Interdisciplinary Studies

Business and Law
Conversation Courses
Film
Gender Studies
History and Culture
Linguistics and Language Pedagogy
Literature
Music and Visual Arts
Politics and Society
Science and Engineering
Global Engineering

German Studies students, can pursue specific interests in depth by electing multiple courses from the following sequences.

German majors are strongly encouraged to elect courses in at least three different sequences, and at least three courses within one of the following sequences as a way to attain breadth and depth.

Business and Law

Taught in German:
German 105: First-year Seminar (1)(LAC)
German 232: Second Year German: Contemporary German Society and Business Culture (4)
German 232: Second Year German: Legal German (4)
German 326: Intermediate German: German Politics (3)
German 329: Independent Study (1-4)
German 349: Working in Germany (1)(LAC)
German 350: Business German (3)
German 351: Practice in Business German (3) (internship)
German 430: Advanced Business German (3)
Cross-listed with Business 499: Advanced Business German
German 431: Business German: Management and Marketing (3)
German 492: Honors Thesis (3)

Taught in English:
German 180: First-year Seminar: Germany Before the Bar (4)
German 105: First-year Seminar (1) (LAC)
German 432: The German Model: Business, Labor, and the State in the 20th Century (3)
Cross-listed with Sociology 425: The German Model
German 449: Special Topics in English Translation (3)
Political Science 387: Courts, Politics, and Society (3)
Women's Studies 270: Women and the Law (3)

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Conversation Courses

205: Conversation Prerequisites: German 103, 221, or 231; students who have already completed a 300- or 400-level conversation class may not take this course. The objective of this class is to overcome the silence which you may experience when attempting to articulate everyday needs in German. In this course, you will hone your German conversation skills by learning basic idiomatic expressions and by building a fundamental vocabulary. In-class and out-of-class exercises will place you inside a bank where you might open an account or order checks (only pretend!); you will find food at the market or an apartment; you will learn both to describe physical discomfort and to get your hair trimmed without psychological discomfort. In addition, newspaper or magazine articles along with films and music segments may illustrate the German cultural landscape at large. Active class participation, occasional vocabulary quizzes, and short oral presentations are the only requirements.

206: Conversation Prerequisites: German 103, 221, or 231; students who have already completed a 300- or 400-level conversation class may not take this course. In this course, you will dramatize everyday situations that occur during any sojourn in a German-speaking country. You will learn and practice expressions that enable you to order (the proper) food from a German menu, make reservations in a hotel, give directions from a map, or converse about conversions into Euros. You will be expected to be physically and verbally active in class, to prepare for short vocabulary quizzes, and to take part in a final oral group presentation.

305: Intermediate Conversation Prerequisites: German 232 or higher; students who have already completed a 400-level conversation class may not take this course. The objective of this course is to hone your conversational skills by building a vocabulary that textbooks typically do not provide. In-class workshops will recreate and dramatize real-life situations in a German-speaking environment (airport, restaurant, food store, party). The communicative basis for a meaningful conversation will be enhanced continually by various impromptu interludes. Articles from current newspapers or magazines as well as films or music segments will deepen your understanding of cultural trends in German-speaking countries. Regular attendance and active class participation are mandatory. You will be required to prepare for classes, communicate with your instructor, and participate in a final group presentation.

306: Intermediate Conversation Prerequisites: German 232 or higher; students who have already completed a 400-level conversation class may not take this course. The goal of this course is to increase your confidence in speaking on any topic in German. Beginning in German 306, the range of possible conversational topics will expand to include anything that pertains to contemporary cultural life or current events. The class focuses on expanding students' existing vocabulary and varying the spoken styles that are necessary to appreciate fully the life of German-speaking communities. In addition, creative and compositional exercises (concocting and completing prose and poetry, writing extemporaneous letters, making light-tongued phone conversations, all in German) will alternate with impromptu conversational situations. Formal class requirements include frequent informal communication with the instructor, vigorous class participation, and short oral presentations.

405: Advanced Conversation Prerequisites: German 305/306 or German 325/326. This class will emulate a German-speaking environment that rehearses everyday, professional and academic situations. These structural pillars will offer ample space for integrating and debating advanced clusters of cultural topics in German-speaking communities. Although the creative reenactment and digestion of first-rate material form part of the course material, students should also be prepared to read and digest articles about current events in Germany. Discussions include verbal synopses of textual plots and arguments. Short oral presentations and a final group project establish the formal course requirements.

406: Advanced Conversation Prerequisites: German 305/306 or German 325/326. The final step in this tour de conversation is geared, but not limited, to students who may wish to work, study, or live (actually and imaginatively) abroad. Students will advance their abilities to compose a resume and to address specific professional or academic situations. The latter fields will provide much fodder for conversations that will also include a wide array of everyday cultural topics relating to life in German-speaking communities. The course aims to provide an ample range of stylistic registers and make students feel comfortable in using them. Various presentations, short written assignments, and active verbal class participation are the formal requirements for this class.

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Film

Taught in German:
German 104: History of German Cinema (1)(LAC)
German 207: Introduction to German Studies (1)(LAC)
German 232: Second Year German: German Cinema (4)
German 325/326: Intermediate German: Film und Literatur (3)
German 325/326: German Film Classics in Context
German 329: Independent Study (1-4)
German 332. Kino:German Film
German 492: Honors Thesis (3)

Taught in English:
German 172: History of German Cinema (4)(HU)
German 104: History of German Cinema (1) (LAC)
German 241: Introduction to German Studies (4)
German 330: German Cinema
German 331: Contemporary German Film

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Gender Studies

Taught in German:
German 105: First-year Seminar (1)(LAC)
German 207: Introduction to German Studies (1)(LAC)
German 232: Second Year German: Gender Studies (4)
German 329: Independent Study (1-4)
German 386: Major Authors (3)
German 419: Drama, Sex, and History (1)(LAC)
German 421: Marriage and Marital Life in History: Medieval and Early Modern
German 492: Honors Thesis (3)
German 499: Seminar in German Studies (3)

Taught in English:
German 180: First-year Seminar: Reading Femininity, Reading Masculinity (3)
German 241: Introduction to German Studies (4)
German 447: Women and German Literature (3)
German 449: Special Topics in English Translation (3)
German 463: Drama, Sex, and History (3)
German 465: Marriage and Marital Life in Medieval and Early Modern Germany (3)
Cross-listed with History 414 and MARC 428.

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History and Culture

Taught in German:
German 107: Coming to Terms with Germany (1)(LAC)
German 207: Introduction to German Studies (1)(LAC)
German 232: Second Year German: The German Conception of History (4)
German 232: Second Year German: Resistance and Opposition in Nazi Germany (4)
German 325/326: Intermediate German: Berlin, Berlin (3)
German 329: Independent Study (1-4)
German 386: Major Authors
German 403: 19th-Century German and European Thought (1)(LAC)
German 404: 20th-Century German and European Thought (1) (LAC)
German 421: Marriage and Marital Life in History: Medieval and Early Modern
German 422: German-Jewish Identity and Culture (1)(LAC)
German 499: Seminar in German Studies (3)

Taught in English:
German 171: Coming to Terms with Germany (4)
Cross-listed with History 171.
German 107: Coming to Terms with Germany (2) (LAC)
German 241: Introduction to German Studies (4)
German 250: The Literature and Culture of War in Germany (3)
German 360: Art and Politics in Weimar (3)
Cross-listed with History 391.
German 401: 19th-Century German and European Thought (3)
Cross-listed with History 416.
German 402: 20th-Century German and European Thought (3)
Cross-listed with History 417.
German 449: Special Topics in English Translation (3)
German 449: Special Topics in English: The Culture of the Reformation in Europe (3)
Cross-listed with History 414 and MARC428.
German 465: Marriage and Marital Life in Medieval and Early Modern Germany (3)
Cross-listed with History 414 and MARC 428.
German 466: German-Jewish Identity and Culture (3)

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Linguistics and Language Pedagogy

Taught in German:
German 232: Second Year German: The Brothers Grimm (4)
German 325/326: Intermediate German: The German Language through Space and Time (3)
German 329: Independent Study (1-4)
German 415: The German Language Past and Present (3)
German 425: Advanced German (3)
German 426: Advanced German (3)
German 492: Honors Thesis (3)

Open to undergraduates with permission of the instructor.
German 500: Intro to Germanic Linguistics
German 504: History of the German language
German 506: Structure of the German Language
German 509: Gothic
German 511: Old High German
German 512: Middle High German
German 515: Old Saxon
German 531: Teaching Methods [Cross-listed with Education 431.]

Other Germanic languages:
Dutch 111: First Year Dutch (4)
Dutch 112: First Year Dutch (4)
Dutch 231: Second Year Dutch (4)
Dutch 232: Second Year Dutch (4)
Scandinavian 103: First Year Swedish (4)
Scandinavian 104: First Year Swedish (4)
Scandinavian 233: Second Year Swedish (4)
Scandinavian 234: Second Year Swedish (4)

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Literature

Taught in German:
German 105: First-Year Seminar (1)(LAC)
German 207: Introduction to German Studies (1)(LAC)
German 208: Faust (1)(LAC)
German 232: Second Year German: Literature and Popular Culture: German Crime Stories (4)
German 232: Second Year German: Reading German Literature (4)
German 311: Fastnachtspiele
German 325/326: Intermediate German
German 329: Independent Study (1-4)
German 381: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Drama (3)
German 382: 19th and 20th Drama
German 383: German Lyric Poetry
German 384: Prose: Romanticism to Realism
German 385: Prose: 19c-Present
German 386: Major Authors (3)
German 419: Drama, Sex, and History (1)(LAC)German 420: Remembrance and Forgetting (1)(LAC)
German 450: Medieval Literature in Modern German Translation (3)
German 451: 16th-17th Century German Literature (3)
German 452: 18th Century German Literature (3)
German 453: German Classicism (3)
German 454: German Romanticism (3)
German 455: 19th Century German Literature (3)
German 456: German Modernism (3)
German 457: Twentieth Century German Fiction (3)
German 458: German Literature after 1945 (3)
German 459: GDR Literature and Culture (3)
German 492: Honors Thesis (3)
German 499: Seminar in German Studies (3)
German 540: Introduction to German Studies (3)
Open to qualified undergraduates by permission of instructor.

Taught in English:
German 180: First-Year Seminar: Reading Literature (4)
German 105 available for LAC credit.
German 241: Introduction to German Studies (4)
German 242: Faust
German 444: Contemporary German Literature in English (3)
German 449: Special Topics in English Translation (3)
German 462: Mad Women (3)
German 463: Drama, Sex, and History (3)

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Music and Visual Arts

Taught in German:
German 101: Elementary German (4)
German 106: Visual Culture in Germany (1) (LAC)
German 111: First Special reading Course
German 112: Second Special Reading Course (4)
German 207: Introduction to German Studies (1)(LAC)
German 232: Second Year German: Die Zauberflöte (4)
German 232: Second Year German: German Art History (4)
German 232: Second Year German: Mozart's Magic Flute (4)
German 309: German for Art History (1)(LAC)
German 318: German for Architecture (1)(LAC)
German 325/326: Intermediate German: German Expressionism (3)
German 325/326: Intermediate German: The World According to Alma (3)
German 325/326: Die Dreigroschenoper
German 329: Independent Study (1-4)
German 386: Major Authors
German 492: Honors Thesis (3)
German 499: Seminar in German Studies (3)

Taught in English:
German 241: Introduction to German Studies (4)
German 320: German Expressionism (3)
German 414: Vienna 1890-1918 (4)
German 449: Special Topics in English Translation (3)

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Politics and Society

Taught in German:
German 109: German and European Politics (1)(LAC)
German 207: Introduction to German Studies (1)(LAC)
German 212/Soc 212: Sports and Society
German 232: Second Year German: Contemporary German Society and Business Culture (4)
German 232: Second Year German: Cultural Anthropology in German (4)
German 325/326: Intermediate German: German Youth Culture (3)
German 326: Intermediate German: German Politics (3)
German 329: Independent Study (1-4)
German 386: Major Authors
German 415: The German Language Past and Present (3)
German 492: Honors Thesis (3)
German 499: Seminar in German Studies (3)

Taught in English:
German 176: German and European Politics (4)
German 241: Introduction to German Studies (4)
German 360: Art and Politics in Weimar (3)
German 449: Special Topics in English Translation (3)
German 493/Soc 493: The Politics of Fascism (3)

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Science and Engineering

Mathematical, Scientific, and Engineering German
German 232: Second Year German: Mathematical and Scientific German (4)
German 290: The Internet in German (1) (LAC)
German 307: German for Medicine (1) (LAC)
German 319: German for the Engineering and Industry (1) (LAC)
German 325: Intermediate German: German for Engineering I
German 326: Intermediate German: German for Engineering II
German 329: Independent Study (1-4)
German 351: Practice in Business German (3) (internship)
German 492: Honors Thesis (3)
German 499: Seminar in German Studies (3)
For more information on specific courses, contact Hartmut Rastalsky hmr@umich.edu

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The Global Engineering Program's German Track

The Program in Global Engineering integrates courses dedicated to a specific region, language classes and other international topics with a required overseas experience (study abroad, internship abroad) and intercultural training. The program requirements are designed to overlap with the student's degree program. Students who successfully complete the program requirements receive a notation to that effect on their transcript. Please click here for more information on the program in general.

The requirements for the German track of the Program in Global Engineering are available in detail by clicking here. In outline, they include:

• a 2 credit hour course on cross-cultural understanding (offered within the School of Engineering)
  
• 8 hours of language study at the second year level (which may be satisfied by the placement test or AP credit),
  
• 12 additional credit hours of 300- or 400-level courses in the German department,
  
• 3 credit hours of free electives with an international focus
  
• an 8-week (or longer) study or work abroad experience in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
  

Students interested in enrolling in the program should contact Stacie Edington in the International Programs in Engineering Office at sjed@umich.edu, and/or the Undergraduate Concentration Advisor for German, Kalli Federhofer, kallimz@umich.edu

We recommend that students on the German track in Global Engineering live for one or more years in the Max Kade German Residence, located on North Campus in Thieme House, Baits.

Program in Global Engineering website

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