German Studies (GERST)Arts and Sciences

Showing 35 results.

Course descriptions provided by the Courses of Study 2018-2019.

Last Updated

  • Schedule of Classes - May 15, 2019 12:56PM EDT
  • Course Catalog - March 4, 2019 1:00PM EST

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

  • 17746 GERST 1109   SEM 101

  •  

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

Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17747 GERST 1109   SEM 102

  •  

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

Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17748 GERST 1109   SEM 103

  •  

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

GERST 1121
FWS: Writing Berlin

Germany's capital is a city that constantly reinvents itself. This course will offer a glimpse into Berlin's rich history in the 20th and 21st centuries—from the rise of the metropolis during the Weimar ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17750 GERST 1121   SEM 101

  •  

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

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

  • 17751 GERST 1170   SEM 101

  •  

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

Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17752 GERST 1170   SEM 102

  •  

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

Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17753 GERST 1170   SEM 103

  •  

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

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

  •  5297 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.

  •  5298 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.

  •  5299 GERST 1210   DIS 201

  •  
    • MTWF Uris Hall 204

    • Matthias Phelps, G

  •  5300 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

  •  5292 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.

  •  5293 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.

  •  5294 GERST 1220   DIS 201

  •  

  •  5295 GERST 1220   DIS 202

  •  

  •  5296 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

  •  5321 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

  •  5304 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

  •  5305 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

  •  7848 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

  •  6880 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 3013
German Foreign Language Across the Curriculum (FLAC)

This 1-credit optional course aims to expand the students' vocabulary, and advance their speaking and reading skills as well as enhance their knowledge and deepen their cultural understanding by supplementing ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1 Credit Stdnt Opt

  • Topic: Introduction to Comparative Government & Politics

  • 18546 GERST 3013   SEM 101

  • Conducted in German. Co-requisite: GOVT 1313.

    Instructor Consent Required (Add)

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

  •  5287 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 3350
Kafka in Context: Trials of Modernity

Focus on Kafka's literary, theatrical, political, historical, religious, personal and intellectual environment and its impact on his literary productions. Topics of discussion include: the individual versus ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16638 GERST 3350   LEC 001

  •  

  • Readings and discussion in German. Satisfies Option 1. Prerequisites: one course on the GERST 3000-3209 level or placement by examination.

GERST 3525
New German Cinema

This course introduces the New German Cinema (1962-85), an influential movement of West German filmmakers including Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Alexander Kluge, Margarethe von Trotta, and ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ARTH 3535, PMA 3525, VISST 3535

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16692 GERST 3525   LEC 001

  •  

  • Taught in English. Screenings in German with English subtitles.

GERST 3561
Freud and the Invention of Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis considers the human being not as an object of treatment, but as a subject who is called upon to elaborate an unconscious knowledge about what is disrupting her life, through analysis of ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  • 17619 GERST 3561   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

  • 16640 GERST 3581   SEM 101

  •  

  • Taught in English.

GERST 4245
Critical Thinking and Literary Methods

This seminar offers a systematic introduction to methods of literary interpretation from Romanticism to the present, with a particular emphasis on the German roots of hermeneutics and critical thought. ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 4995, GERST 6245, ROMS 4245

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16713 GERST 4245   SEM 101

  •  

  • Taught in English.

GERST 4260
The Animal

In recent years literary representations and philosophical discussions of the status of the animal vis-à-vis the human have abounded.  In this course, we will track the literary phenomenology of animality.  ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 4240, ENGL 4260, GOVT 4279

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16717 GERST 4260   SEM 101

  •  

  • Taught in English.

GERST 4285
Introduction to Medieval German Literature

This course introduces the canon of medieval German literature: lyric poetry (Minnesang), Arthurian romance (Gottfried's Tristan, Wolfram's Parzival, Hartmann's Iwein), and the heroic epic (Nibelungenlied). ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: GERST 6285, MEDVL 4295

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16943 GERST 4285   SEM 101

  •  

  • Taught in English. Anchor Course. Reading knowledge of Middle High German is not required; some exposure to the language will be facilitated with the aid of bilingual editions.

GERST 4290
Spinoza and the New Spinozism

Spinoza was excommunicated, wrote under death threats, and has remained a scandal to philosophy, psychoanalysis, politics, ethics, literature. "Every philosopher has two philosophies, his own and Spinoza's" ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 4090, GOVT 4769, JWST 4790

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16636 GERST 4290   SEM 101

  •  

GERST 4411
The Holocaust in Postwar Culture (1945-1961)

There is an astonishing discrepancy between our perception of the Holocaust as a central event of the twentieth century and its marginal place in postwar culture.  It is during those years, nevertheless, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  • 16632 GERST 4411   SEM 101

  •  

GERST 4473
Messiah and Modernity

This course combines Jewish religious history with studies in the philosophy of modernity, focusing on changing conceptions of time and history.  We will interrogate possible or implicit connections between ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  • 17154 GERST 4473   SEM 101

  •  

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

  •  5303 GERST 4520   IND 601

    • TBA

    • Siegel, E

  • 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)

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

  •  6979 GERST 4530   RSC 701

    • TBA

    • Siegel, E

  • 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

  •  5302 GERST 4540   IND 601

    • TBA

    • Siegel, E

  • Prerequisite: GERST 4530.

    Department Consent Required (Add)

GERST 4635
Authority and Anti-Authority: Kafka and Genet

A far-reaching distrust and crisis of authority seems to be coextensive with the European Enlightenment and modernity—but what is authority? Amidst the different attempts at definition and classification, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  • 16526 GERST 4635   SEM 101

  •  

GERST 6160
Spaces of Literature

The seminar will examine how space is represented in literary texts and pursue the question whether literary language can be connected to spatial features that are unique to prose, poetry and other poetic ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 6130

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16646 GERST 6160   SEM 101

  •  

  • Discussion in English; texts available in both German and English.

GERST 6245
Critical Thinking and Literary Methods

No description available. view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 4995, GERST 4245, ROMS 4245

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18087 GERST 6245   SEM 101

  •  

GERST 6285
Introduction to Medieval German Literature

No description available. view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: GERST 4285, MEDVL 4295

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18086 GERST 6285   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

  •  5288 GERST 6320   SEM 101

  •  

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

GERST 6340
German Romanticism

This graduate seminar introduces major authors, themes, and problems in European--also German--literature, philosophy, art, and critical theory from ca. 1770 to 1830. This, our own, legacy includes: Europe ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16649 GERST 6340   SEM 101

  •  

  • Most readings in German, though some translations exist; discussions in English. This is a German Studies Anchor Course, but students in other disciplines and languages are encouraged to participate.

GERST 6411
The Holocaust in Postwar Culture (1945-1961)

There is an astonishing discrepancy between our perception of the Holocaust as a central event of the twentieth century and its marginal place in postwar culture.  It is during those years, nevertheless, ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none

  • 17950 GERST 6411   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

  •  7993 GERST 7000   IND 601

    • TBA

    • Fleming, P

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

    Department Consent Required (Add)

GERST 7473
Messiah and Modernity

This course combines Jewish religious history with studies in the philosophy of modernity, focusing on changing conceptions of time and history.  We will interrogate possible or implicit connections between ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none

  • 17170 GERST 7473   SEM 101

  •  

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

  •  5306 GERST 7540   IND 601

    • TBA

    • Gilgen, P

  • Enrollment limited to graduate students.

    Department Consent Required (Add)

GERST 7541
Colloquium

The course consists of a bi-weekly workshop series focusing on a range of interdisciplinary topics and sponsored by the Institute for German Cultural Studies (IGCS). Speakers include prominent scholars ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 2 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  5307 GERST 7541   IND 601

  •