"GRMN 197A FYS: Germany Through Film Aures Fall 2024" by Inge Aures
 

Document Type

Syllabus

Publication Date

Fall 2024

Course Description

Films and images can have a powerful impact and shape the viewer’s perspective of past and current events. German film has influenced international film makers, but particularly shaped our image of Germany, her history and her people. This writing intensive seminar offers an introduction to Germany through the lens of German filmmakers. We will analyze a wide variety of films, some entirely fictional others based on real events. We will be looking at these film makers’ work within the larger socio-historical context of German history, politics, and culture. The focus of the course will be on specific films and film directors as well as on historical events that marked European history in the 20th Century such as the Weimar Era, World War II, the Cold War, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. To help us understand these events we will read background information on German history and theoretical articles about German film. What is the films’ relation to reality? Can we rely on these images as a "truthful" depiction of past or current events? What do these films want to accomplish? Are we presented with "accurate" portrayals of life in Germany, or do these films create a new reality? How do these films appeal to our emotions? In what ways do these films contribute to our understanding of Germany and her history?

Student Outcomes

By the end of the first-year seminar, students should be able to: 1) Understand writing projects as a series of tasks, including finding, evaluating, summarizing, analyzing, and synthesizing sources. 2) Understand that writing is social and collaborative. 3) Appreciate how readers perceive and respond to different forms of writing. 4) Possess flexible strategies for generating ideas, proof-reading, editing, and revising. 5)Understand how to document both primary and secondary sources and why that is important.

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