ARCHIV
Trauma and Collective Identity
This course will seek to illuminate the discussion around the notion of collective trauma. The Greek term ‘trauma’ means ‘wound’ in English and was applied by Sigmund Freud when describing events that transgress the capability of the self (Ego) to cope with them. In this respect it was derived from individual suffering and subsequent therapeutic treatment. Nowadays it is frequently attributed to entire nations or other collectives as a consequence and symbol of derangement after overwhelming social catastrophes like the Shoah or the terror attacks of 9/11 in the USA.
Discourse of Modernity
The discourse of modernity in Europe found its most significant expression in the French Revolution. The nation state became a global role model for the governing of peoples and societies. With the arrival of the nation state the Aristocracy were no longer able rely on the notion of birthright to legitimize their power. Furthermore religious and traditional sources of authority were challenged through democratic and egalitarian movements. In this course we will discuss the processes and the outcomes of those events.
Modernity in German Feature Films
The course will offer an introduction to the qualitative analysis of one of the most significant contemporary media. Films, and the setting of their reception, will be treated as autonomous media forms whose aesthetic and narrative structure needs to be analyzed and understood in relation to their audience. We are going to analyze such feature films as The Downfall, The Reader, and some others.
Arthur Schnitzler: Plays, Short Stories, Films
Arthur Schnitzler, author of fin de siecle Vienna, contemporary of Freud, is one of the most critical analysts of his times and society. The seminar will focus on several plays, short stories and film adaptions of Schnitzler's work. The seminar will include historical and biographical material and will follow and approach of cultural studies for the analysis of Schnitzler's work.
Between Cultures - Intercultural Studies Starting from Austrian Point of View
"L'Autriche, c'est qui reste/ Austria, that's what's left over" - Selected chapters on Austrian contemporary history from 1918 to 2007 "L'Autriche, c'est qui reste - Austria, that's what's left over!" This is how the French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau commented in 1919 on the minimized territory that was to become the Republic of Austria after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Working with different media, the course will provide a general overview of political and governmental developments, socio-economic changes and the history of mentalities and minorities within the given time frame.
Bert Brecht
This Seminar focuses on the work of one of the most influential German Playwrights in the 20th Century. Bertholt Brecht's revolutionary work altered the conception of theatre as a political tool, the idea of the close connection between theatre and ideology. Focusing on the question of how aesthetics and form play a crucial role in theatre's political impact, Brecht developed different strategies for the art of writing as well as the art of theatre.
Cross-Dressing
Cross-dressing, that means men dressing as women and women dressing as men, is one of the oldest cultural practices and almost to be found in any culture. Either for reasons of hiding, gaining a better social status or as a playful game men and women would dress as the other gender throughout history. Especially in theatre this game itself can be retraced at least until the theatre in ancient Greece. With this "revival" of cross-dressing in the last ten years, there are also to be found an enormous amount of popular culture, that deals with and negotiates on this phenomenon in the presence an past. The seminar will focus on different forms of cross-dressing in theatre from the Elizabethan Ages until the newest trends of subculture and mainstream in present times, like drag queens and drag kings.
Nazi Germany: Politics & Culture
The History of Berlin Jews from Moses Mendelssohn until Gerschom Scholem
"And you, Who Are You?" Theatre Workshop
Using scenic improvisation, concepts of space, and techniques of creative writing the workshop is conceived around the idea of personal encounter, questions of recognition, alienation. Individual stories, literature, images and sites will be the material for starting of meeting the "other". The workshop addresses students interested in practical theatre work, any skills or experiences in theatre are not required.
Vienna around 1900
"Vienna around 1900" political, social, historical premises, that arouse the situation around the "fin de siecle" as it is called. I will give theoretical input and possibilities to give a speech specializing in various topics as "art" (paintings, literature), "political system" (personalities of the monarchy, of the new founded political parties, ...), "medicine" (Freud, ...).
Historic Memory and National Myth
Landscape and Memory in National Identity: The German Case The relationship between nature and culture has been long recognized. Landscape and historical memory shape peoples' identity. This course will trace the origins of German national identity so largely dotted with myths of landscape and memory. While recovering or unveiling those myths and memories that lie beneath the surface, we will tell the story of the people that believe they are the true children of nature. Primitive woodland freedom, ethnic purity, timbered virtue and bloody-minded tribalism played a major role in building the German nationality. Discussion will focus on the essence of the myths and their transformation over the centuries.
Collective Memory and National Identity
As a result of the expansion of the European Union and a general change in the position of nation states within a globalized economy, national identities have changed significantly. This is particularly noticeable in political debates about countries' own national histories. We will explore the concept of the nation state and scrutinize its founding myths in German and Israeli cultural and cinematic contexts.
Generational Remembering in Israel and Germany
When it comes to remembering history, there usually is a large difference between the personal, biographical memories, which run through the families and a public memory, which is guided by state policy and the public discourse. In this course we will have a closer look how these different forms of memory interact. We will scrutinize this relationship through the example of Israeli and German history, especially how the Holocaust is remembered through the different generations until today.
What Does it Look Like to Be A Woman or A Man? Performing Gender in French and German Film
Using various French and German examples
The seminar deals with possible representations of women and men through the medium film. Asking what it looks like to be a woman or a man the seminar analyses the constructions of gender due to its historical, ethnic and aesthetic differences. We will be looking at female stardom, the presentation of gender in mainstream cinema as well as experimental film, the significance of ethnic difference or of sexual preference. The accompanying literature for the seminar contains feminist, postcolonial and queer thought, which provide a wide range of perspectives as bases for analyzing the films.
Lola and Lenin against the Wall
Since the Unification of Germany the German Film Industry has flourished and some German films like "Good Bye Lenin", "Run, Lola, Run" and "Against the Wall" have even gained international recognition. Lots of films of the last 15 years have dealt with the current situation of the German Society, its problems after the unification, its different groups and political situations. The Course will provide an overview over the German Film Production of the last 15 years.
Cultural Memory Studies
Theories of remembering have become an area of research which includes sociological and political questions about education and historical identity. In this course we will familiarize ourselves with the basic concepts of the field and discuss their meaning for the politics of remembering. Cultural memory studies were established with respect to the traumatic events in the 20th century, which became an important subject of research. In a second step these ideas and experiences will be examined with particular reference to the medium of film.
Introduction to Austrian and German Studies
This course provides a basic introduction to major trends in Austrian and German history, literature, and culture from the 18th century to the present. Some key topics include: Enlightenment in Central Europe, The Impact of Napoleon, German Nationalism, Ethnic and Cultural Pluralism in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, etc. Readings in Hebrew and in English include writings by: Heinrich Heine, Karl Emil Franzos, Franz Kafka, Rainer Maria Rilke, Hermann Hesse, and others.
Austrian Literature from 1945 to the Present
"L'Autriche, c'est qui reste - Austria, that's what's left over!" This is how the French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau commented in 1919 on the minimized territory that was to become the Republic of Austria after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Working with different media, the course will provide a general overview of political and governmental developments, socio-economic changes and the history of mentalities and minorities within the given time frame.
Introduction to German Literature
The course provides an overview of German Literature from the middle of the 18th century till today. Students will be introduced to the canon of German Literature, including drama, prose and poetry. Reflecting on the particular historical backgrounds, the course focuses on literature as a cultural practice embedded in the social and political circumstances of its time and place. The course includes authors as J.G. Herder, Friedrich Schiller, J.W. Goethe, Heinrich Heine, Georg Buechner, E.T.A Hoffmann, Theodor Fontane, Arthur Schnitzler, Stephan Zweig, Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann, Karl Kraus, Ingeborg Bachmann, Paul Celan, Max Frisch, Christa Wolf.
Introduction to Austrian Culture
The course will focus on topical and interesting phenomena related to Austrian culture, history and politics as well as on Austrian youth culture, subcultures, literature, music and film. We will work with different media and do some project work (including short oral presentations) as well.
Introduction to Austrian Culture: Alps Mozartkugeln & Vienna
Gender and Film
Using various French and German examples the seminar deals with possible representations of women and men through the medium film. Asking what it looks like to be a woman or a man the seminar analyses the constructions of gender due to its historical, ethnic and aesthetic differences. We will be looking at female stardom, the presentation of gender in mainstream cinema as well as experimental film, the significance of ethnic difference or of sexual preference. The accompanying literature for the seminar contains feminist, postcolonial and queer thought, which provide a wide range of perspectives as bases for analyzing the films.
Homeland and Exile
Modern times were the cradle of nationalism. Modern times also celebrated exile as a privilege, as a vehicle for individuality, freedom and creativity. This dichotomy home/Diaspora and its fluctuating aspects through the ages, is best manifested in Jewish history and in particular in the German Jewish case. German Jewish history will serve as a case study in the discussion illustrating manifold of homeland and exile.
Anti-Semitism in the Theories of Arendt and Adorno
Both Hannah Arendt and Theodor W. Adorno were among the first German-Jewish intellectuals who realized the tremendous importance of anti-Semitism in their analysis of the Second World War and the Holocaust. They understood that anti-Semitism had meaning far beyond the scapegoat approaches which saw anti-Semitism as a mere means of hateful or power-crazed politicians. Both tried to integrate their ideas about anti-Semitism into a much larger theoretical framework.
Martin Buber and his World
Analyzing Totalitarianism
Hannah Arendt's work The Origins of Totalitarianism will be at the center of this course. Arendt considered imperialism, anti-semitism and nationalism to be decisive elements in the development of Nazism and Stalinism as the two major forms of totalitarianism in the 20th century. We will be exploring the question of whether there are certain elements of totalitarianism that are relevant for our world today
My City: Performance Workshop
The Workshop will focus on the personal perception of the city of Beer Sheva of each participant of the Workshop. By discovering new ways, new images and unknown "sites" in the city we will find a different perspective on the all too familiar city, which we walk and live in. With means of photography, "site specific art", storytelling, guided tours, etc. every participant will at the end of the Workshop present his own view on the city.
The Untold Story: A Theatre Workshop
There are traditions of storytelling in every culture, and everybody remembers the told and even more the untold stories that derive from family life. The imagination that these untold stories induce will be the subject of the workshop. Using scenic improvisation, concepts of space, and techniques of creative writing the workshop is conceived around the idea of the untold story. Individual stories, literature, images and sites will be the material for starting of telling of the untold story. The workshop addresses students interested in practical theatre work, any skills or experiences in theatre are not required.
German Literature at the Turn of the Century
The course provides an overview of German Literature from the late 19th and early 20th century. Students will be introduced to the canon of German Literature, focusing on drama and prose. Reflecting on the particular historical backgrounds, the course focuses on literature as a cultural practice embedded in the social and political circumstances of its time and place. The course includes authors as Arthur Schnitzler, Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann, Karl Kraus, Stephan Zweig, Sigmund Freud, und Friedrich Nietzsche.
Trauma Politics and Cinematic Narration
The concept of trauma has been used increasingly in social sciences and cultural studies to explain the effects of individual and collective experience of violence. Social practices range from providing psychological help for the victims of trauma to work in the theory of education and artistic reflections on how traumatic experiences are dealt with in society.
Political Philosophy ? Jürgen Habermas
The political philosophy of Juergen Habermas has been very influential since the early 1960s. Habermas, a pupil of Adorno, Gadamer and Abendroth was an important intellectual for the students' movement in 1968 and a key figure of the Historians' Debate in the mid-1980s. A public discourse about the comparison between Stalinism and National Socialism in Germany. In the course we will read some of his earlier texts as well as a part of his opus magnum `Theory of Communicative Action´, which can be regarded as an attempt to draft a theory of society that draws conclusions from the Nazi barbarianism.
Colloquium in German Culture and History
German Romanticism
German Language, Austrian Culture
This course is the continuation of the "Advanced German" course from last semester. Students who are already on B1 level or even more advanced will have a chance to practice their talking skills; complex aspects of German grammar will be studied in depth and practiced.
German Language & Media
Description "Workshop for German Language & Media" Summer Semester 2008 Ben Gurion University According to previous knowledge of students training of standard situations of everyday life in spoken German language. Training of listening comprehension with original material/media from radio and dialogs along everyday life and songs. Songs and poems for studying grammar structures and to train literacy and to motivate to improve writing abilities. Also we may discuss history and culture by texts and movies. Main aim is to improve the ability of each student to get along with texts and spoken language by himself/herself by mapping out and pursueing strategies of understanding AND to motivate them to use German language selfconfidently .
The History of German Nationalism from 1800 until Today
The course will explore key concepts related to ideological and political facets of German nationalism from the 19th century until today. Liberal nationalism and radical nationalism will be in the center of our discussion; we will also explore the relationship between nationalism and National Socialism, as well as manifestations of nationalism in Germany after World War II and after the re-unification.
Critical Theory – Adorno
In the course we will read some of the key texts by Theodor W. Adorno in order to become familiar with the approach of Critical Theory. This approach decisively shaped the intellectual culture of West Germany well into the 1980s, and continues to contribute to the international debate over how to deal with Nazi crimes up until the present day. Our reading of the essays will provide insight into the sociological and philosophical prerequisites of the theory, and will be deepened by the use of secondary texts.
Theatre and History
Theatre can be seen as a stage for negotiating on history, actually as one of the most common cultural practices it mirrors as well as challenges the depiction of history of each society. The course will deal with 20th century theatre in Europe and Israel, which refers directly to historical events. We will analyze different plays and performances and their modes of interpretation within various historical situations. Among the authors to be discussed are Berthold Brecht, Peter Weiss, Heiner Kippardt, Heiner Mueller, Hanoch Levin, Jehoshua Sobol.
Theatre and Cultural Memory in Israel and Germany
The course gives an introduction into cultural studies and performance analysis under the perspective of cultural memory. Theatre as a medium of mixed means provides special opportunities for dealing with cultural memories. There are strategies of text or of visualization, possibilities of memorizing through body or through space. If theatre furthermore is understood as a form of practicing culture it can always be defined as taking part in processes of collective memories. Due to its social functions, its aesthetics its dramatic form theatre refers to as well as takes part and - at its best - even challenges the imagination of communities, societies, nations. The course focuses on three performances that might be perceived as paradigmatic negotiations on cultural memory: Arbeit macht frei by the Acco Theatre Centre, George Taboris work Masada and Heiner Müllers Mis-en-scene of Brechts Arturo Ui.
Reconsidering Enlightenment in Germany
Quite a few German-Jewish intellectuals regarded the Shoah and the racist war led by Germany during the period of National Socialism as a collapse of the civilized world. On the other hand it was not enough for them to comprehend this collapse ‘just’ as a break with enlightenment, but one had to ask, how enlightenment itself was involved in the catastrophe. The terms of modernity and progress, which usually are associated with enlightenment, became questionable
