Germany

This course seeks to take a closer look at PRIDE AND PREJUDICE in order to analyze the novel's complexities, its narrative art, its negotiations of ideological problems, and the contextual issues it addresses either directly or indirectly. The course’s attention then shifts to another novel by Jane Austen, MANSFIELD PARK, a book that appears to form the starkest possible contrast to PRIDE AND PREJUDICE but is just as sophisticated, or possibly even more so. The seminar is designed not simply to teach Jane Austen but also to provide a practical guide to literary criticism. There is a strong focus on the nitty-gritty of the business of interpretation. The course therefore digresses frequently from the novels themselves in order to discuss the fundamental problems involved in understanding literary texts.

This course explores the visual arts in Central Europe, with strong emphasis on German art in particular, from the rise of modernism circa 1900 to postmodernism and up to the present day. The course studies individual works, critiquing and analyzing their formal structure, style, technique, and iconography. Students consider the intentions of the artists who created the works, and place the works within their wider historical, political, economic, social, and cultural backgrounds. Additionally, the course brings awareness to the international development of visual arts in western Europe, including development in the United States during the second half of the 20th century. The course also introduces students to major philosophical ideas of the period and the methods which art historians have found appropriate in studying the objects and ideas which constitute their discipline. Berlin houses some of the most splendid art collections in the world, such as the Neue Nationalgalerie, the Hamburger Bahnhof (with the Friedrich Christian Flick Collection), the Kupferstichkabinett (Graphic Arts), the Brücke-Museum, and the Bauhaus-Archiv, not to mention the collections of ancient art. In addition, a vibrant scene of art galleries provides new perspectives on contemporary art that has not yet been established in the museums. An essential approach of the course is to work not only with slides and text sources in class but also with the originals during excursions to different museums.

This course examines and analyzes conspiracy theories that have had a major impact upon politics and society in Europe, the United States, and the world from 1890 to the present. Through readings of secondary sources, the course assesses how historians have approached, assessed, and contextualized such conspiracy narratives. Through readings of primary sources, the course analyzes why individuals spread conspiracy theories. What goals are they pursuing? With whom are they arguing, and whom or what do they seek to discredit? How has the spread of individual conspiracy theories affected politics, culture, and society?

The course examines the issues of intercultural competence, cultural identity, and cultural diversity in European business context. Various case studies are considered from strategic, organizational, and marketing perspectives. The course enhances understanding of the high variety of European business cultures and explores the corresponding variety of management and marketing styles. Special attention is paid to the present burning economic issues of the European Union, business ethics, and the standards of corporate social responsibility as well as to the challenging aspects of managing diversity and multicultural team development. Ethnically diverse markets are viewed as rich opportunities which ethnic communities offer. Companies in different parts of Europe are subject to analysis, including their efforts to work successfully across borders. Students are involved in a process of self-reflection through learning about the different stages of cultural assimilation in a European business environment.

Students further expand their listening, reading, speaking and writing skills with authentic texts and communication situations in the fields of everyday life, popular science, culture and society, and literature.

This course invites students to explore and critically reflect upon the current state of German cinema since the year 2000 in a European context. The course is divided into two segments: the first introduces students to historical, cultural and critical paradigms pertaining to the current situation of European cinema; the second focuses on films produced in Germany. The course addresses film and authorship; art cinema and popular cinema; the concept of national cinema and world cinema; the formation of history, memory, and cultural identity in film; film production; and film culture. Students are introduced to a number of key German and European films from the last two decades. They acquire knowledge of theoretical discourses and critical concepts relevant to understanding and appreciating formal aspects of European cinema, and to examining contemporary German films in relation to their historical and cultural contexts. Film screenings are part of the course.