Deutsche Sprache, Literatur und Film

German Courses & Curriculum

German is one of the most important languages in the world today, especially in the emerging nations of Eastern Europe.  In Europe, more people have German as a native language than English, French, Italian or Spanish.  German is widely used in the areas of economics and business, culture, science, music, and technology.  Knowing and understanding German gives people access to many scholarly works in these and other disciplines.  Germans spend more on travel and tourism than any other people in the world.  

Other important reasons to know and understand the German language include access to many important works of literature and the opening up of opportunities in the international job market.  

Qualifications for the Major

All language courses applied to a language major or minor must be completed with a grade of C or better.  Students must maintain a 2.00 G.P.A. in their Major courses to be eligible to graduate with a degree in German.  Students in language-education and dual-major programs are governed by the same requirements. 

Modern Language Curriculum (German):

1. Core Curriculum Requirements: 
View the Core Curriculum requirements.  All students complete these requirements as part of their overall Canisius education.

2. Major Requirements (10 courses) 

3.  Additional Requirements:  
Study Abroad Requirement and Cultural Requirement (see descriptions below)

4.  Free electives
Free electives are courses in addition to the Core Curriculum and major requirements sufficient to reach a minimum of 120 credit hours for graduation. Students may graduate with more but not less than 120 credit hours.

Study Abroad Requirement 

Modern Language majors are required to study abroad for a minimum of four consecutive weeks in a formal pre-approved program in the target language. Canisius College maintains its own unique programs at the University of Lille (France); the Technische Universität Dortmund (Germany); the Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin (Germany); the Katholische Universität Eichstätt (Germany); the University of Oviedo (Spain); the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón (Puerto Rico); and the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo (Mexico).  Education majors with a concentration in a Modern Language are highly encouraged to study abroad as well.

Other study abroad possibilities include, but are not limited to and are not necessarily pre-approved for study abroad credit for the Modern Language major, the Beijing Center (China), Lorenzo de Medici (Florence, Italy); Mediterranean Center for the Arts and Sciences in Sicily and John Cabot University in Rome; Sophia University (Tokyo, Japan); the University of Uppsala (Uppsala, Sweden); and the Academy of Fine Arts (Warsaw, Poland). 

Students who choose to spend a semester abroad at a foreign university may count up to three courses as a Modern Language Core or Elective as long as these courses have been pre-approved by the chair of the Department ofModern Languages, Literatures and Cultures. Students who spend more than one semester studying at a foreign university of universities may count an additional two courses as a Modern Language Core or Elective. Exceptions to these rules will require special permission from the chair of the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures. Credits for short programs abroad are determined by the number of contact hours.
 
As a general rule, students must complete the 215-216 sequence or the equivalent and one 300-level course at Canisius College prior to studying at a foreign university.  Consultation with a Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures academic major advisor is required prior to study abroad. It is expected that students will complete at least one course in the major upon return to Canisius College.

Eligible students, whether majors or not, are also encouraged to participate in one or more of the non-academic summer internships that are maintained by the college in France, Germany, Mexico and Spain.

Atlantis Program is a special opportunity for business majors to earn a Canisius degree and a European degree at IECS School of Management/Robert Schuman University in Strasbourg, France or at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. This is a thirteen-month program divided between Antwerp and Strasbourg and includes a monthly living allowance of $1,200.00 to qualified program participants.

Cultural Requirement

Over the course of the semester, each student in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures in courses 103 and above will participate in or attend two cultural events or activities outside of regular class time. One of them must be related to the culture of the language under study. The second should at least have a multicultural character. 

A current list of events acceptable in fulfillment of the cultural requirement will be posted electronically and updated weekly by the Modem Languages Department. Suggestions by students are welcome.

Dual Major 

Language study lends itself uniquely to the concept of the dual major. Students may combine language programs with virtually any major, but of particular interest and practicality are dual majors with international business, international relations, communication, economics, marketing-management, philosophy, history, English, political science, art history, biology and chemistry.

Dual majors in German and another department must complete GER 215-216, 323-324, 331-332 plus four German electives. Dual majors in two languages must complete the three course sequences 215-216, 323-324 and 331-332 in both languages plus four electives in their primary language and two electives in their secondary language. 

Education Majors with Language Concentration

Education majors fall into three separate tracks:  those with a concentration in a Modern Language at the K-6 levels (Early Childhood and Childhood) are required to take a total of ten language courses beginning at a minimum of the 215-216 level; those with a concentration in a Modern Language at the secondary levels (Adolescence Education) are required to take a total of twelve language courses beginning at a minimum of the 215-216 level; and, those with a dual major in any Education track and a Modern Language are required to take a total of twelve language courses beginning at a minimum of the 115-116 level. 

Placement into Courses

Foreign language placement is determined by how many years of a language were studied between the ninth and twelfth grades. Initial language placements may be changed during the first week of classes.

• 0-1 years studied=103 (Novice-low level). 
• 2 years studied=215 (Intermediate-low and mid level).  
• 3-4 years studied = 323 or 331 (Intermediate-high level or higher). However, if the last year you studied that  language was your junior year in high school and you received a C+ or lower, you will be placed into 215. 
• AP score of 3 = Fulfills a two-semester language sequence at the 103-104 level
• AP score of 4 = Fulfills a two-semester language sequence at the 104-215 level
• AP score of 5 = Fulfills a two-semester language sequence at the 215-216 level
• College Credit Programs refer to admission guidelines. 
• CLEP credits = refer to admission guidelines. 
• Transfer students = see appropriate associate dean.

If advisors and students have concerns about the placement guidelines, they are encouraged to consult with DML faculty.

Native Speaker

Native speakers of languages other than English receive a language requirement waiver if they are able to provide documentation of their native speaker status. Examples of documents include, but are not limited to, a school diploma received from a country where the language of instruction is not English or an internationally recognized examination certifying language abilities.

Native speakers of German may be allowed to replace one or more of the required 300-level courses with a 300- or 400-level major elective, upon consultation with their departmental advisor. Second language proficiency is required ONLY for graduate-track majors, although it is strongly advised for language-education majors. 

Courses

GER  103-104 Elementary German      6 credits
Reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Introduction to German culture. Almost exclusive use of German in class.  Prerequisite for GER 104: C or better in GER 103 or permission of chair.  GER 103 Fall; GER 104 Spring

GER  215-216 Intermediate German      6 credits
This course is designed as a thorough review of grammatical structures. Also emphasized is the building of vocabulary, increasing competence in the four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) and gaining an overview of German culture. Exclusive use of German in class. Prerequisites for GER 215: C or better in GER 104 or two years of high school German. Prerequisite for GER 216: C or better in GER 215 or permission of chair.  GER 215 Fall; GER 216 Spring. 

GER  323 Topics in Conversation I      3 credits
Contemporary communication skills emphasized in general exploration of contemporary culture of the German-speaking world. Exclusive use of German in class. Phonetics may be included. Prerequisite:  C or better in GER 216 or three or four years of high school German. Fall

GER  324 Topics in Conversation II      3 credits
A continuation of GER 323. Exclusive use of German in class. Prerequisite:  C or better in GER 323 or permission of chair. Spring

GER  331 Substance and Style: Effective Writing in German I      3 credits
Distinguishing and producing effective writing of different types: essay, correspondence, description, report. Exclusive use of German in class.Prerequisite:  C or better in GER 216 or three or four years of high school German.  Fall

GER  332 Substance and Style: Effective Writing in German II      3 credits
A continuation of GER 331. Exclusive use of German in class.  Prerequisite:  C or better in GER 331 or permission of chair.  Spring

GER  341-342  Advanced German for Business I & II      6 credits
Advanced aural/oral and writing skills needed for working in a German-speaking environment. Practical situations, technical vocabulary, and correspondence highlighted. Preparation for Wirtschaftsdeutsch International Examination. Exclusive use of German in class. Prerequisite for GER 341: C or better in GER 324 and 332 or permission of chair. Prerequisite for GER 342:  C or better in GER 341 or permission of chair. GER 341 Fall; GER 342 Spring

GER 400  German Internship    3 credits
Qualified students are placed in jobs or service programs where they will use and perfect language skills. Prerequisite: Permission of chair.

GER 451  Nobel Laureates for Literature   3 credits
A thorough study of German Nobel Laureates for Literature, their writing style, topics of immediate and distant concern. Authors studied include Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, Elias Canetti, Günter Grass, and Heinrich Böll. Prerequisite: C or better in GER 324 and GER 332 or permission of chair.

GER 453  German Literature after 1945   3 credits
A thorough inquiry into aspects of literary life in both parts of Germany before and after 1990. Reflection on the attempts by East and West German authors to distance themselves from and cope with the experience of the literature of the NAZI era. Prerequisite: C or better in GER 324 and GER 332 or permission of chair.

GER 455  The Weimar Republic: Culture and Literature      3 credits
A close look at „roaring twenties“ in Weimar Berlin and Germany, their cultural significance and place in the history of Germany between World War I and the „3rd Reich“. All aspects of the cultural progression are studied – from architecture to film, from literature to music. Prerequisite: C or better in GER 324 and GER 332 or permission of chair.

GER 456  Timm, Koeppen, Sebald, Becker and Heym      3 credits
Selected readings from five of the most prominent post-WWII German writers. Comparison and critical analysis of literary representations of Jewish life in West- and East-German literature. Prerequisite: C or better in GER 324 and GER 332 or permission of chair.

GER 461  Germany before Re-Unification      3 credits
An examination of dissimilar political, economic, and social issues in East- and West-Germany before 1989. Assessment of values and attitudes in the two German societies. Culture and cultural politics in the East and the West. Prerequisite: C or better in GER 324 and GER 332 or permission of chair.

GER 462  Germany Today      3 credits
The ‘new’ political system in post-1989 unified Germany, the country’s cultural development, her economic structure, as well as her particular styles (!) of life. Voices from West-German and East-German authors are heard as well as assessments of foreign critics and supporters of Germany’s re-unification. Prerequisite: C or better in GER 324 and GER 332 or permission of chair.

GER 463  1989 - The Fall of the Berlin Wall in the European Context      3 credits
An examination of the events which led to the demise of communism in Eastern Central Europe during the late 1980's, culminating in the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.  Movements in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic will be studied. Prerequisite: C or better in GER 324 and GER 332 or permission of chair.

GER 466  Cinematic Representation of the Holocaust      3 credits
Recent film productions from Germany on first, second, and third generation survivors of the Holocaust are studied as exemplary instances of Germany’s coping with its horrible past. All aspects of Holocaust representations are highlighted – from celebrating the dead to questions of psychological coping with the past, from questions of evil to instances of hope. Prerequisite: C or better in GER 324 and GER 332 or permission of chair.

GER 472  Contemporary German Film      3 credits
Concentration on the period of Autorenfilm and highlighting some of its most prominent directors: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Alexander Kluge, Edgar Reitz, Volker Schlöndorff, Jean-Marie Straub, Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, Rolf Thiele, Margarethe von Trotta, and Wim Wenders. Prerequisite: C or better in GER 324 and GER 332 or permission of chair.

GER 473  German Literature and Film    3 credits
Study of six literary epochs through literature and film, stretching from the 18^th to the 20^th centuries. Comparison and critical analysis of prose and its adaptation in (German and foreign) film. Prerequisite: C or better in GER 324 and GER 332 or permission of chair.

GER 478  Jewish Philosophers of German Ancestry   3 credits
An In-depth look at thoughts and ideas of some of the most prominent Jewish philosophers in Germany from Moses Mendelssohn to Hans Jonas. Questions of interest include “religion and reason”, an “ethics for the future”, questions on “evil and redemption”, etc. This course is for the philosophically trained student.