GERM 2225 - Contemporary Germany

Taught through the Department of European Languages, and Linguistics, this course provides a comprehensive introduction to contemporary Germany through the prisms of history, politics, society, and culture. It is designed to contribute to your understanding of how a modern German citizen thinks and feels in the twentieth-first century. Taught in German at the intermediate level, the course provides opportunities for students to improve their language skills in the areas of speaking, writing, listening and reading. Through this course you will develop: 1) an understanding of some of the most important issues currently facing Germany 2) an awareness of Germany’s place in the world, and 3) an appreciation of Germany’s diverse and dynamic culture. For students enrolling through German Studies, Contemporary Germany will focus on various aspects of the society and culture that are distinctively German. These include constructions of regional and national identities, questions of German citizenship and immigration, educational and political structures in contemporary Germany. The range of topics also includes the social market economy and welfare state underpinning contemporary German society, as well as present environmental debates. We will also focus on the capital city Berlin as a symbol of Germany’s broader transformation since reunification. Frequently located at the symbolic centre of the European Union, Germany is often regarded as the epitome of the successful modern European State. We examine that success (or otherwise) as a function of Germany’s ability to work through its twentieth-century traumas. Workshops and Seminars will be in German.