German Studies (GERST)Arts and Sciences

Showing 32 results.

Course descriptions provided by the Courses of Study 2016-2017.

Last Updated

  • Schedule of Classes - October 16, 2017 11:09AM EDT
  • Course Catalog - June 14, 2017 7:15PM EDT

GERST 1109
FWS: From Fairy Tales to the Uncanny: Exploring the Romantic Consciousness

How did bawdy tales of peasants using magic to climb the social ladder get transformed into moral lessons for children?  The answer lies in Romanticism and its appropriation of the imagination as a force ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17642 GERST 1109   SEM 101

  •  

  • For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute.

GERST 1115
FWS: Sports Fanaticism

Sports are never just entertainment. They also create communities of fans – fanatics –with values and rituals that closely resemble religious movements. The guiding principle behind this writing seminar ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17452 GERST 1115   SEM 101

  •  

  • For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute.

GERST 1118
FWS: Let's Play!

Why do we play games and why do we have fun with them? What makes us winners and losers? This course will explore various approaches to games and humans at play. We will try to understand why people play ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17456 GERST 1118   SEM 101

  •  

  • For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute.

GERST 1170
FWS: Marx, Nietzsche, Freud

A basic understanding of Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud is a prerequisite for participating in critical debates in the humanities and social sciences. Our seminar will explore key terms in the revolutionary ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17459 GERST 1170   SEM 101

  •  

  • For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute.

Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17460 GERST 1170   SEM 102

  •  

  • For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute.

Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17461 GERST 1170   SEM 103

  •  

  • For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute.

GERST 1190
FWS: Evil, God, and Modern Thought: Exploring the Enlightenment

How could a just God create a world full of incomprehensible suffering? Finding solutions to this persistent question seriously preoccupied enlightenment thinkers who promised to make the world more coherent.  ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17972 GERST 1190   SEM 101

  •  

  • For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute.

GERST 1210
Exploring German Contexts I

Students develop basic abilities in listening, reading, writing, and speaking German in meaningful contexts through interaction in small group activities. Course materials including videos, short articles, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion.

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  5870 GERST 1210   LEC 001

  •  

  • Intended for students with no prior experience in German or with LPG score below 37 or SAT II score below 370. Must enroll in one Lecture and one Discussion.

  •  5871 GERST 1210   LEC 002

  •  

  • Intended for students with no prior experience in German or with LPG score below 37 or SAT II score below 370. Must enroll in one Lecture and one Discussion.

  •  5872 GERST 1210   DIS 201

  •  

  •  5873 GERST 1210   DIS 202

  •  

GERST 1220
Exploring German Contexts II

Students build on their basic knowledge of German by engaging in intense and more sustained interaction in the language. Students learn more advanced language structures allowing them to express more complex ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion.

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  5865 GERST 1220   LEC 001

  •  

  • Prerequisite: GERST 1210, LPG score of 37-44, or SAT II score of 370-450. Must enroll in one Lecture and one Discussion.

  •  5866 GERST 1220   LEC 002

  •  

  • Prerequisite: GERST 1210, LPG score of 37-44, or SAT II score of 370-450. Must enroll in one Lecture and one Discussion.

  •  5867 GERST 1220   DIS 201

  •  

  •  5868 GERST 1220   DIS 202

  •  

  •  5869 GERST 1220   DIS 203

  •  

GERST 1230
Expanding the German Dossier

Students continue to develop their language skills by discussing a variety of cultural topics and themes in the German-speaking world. The focus of the course is on expanding vocabulary, reviewing major ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  5897 GERST 1230   SEM 101

  •  

  • Limited to students who have previously studied German and have an LPG score of 45-55 or an SAT II score of 460-580. Successful completion of GERST 1210, 1220 and 1230 satisfies Option 2.

GERST 2000
Germany: Intercultural Context

Students examine important aspects of present-day German culture while expanding and strengthening their reading, writing, and speaking skills in German. Materials for each topic are selected from a variety ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  5880 GERST 2000   SEM 101

  •  

  • Prerequisite: GERST 1230, or LPG score of 56-64, or SAT II score of 590-680 or placement by examination. Satisfies Option 1. A content-based language course on the intermediate level.

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  5881 GERST 2000   SEM 102

  •  

  • Prerequisite: GERST 1230, or LPG score of 56-64, or SAT II score of 590-680 or placement by examination. Satisfies Option 1. A content-based language course on the intermediate level.

GERST 2040
Perspectives on German Culture

This course aims at sharpening your awareness of personal and cultural subjectivity by examining texts in a variety of media against the backdrop of cultural, political, and historical contexts.  We will ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  9213 GERST 2040   SEM 101

  •  

  • Prerequisite: GERST 2000, or placement by examination (placement score and CASE). Satisfies Option 1. Students must take one of the following courses as a prerequisite for Study Abroad in a German-speaking country: GERST 2020, GERST 2040, or GERST 2060.

GERST 2060
German in Business Culture

Learn German and understand German business culture at the same time.  This is a German language course that examines the German economic structure and its major components: industry, trade unions, the ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7575 GERST 2060   SEM 101

  •  

  • Prerequisite: GERST 2000 or placement by examination (placement score and CASE). Students without previous knowledge of Business German are welcome. Taught in German. Satisfies Option 1. Students must take one of the following courses as a prerequisite for Study Abroad in a German-speaking country: GERST 2020, GERST 2040, or GERST 2060.

GERST 3080
German Life Style Going Digital

In this course, we will encounter German culture of today in and through Web 2.0. No technical knowledge is required since, in the process, a solid base of knowledge concerning the use of media will be ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  5860 GERST 3080   SEM 101

  •  

  • Taught in German. Satsfies Option 1. Prerequisite: GERST 2040, GERST 2060, or equivalent or permission of instructor. Monday classes will be taught online. This course may be counted towards the requirement for 3000-level language in the major.

GERST 3260
Oddballs, Outcasts and Rebels

This course examines German history and culture from the margins. Looking at „oddballs, outcasts, and rebels" in German literature and film from the 19th to the 21st  century, we will study representations ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 16371 GERST 3260   SEM 101

  •  

  • Taught in German. Satisfies Option 1. Prerequisite: one course at the 3000-3209 level in German or placement exam.

GERST 3552
Marx as Philosopher

Marx is often read primarily as an economic and political theorist or even as a social activist. This course will instead cast him as, first and foremost, a philosopher. Beginning with Marx's early encounters ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: PHIL 3252

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 17833 GERST 3552   LEC 001

  •  

GERST 3581
Imagining Migration in Film and Literature

What role should imaginative arts play in debates about transnational migration, one of the principal factors re-shaping community and communication today?  Focusing on literature and film from the late ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  • 16372 GERST 3581   SEM 101

  •  

  • University Course. Taught in English.

GERST 3800
Kafka's Worlds: Castles, Trials, and Tribulations

This seminar will explore the unique "Kafkaesque" universe of metamorphoses, labyrinthine systems of law and (in)-justice, and uncanny societies of humans and animals. Focusing on Franz Kafka's novels ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 3688

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16377 GERST 3800   SEM 101

  •  

  • Readings and discussions in English. Students proficient in German at the upper intermediate level or higher may opt to do a substantial portion of the reading in German.

GERST 4250
Marx, Nietzsche, Freud

This is an introduction to the three 'master thinkers' who have helped determine the discourses of modernity and post-modernity. We consider basic aspects of their work: (a) specific critical and historical ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 4250, GOVT 4735

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16378 GERST 4250   LEC 001

  •  

  • This is a lecture course, but there will be plenty of time for discussion. Formerly GERST 4150 – students who previously took GERST 4150 cannot enroll in this course. Film-screening one evening night per week, TBA.

GERST 4312
What was Film?

In retrospect, was film anything more than some highly flammable strips of celluloid? Taking its cue from the "digital turn," this course rephrases a traditional question asked in film theory about the ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 4312, PMA 4512, STS 4821

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16381 GERST 4312   SEM 101

  •  

  • Taught in English. Film screening one evening night per week TBA.

GERST 4414
The Sound of Literature

When we speak, we think of our voice as natural to us. This course will interrogate the basis of this assumption by focusing on the voice as a trained cultural technique.  In this course, we will look ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 4414

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16391 GERST 4414   SEM 101

  •  

  • Texts and discussions in English.

GERST 4520
Independent Study

Undergraduate student and faculty advisor to determine course of study and credit hours. view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  5879 GERST 4520   IND 601

    • TBA

    • Waite, G

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm.

    Department Consent Required (Add)

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  8498 GERST 4520   IND 602

    • TBA

    • Adelson, L

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm.

    Department Consent Required (Add)

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 17216 GERST 4520   IND 603

    • TBA

    • Siegel, E

  • Department Consent Required (Add)

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 17217 GERST 4520   IND 604

    • TBA

    • Lischke, G

  • Department Consent Required (Add)

GERST 4530
Honors Research

The Reading Course is administered by the director of the honors thesis.  It carries 4 hours credit, and may be counted towards the work required for the German Major.  The reading concentrates ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Multi-Term

  •  7711 GERST 4530   RSC 701

    • TBA

    • Gilgen, P

  • Department Consent Required (Add)

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Multi-Term

  • 18075 GERST 4530   RSC 702

    • TBA

    • Siegel, E

  • Department Consent Required (Add)

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Multi-Term

  • 18076 GERST 4530   RSC 703

    • TBA

    • Adelson, L

  • Department Consent Required (Add)

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Multi-Term

  • 18077 GERST 4530   RSC 704

    • TBA

    • Waite, G

  • Department Consent Required (Add)

GERST 4540
Honors Thesis

The thesis is to be written on a subject related to the work done in GERST 4530.  A suggested length for the thesis is 50-60 pages. view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Graded

  •  5878 GERST 4540   IND 601

    • TBA

    • McBride, P

  • Prerequisite: GERST 4530.

    Department Consent Required (Add)

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Graded

  •  8818 GERST 4540   IND 602

    • TBA

    • Siegel, E

  • Department Consent Required (Add)

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 17188 GERST 4540   IND 603

    • TBA

    • Adelson, L

  • Department Consent Required (Add)

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 18078 GERST 4540   IND 604

    • TBA

    • Waite, G

  • Department Consent Required (Add)

GERST 6131
German Philosophical Texts

Reading, translation, and English-language discussion of important texts in the German philosophical tradition. Readings for a given term are chosen in consultation with students. view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: PHIL 4003, PHIL 6030

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16787 GERST 6131   SEM 101

  •  
    • TBA

    • Smyth, D

GERST 6210
Writing the Self

The "autobiographical" spans millennia and encompasses a vast array of seemingly dissimilar authors and modes of writing: Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, Augustine's and Rousseau's Confessions, Montaigne's ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 6032

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16386 GERST 6210   SEM 101

  •  

GERST 6320
Reading Academic German II

Emphasis on development of the specialized vocabulary of student's field of study. view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  5861 GERST 6320   SEM 101

  •  

  • Limited to graduate students. Prerequisite: GERST 6310 or equivalent.

GERST 6586
Schmitt, Strauss, Arendt

This is an advanced graduate seminar exploring the work of three important twentieth century political theorists: Carl Schmitt, Leo Strauss, and Hannah Arendt.  We will engage their work chronologically ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: GOVT 6586

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18235 GERST 6586   SEM 101

  • Instructor Consent Required (Add)

GERST 6630
Nietzsche and Heidegger

This graduate seminar provides a basic introduction to the thinking of Nietzsche and Heidegger, and to the latter's interpretation and appropriation of the former. A major concern is the articulation of ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 6630

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16385 GERST 6630   SEM 101

  •  

GERST 6866
Global Avant-Gardes

Focusing on a range of theories and practices from the historical avant-gardes (futurism, surrealism, constructivism) and their political cognates (fascism, capitalism, communism) to the 21st century's ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 6866, ROMS 6866

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 17724 GERST 6866   SEM 101

  •  

GERST 6910
Vision in Theory

This course takes as its point of departure the foundational questions that have informed interdisciplinary inquiry into vision and visuality in recent decades: What is an image? How do images produce ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ARTH 6910, COML 6142

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16388 GERST 6910   SEM 101

  •  

GERST 7000
PIRIP Independent Study

No description available. view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 2-12 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  9940 GERST 7000   IND 601

    • TBA

    • Fleming, P

  • Independent Study for non-degree visiting graduate students accepted into the PIRIP

    Department Consent Required (Add)

GERST 7540
Independent Study

Graduate student and faculty advisor to determine course of study and credit hours. view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  5882 GERST 7540   IND 601

    • TBA

    • Waite, G

  • Enrollment limited to graduate students.

    Department Consent Required (Add)

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 10156 GERST 7540   IND 602

    • TBA

    • Adelson, L

  • Department Consent Required (Add)

GERST 7541
Colloquium

Bi-weekly workshop series on a range of interdisciplinary topics sponsored by the Institute for German Cultural Studies that include invited speakers to present and discuss their work-in-progress from ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  5883 GERST 7541   IND 601

  • Department Consent Required (Add)