Academics
For the Duke Summer in Berlin program, courses will be offered in Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced German. In addition, upper-level content courses taught in English fulfill German Studies, Jewish Studies, History, ICS, Literature, Theater, Art History and other departments’ requirements. The following courses have been offered recently and are proposed for the upcoming summer:
Courses taught in German
GERMAN 101 (1) First Year German I (FL) Introduction to German language and culture. Four skills (understanding, speaking, reading, writing) and communicative approach to the language of everyday life in German-speaking countries, the language of their histories and societies, their arts and letters.
GERMAN 102 (2) First Year German II (FL) Second semester of introductory language course. Practice in spoken and written German, vocabulary building, building cultural awareness. Focus on topics of everyday life in German-speaking countries through stories, poetry, music, video, internet, as well as grounding in basic structures of the German language.
GERMAN 203 (65) Intermediate German I (CZ, FL) Each of these courses builds language proficiency through a topic-oriented syllabus focusing on contemporary German-speaking cultures and societies (family, leisure, work, education, environment, current events). Provides a thorough review of German grammar. Authentic texts from a variety of media will provide the basis for discussion and cultural awareness.
GERMAN 204 (66) Intermediate German II (CZ, FL) (see description of GERMAN 203 (65) above.) Increased focus on reading, speaking, essay writing. Extensive reading includes one full-length play by a contemporary German, Swiss, or Austrian writer.
GERMAN 220A (76) Readings in German Literature (ALP, FL) This course is directed toward intermediate language learners beginning to work with German literature. Development of written and oral proficiency in German, as well as the vocabulary and analysis tools needed for poetry and short prose. Prerequisite: GERMAN 203 (65) or equivalent.
GERMAN 303AS (115S) Advanced German in Berlin (ALP, CCI, CZ, FL) Reading and discussion of advanced material centered largely on contemporary Berlin. Development of written and oral proficiency in German, as well as insight into the cultural and historical aspects of the capital. Prerequisite: GERMAN 204 (66) or equivalent. May substitute for 305S (117S) or 306S (118S) to fulfill major requirement.
GERMAN 335S (133S) Berlin Theater Professor William Donahue. (ALP, CCI, FL) Based on the Berlin theater schedule, students will attend a selection of German classical and contemporary theater, including political cabaret. The course focuses on the Berliner Ensemble made famous by Brecht, the illustrious Deutsches Theater, as well as small, experimental venues such as the Gorki Theater and the BE Bühne & Studio. We will read plays in advance so as to ensure comprehension; we will meet briefly after each production to answer basic questions and then proceed to place these works within the larger aesthetic and cultural tradition. Discussion, oral presentations, and short papers. Prerequisite: GERMAN 303AS (115S) or equivalent. Cross-listed: ICS, Theater Studies 223S (123S)
GERMAN 390S (148S) Zero Hour to Post Unification (ALP, CCI, CZ, FL) An upper-level course on contemporary German literature from WWII to the present. Berlin authors, themes, and settings will be highlighted within this extraordinarily productive period of aesthetic production. Genres include the short story, poetry, drama, radio play, essay, and sketch. Works are viewed in their cultural and political context, e.g. against the backdrop of the war, the Cold War, Unification, and the “Europanization” of Germany. Prerequisite: GERMAN 303AS (115S) or equivalent.
GERMAN 325A (153) Aspects of German Culture: Current Issues and Trends in Germany (CCI, CZ, FL) This course explores topics of social and cultural significance in contemporary Germany, with particular emphasis on media and society. We will examine issues such as the changing idea of migration and citizenship, the modern idea of the German family and changes to the German education system. Prerequisite: GERMAN 305S (117S) or equivalent.
Courses taught in English
GERMAN 365A (196A) Art & Architecture of Berlin: Fifteenth to the Twentieth Century (ALP, CCI, CZ) Professor Alfredo Franco. The main goal of this course is to provide students with an introduction to the visual arts of Germany from the 15th to the 20th century through lectures conducted in Berlin’s museums and cultural institution. Classroom lectures will be kept to a minimum so that students may encounter actual works of art in the city’s magnificent collections. Some lectures will be conducted by guest speakers, such as curators from the Bauhaus Archiv or the Neue Nationalgalerie. Students will learn about the German Old Masters, such as Albrecht Dürer and Lucas Cranach, as well German Romantic and Realist artists, including Caspar David Friedrich and Adolf Menzel. Germany’s powerful modernist art movements, such as Expressionism and New Objectivity, will be considered in relation to the many upheavals in modern German history. By the end of the course, students will not only have a broad understanding of the development of the visual arts in Germany but also of how art has served in the elusive search and articulation of German cultural identity. Includes architectural bus & walking tours, as well as an excursion to the castles of Potsdam. Cross-listed: ARTHIST 297A (190B) Art & Architecture of Berlin: Fifteenth to the Twentieth Century.
GERMAN 366A (196B) Berlin Since the War (CCI, CZ). This course seeks to understand how Berlin remembers its famous and infamous past since the Second World War—and in some cases reaching back even further. In order to assess the efficacy of public memorials, monuments, museums and manifestos, students are first given a survey of the history of Cold War and post-Wall Berlin. The real work of the course commences as students then set out to explore—with the instructor—how “official” history is constructed, celebrated, contested, re-written—and not infrequently, simply ignored. In addition to seminar discussion, this course consists of numerous excursions to historical sites. The final project requires participants to evaluate the significance of a public memorial (or museum exhibition) based on criteria that are worked out during the course. Cross-listed: HISTORY 390A-08 (100L - 01) Duke in Berlin Topics and PUBPOL 210DA (196T).
GERMAN 590S (298S) Political Architecture of Berlin (ALP, CZ) Professor Matthias Pabsch. This course will teach students to “read” German culture and history from the buildings and public spaces that constitute the Berlin city center. Foci include the historic Reichstagsgebäude, the Nicolai Kirche, the Pestalozzi Street Synagogue, the Karl Marx Allee, as well as the postmodern architecture of the British and American embassy buildings. Excursions to Dresden and Potsdam extend the scope of the course. Study of history of architectural design and cultural iconography is integrated within a cultural history of Germany as told by Berlin’s extraordinary and exemplary buildings.
GERMAN 368 (187) (CCI, EI). German Jewish Culture from the Enlightenment to the Present. Professor Eric Meyers. Germany is the home of the Jewish Reform Movement, and Berlin in particular is the location of numerous important Jewish sites of interest: the world famous “Jewish Museum” (Juedisches Museum), the Centrum Judaicum (built on the site of Berlin’s once lavishly outfitted “Neue Synagoge” –or New Synagogue), and the controversial “Monument to the Destruction of the European Jews.” Indeed, it is also home to numerous stunning memorials to the Holocaust—including the concentration camp Sachsenhausen, just north of the city. It was in Berlin that the “Women of the Rosenstrasse” protested the incarceration of their Jewish husbands—and actually got them released (the only time German civilians undertook such a protest effort). In this course, we will visit this aesthetically innovative and historically rich monument, as well as many others, including the so-called “Mirror Wall” of Steglitz, and the understated Memorial to Deportation in Grunewald. But we will also survey the astounding story of Jewish life and acculturation to German culture, beginning with Moses Mendelsohn (whose grave we will visit, along with the poignant Weissensee cemetery). In addition we’ll have the opportunity to attend services at the Pestalozistrasse Synagogue (open to Jews and non-Jews alike). Cross-listed: Jewish Studies 368 (162).
Creative writing option; two new courses drawing on the Berlin Fine Arts Community
(students may take only one writing course)
ENGLISH 222S (100AS) Writing: Fiction (ALP, W) Creative writing workshop on fiction. Professor Magdalena Zurawski. In this workshop, we will focus on the writing of prose. Reading assignments will present both traditional and innovative forms. Class time will be used for writing exercises, discussion of readings, and sharing works in progress. Whenever possible, the city of Berlin will be used as a site for writing. Students are responsible for reading each others' work and offering careful and respectful critique for revision and development. Class discussions will focus on writers' techniques with the hopes that students will gain an awareness of how choices in their own writing affect a potential reader. This workshop is designed to be a safe and supportive environment where experiment and play
will be highly encouraged. For the final project, students will be responsible for revising thirty pages of original work written over the course of the workshop.
ENGLISH 220S (100CS) Writing (W) Creative writing workshop on poetry. Professor Susan Miller. A city of great history, the site of one of the most devastating wars and one of the most visible commitments to freedom in the Twentieth century, Berlin holds astonishing literary, cultural, and historic lessons for Americans. Furthermore, the writing of German citizens and German-language writers still captures our attention: from the lyrical and spiritual poems of Rainer Maria Rilke to the acerbic social criticism and wit of Bertolt Brecht, the literature of Berlin provides many models for writing and the writing life. We will study the work of these authors and American authors who experienced Germany, reading poems in Twentieth-Century German Poetry as well as selections from other American authors. We will also watch films, take field trips, and explore the streets in an attempt to inspire ourselves. We will then write poems that use Berlin and our experiences as a springboard, work-shopping through the observation method, producing new work, and coming to understand ourselves not just as American citizens, but as citizens of the world whose new knowledge deepens and expands our artistic and intellectual appreciation both of home and our new
environment.
Prerequisites
The program is open to students in good academic standing in all majors. You need not have taken German courses to participate except as noted above for specific courses. Language students will be placed in courses prior to departure. Neither the pass/fail option, nor auditing is permitted. Due to the intense nature of the program, late arrival and/or early departure will not be permitted.
