Winter Session 2024/25 Courses
GERN 101: Learning German 1 | Sample syllabuS
Terms 1 or 2 | various times and course deliveries | 3 credits
Introduction to the language for beginners. Ability to identify unique features and communicate in everyday situations.
GERN 102: Learning German 2 | Sample Syllabus
Term 2 | in-person | various times | 3 credits
Meant for students who have completed GERN 101 (or one year of high-school German), this class helps students speak articulately about past experiences and future plans.
GERN 201: Learning German 3 | sample syllabus
Term 1 | in-person | various times | 3 credits
Meant for students who have completed GERN 102 (or two years of high-school German), this class helps students practice complex forms of German language and discuss pressing intellectual and social questions.
GERN 202: Learning German 4 | Sample syllabus
Term 2 | in-person | various times | 3 credits
Prepares students for life-long use of German, to participate actively in German-speaking communities, and to achieve more articulate forms of language use and meaningful communication in German.
GERN 301: Learning German 5 | Sample syllabus
Term 1 | in-person | 3:30 pm – 5 pm | 3 credits
Meant for students who have completed the first two years of the German program. This class helps students join German-speaking conversations effectively, articulately, and confidently.
GERN 302: Learning German 6 | Sample Syllabus
Term 2 | in-person | 3 credits
Meant for students who have completed GERN 301. Students continue to develop their personal styles in German, they focus on the details of interaction, rhetoric, and everyday social exchange across a diverse range of Germanphone media.
GERN 303: Conversational German | Sample syllabus
Term 2 | in-person | 3 credits
This course provides students with a forum where they can apply their knowledge of German in meaningful and creative ways. A special focus lies on mastering phrases and idioms that recur frequently in formal and informal settings. To this end, we will engage in role plays emulating everyday life situations in German-speaking settings.
GERN 304: German for Reading Knowledge I | Sample Syllabus
Terms 1 or 2 | online | various times | 3 credits
GERN 304 is a guided self-study online German reading course for students with no prior German knowledge. All of the German reading course materials are grouped into 20 Exploration modules which are embedded in the interactive UBC Canvas platform including online assessments. A step-by-step introduction to German reading skills in synchronous online classes is in English. Students are expected to log on as scheduled.
GERN 344: Discipline and Liberation: Studies in the 19th Century | Sample Syllabus
Term 1 | in-person | Mon/Wed 14:00 – 15:30 | 3 credits
GERN 347: Collective Trauma in Post-World War II German Literature | course website
Term 1 | in-person | M/W 14:00 – 15:30 | 3 credits
This course focuses on literary representations of “collective trauma” as a “blow to the basic tissues of social life that damages the bonds attaching people together and impairs the prevailing sense of community” (Kai Erikson). How was post World-War II German society affected by the traumas of the Second World War, the Cold War division of Germany, and the increasing dangers posed by environmental pollution and possible nuclear catastrophe? What coping mechanisms did individuals employ to facilitate their own physical and emotional survival in a damaged social organism? Authors discussed include Wolfgang Borchert, Elisabeth Langgässer, Günther Weisenborn, Gudrun Pausewang, and more. This course is taught in German. Language prerequisite: GERM 210 or GERN 202.
GERN 401: German through Critical Contemporary Topics | Sample Syllabus
Term 1 | in-person | Tues/Thurs 15:30pm – 17:00 | 3 credits
This course supports students’ individual learning goals and prepares their path for life-long language learning. Discussion and analysis of current issues in a German-speaking seminar format. Spoken and written German communication about critical, societal topics foster advanced competence. Individualized assignments support learning progress throughout.
