Unit name | Introduction to German Studies (Post A-Level) |
---|---|
Unit code | GERM10036 |
Credit points | 40 |
Level of study | C/4 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
Unit director | Dr. Davies |
Open unit status | Open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of German |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit develops knowledge and critical understanding of key concepts in German culture, past and present. It introduces the study of German literature, history and society from 1500 to the present through close study of representative texts and ideas. It aims to help students develop their skills of critical analysis and synthesis, informed discussion and the written presentation of ideas. It consists of:
The unit thus aims:
On successful completion of this unit students will:
a) have acquired outline knowledge of the history and culture of the German-speaking world, and of key critical concepts in understanding that world
b) have developed their skills of reading both textually and visually and acquired more sophisticated analytical skills and methods appropriate to Level C
c) have gained experience in obtaining, and critically researching, literary, historical and cultural scholarship (via library and IT resources)
d) have learnt ways of synthesising the results of this research in their own, independent arguments, in essays, discussions and oral presentations
Landeskunde essay (10%), 2 hour poetry exam (20%), 2 hour history exam (20%), 2 x 1500 word essay (25% each).
Set texts are likely to change from year to year; students will be given a list of titles in advance of the
semester in which the unit is taken.
Introductory reading:
The Cambridge Companion to Modern German Culture, ed. Eva Kolinsky and Wilfried van der Will
(Cambridge: CUP, 1998)
Neil MacGregor, Germany: Memories of a Nation (London: Penguin, 2016)
Nicholas Boyle, German Literature: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: OUP, 2008)
Judith Ryan, The Cambridge Introduction to German Poetry (Cambridge: CUP, 2012)
Mark Allinson, Germany and Austria since 1814 (London: Routledge, 2014)
Mary Fulbrook, A Concise History of Germany (Cambridge: CUP, 2004)