2013-2014 Catalog - Virginia Wesleyan College

112 FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURESFOREIGN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES113prepares students for careers in education, diplomacy,business, communications, political science, andjournalism, and for graduate study.FRENCH STUDIES COURSES (FR)111 Beginning French I (4)An introduction to French as a spoken andwritten language. Emphasizes the development oforal and written skills and cultural awareness. Fourclasses each week. Offered each year.112 Beginning French II (4)An introduction to French as a spoken andwritten language. Emphasizes the development oforal and written skills and cultural awareness.Prerequisite: FR 111 with a grade of C or higher orproficiency as determined by the instructor. Fiveclasses each week. Offered each year.213 Intermediate French (4)Develops speaking and writing proficiencythrough active learning and intensive practice.Prerequisite: FR 112 or equivalent. Fulfills the foreignlanguage requirement. Offered each fall.307 Topics in Advanced Conversationand Composition (4)Designed to help students reach advancedproficiency while offering an introduction to Frenchsociety today, French history, the arts, and more. Maybe repeated for credit. Prerequisite: FR 213 orequivalent or consent. Offered each year.327 France Today (4)Offers a thorough examination of France and theFrench today starting with the students/workers’revolution of May 1968 and the post-May ’68contemporary France. Covers the social, political,economic, and cultural aspects of France today;artistic productions, and the patterns, structures, andon-going mutations of everyday life in France, as wellas the lifestyles, values, and worldviews of the Frenchtoday. Taught in English with reading and writing inFrench for French majors and minors. Offered ondemand.328 French History I:Vercingétorix-Revolution (4)HIntroduces students to the history of France fromthe Celtic Gauls to the Revolution of 1789. Taught inEnglish with work in French for majors and minors.Offered in selected semesters.329 French History II:Revolution-World War II (4)HCovers French history from the 1789 Revolutionto World War II. Taught in English with work inFrench for majors and minors. Offered in selectedsemesters.334 Introduction to French Cinema (4) AIntroduces students to French cinema from itsorigins to the present, beginning with the birth of themotion picture in France, then exploring severalsignificant film movements, including major directorsand seminal films associated with them. Poeticrealism, the New Wave, the heritage film, beurcinema, contemporary blockbusters, and more areexamined. Taught in English, with 300-level languagecoursework for French majors and minors. Offeredon demand.335 Masterpieces of FrenchLiterature (4)WIntroduces students to French literature from itsorigins to the present day through a representativesample of authors and literary masterpieces.Emphasizes modernist literature from Baudelaire toMarguerite Duras. Taught in English, with 300-levellanguage work in the French language for Frenchmajors and minors. Prerequisite: FR 307 or consent.Offered alternate years.443 Senior Seminar (4) I,WStudies the life and work of a major writer andits history, literature and philosophical trends.Prerequisite: FR 314 or 316, or consent. Offered ondemand.GERMAN STUDIESAs the economic backbone of Europe still today,Germany continues to exert a profound influencein the European arena. The German Studiesmajor introduces and explores the culture ofGerman-speaking countries, with an emphasis oncontemporary issues. The major offers anintellectually diverse program, which explores thesocial and political background of the culture throughlanguage, cultural and intellectual history, as well asvisual culture and literature. The major preparesstudents for careers in education, business,communications, government, and many other fields,as well as for graduate study.GERMAN STUDIES COURSES(GER)111 Beginning German I (4)An introduction to the German language andculture. Special attention is given to cultural aspects.Emphasizes the development of basic listening,speaking, reading, and writing skills. Audiovisualmaterials supplement the program. Prerequisite: noprevious instruction in German. Offered each year.112 Beginning German II (4)An introduction to the German language andculture. Special attention is given to cultural aspects.Emphasizes is placed on the development of basiclistening, speaking, reading, and writing skills.Audiovisual materials supplement the program.Prerequisite: A grade of C or higher in GER 111 orproficiency as determined by the instructor. Offeredeach year.205/305 The Short Prose of Kafka (4) V,W*Examines the short prose of Franz Kafka and itsrelevance in both literature and film today. Studentssearch for common themes and interpretation inselected works. Taught in English. Offered in selectedWinter Sessions. *GER 205: (V); GER 305 (V,W).213 Intermediate German (4)Continues the instruction of German as a spokenand written language. Extensive oral-aural practice isundertaken in the daily classroom conversation andprepares the student for travel or study abroad.Required lab. Prerequisite: GER 112 or equivalent.Offered each fall.240/340 German Cinema:Art and Politics (4)A,W*From early silent films, through the time of Hitler,to the present, German cinema has reflected thechallenges and tensions involved when art is shapedby politics. By looking at German film in general—and at the Weimar and New German Cinema inparticular—this course focuses on the aesthetics,history, and politics of German cinema. Taught inEnglish. Movies are screened outside of class. *GER240: (A); GER 340 (A,W).244 German Women Filmmakers:The Search for Identity (4)AIntroduces students to the contributions ofleading German woman filmmakers. Focuses onfilmic innovation and perceptions of women, andspecifically on how issues of identity—national,religious, and gender—have been represented by suchdirectors as Doris Dorrie, Caroline Link, andMargarethe von Trotta. Taught in English. Offered inselected Winter Sessions.307 Topics in Advanced GermanConversation and Composition (4) WSelected topics approach German conversationand composition from various perspectives. For thestudent who wants to acquire skill in practicalconversation and writing. Strongly recommended forthose who wish to travel abroad or take upper-levelGerman literature courses. May be repeated for creditas topic varies. Prerequisite: GER 213 or equivalent.317 Great German Thinkers (4) HGives the student a well-rounded knowledge ofGermany, its people, history, philosophy, literature,and arts from the times of Germanic tribes to thepresent. Offered on demand.318 Great German Writers (4)Provides an overview of literary history ofGermany in terms of movements, genres, authors,etc., against the background of German life as awhole. Offered in selected semesters.329 Modern German Literature (4)A careful reading and discussion of contemporaryGerman plays, novels, and short stories. Authors mayinclude Christa Wolf, Max Frisch, Günther Grass andHeinrich Böll, Bernhard Schlink, and Herta Miller.Offered in selected semesters.344/444 From Hitler to Today:Modern Germany Throughthe Cinema (4)H,I*Focuses on the history, politics, society, and theculture of Germany in the years between the rise topower of Adolf Hitler (1933) and the present.Prerequisite for GER 344: none; for GER 444: juniorstatus or consent. Offered in selected semesters.*GER 344: (H); GER 444: (I).430 The German Comedy (4)A history and study of the German comedy.Representative readings from Lessing, Kleist, Tieck,Grabbe, Hauptmann, and Sternheim. Offered inselected semesters.471 Practicum in the Teaching of German (4)Students study various methods for teaching ofgrammar, writing, and speaking in German. Theyalso serve as assistants and tutors in GER 111, 112,and 213. Prerequisites: GER 307 or the ability to usethe German language effectively, and consent.Offered each year.