A study of the leading ideas of the Western political tradition, focusing on such topics as justice, power, legitimacy, revolution, freedom, equality and forms of government—democracy especially. Open to all students. Entering students considering a major in government are encouraged to take the course in their first year, either in the fall or the spring semester.

A study of the leading ideas of the Western political tradition, focusing on such topics as justice, power, legitimacy, revolution, freedom, equality and forms of government—democracy especially. Open to all students. Entering students considering a major in government are encouraged to take the course in their first year, either in the fall or the spring semester.

This eight-week lecture series provides an overview of the financial system and the role of financial institutions in the global economy; domestic and international regulation; domestic and international banking. Faculty and guest lecturers reflect on contemporary developments and challenges in their fields.

A study of language, culture and politics in the German-language media; supplemental materials reflecting the interests and academic disciplines of students in the seminar. Practice of written and spoken German through compositions, linguistic exercises and oral reports. Conducted in German. Prerequisite: GER 300, or permission of the instructor.

This course investigates the concept of ‘Heimat’ (‘home’) and its significance for individual people as well as for German culture and politics. This upper-level language course will look at the meanings of this concept and how they have changed over time. Through different genres and media this course will explore significant vocabulary and grammatical concepts in the context of the concept of Heimat. This includes films (Grün ist die Heide, Willkommen bei den Hartmanns) as well as articles from newspapers and magazines, and excerpts from selected literature.

During the brief period between the fall of the Kaiser and the rise of the Nazis, Germany was a hotbed of artistic and intellectual innovation, giving rise to an internationally celebrated film industry.  With an eye to industrial, political, and cultural forces, this course explores the aesthetic experience of modernity and modernization through formal, narrative, and stylistic analyses of feature films from the "Golden Age" of German cinema. Films by Wiene, Lange, Murnau, Pabst, Ruttmann, Sternberg, Sagan and Riefenstahl. Conducted in English.

Explore and examine the Third Reich’s media dictatorship: how spectacle and entertainment can engineer consent with manipulative distractions; how mass media can serve a totalitarian regime by responding to festering resentments with nationalist fantasies of cultural renewal; how seemingly harmless entertainment can promote a politics of fear and racism to horrific ends. Course emphasizes entertainment films of the Third Reich, with special attention to the works of Leni Riefenstahl. Conducted in English.

An exploration of contemporary German culture through literary and journalistic texts, with regular practice in written and oral expression. A review of basic grammatical concepts and the study of new ones, with emphasis on vocabulary building. Prerequisite: 110Y, permission of the instructor, or by placement.

An exploration of contemporary German culture through literary and journalistic texts, with regular practice in written and oral expression. A review of basic grammatical concepts and the study of new ones, with emphasis on vocabulary building. Prerequisite: 110Y, permission of the instructor, or by placement.

This series of interdepartmental lectures by a selection of Smith faculty examines the myth of cultural
homogeneity perpetuated by the ideal of “native” linguistic competency. These lectures explore
hybridity and interaction between cultures and languages as the rule, not the exception. The goal is to help students comprehend the transnational, multilingual web into which we are woven, and to
appreciate how they contribute to that web, to appreciate their own position as transnational subjects.