen Ed Attribute: World Cultures and Societies · Gen Ed: Exploring Perspectives, Humanist

This course explores shifting attitudes towards science, technology, nature, and the environment in the German-speaking world, through a range of cultural works (e.g., media documents, literary texts, films). In addition to examining the ways in which technological and ecological ethics have changed over history, the course will also consider what roles cultural works have played in public debates around scientific discoveries and technological advances.

GER 311 – German Through Performance

German 311 is an intermediate/advanced course, in which students explore the range of German expression through performative works, e.g. theater, television, and film. The focus is on spoken language use, social interaction, and the performance of speech. Taught in German.

GER 315 – German for Professional Purposes

German 315 is an intermediate/advanced course for students who want to develop linguistic and cultural proficiency in skills related to professional life in German-speaking countries. The emphasis is on practical, career-oriented competencies, e.g., interviews, job search and application materials, workplace communication and presentation, etc. Taught in German.

GER 371 – Contemporary German Culture

Gen Ed: Tier 2 Humanities · Gen Ed Attribute: Writing · Gen Ed Attribute: World Cultures and Societies · Gen Ed: Exploring Perspectives, Humanist

This course introduces students to topics that shape contemporary Germany. We will examine a broad range of topics addressed in films, literature, public debates and consider Germany's role in a global setting. Taught in English.

GER 376 – German-Jewish Writers

Gen Ed: Diversity Emphasis · Gen Ed: Tier 2 Humanities

Focuses on the contributions of Jewish writers to German culture. Taught in English.

GER 379 – Religion in German Culture

Gen Ed: Tier 2 Humanities · Gen Ed Attribute: Writing · Gen Ed Attribute: World Cultures and Societies · Gen Ed: Building Connections

Introduction to major cultural figures of German speaking countries who have seen, imagined, or experienced what role religion may or can play in human life. An introduction to the religious discourse from the German Middle Ages to the Twenty-First Century, with an emphasis on the emergence of tolerance.

GER 461 – The Task of the Translator

This course will combine insights from Translation Studies, applied linguistics, and German cultural / literary studies to help students develop skills, knowledge, and experience in translating a number of literary and non-literary genres, including song texts, short essays, advertising texts, everyday speech, and historical artifacts. We will learn about how to negotiate literal and connotative meaning across codes, idioms, cultures, communities, and symbolic systems. We will explore the idea of "being a translator" as an everyday social and cultural practice.

GER 480 – Applied Linguistics for German as a Foreign language

Issues in and methods of applied linguistics with emphasis on Germanic languages. Student taking GER 480 for German Studies credit must have advanced proficiency in German.

GER 496C – Senior Seminar: Culture

The development and exchange of scholarly information, usually in a small group setting. The scope of work shall consist of research by course registrants, with the exchange of the results of such research through discussion, reports, and/or papers.

GER 498 – Senior Capstone

A culminating experience for majors involving a substantive project that demonstrates a synthesis of learning accumulated in the major, including broadly comprehensive knowledge of the discipline and its methodologies. Senior standing required.

GER 498H – Honors Thesis

Honors Course

An honors thesis is required of all the students graduating with honors. Students ordinarily sign up for this course as a two-semester sequence. The first semester the student performs research under the supervision of a faculty member; the second semester the student writes an honors thesis.