Undergraduate German 2023-2024

Students will gain detailed knowledge and understanding of the fascinating political and cultural developments and historical events in 20th century Germany.

They will be introduced in weekly lectures and tutorials to a variety of texts and contemporary films.

This course is taught in English and normally taken in conjunction with GM1054 German for Beginners 1. It is specifically recommended to students with the intention to proceed with German Studies beyond level one.

No pre-requisites are required.

This module is designed for students with an SCE H in German or equivalent. The course develops receptive and productive oral and written German language skills. Students who are considering applying for entry to German Honours must take this course.

Learn more about German 20th-century literature, dealing with the events that shaped German and European history. As in all good literature, we will discuss universal themes and topics covering all of the most important aspects of modern life.  

This language course provides students with a sound foundation in German (grammar and vocabulary). It enables students to understand the gist of authentic written and spoken German and to speak and write about familiar topics with a degree of accuracy and fluency.

No previous knowledge of German is required, but this course is also for students which took German at school before, on any level lower than Higher or A-level.

With 3 Language Classes and 1 Language Practical per week this course encourages and supports students to develop their personal self-study strategies.

This course is intended for beginners, wishing to proceed with German Studies beyond level 1. It provides an introduction to selected German Short Stories from the 20th-century, with a particular focus on relating these to their cultural, historical and social context.

This module is designed for students with an SCE H in German or equivalent. The course develops receptive and productive oral and written German language skills. Students who are considering applying for entry to German Honours must take this course. The course builds on GM1050.

This language course provides students with a sound foundation in German (grammar and vocabulary). It enables students to understand the gist of authentic written and spoken German and to speak and write about familiar topics with a degree of accuracy and fluency.

No previous knowledge of German is required, but this course is also for students which took German at school before, on any level lower than Higher or A-level.

With 3 Language Classes and 1 Language Practical per week this course encourages and supports students to develop their personal self-study strategies.

Learn more about modern German history, culture and literature while also extending your skills in reading German texts.  

The course consists of language classes leading to advanced communicative competence in German and it will include the analysis of contemporary texts drawn from a variety of contexts. This course may be taken only by students who have completed the German for Beginners courses.

This level two language course will build on and extend students' fluency and written skills in German.

Learn more about modern German history and culture while also extending your skills in reading German texts. 

The intention of the course is to extend and reinforce further students' command of German grammar, vocabulary and syntactic structures, and to introduce various styles of written and spoken German. The course builds on the work done in GM2040 and  is intended only for continuing beginners. 

Building on work done in GM 2042, the course will develop further language skills.

This course consists of the study of selected aspects of German culture and involves the close analysis of German texts. 

This course will look at a number of key German-language films and directors from the past seven decades to examine the changing discourse and shifts in representation of the Nazi legacy in Germany and Austria. The course will proceed chronologically, encompassing both fiction and documentary film, offering the opportunity to compare and draw connections between films from different periods and of diverse genres.

This junior honours language course will build on and extend students' written skills and fluency in German.

This course offers advanced German language learning at Level 3. The course runs for only the first semester.

Far away - and yet so near.

By reading we can travel, not only to other worlds, but also into our own.

“Everyone who lived in high-up, magical places must feel the same way. You come down into the world and you mingle, but all the while there's something calling you back.” (A. Hasan) The pain of feeling different from others is one of the most enduring themes in literature. For some this is enriching, others are destroyed by it. 

Germanic literature is famous for its fairy tales. From the brothers Grimm to contemporary re-imaginings of traditional tales, fairy tales have undergone continual revisions, reflecting changing social norms. We examine tales from the early 19th century to the present day, with attention to the gender roles that these tales reveal or perhaps challenge. As we learn more about changing perspectives on gender in German culture, we can reflect upon the challenges that we still face today.

This course will look at a number of key German-language films and directors from the past seven decades to examine the changing discourse and shifts in representation of the Nazi legacy in Germany and Austria. The course will proceed chronologically, encompassing both fiction and documentary film, offering the opportunity to compare and draw connections between films from different periods and of diverse genres.

This level 4 course is specifically aimed at students who want to improve their German Language skills, but who are not taking German as  part of a single or joint Honours programme in German Studies. It consists of a German language class, a composition class and an oral class.

Students engage in their first larger project of independent research.

“Everyone who lived in high-up, magical places must feel the same way. You come down into the world and you mingle, but all the while there's something calling you back.” (A. Hasan) The pain of feeling different from others is one of the most enduring themes in literature. For some this is enriching, others are destroyed by it. 

Building on the skills gained during the Junior Honours language course and before, this module expands and refines German language expertise in writing, reading, speaking and listening, to an advanced level, for their final exit written and oral exam in German.

Germanic literature is famous for its fairy tales. From the brothers Grimm to contemporary re-imaginings of traditional tales, fairy tales have undergone continual revisions, reflecting changing social norms. We examine tales from the early 19th century to the present day, with attention to the gender roles that these tales reveal or perhaps challenge. As we learn more about changing perspectives on gender in German culture, we can reflect upon the challenges that we still face today.

Students engage in their first larger project of independent research. The dissertation is to be written in German and followed by a 20 minute Viva.