HISTORY 336: 20th Century German History: Course Syllabus

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will cover the major phases of modern German history: Wilhelmine Germany, Germany in the First World War, Weimar Germany, National Socialist Germany, Germany in the Second World War, Post-War West Germany, East Germany, and Reunification. While establishing the background of political and social developments, we will carefully consider responses to these issues by leaders in German intellectual and cultural life.

COURSE PROCEDURE

As indicated in the course schedule below, this course will involve significant independent study of online materials combined with in class discussion of these materials. This will constitute a synthesis of learning through lectures and independent study with direct discussion and interaction.

You will be asked to listen to lectures, follow study listening guides, read required readings, and consult background readings for each course Unit. This independent study will take the place of (most) Tuesday classes. I will be available for individual consultation during Tuesday class hours.

By 5:00 on Wednesdays, you are required to post questions and comments based on your study of these materials on the Course Unit Forum in the Sakai site.
These posts will be the basis for your online participation grade.
Some adjustments may be made, including the addition of quizzes, etc.

On Thursdays we will meet in class to discuss the online materials together.
The initial basis for these discussions will be the questions and comments posted in the Course Unit Forums.
Attendance and participation in these discussions will be the basis for your in class participation grade.

You will be required to write two take-home examinations, as indicated on the schedule below.
After receiving the exam materials via email or the Sakai website, you will complete the required questions by the established deadline. You must then submit the completed exams to me as Microsoft Word documents via Turnitin, which I will set up in Sakai.

REQUIRED LECTURES

Required lectures and lecture listening guides will be available on each course Unit link [to the right of this column].

REQUIRED READINGS

You may need a Google account to open and download these as PDFs. Just sign up, if you don't already have one.

Heinrich Mann,The Subject [PDF selections from Mann, The Subject]
Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, Ballantine, 0449213943 [available at bookstore or via online purchase]
Alfred Doeblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz [PDF selections from Doeblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz]
Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf [PDF Selections from Hitler, Mein Kampf]
Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz, Simon & Schuster, 0684826801 [available at bookstore or via online purchase]

REQUIRED FILMS

Rainer Fassbinder, The Marriage of Maria Braun [Available on Youtube.com]
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, The Lives of Others [Available on Youtube.com]

REQUIRED BACKGROUND READINGS

Gordon Craig, Germany, 1866-1945 and Voelker Berghahn,Modern Germany: Society, Economy, and Politics in the Twentieth Century, both available via libraries.luc.edu, under the ACLS Humanities E-Books listings. [Login to Flagship with your LUC ID.]

These two are classic surveys of modern German history.
Craig's is a little older, but it is a masterpiece. Berghahn's goes further into the post-1945 era.
Between the two--or whichever you prefer--you will have all the social and political background you need to follow the basic line of "what actually happened" ["Wie es eigentlich gewesen ist." - Leopold von Ranke, the first modern historian, German or otherwise.]
In other words, they provide the basic background, names, dates, etc., to the cultural responses we are studying.

Other required background readings and materials will appear on the individual Course Unit pages.
Other recommended background materials will be added to Course site and tagged according to Unit and themes. Student suggestions for additional materials are welcome.

So, you have three required layers of readings/sources:
- Background surveys: basic political and social history [Orlow (if you have it); Berghahn; or Craig].
- Background readings: deeper scholarship on particular issues [Stern, Mosse, Eksteins, etc.]
- Primary readings, films, etc: HMann, Remarque, Doeblin, etc.
These, with my lecture guidance, constitute the core of the course and are what you will need -- at the least -- to write your exams. Other articles, films, links, etc., will be added for spice and further exploration.

COURSE SCHEDULE

GRADING POLICY

Note: Once the grades of the exams and extra credit are determined, the outcome is final: xx.9 is not rolled up!
Substantial penalties (one half of a grade per day) will accrue on late assignments.
Plagiarism will not be tolerated: be sure to carefully note all sources of information, both primary and secondary. "Copying and Pasting" from electronic resources is a potentially devastating mistake.Remember: your exams will be submitted to Turnitin, a plagiarism detection site!

EXTRA-CREDIT

Extra credit may be earned by attending extra-curricular cultural events and submitting a short report on their relevance to the course
Extra-credit can be earned with proof of attendance and a brief report (one or two solid paragraphs)explaining how the experience related to our course work. (Two extra-credit opportunities maximum, for 2.5 points each.)
Here are some Chicago cultural events that include elements related to our course. You may also select other cultural/historical activities that are pertinent, in consultation with me.