ObjectivesThe German Studies Section at Bishop's provides students with an understanding of German culture through the study of German language, civilization, and literature. It is our aim to expose students to an up-to-date picture of Germany through the use of contemporary literary and non-literary texts and through diverse media (films, documentaries, audio-visual material, internet resources etc.).
Academic titleBachelor of Arts - German Studies
Course descriptionMajor in Modern Languages
The German Studies component of the Major in Modern Languages consists of 30 credits with a minimum of 12 credits of 300 level courses, including at least 6 credits in 300 level literature and civilization courses.
International Major in German Studies
The International Major in German Studies requires the completion of 42 credits in German, 24 of which must be at the advanced level (equivalent to 300 level) and drawn from courses in language, literature, culture, society, or civilization.With departmental approval, some of these courses may be double-counted for another programme concentration.
This program requires the completion of German course credits abroad and is accessible only to students who have been formally approved for exchange or who have completed equivalent German 300 level courses on a letter of permission. Students should apply for acceptance to this programme before going on exchange, and they should consult with the Chair of the German Section regarding the selection of appropriate exchange courses.
Minor in German Studies
The minor in German Studies consists of 24 credits.
Please note:
1. Majors in Modern Languages with the German Studies component and Minors in German Studies must take GER 203a Intermediate German: Topics and Texts I concurrently with GER 201a Intermediate German Language I, and GER 204a Intermediate German: Topics and Texts II concurrently with GER 202b Intermediate German Language II.
2. Students registered in the Major in Modern Languages with the German Studies component or the Minor in German may take a maximum of one course taught in English (GER 235ab Introduction to German Literature or GER 250ab German Civilization and Culture). These students will be required to hand in their written assignments in German.
The German Studies Section offers courses in the following categories: Language, Literature and Civilization, and Independent Studies. Please note that Independent Study courses are only offered to students with high academic standing. Third-year course offerings will vary regularly over a three-year cycle. Unless otherwise stated, courses are taught in German.
In addition to their degree requirements, students are strongly encouraged to sit one of the exams supervised by the Goethe-Institut Montreal. These proficiency exams test three different levels of the German language and give students the opportunity to obtain an internationally recognized certificate (Zertifikat Deutsch, Zentrale Mittelstufenprüfung, or Zentrale Oberstufenprüfung). Examinations are held on campus every year in April.
Language Courses
German 100ab Introductory German Language I-II: Intensive Course 6-6-2
This course covers the contents of German 101a and German 102b in one semester.
No prerequisite
German 101a Introductory German Language I 3-3-1
This course provides students with a sound basis for learning German as it is used in spoken and written communication today within the context of German-speaking culture. It also familiarizes students with contemporary life and culture in German-speaking countries. Language laboratory exercises are included.
No prerequisite
German 102b Introductory German Language II 3-3-1
Continuation of German 101a. This course offers systematic practice in the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It also provides a firm foundation in the basic elements of German grammar. Language laboratory exercises are included.
Prerequisite: German 101a or equivalent
German 201a Intermediate German Language I 3-3-1
This course is designed to increase students’ ability to function in German. It offers a comprehensive review of German grammar through written and oral assignments. Authentic cultural texts and video activities, as well as the systematic development of vocabulary, help students further develop their communicative skills. Language laboratory exercises are included.
Prerequisite: German 102b or equivalent
German 202b Intermediate German Language II 3-3-1
Continuation of German 201a. Further emphasis on active vocabulary building and grammar review. Language laboratory exercises are included.
Prerequisite: German 201a or equivalent
German 203a Intermediate German: Topics and Texts I 3-3-0
The purpose of this course is to provide students with an authentic context for the assimilation of vocabulary and culture necessary for oral and written communication. Methodology includes the use of dialogues, journalistic and literary texts, video and audio material on specific topics relevant to the German-speaking world.
Prerequisite: German 102b or equivalent
Co-requisite: German 201a
German 204b Intermediate German: Topics and Texts II 3-3-0
Continuation of German 203a. Further emphasis on written assignments and speaking activities such as small group discussions and oral reports.
Prerequisites: German 201a and German 203a or equivalent
Co-requisite: German 202b
German 301a Advanced German Language: Styles and Structures I 3-3-0
This course provides students with an intensive review of German grammar through written assignments and oral presentations. Reading and discussing literary and cultural texts will help students appreciate the finer nuances of the German language and the specific stylistic qualities and cultural implications of representative prose.
Prerequisites: German 202b and 204b or equivalent
German 302b Advanced German Language: Styles and Structures II 3-3-0
Continuation of German 301a. Further development of communicative strategies; emphasis on complex grammatical and idiomatic structures.
Prerequisite: German 301a or equivalent
German 303a Advanced German Language: Topics and Texts I 3-3-0
Conversation and writing activities based on a variety of reading materials such as short stories, poems, current events, detective novels. Video, film, and the Internet provide further topics for discussion. Authors may include Dürrenmatt, Schlink, Dörrie, Noll, Arjouni and others. There will also be a review of complex grammatical structures.
Prerequisites: German 202b and 204b or equivalent
German 304b Advanced German Language: Topics and Texts II 3-3-0
Continuation of German 303a. Further exploration of literary analysis through class discussions, oral reports and compositions.
Prerequisite: German 303a or equivalent
German 305a Advanced German Language: Texts and Contexts I 3-3-0
The purpose of this course is to advance oral and written proficiency in the language and to introduce students to German cultural history over the last hundred years. There will also be a review of complex aspects of German grammar.
Prerequisites: German 202b and 204b or equivalent
German 306b Advanced German Language: Texts and Contexts II 3-3-0
Continuation of German 305a. Further development of communicative and interpretative competence.
Prerequisite: German 305a or equivalent
Literature and Civilization Courses
German 235ab Introduction to German Literature 3-3-0
This course provides students with an introduction to the major writers and movements of German literature, from the Middle Ages to the end of the 19th century. It will examine a representative selection of German literary masterpieces from various periods and genres.
No prerequisite
German 250ab German Civilization and Culture 3-3-0
A survey of German civilization from the rise of nationalism and the beginning of the industrial revolution in the 19th century to the re-unified Germany of the 21st century. Students will become acquainted with key developments within German-speaking cultures, including aspects of history, philosophy, literature, music and visual arts.
No prerequisite
German 320ab German Poetry 3-3-0
This course introduces students to the study of German poetry from the Enlightenment to today. Through a representative selection of poems by the most prominent German poets, students will be familiarized with the various literary movements that have marked the history of German literature. Special attention will be paid to the forms, themes and patterns that characterize German poetry in its different manifestations.
Prerequisites: German 202 and 204b or equivalent
German 330ab German Drama 3-3-0
This course introduces students to the development of German-language drama from the Enlightenment to today through an examination of the major works of influential playwrights and dramatic theorists. The themes investigated include religion, revolution, class struggle, socialism, and the Holocaust. Authors may include Lessing, Goethe, Büchner, Hauptmann, Schnitzler, Wedekind, Dürrenmatt, Weiss, and Müller.
Prerequisites: German 202 and 204b or equivalent
German 370ab Introduction to German Film 3-3-3
This course provides an overview of the different movements that shaped the history of the German cinema: from expressionism to the new German comedy, from the Oberhausen manifesto to the Defa film industry of the former GDR. The ways in which film and its imagery reflect key features of Germany’s recent past and present will be examined and discussed. Prominent directors to be studied may include Murnau, Lang, Staudte, Fassbinder, Wenders, Dörrie, Carow, Wolf, von Trotta and others.
Prerequisites: German 202 and 204b or equivalent
German 371ab East German Cinema: from Rubble Films to Ostalgie 3-3-3
This course explores the history of East German cinema through the films produced by the state-owned studios of the DEFA (Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft) from 1946 to 1992, and focuses on the following issues: the possibilities and limitations of socialist realism; censorship; the pursuit of individual freedom; gender and sexuality. Adiversity of film genres will be studied including rubble films (Trümmerfilme), westerns, and musicals. Attention will also be drawn to the post-Wende film production from directors who express nostalgia, Ostalgie, for life in the former GDR.
Prerequisites: German 202 and 204b or equivalent
German 380ab German Literature and Culture before 1700 3-3-0
This course introduces students to literary masterpieces from the Middle Ages to the Baroque Period. Discussions of poetry, drama, and narrative address not only general questions of historical context and literary form, but also issues specific to the respective epochs. Readings may include works by Straßburg, Aue, von der Vogelweide, Meister Eckhart, Brant, Luther, Fleming, Grimmelshausen, Gryphius, Opitz.
Prerequisites: German 202b and 204b or equivalent
German 381ab German Literature and Culture in the Age of Goethe 3-3-0
This course introduces students to the major writers from the Enlightenment to Romanticism in the context of cultural and intellectual history. Readings may include works by Kant, Lessing, Moritz, Goethe, Schiller, Novalis, Hoffmann, the Brothers Grimm.
Prerequisites: German 202b and 204b or equivalent
German 382ab Nineteenth-Century German Literature and Culture 3-3-0
This course examines fiction, poetry, and drama of the 19th century within the framework of major historical developments and socio-cultural contexts. Central literary movements to be studied are Young Germany, Realism, and Naturalism. Authors may include Heine, Büchner, Fontane, Storm, Nietzsche, and Hauptmann.
Prerequisites: German 202b and 204b or equivalent
German 383ab Twentieth-Century German Literature and Culture I 3-3-0
This course examines influential literary works from fin-de-siècle Vienna to the end of World War II within the framework of major historical events and socio-cultural contexts. Central literary movements to be studied are Impressionism, Decadence, Expressionism, and Exile Literature. Authors may include Schnitzler, Freud, Wedekind, Rilke, T. Mann, Kafka, Trakl, Lasker-Schüler, Seghers and Brecht.
Prerequisites: German 202b and 204b or equivalent
German 384ab Twentieth-Century German Literature and Culture II 3-3-0
This course introduces students to fiction, poetry, and drama from the end of World War II to post-Wende Germany viewed within their social and cultural context and against the backdrop of contemporary literary theory. Among the topics to be considered: Vergangenheitsbewältigung, the Holocaust, socialist realism, and post-modernism. Authors may include Böll, Celan, Bachmann, Grass, Kirsch, Wolf, Müller, Jelinek, Heym, Brussig.
Prerequisites: German 202b and 204b or equivalent
German 385ab Seminar in Literature 3-3-0
Research and individual projects within an area of German literature centering on a specific period, genre and/or author.
Prerequisites: German 202b and 204b or equivalent
German 386ab Women in German Literature and Culture 3-3-0
This course explores the literary and cultural history of women writers, filmmakers and artists of the 20th century in German-speaking countries. Awide variety of literary genres (the short story, the novel, poetry, correspondence, screenplays) as well as themes and motifs (sexuality, gender issues, the influence of the First and Second World Wars, subjectivity, the environment) will be covered.
Prerequisites: German 202 and 204b or equivalent
Independent Study Courses
German 315a Independent Study I 3-0-0
Advanced level projects within the area of German language, literature or civilization.
Prerequisite: Permission of Instructor
German 316b Independent Study II 3-0-0
Advanced level projects within the area of German language, literature or civilization.
Prerequisite: Permission of Instructor
German 317a Independent Study III 3-0-0
Advanced level projects within the area of German language, literature or civilization.
Prerequisite: Permission of Instructor
German 318b Independent Study IV 3-0-0
Advanced level projects within the area of German language, literature or civilization.
Prerequisite: Permission of Instructor