German and German Studies < St. Olaf College

Kim Foss, Tomson Hall 331
507-786-3230
foss1@stolaf.edu
wp.stolaf.edu/german, wp.stolaf.edu/german/the-german-studies-concentration

In the St. Olaf German Department, we are committed to offering students a critical, socially engaged, interdisciplinary and inclusive German Studies to meet global challenges. At every course level, language learning and cultural understanding support and reinforce one another. Beyond acquiring vocabulary and mastering grammar, German courses allow students to explore topics from fairy tales to film, from everyday life to international politics, and from confronting the past to building a more sustainable future.

Studying German at St. Olaf is both fun and enriching. Our small class sizes allow students to get to know their classmates closely as they learn to converse in German with each other, with professors, and with the native speakers we welcome to campus each year. Using language skills to explore the German-speaking world of yesterday and today, students will learn to make connections among diverse texts, including poetry and film, literature, news media, political discussions, as well as music, art, and architecture. Students will encounter social, cultural, artistic, political, and economic phenomena that have shaped German-speaking communities over time and that continue to influence their evolution today.

In addition to a diverse range of courses in German that treat language and culture together, the German Department offers courses in English on cultural topics like fairy tales and folklore, film and other media and artforms. Both majors and non-majors are welcome in our courses.

Beyond the classroom, students may also participate in the weekly German conversation table (Stammtisch), semester film series, German choir, and events organized by the German Honor Society Delta Phi Alpha, and activities hosted at Deutsches Haus, an honor house where St. Olaf students live together in a German community with an exchange student from the University of Konstanz.

Overview of the Major

In courses for the German major, students gain an understanding of German-speaking cultures past and present while building intercultural competence, developing analytical and communication skills, and refining their oral and written German. Students need not be German majors to take level II and level III courses.

Level II courses are divided into three sequences:

GERM 231 and GERM 232 are topically organized, content-based courses, with lexical and grammatical work integrated into the study and discussion of a wide range of cultural perspectives through diverse written texts and visual media. GERM 231 focuses on questions of identity and belonging in relation to nation, memory, cultural diversity, and migration in Germany. In GERM 232, students explore the evolving significance of past events, movements, and figures for the wider German-speaking world;
250-level courses prepare students to engage in informed conversations at a high level of discourse about core cultural narratives of the German-speaking world. GERM 251 focuses on the interaction of history and memory for the construction of narratives. Students analyze literary and filmic narratives as they develop advanced writing skills. GERM 252 explores contemporary issues in a global context through the study of numerous short texts and filmic works; projects include oral presentations in a variety of genres and registers.
270-level courses introduce students to various ways of knowing: critical historiography, media literacy, and socially engaged scholarship. Students continue to refine their German language skills through tasks that emphasize reading against the grain and speaking to an audience beyond the classroom. Student products include web projects, research blogs, research presentations, community engagement projects, and interviews.

Level III courses are capstone seminars which require in-depth engagement with phenomena and discourses of German-speaking cultures, past and present. Students engage in original research that is presented publicly. Language work focuses on writing and speaking in a scholarly register.

Intended Learning Outcomes for the Major

Overview of the Concentration

The German studies concentration provides students the opportunity to explore the cultures of German-speaking countries from an interdisciplinary perspective. Students combine coursework in the German language with a selection of courses with appropriate cultural content in consultation with the program director. Students are encouraged to participate in study abroad programs in Germany. Two courses from a study abroad program may count toward the concentration. One course may be taken S/U.

Intended Learning Outcomes for the Concentration

Distinction

In the Spring Semester of 2023, the German Department faculty voted to discontinue the awarding of distinction in the German department. This decision was the culmination of conversations over several years–conversations that acquired greater urgency as the department began a more rigorous and wide-ranging discussion of equity, inclusion, and antiracism during the 2020-2021 academic year. In making this decision, the German Department joined several other St. Olaf departments and programs that have made the same decision in recent years. The department also joined a number of other departments and programs that have not offered distinction for many years.

Special Programs

Study Abroad

The German Department offers two regular opportunities to study in Germany for students who have completed GERM 232 or above; one need not be a German major to study abroad on one of these programs. Students can study at the University of Mainz for the fall semester plus January term, for the spring semester, or for a full year. Students can study at the University of Konstanz for the spring semester or for a full year. In addition to intensive language study and immersion, these programs offer upper-level coursework in a full array of university disciplines. For more information see the Smith Center for Global Engagement.

Both programs begin with an intensive pre-semester language and orientation course. During this time, students choose university courses they will take during the regular university semester. Upon successful completion of the fall plus January term program at the University of Mainz, students normally receive 4 credits on the St. Olaf transcript. Upon successful completion of the spring program at the University of Konstanz, students normally receive up to 4 credits on the St. Olaf transcript. For both programs, one of the St. Olaf credits may be the pre-semester language course. Students may receive up to 2 credits from a semester study abroad toward the St. Olaf German major, provided those courses are taught in German. Students may receive 2 credits toward a German studies concentration; one of those courses must be taught in German, the other may be taught in English. With pre-approval from the German study abroad advisor, credits taken abroad may be counted toward OLE Core curriculum attributes or as electives. Students wishing to apply credits to another major must get pre-approval from the appropriate department chair.

Upon successful completion of an approved full-year program of study in Germany, a student normally receives up to 9 credits on the St. Olaf transcript. Up to 4 credits may be counted toward the St. Olaf German major, provided those courses are taught in German. Students may receive 2 credits toward a German studies concentration; one of those courses must be taught in German, the other may be taught in English. With pre-approval from the German study abroad advisor, credits may be counted toward OLE Core curriculum or as electives. Students wishing to apply credits to another major must get pre-approval from the appropriate department chair.

Students should know that specific courses may not be offered during their time at the target university and discuss this possibility with their academic advisor and major department chair. Grades earned for all courses taken abroad are recorded on the St. Olaf transcript but are not calculated into the Grade Point Average. However, should a student decide to apply for professional or graduate school after graduation, that institution may recalculate the Grade Point Average to include grades earned abroad.

Courses in English

German courses in English translation (GERM 247, GERM 249, and GERM 263), which examine key aspects of the histories and cultures of German-speaking societies, carry OLE Core curriculum attributes and are open to majors and non-majors alike. These courses require no previous knowledge of German. Some courses in the German Department and in other departments at St. Olaf are offered with a German Languages Across the C urriculum component. Both the German major and the German Studies concentration allow for a limited portion of the course requirements to be in English.

German House

German majors, German Studies concentrators, and students motivated to be part of an immersive German-speaking living community may apply to live in Deutsches Haus, a co-educational Honor House. Each year a native German-speaking student is selected from the University of Konstanz to live in Deutsches Haus to speak German and organize cultural events with the other house residents.

Recommendations for Graduate Study

St. Olaf's German Education program has been discontinued. Students interested in obtaining a K-12 German teaching license are encouraged to complete an undergraduate major in German and then apply to a graduate program that offers a Master's degree combined with teaching certification in German.

Students planning on graduate study in German should major in German and take additional courses relevant to graduate studies in the field. An academic plan will be designed in close discussion with the student’s academic advisor. In recent years, St. Olaf German majors have been accepted for graduate study at the Universities of Michigan, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

Requirements for the German Major

The graduation major in German consists of a minimum of eight (8) courses*:

Course List
Code	Title	Credits
Two 250-level courses, at least one of which must be taught by a St. Olaf instructor		2.00
Two 270-level courses, at least one of which must be taught by a St. Olaf instructor		2.00
One 300-level course, which must be taken on campus with a St. Olaf instructor and preferably in the student's senior year		1.00
Three additional courses relevant to German language, culture, or history (may include GERM 231, GERM 232, a January term abroad, and a maximum of one course in English with a significant German focus taught by a St. Olaf instructor)		3.00
Total Credits		8

Students may count a maximum of two (2) courses from a semester abroad or four (4) courses from a full year abroad toward the major. In order to count toward the major, courses taken abroad in Germany must be taken in German. For further information regarding credits from St. Olaf study abroad opportunities in Germany, see the Special Programs section.

In exceptional cases, students may request to have alternate courses approved by the department chair.

*One course may be taken S/U.

*By completing this major, the student also satisfies the OLE Core Writing in the Major requirement.

Requirements for the German Studies Concentration

The German studies concentration consists of a minimum of five (5) courses*:

Course List
Code	Title	Credits
Three (3) courses in German at the level of German 232 and above, at least two of which must be taught by a St. Olaf instructor		3.00
Two (2) additional courses relevant to German studies (arts, culture, economics, history, politics, etc.) taken at St. Olaf or abroad, in German or English		2.00
Total Credits		5

Students may count toward the concentration a maximum of two (2) courses taken in a St. Olaf-sponsored study abroad program, at least one of which must be taken in German.

If necessary, students may request to have alternate courses approved by the department chair.

The student's proposed concentration must be approved by the chair of the German Department.

*One course may be taken S/U.

Course List
Code	Title	Credits
EDUC 346	Who is My Neighbor? Ethics of Refugee and Immigrant Education	1.00
HIST 191	Colonialism & Europe: 1492-Present	1.00
HIST 210	Methods Seminar: European History	1.00
HIST 320	Research Seminar: Modern European History	1.00
LNGST 301	Germanic Multiethnolects-A Story of Birth	1.00
MUSIC 241	History and Literature of Music I	1.00
MUSIC 242	History And Literature of Music II	1.00
NORW 260	Introduction to Germanic Linguistics	1.00
PHIL 260	Kant's Moral Theory in Literature and Film	1.00
PHIL 374	Seminar in the History of Philosophy	1.00
PSCI 113	Introduction to Political Theory	1.00
PSCI 285	International Law	1.00
QUEST 218	Critics, Dreamers, Radicals	1.00
REL 213	Lutheran Heritage	1.00
REL 214	Reformation Theology	1.00
REL 303	History of Christian Thought II	1.00

Language Courses

GERM 111: Beginning German I

Students begin to learn German through listening, speaking, reading, and writing about situations familiar to them including their personal biographies, families, daily life, studies, travels, and hobbies. Regular writing assignments help students learn vocabulary, check spelling, and form thoughts with German sentence structure. Regular speaking activities aid in acquiring accurate pronunciation and listening skills. Offered annually in the fall semester. Does not count toward German major or concentration.

GERM 112: Beginning German II

Students continue to develop basic language skills with emphasis on expanding vocabulary and on writing assignments that aid in the practical application of grammatical concepts. Communicating in German about familiar personal topics, students acquire vocabulary about sports, food, holidays, school, the environment, and life in German speaking cultures. Offered annually in the spring semester. Does not count toward German major or concentration.
Prerequisite: GERM 111 or by placement test.

GERM 231: Intermediate German I

Students explore life in the German-speaking countries through reading, discussing, and retelling narrative texts. The course emphasizes vocabulary building, a thorough review of German grammar, and the composition of short narratives to develop writing skills for paragraph-length discourse. Taught in German with some grammar explanations in English. Offered annually in the fall semester. May count toward the German major but not the German studies concentration.
Prerequisite: GERM 112 or by placement test.

GERM 232: Intermediate German II

Students continue to explore life in German-speaking countries, using cultural readings, films, and other authentic materials to develop vocabulary and composition skills. Drafting short reports enables students to practice writing skills for paragraph-length discourse. Selected grammar topics are reviewed as needed. Open to first-year students. Taught in German. Offered annually in the spring semester.
Prerequisite: GERM 231 or by placement test.

250-Level Courses

GERM 251: History and Memory

Students examine the National Socialist period (1933-1945), its embeddedness in German cultural memory, and its implications for contemporary society. Students read, discuss, analyze, and write about a series of literary texts (including films) emerging from or reflecting on what historian Friedrich Meinecke called "the German catastrophe." The course is writing intensive and includes short weekly assignments as well as several longer, multi-step writing projects. Advanced grammar review supports analytical tasks. Taught in German. A one-hour weekly small group discussion section led by a native German speaker is required. Offered annually in the fall semester.
Prerequisite: GERM 232 or by placement test.

GERM 252: German-speaking Societies in Global Context

Students examine current issues in German-speaking societies such as politics, sustainability, social welfare, diversity, and migration. They compare multiple perspectives on, and connections between the issues through sources including documentaries, podcasts, and news articles. Short writing assignments and oral presentations emphasize analysis of texts' strategic organization, argumentative structure, style, and layered voices. Advanced grammar review supports analytical tasks. Taught in German. A weekly small group discussion section led by a native German speaker is required. Offered annually in the spring semester. Also counts toward business and management studies concentration.
Prerequisite: GERM 232 or by placement test.

270-298 Level Courses

GERM 272: Turning Points in German History

Students examine a historical period or theme and its impact on the institutional, intellectual, and artistic heritage of German-speaking societies. The course requires close reading and critical analysis of primary sources, with a focus on history as an interpretive reconstruction of the past. Recent topics: the German Democratic Republic, German colonialism and decolonization, and migration. The course emphasizes strategies for writing papers in German. Taught in German. May be repeated if topic is different. Offered periodically in fall semester.
Prerequisite: GERM 251 or GERM 252.

GERM 273: German Media History and Media Literacy

Students develop their media literacy through German-language sources with emphasis on ideological, aesthetic, and ethical perspectives on how media make meaning and shape culture. Students examine issues treated in print and electronic formats across the history of mass communication, from early printing to the internet. To hone their critical media literacy, students compare and contrast how issues are represented in different German- and English-speaking media. The course emphasizes strategies for academic writing. Taught in German. Offered periodically in fall semester. Also counts toward business and management studies concentration.
Prerequisite: GERM 251 or GERM 252.

GERM 276: Green Germany

Students examine Germany's successful sustainability initiatives and their roots in a long history of cultural values and scientific innovation. They study primary and secondary sources including interviews, journalistic articles, literary works, and films; these texts form the basis of students' written and oral analyses. Drawing on diverse disciplinary perspectives, students gain transferable knowledge and skills for addressing complex international environmental concerns. Offered periodically. Also counts toward environmental studies major and environmental studies and business and management studies concentrations.
Prerequisite: GERM 251, GERM 252, or permission of the instructor.

GERM 294: Academic Internship (study abroad)

Students spend four weeks during January Term or summer in an individually selected German or Austrian workplace. Opportunities include work in health care, communications, and manufacturing as well as non-profit organizations, libraries, businesses, laboratories, offices, and churches. Assignment of position varies with availability in host institutions.
Prerequisite: at least one 250-level course.

GERM 298: Independent Study

370-Level and Above Courses

GERM 371: Topics in German Literature

Students hone their skills of analyzing the forms and contexts of production and reception of German-language literary works of various genres. Coursework includes close reading, discussion, and interpretation of visual and written texts. Recent topics include the author as public intellectual, die Fantasie, Frauenliteratur, and Wissen, Wissenschaft/en und Wissenschaftler*innen. The course emphasizes strategies for academic writing. Taught in German. May be repeated if the topic is different. Offered in alternate years in spring semester.
Prerequisite: at least one 270-level course.

GERM 372: Transdisciplinary Topics in German Studies

Students explore an interdisciplinary topic in language, literature, history, or culture through close reading, discussion, analysis, and interpretation of selected works, including theoretical texts. Recent topics: identities and boundaries of the German-speaking world. Taught in German. May be repeated if topic is different. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: at least one 270-level course.

GERM 394: Academic Internship (study abroad)

Students spend four weeks during January Term or summer in the German or Austrian workplace. Opportunities include working in health care, communications, and manufacturing as well as non-profit organizations, libraries, businesses, laboratories, offices, and churches. Assignment of position varies with availability of host institutions.
Prerequisite: at least one 270-level course.

GERM 396: Directed Undergraduate Research

This course provides a comprehensive research opportunity, including an introduction to relevant background material, technical instruction, identification of a meaningful project, and data collection. The topic is determined by the faculty member in charge of the course and may relate to their research interests. Offered based on department decision. May be offered as a 1.00 credit course or .50 credit course.
Prerequisite: determined by individual instructor.

GERM 398: Independent Research

May be counted toward German major or German studies concentration.

German Literature & Culture (Taught in English)

GERM 247: Germanic Fairy Tales (in English)

This course provides an introduction to the study of folklore and presents a spectrum of approaches to the interpretation of fairy tales. Students read and discuss writings stemming from oral traditions such as the Nibelungenlied, and chapbooks including Till Eulenspiegel, and Faust; eighteenth-century fables created on models from antiquity; fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm; and Kunstmärchen (literary fairy tales by known writers). Students explore the literary aspects of the works and their historical contexts. Also counts toward the Nordic studies major and concentration and the international relations concentration.

GERM 249: German Cinema (in English)

A survey of German films from Caligari (1919) to The Counterfeiters (2008), this course examines 20th-century German history through the lens of Germany's most renowned films. Students develop analytical and critical skills in "reading" films as cultural products and as cinematic works of art. The course focuses on the increasing social and political importance of mass media for understanding the past. Also counts toward film and media studies major and film and media studies and international relations concentrations.

GERM 263: Topics in German Arts (in English)

Students examine the artistic heritage of the German-speaking countries and develop the skill of interpreting and analyzing art works in their cultural context. The specific topic may vary and may be broadly or narrowly defined to include a specific art form, theme, period, artist, or the art of the German-speaking countries. Topics include: the arts in turn-of-the-century Vienna, the Bauhaus, Weimar cinema, and German Expressionism. Taught in English. May be repeated if topic is different. Offered periodically.

German Studies Courses

German Department courses taught in English

GERM 247: Germanic Fairy Tales (in English)

GERM 249: German Cinema (in English)

GERM 263: Topics in German Arts (in English)

Recent examples of courses outside the department (with major focus on German cultural content)

EDUC 346: Who is My Neighbor? Ethics of Refugee and Immigrant Education

This course addresses the reception of migrants in relationship to education and ethics. Students interrogate laws, policies, practices, and foundational belief systems involved in immigration while learning about normative perspectives in ethics. They interrogate best practices for teaching and interacting with refugees, immigrants and immigrant communities that reflect moral responsibility. Required for ESL licensure, and highly relevant for all educators and those interested in immigration. 10-hour service component working with migrants in the community. Open to juniors and seniors. Offered annually in the fall semester.

HIST 191: Colonialism & Europe: 1492-Present

This course surveys European history and culture since the Reformation. Topics include the impact of Protestantism, the development of nation-states, the Enlightenment, revolutionary ideas and experiences, the Napoleonic era, imperialism, mass political movements, and global warfare. Through original texts, historical studies, and literature, students explore relations among religions, states and societies and understandings of liberty and reason, natural environments, family life, and gender roles. Offered annually. Also counts toward gender and sexuality studies major and concentration.

MUSIC 241: History and Literature of Music I

Students encounter the history and development of Western European music from the Middle Ages to ca. 1750 and study the genres and styles of music from monophonic chant to concerted music of the Baroque. Offered periodically in the fall semester.
Prerequisite: MUSIC 114.

PHIL 260: Kant's Moral Theory in Literature and Film

Students study the moral theory of Immanuel Kant by reading his texts and understanding the expression of their ideas in literature and film. They also clarify Kant's moral theory through comparison of his theory to other moral theories, especially utilitarianism and virtue theory. The overall purpose of the course is to help students to understand and apply moral theories generally, and Kant's theory in particular, to moral situations. Offered periodically. Also counts toward film studies and German studies concentrations.

PHIL 261: Freud and the Study of Human Behavior

Students examine Freud's thesis that our thoughts and actions spring from the darkness of our unconscious. Because Freud based his theory on a small sample of case studies, the course scrutinizes this qualitative data and discusses the role of case studies in the study of human behavior. Students evaluate the criteria for a scientific theory of human behavior and consider whether Freud's theory meets them. Offered during January Term. Also counts toward German studies concentration.

PHIL 374: Seminar in the History of Philosophy

Students consider a selected figure or movement from the history of philosophy. May be repeated if topic is different. May count toward ancient studies and medieval studies majors.
Prerequisites: two courses in philosophy, one of which must be either PHIL 235 or PHIL 236 or permission of the department chair.

PSCI 113: Introduction to Political Theory

This course is an introduction to some of the central, interrelated concepts and questions of political theory. Some of the readings will be drawn from recognized classics in the field while others will arise from contemporary debates about political issues and cultural diversity within the U.S. The course pays considerable attention to historical shifts in political thought but is not designed to provide a chronology of the great Western political thinkers. Instead, this course aims to provoke and sustain a semester-long exploration of what it means to be a political actor -- that is, a citizen -- and what it means to think about politics. Offered annually.

PSCI 285: International Law

Once the purview of diplomats and generals, international law has broken those narrow confines and is becoming a part of traditional practice in areas of business, environment, human rights, and criminal law. This course introduces students to this vast and changing subject from a liberal arts perspective, including its history, theory, and practice. Also counts toward international relations concentration.

QUEST 218: Critics, Dreamers, Radicals

In this course, students consider the modern age in light of their Enduring Questions experience. Topics include artists and authors from the twentieth century to the present, such as Freud, Picasso, Woolf, Arendt, and Borges, addressing topics such as the rise of nationalism, rejections of colonialism, globalization, migration, and race and racism. Students identify and evaluate their own ethical views in relation to ethical theories, like consequentialism and virtue ethics, encountered throughout the Enduring Questions program. Offered annually in the spring semester.
Prerequisites: QUEST 217.

REL 213: Lutheran Heritage

Analyzing continuity and change within the Lutheran tradition, students consider Luther's theology and proposals for the reform of Catholicism and evaluate major reappraisals of Lutheran beliefs and practices that developed in response to new issues and social situations. Topics include Orthodoxy and Pietism, conservative and liberal responses to the Enlightenment, modern European Lutheranism and issues of particular importance to Lutheranism in Scandinavia, America, and developing countries. Offered periodically during January Term. Also counts toward German studies concentration.

REL 214: Reformation Theology

Students analyze 16th-century reform movements in light of their theological and historical contexts and their significance for contemporary theology. The course focuses on contributions and lives of the major figures in the Protestant Reformations (e.g., Luther, Calvin, Zwingli) and the Roman Catholic Reform. Offered periodically. Also counts toward German studies concentration.

REL 303: History of Christian Thought II

This course provides a critical analysis of the development of Christian thought in the Middle Ages and Reformation, 11th through 16th centuries. Particular attention is paid to the great theological systems of the Middle Ages and to the theological aims of the 16th-century reforming movements, drawing upon readings from Anselm, Aquinas, Bonaventure, Luther, Calvin, and others. Offered periodically. Also counts toward medieval studies major.

REL 304: History of Christian Thought III

This course offers a critical analysis of the development of Christian thought in the modern period, 17th century to 1970. Students pay special attention to the rise of modern historical and philosophical outlooks that challenge traditional Christian claims and to the appropriation and criticism of these outlooks in modern theology. Students read from Edwards, Schleiermacher, Barth, Bultmann, and others. Offered periodically.