Graduate Seminars

 

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Special Topics Courses for Spring 2021:

GRMN 5510-3. Current Issues in German Literature: States of Emergency
Investigates manifestations of power and authority by focusing on the concept of the state of emergency from Carl Schmitt's famous definition of sovereignty, Walter Benjamin's Critique of Violence, and Hannah Arendt's study of totalitarianism, to Giorgio Agamben's Homo Sacer, and Naomi Klein's "disaster capitalism". We will look into the history of crises and how crises have influenced perceptions of historical progress. From natural catastrophe and war, to terrorism and the global Covid-19 pandemic, we will discuss how crises have driven the demand for sovereign forms of authority. (Approved as elective for the Critical Theory Certificate)

Special Topics Courses Fall 2019:

GRMN 5220-3. Topics in the Age of Goethe: Goethe's Novels

Special Topics Courses Fall 2018:

GRMN 5420-3. Seminar: Topics in Later 20th Century German Society: Concrete Poetry & Concrete Art​
Analyzes major currents and events such as the Holocaust, coming to terms with the past (Vergangenheitsbewaeltigung), German Democratic Republic (GDR) literature, and responses to the reunification. Topics may include the Austrians from Anschluss to Haider; Paul Celan; East German writers between Wolf Biermann and Christa Wolf; topics in German film; and others. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours when topic varies.

Special Topics Courses Spring 2019:

GRMN 5510-3. Open Topics in German Civilization: The Materiality of Literature: On the Bookishnesh of Literature
The seminar will examine materiality as a crucial part of literary works, one that must be taken into account while reading, interpreting, preserving, and editing any kind of literary text. This includes typography as well as the book or other medium in which the literary work unfolds and finds its complete expression. The seminar will deal with literary works from 18th century to present whose authors consider materiality not as contingent, but constitutive aspects of their works.