German Studies (GERST)Arts and Sciences
Showing 29 results.
Course descriptions provided by the Courses of Study 2022-2023. Courses of Study 2023-2024 is scheduled to publish mid-June.
Last Updated
- Schedule of Classes - June 6, 2023 7:53PM EDT
- Course Catalog - June 6, 2023 7:14PM EDT
Classes
GERST 1109
Course Description
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
FWS Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Graded(Letter grades only)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- TR Uris Hall 369
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Hadley, S
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://knight.as.cornell.edu/.
GERST 1122
Course Description
Singing boys. Dancing horses. Waltzing debutantes. Those fortunate enough to live in a city where each day begins with a pastry and ends with a two-liter bottle of wine must live a charmed existence! Not ... view course details
FWS Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Graded(Letter grades only)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- MWF White Hall B04
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
McBride, D
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://knight.as.cornell.edu/.
GERST 1126
Course Description
No description available. view course details
FWS Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Graded(Letter grades only)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- TR Uris Hall 204
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Thomas, S
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://knight.as.cornell.edu/.
GERST 1170
Course Description
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
FWS Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Graded(Letter grades only)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- TR Morrill Hall 111
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Spadoni, N
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://knight.as.cornell.edu/.
GERST 1210
Course Description
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
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- MWRF Goldwin Smith Hall G20
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Groundwater-Schuldt, W
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Intended for: students with no prior experience in German language or based on German Placement test result.
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- MWRF Uris Hall G88
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Wang, W
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Intended for: students with no prior experience in German language or based on German Placement test result.
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- MWRF Uris Hall 254
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Lischke, G
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Intended for: students with no prior experience in German language or based on German Placement test result.
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- MWRF Goldwin Smith Hall G20
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Villalobos, M
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Intended for: students with no prior experience in German language or based on German Placement test result.
GERST 1220
Course Description
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
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- MTWF Uris Hall G22
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Matthias Phelps, G
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Prerequisite: GERST 1210 or based on German Placement test result.
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- MTWF Uris Hall G22
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Thakore, R
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Prerequisite: GERST 1210 or based on German Placement test result.
GERST 1230
Course Description
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
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- MWF Morrill Hall 110
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Reynders, A
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Limited to students who have previously studied German and based on German Placement test result. Successful completion of GERST 1210/1220 or equivalent and GERST 1230 satisfies Option 2.
GERST 1776
Course Description
Provides an introduction to reading, writing, aural comprehension, speaking and grammar, as well as to some of the basic elements of Ashkenazi Jewish culture. view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: JWST 1776, YIDSH 1776
-
Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Graded(Letter grades only)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- MTWR White Hall 114
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Forman, D
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
GERST 2000
Course Description
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
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- MWF White Hall 104
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Strateman, C
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Prerequisite: GERST 1220 + placement result or 1230. Satisfies Option 1. A content-based language course on the intermediate level.
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- MWF White Hall 104
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Matthias Phelps, G
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Prerequisite: GERST 1220 + placement result or 1230. Satisfies Option 1. A content-based language course on the intermediate level.
GERST 2040
Course Description
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
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- MWF Uris Hall 398
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Necker, A
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
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 2700
Course Description
Big names, Big ideas, and Big events are associated with German culture and thought: Luther, Faust, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Mozart, Beethoven, Kant, Hegel, Goethe, Einstein, Kafka and Thomas ... view course details
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- TR McGraw Hall 365
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Schwarz, A
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Enrollment limited to 18 1st semester first-year students. Readings and discussion in English. Students must apply in writing to instructor; Department of German Studies; 183 Goldwin Smith Hall. Upon availability, students of other levels will be welcome to apply. Online application: https://german.cornell.edu/application-gerst2700
Department Consent Required (Add)
GERST 3070
Course Description
Why do literary texts insist on bending (and even breaking) the rules that govern everyday language? Could we improve our mastery of colloquial German by accepting literature's challenge and investigating ... view course details
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- MWF Rockefeller Hall 128
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
McBride, D
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Prerequisite: GERST 2040, GERST 2060 or equivalent. This course may be counted towards the requirement for 3000-3209-level language in the major. Taught in German.
GERST 3320
Course Description
Love and its discontents, joys and drama in 200 years of German literature. Points of discussion: cultural, socio-economic, religious and societal constructions of love; love as affect, ideal ... view course details
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- TR White Hall 104
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Schwarz, A
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Prerequisite: one course at the GERST 3000-3209 level or equivalent, or placement by examination.
GERST 3535
Course Description
From videophones to walkie-talkies, transatlantic tunnels to interstellar travel, or perpetual motion to wireless energy, science fiction frequently presents visions of the future based on radical media ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: COML 3535, PMA 3544, SHUM 3535, STS 3535
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- TR Uris Hall 498
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Born, E
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
GERST 3550
Course Description
An introduction (without prerequisites) to fundamental problems of current political theory, filmmaking, and film analysis, along with their interrelationship. Particular emphasis on comparing and contrasting ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: COML 3300, GOVT 3705, PMA 3490
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- MW Goldwin Smith Hall G64-Kau Aud
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Waite, G
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
GERST 3612
Course Description
More than thirty years after the end of the Soviet Union, we have the distance needed to view the twentieth-century state socialist project from a historical perspective--even as Cold War tropes are revived ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: COML 3012, ENGL 3903, HIST 3012
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- MW Rockefeller Hall 230
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Staff
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
This course will be taught by Professor Sophie Pinkham.
GERST 4100
Course Description
Fall 2022 Topic: Humor in German Culture. What is German Humor? Can we ascribe specific qualities to German wit? This seminar will examine forms of humor in various genres such as literature, TV shows, ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Choose one seminar and one project.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Graded(Letter grades only)
-
Section Topic
Topic: What is Poetry?
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- TR McGraw Hall 145
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Gilgen, P
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Taught in German. Satisfies Option 1. Prerequisite: any German course at the 3200-3499-level or equivalent. The Seminar is a requirement of the German Studies major, but is open to all students who have met the prerequisites. The course has a research component, including poster presentations of all final projects, and is taught each fall by a faculty member in the Department of German Studies on a topic of their expertise. Students must enroll in GERST 4100 SEMINAR 101 and PRJ 601. Fall 2023 course description: This course examines the poem as a particular linguistic form with its own history. It includes a concise overview of the history of German lyric poetry. To venture an answer to the question of what poetry/what the poem is, we will read and listen to poems from all periods of German literary history (in addition to books and printed texts, the poems will be accessible as sound files; we will also read poems aloud and examine sound pattern, rhythm, and their hermeneutic and non-hermeneutic consequences in detail). Our modes of listening and reading will be determined by the demands of the poems themselves. What does it take to “get” a poem (which is not necessarily the same thing as to “understand” it)? What is the mode of a poem’s presence? How does lyric poetry as a genre (including the history of its forms) and its individual instances relate to language? How does the genre of the lyric relate to “das Lyrische” (Emil Staiger)? We will discuss the poetic conventions that prevailed during specific epochs and the typical forms that emerged in consequence. These investigations will help us develop a working definition of the lyric as opposed to epic and dramatic forms. Taking our departure from concrete encounters with particular poems, we will analyze how poems address their readers. Moreover, we will pose the question of whether a poem says or shows something that could not be said or shown in prose? And if so, what that “something” might be. In addition to poetry, we will also read theoretical texts that offer a variety of approaches to poetry and the poetic (e.g., Heidegger, Adorno, Staiger, Hamburger, Agamben, Derrida, Gumbrecht).
GERST 4285
Course Description
This course introduces the canon of premodern German literature, including lyric poetry (Minnesang), Arthurian romance (Gottfried's Tristan, Wolfram's Parzival, Hartmann's Iwein), and the heroic ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: GERST 6285, MEDVL 4295, MEDVL 6285
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- R Morrill Hall 102
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Born, E
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
GERST 4510
Course Description
Undergraduate student and faculty advisor to determine course of study and credit hours. view course details
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- TBA
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Staff
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: Independent Studies
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. 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
Course Description
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
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Multi-Term(Multi-Term Course: Not Graded)
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Multi-Term(Multi-Term Course: Not Graded)
GERST 4540
Course Description
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
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Graded(Letter grades only)
GERST 5070
Course Description
Designed to familiarize students with current thought and theories in the field of applied linguistics and language pedagogy. Introduces different models of foreign language approaches and discusses various ... view course details
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- TBA To Be Assigned
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Lischke, G
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Intended primarily for graduate students preparing to teach German and undergraduate students interested in deeper understanding of language study and teaching. Taught in German; readings are in English and German.
GERST 6131
Course Description
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
GERST 6230
Course Description
This anchor seminar offers an interdisciplinary examination of the fin-de-siècle as a crucial turning point in literature, art (painting, music, theater), architecture, psychoanalysis as well as literary ... view course details
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- W Uris Hall 398
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Siegel, E
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Enrollment limited graduate students.
GERST 6285
Course Description
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
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: GERST 4285, MEDVL 4295, MEDVL 6285
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- R Morrill Hall 102
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Born, E
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
GERST 6740
Course Description
This seminar explores the nexus of Frankfurt School Critical Theory and American Black and queer thought. While the legacy of the Frankfurt school (Horkheimer, Adorno, Benjamin, Marcuse) is often traced ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: COML 6740, FGSS 6741
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- T A D White House 110
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Fleming, P
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Enrollment limited to graduate students.
GERST 6780
Course Description
Our title derives from the political philosopher Leo Strauss, who provides our initial analytic, methodological, and theoretical model. We extend beyond Straussian ideological positions to include art ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: ARTH 6780, COML 6661, GOVT 6785, JWST 6780
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- M Morrill Hall 110
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Waite, G
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Enrollment limited to graduate students.
GERST 7530
Course Description
Graduate student and faculty advisor to determine course of study and credit hours. view course details
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
GERST 7531
Course Description
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
Regular Academic Session.
-
Credits and Grading Basis
2 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- F Goldwin Smith Hall 160
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Gilgen, P
- F Goldwin Smith Hall 156
- Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023
Instructors
Gilgen, P
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person