Introduction and Goals (back to top)
Germany was one of the United States’ main enemies in two world wars prior to 1945, but by the early 1950s it was well on the way to becoming our most reliable ally in Europe, a "bastion of democracy" buffering capitalist western from communist eastern Europe. How was this turnaround possible? This course pays special attention to the process of development of German political culture after 1945.
I realize that a short time after a course most students will remember relatively little of the factual material from that course. Thus I try to emphasize historical themes and skills that I hope will have more lasting value. Throughout this course, we will practice analyzing and interpreting evidence to draw our own conclusions about the causes and effects of historical developments.
Requirements (back to top)
- I expect you to attend all classes. Why take a course if you
don't make the effort to learn what it teaches? Lectures include images,
videos, discussion and information not available elsewhere. I will call
roll in order to learn your names. Classroom participation counts for
5% of the course grade.
If you wish to have an excused absence, including undocumented medical absences, you must inform me by e-mail or phone message (office: 893-2635) before the class in question begins. - There will not be a formal midterm examination. Instead, you will
be asked to write a few sentences on simple questions about the assigned
readings or films, roughly once each week. These ten questions
will be announced one lecture in advance. They are worth 40% of the
final grade.
Make-up questions are only possible for excused absences. - A book essay proposal (1-2 pages), draft, and a final
version (1800 words, 6 pages). This paper can be based primarily
on one book, but will require some research. (See the blue
book essay handout for details.)
The proposal is due Friday, Jan. 23; the draft Monday, Feb. 9; and the final version Friday, March 5, always at the beginning of class. Together they count for 10+10+20=40% of your final grade. - A two-hour final examination will have 3 IDs chosen from 9,
and one essay question from a choice of two. It is worth 15%. A study
guide will be distributed on Monday, March 8.
No-exam option: Students receiving a B+ or better on their paper draft may opt out of taking the final exam. If they want to opt for this, they must submit their final version on Friday, Feb. 27. They must then submit, by March 4, an augmented electronic version for publication on the course web site. This web version must include a 60-word project description and an annotated list of books and links. The grade of this final version will count as the exam grade. A separate handout will be provided. (book essay handout)
Grading: Participation: 5%; 10 questions: 40%; proposal+draft+term
paper: 40%; final exam: 15%.
Work submitted after 9am on the due date will lose one point per day.
Required Books (also on reserve at the library) (back to top)
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Textbook:
Mary Fulbrook, The Divided Nation: A History of Germany, 1918-1990
(1992). Textbook focusing on the post-1945 period. DD240.F85 1992 - Reader with articles and documents, available at GraphikArt in IV, 57 pages, $6.75 incl. tax. (hyperlinked table of contents)
- Heinrich Böll, Billiards at Half-past Nine (1959). Set in 1958, this novel examines how the Nazi period affected three generations of a German family. PT2603.O394 B513 1994 (class handout)
- Peter Schneider, The Wall Jumper (1983). This novel evokes the situation in divided Berlin in the early 1980s. PT2680.N37 M313 1983
- Bernhard Schlink, The Reader [person who reads aloud] (1995). A best-selling novel showing how a German born in 1943 unknowingly replicates a legacy of the Nazi past. PT2680.L54 V6713 1997 (class handout)