German
Course Descriptions
Final Year B.A. Students
2015/16
3rd Year B.A.
4th Year B.A. International
Year Coordinator: Professor Hans-Walter Schmidt-Hannisa, Room AM 307
Telephone: 492239, email: h.schmidthannisa@nuigalway.ie
Consultation time: Wednesday 2.00-3.00 p.m. (during term time) and by appointment.
Entry requirements: A pass in Second Arts German or its equivalent, for example in the
case of visiting and exchange students. Students registered for the B.A. International must
also have achieved a satisfactory academic performance during their year abroad.
Compulsory Modules: Students are obliged to take all six modules on offer.
All modules have the value of 5 ECTS.
For further details, please check our website: www.nuigalway.ie/german
Important Dates
First Semester
Start of teaching
Monday, 7th September, 2015
End of teaching
Saturday, 28th November, 2015
Study Week
Monday, 30th November – Saturday, 5th December, 2015
Examinations
Monday, 7th – Friday, 18th December, 2015
Christmas Vacation
Saturday, 19th December, 2015 – Sunday, 10th January, 2016
Second Semester
Start of Teaching period 1
Monday, 11th January, 2016
End of Teaching period 1
Saturday, 19th March, 2016
Easter Holidays
Thursday, 24th – Tuesday, 29th March, 2016.
Start of Teaching period 2
Monday, 4th April, 2016
End of Teaching period 2
Saturday, 16th April, 2016
Study Week
Monday, 18th – Saturday, 23th April, 2016
Examinations
Monday, 25th April - Wednesday, 11th May, 2016
Autumn Examinations
Tuesday,2nd – Friday, 12th August, 2016
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Semester 1
All modules are compulsory.
Module
Components
GR341 German Language I
GR337 German Cultural Studies I
Literature and Dream (core)
60%
Students have to choose one of the
two optional components.
Language and the Brain (optional)
40%
E.T.A.Hoffmann (optional)
40%
Extended Essay
50%
Memory in Contemporary German
Writing
50%
GR338 German Cultural Studies II
Semester 2
All modules are compulsory.
Module
Components
GR342 German Language II
GR339 German Cultural Studies III
Kleist’s Stories (core)
60%
Students have to choose one of the
two optional components.
Autobiographies (optional)
40%
Experiencing World War I (optional)
40%
GR340 German Cultural Studies IV
German Theatre Production
100%
Students have to choose one of the
two options.
German Cinema
100%
Important note for visiting students: In special circumstances alternative
arrangements can be made for visiting students. Please contact the year co-ordinator.
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Course Descriptions
Semester I
GR341 German Language I (5 hrs. per week)
Lecturers: Franziska Kroh, Gabi Behrens.
Course description: Intense language tuition developing oral, aural and writing skills
to a high standard.
Students will be enabled to

understand the main ideas of complex oral and written communication on both
concrete and abstract topics.

interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes interaction with
native speakers possible without strain for either party

produce clear, detailed written texts on a wide range of subjects

express complex ideas and opinions about a broad range of topics. Four hours
language tuition per week and one hour translation from English to German.

translate appropriately from English to German and from German to English.

understand the grammatical structures of the German language.
Prerequisites: Successful completion of Second Arts German language or equivalent.
Methods of assessment: Continuous Assessment 50%, oral exam 20%, written exam
30%.
Please note: All assignments must be handed in on time and will not be accepted later
unless medical certificates are provided.
Core texts: Sicher C1.1 Hueber Verlag 2014, ISBN: 978-3-19-501208-9 supplementary material and weekly assignments will be provided in class and on
Blackboard.
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GR337
German Cultural Studies I
Components:
Literature and Dream (core)
60%
Language and the Brain (optional)
40%
E.T.A. Hoffmann (optional)
40%
GR337 Literature and Dream (2 hrs. per week)
Lecturer: Hans-Walter Schmidt-Hannisa
Course description: The module examines the cultural history of the dream from the 18th to
the 20 centuries, and in particular the relationship between dream and literature. Since the
age of enlightenment, dreams are considered as productions of the human soul which can
provide insights into the mind of individuals, or, as Freud puts it, into the unconsciousness.
The course will provide an overview of dream theories from the first forms of empirical
psychology in the 18th century to Freud, Jung, and philosophers of the 20th century. Focus
will be on dreams and their understanding in a selection of texts of various genres (drama,
poem, novella, literary dream record).
Assessment: Take-home-essay (85%), two in-class-tests (15%)
Core texts: Karl Philipp Moritz: Blunt; E.T.A. Hoffmann: Der Magnetiseur; Hermann
Hesse: Traumfährte; Arthur Schnitzler: Traumnovelle; Charlotte Beradt: Das dritte Reich
des Traums. Texts will be provided as handouts.
GR337 Language and the Brain (1 hr per week)
Lecturer: Franziska Kroh
Course description: The last decade has revolutionized our understanding of the
neurophysiological activities relevant for the acquisition and the use of language.
We know much more now about the processes of language learning typical for both
infants and adult learners. This course provides an introduction to the psychological
and neurophysiological fundaments of language. The course will focus on the
following major aspects:
 The foundations of neurolinguistics
 Primary language acquisition; children and their mother tongue
 Second and foreign language acquisition
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 Brain activity associated
many languages).
with
bi-and
multilingualism
(One
brain,
 Brain activities associated with reading.
 Language disorders and their therapies.
An understanding of these topics will help students to learn and teach languages more
effectively.
Methods of assessment: Assignments: 40%, in-class test: 60%.
Attendance is obligatory and counts towards assessment.
Course language: German
Core texts: handouts and web-based resources on Blackboard.
GR337 E.T.A. Hoffmann: Masterpieces of German Romanticism (1 hr per week)
Lecturer: Jeannine Jud
Course description: This module will provide an insight into the fantastical world of
the author E.T.A. Hoffmann. Hoffmann was born in 1776 and is one of the foremost
representatives of German romanticism. This module will focus on Hoffmann’s
novella Der Sandmann and the fairy tale Klein Zaches, genannt Zinnober. Der
Sandmann, often praised as a masterpiece of gothic literature, explores themes of
eeriness and the uncanny (later interpreted by Sigmund Freud) and contributed to
Hoffmann’s reputation as a pioneer of the fantasy and horror genre. His literary magic
furthermore extends into the realm of the fairy tale, which will be explored in this
seminar using his work Klein Zaches, genannt Zinnober as an example. Hoffmann
combines descriptive beauty with grotesque imagery in a successful union of literary
excellence. This course will focus on a close reading of both texts, which will be
supported by a critical analysis and reflection of the themes discussed.
Assessment: Written examination (70%), active participation and continuous
assessment (30%)
Core texts: E.T.A Hoffmann: Der Sandmann, Reclam, 2001; E.T.A Hoffmann: Klein
Zaches, genannt Zinnober, Reclam, 1998.
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GR338
German Cultural Studies II
Components:
Extended Essay
50%
Memory in Contemporary German Writing
50%
GR338 Extended Essay
Lecturers: Deirdre Byrnes, Franziska Kroh, Tina Pusse, Hans-Walter SchmidtHannisa.
Course description: Writing the Extended Essay is an opportunity for students to
thoroughly familiarise themselves with an aspect of German, Austrian or Swiss
cultural life/history and to present it well in both written and oral form. It may be on
any topic in the area of German language and culture or in any other area that falls
within the scope of German Studies. It can relate to linguistic, literary, cultural, social
or political matters.
Students have to discuss their choice of topic with, and have it approved by one of the
lecturers at an early stage. Once the topic has been approved, a proposal (not less than
400 words) has to be submitted to Geraldine Smyth (Geraldine.smyth@nuigalway.ie).
The deadline for the submission of the proposal is Monday, 28th September, 2015.
It must include a provisional bibliography including at least five sources which are
not web pages. Three of them should be written in German. The essay should have a
length of approximately 4,000 words.
For details see handout Guidelines of the Extended Essay available on the German
Discipline website:
http://www.nuigalway.ie/german/undergraduate_courses.html
Deadline for submission of the essay: Monday, 23rd November 2015.
A Viva, in which students have to discuss selected topics of their essays, will be held
in December 2015. This viva counts 20% of the total mark.
GR338 Memory in Contemporary German Writing (2 hrs. per week)
Lecturer: D. Byrnes
Course description: Monika Maron is an accomplished essayist, a critically acclaimed
novelist, and an incisive social and political commentator. This course focuses on two
of her texts: Stille Zeile Sechs, published in 1991, and her family story Pawels Briefe,
published in 1999. Stille Zeile Sechs charts a bitter and ultimately fatal struggle to
write and, more significantly still, to rewrite conflicting memories of life in the
German Democratic Republic. In Pawels Briefe Maron attempts to reconstruct a
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family biography brutally ruptured by historical events. In so doing, she exposes
familial memory gaps. Situating the texts within the framework of individual,
collective and cultural memory theories, this course explores the importance of
memory – and of forgetting – in contemporary German writing.
Assessment: Essay (80%) and presentation (20%)
Core texts: Monika Maron, Stille Zeile Sechs (Fischer); Monika Maron, Pawels Briefe
(Fischer).
Semester II
GR342 German Language II (5 hrs. per week)
Lecturers: Franziska Kroh, Aine Ryan
Course description: This course continues the intense language tuition from semester
1, developing oral, aural and writing skills to a high standard.
Prerequisites: Level B2.2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages
Learning objectives: The level to be reached on completion of the course corresponds
to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages level C1, i.e. that
students can

understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts in German, and recognize
implicit meaning

express themselves fluently and spontaneously without much obvious
searching for expressions

use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional
purposes

produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing
controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.
Assessment and examination: Continuous Assessment 50%, oral exam 20%, written
exam 30%.
Please note: All assignments must be handed in on time and will not be accepted later
unless medical certificates are provided.
Core texts: Schubert Verlag: Erkundungen KOMPAKT C1 (ISBN 978-3-941323-087); supplementary material and assignments will be provided in class and on
Blackboard.
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GR339
German Cultural Studies III
Components:
Kleist’s Stories (core)
(60%)
Autobiographies (optional)
(40%)
Experiencing WW I (optional)
(40%)
GR339 Kleist’s Stories (2 hrs. per week)
Lecturer: Michael Shields
Course description: Kleist’s novellas and short prose works, recognised as
masterpieces by contemporaries and later writers including Kafka, focus on the
incompatibility of cultural concepts (such as justice or absolute law) and reality.
Kleist’s stories are often based on logical dilemmas (“Denkübungen”) which
undermine the reliance of enlightenment thought upon such absolutes. More often
than is generally realised, Kleist uses material from the German Middle Ages as the
basis for these, and in this course we will compare some known sources as well as
two new ones with Kleist’s treatment of them in his stories. The course will also
consider whether Kleist presents the medieval past negatively as a male-dominated
epoch inferior to the civilised nineteenth century.
Teaching and learning methods: Study of medieval and post-enlightenment texts,
comparison of Kleist’s stories and their sources, analysis of Kleists’s logical problems
and their treatment in selected academic articles.
Methods of assessment and evaluation: Take-home essay 75%, 25% in-class work.
Core text: Kleist, Heinrich von: Sämtliche Erzählungen und andere Prosa, ed. MüllerSeidel, Walter. (Reclam) ISBN: 978-3-15-008232-4
GR 339 Autobiographies (1 hr. per week)
Lecturer: Tina-Karen Pusse
Course description: This course will discuss very different autobiographical texts
covering the 18th century (for example Jacques Rousseau, Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe) as well as Holocaust-autobiographies and contemporary texts (for example
Elias Canetti, Thomas Bernhard, Ulla Hahn). The main focus of the course is a close
reading and the analysis of the first few pages of the selected text. This will allow us
to explore the major topics of autobiographical writing: The construction of memory,
the setting of the “I”, truth and lies, death and artificial creation, writing versus living.
Core texts: Reader
Method of assessment: Attendance and continuous assessment (40%), end of term
exam (60%)
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GR339 Experiencing World War I. Erich Maria Remarque’s Im Westen nichts
Neues (1 hr. per week)
Lecturer: Hans-Walter Schmidt-Hannisa
Course description: Remarque’s book, published in 1928, banned by the Nazis and
sold more than 20 million copies, is a classical anti-war novel describing from a
German soldier’s perspective the war in the trenches and battlefields, and the
detachment of members of the army from civilian life. It provides insights into the
conditions of “modern” warfare with machine guns, heavy artillery, deadly gas, tanks
and airplanes being part of daily life. A close reading of the text will allow students to
understand the traumatising impact and the extreme physical and mental stress caused
by the new form of war. The novel also exposes the phrase-mongering of propaganda
by contrasting the nationalist rhetoric and the cult of heroism with the cruelty and the
barbarism dominating the soldiers’ experiences at the front. In order to better
understand the political significance of the novel students will also learn about the
historical and military context of World War I and read excerpts of texts by other
wartime authors such as Ernst Jünger and Ernst Friedrich.
Methods of assessment: Written exam (80%) and in-class tests (20%).
Core texts: Erich Maria Remarque: Im Westen nichts Neues, KiWi-Taschenbuch,
ISBN 978-3462046335 (students should buy a copy of this edition); Ernst Friedrich:
Krieg dem Kriege, Ch. Links Verlag 2015; Ernst Jünger: In Stahlgewittern, KlettCotta 2014. All texts (except Remarque’s novel) will be made available on
Blackboard.
GR340
German Cultural Studies IV
German Cinema
(100%)
German Theatre Production
(100%)
German Theatre Production (2 hrs. per week)
Lecturer: Gabi Behrens
Course description: The German Department has a long tradition of bringing a
German Play to the stage. The aim of this course is to prepare a popular German
drama which will be performed in the Bank of Ireland Theatre in April 2016. Students
will contribute to the performances in various ways, as actors, stage hands, lighting
technicians, prompters, make-up artists, programme editors, costume designers etc.
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Final BA German students who choose this course will be assessed as detailed below.
However the production is open to all students of German.
Participating in the performance of a play is an excellent way to improve rhetoric and
language skills, but is also a valuable exercise in management and organization. Last
but not least, students will acquire a deeper understanding of a work of literature.
Teaching and learning methods: The project requires regular and active student
participation. Due to the practical nature of this course, a repeat option cannot be
offered. Attendance and active participation are essential.
Language of instruction: German
Methods of assessment and examination: Contribution to the performance 60%,
written work 40%.
Core texts: To be announced.
German Language Cinema (2 hrs. per week)
Lecturer: Tina Pusse
Course description: This course aims to provide students with an understanding of the
history of German cinema as well as a better knowledge of major paradigms of film
studies. Students will watch selected German films (both popular and “artistic”) and
become familiar with basic elements of film analysis and film theory. The focus of the
course is the discussion of films and relevant texts. To enable this discussion, students
are required to read 1-2 articles about each film in preparation of the sessions. From
week 3 on, each student has to prepare a hand out and give a short presentation
(“threesis”) on one of the films.
Methods of Assessment: Presentation: 40%; take-home essay: 60%.
Core text: Reader.
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