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

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

  • 20222 GERST 1109   SEM 101

  •  
    • TR Uris Hall 369
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Hadley, S

  • 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
FWS: Love and Death in Vienna

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

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Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 20223 GERST 1122   SEM 101

  •  
    • MWF White Hall B04
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • McBride, D

  • 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
FWS: Philosophies of Violence: Conceptualizations of Force from Kant to Zizek

No description available. view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 20224 GERST 1126   SEM 101

  •  
    • TR Uris Hall 204
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Thomas, S

  • 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
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

  • 20226 GERST 1170   SEM 101

  •  
    • TR Morrill Hall 111
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Spadoni, N

  • 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
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. 

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  3330 GERST 1210   SEM 101

  •  

  • Instruction Mode: In Person
    Intended for: students with no prior experience in German language or based on German Placement test result.

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  3331 GERST 1210   SEM 102

  •  
    • MWRF Uris Hall G88
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Wang, W

  • Instruction Mode: In Person
    Intended for: students with no prior experience in German language or based on German Placement test result.

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18235 GERST 1210   SEM 103

  •  
    • MWRF Uris Hall 254
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Lischke, G

  • Instruction Mode: In Person
    Intended for: students with no prior experience in German language or based on German Placement test result.

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18236 GERST 1210   SEM 104

  •  

  • Instruction Mode: In Person
    Intended for: students with no prior experience in German language or based on German Placement test result.

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. 

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  3336 GERST 1220   SEM 101

  •  
    • MTWF Uris Hall G22
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Matthias Phelps, G

  • Instruction Mode: In Person
    Prerequisite: GERST 1210 or based on German Placement test result.

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  5989 GERST 1220   SEM 102

  •  
    • MTWF Uris Hall G22
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Thakore, R

  • Instruction Mode: In Person
    Prerequisite: GERST 1210 or based on German Placement test result.

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. 

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  3843 GERST 1230   SEM 101

  •  
    • MWF Morrill Hall 110
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Reynders, A

  • 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
Elementary Yiddish I

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

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Syllabi:

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: JWST 1776, YIDSH 1776

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 17405 GERST 1776   SEM 101

  •  
    • MTWR White Hall 114
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Forman, D

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

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

  •  3760 GERST 2000   SEM 101

  •  
    • MWF White Hall 104
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Strateman, C

  • Instruction Mode: In Person
    Prerequisite: GERST 1220 + placement result or 1230. Satisfies Option 1. A content-based language course on the intermediate level.

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  3761 GERST 2000   SEM 102

  •  
    • MWF White Hall 104
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Matthias Phelps, G

  • 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
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

  •  3762 GERST 2040   SEM 101

  •  
    • MWF Uris Hall 398
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Necker, A

  • 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
Introduction to German Culture and Thought

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

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  5495 GERST 2700   SEM 101

    • TR McGraw Hall 365
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Schwarz, A

  • 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
Challenge of Literary Language

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

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18175 GERST 3070   SEM 101

  •  

  • 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
Stories of Love: Joy and Heartbreak in German Literature

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

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18660 GERST 3320   SEM 101

  •  
    • TR White Hall 104
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Schwarz, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person
    Prerequisite: one course at the GERST 3000-3209 level or equivalent, or placement by examination.

GERST 3535
Science, Fiction, Media

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

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Syllabi: none

  • 18083 GERST 3535   SEM 101

  •  
    • TR Uris Hall 498
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Born, E

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

GERST 3550
Political Theory and Cinema

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

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 3300, GOVT 3705, PMA 3490

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18125 GERST 3550   LEC 001

  •  

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

GERST 3612
Remembering Socialism: Literature and Film After the End of History

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

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 3012, ENGL 3903, HIST 3012

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 19358 GERST 3612   SEM 101

  •  

  • Instruction Mode: In Person
    This course will be taught by Professor Sophie Pinkham.

GERST 4100
The Seminar

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

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one seminar and one project.

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • Topic: What is Poetry?

  •  3349 GERST 4100   SEM 101

  •  
    • TR McGraw Hall 145
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Gilgen, P

  • 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).

  • Topic: What is Poetry?

  • 18256 GERST 4100   PRJ 601

  •  
    • TBA
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Gilgen, P

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

GERST 4285
Premodern Literature and Media

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

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Syllabi: none

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

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18286 GERST 4285   SEM 101

  •  

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

GERST 4510
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

  •  3350 GERST 4510   IND 601

    • TBA
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Staff

  • 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
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

  •  3351 GERST 4530   RSC 701

    • TBA
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: Directed Research

    Department Consent Required (Add)

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Multi-Term

  •  5558 GERST 4530   RSC 702

    • TBA
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: Directed Research

    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

  •  4732 GERST 4540   IND 601

    • TBA
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies
    Prerequisite: GERST 4530.

    Department Consent Required (Add)

GERST 5070
Teaching German as a Foreign Language: Principles and Practices

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

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  5429 GERST 5070   SEM 101

  •  

  • 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
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

  • 1-2 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  5464 GERST 6131   SEM 101

  •  
    • TBA
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Kosch, M

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

GERST 6230
Aesthetic Turns: The Fin-de-Siecle

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

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18273 GERST 6230   SEM 101

  •  
    • W Uris Hall 398
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Siegel, E

  • Instruction Mode: In Person
    Enrollment limited graduate students.

GERST 6285
Premodern Literature and Media

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 4285, MEDVL 4295, MEDVL 6285

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18384 GERST 6285   SEM 101

  •  

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

GERST 6740
German Critical Theory and American Radical Thought

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

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 6740, FGSS 6741

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18717 GERST 6740   SEM 101

  •  

  • Instruction Mode: In Person
    Enrollment limited to graduate students.

GERST 6780
Persecution and the Art of Writing

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

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Syllabi: none

  • 18742 GERST 6780   SEM 101

  •  

  • Instruction Mode: In Person
    Enrollment limited to graduate students.

GERST 7530
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

  •  3370 GERST 7530   IND 601

    • TBA
    • Aug 21 - Dec 4, 2023

    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies
    Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Enrollment limited to graduate students.

    Department Consent Required (Add)

GERST 7531
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

  •  9823 GERST 7531   SEM 101

  •  

  • Instruction Mode: In Person