With a thematic focus on what it means to be human and to belong, this course is a continuation of GER 3011W, designed to help students improve their writing and speaking skills while exploring cultural phenomena. Students will learn to articulate original ideas in writing and support assertions using textual evidence. They will use knowledge of cultural difference to interpret texts that are heard, read, or viewed.
Students will engage with a variety of textual genres to discover different perspectives on humanity and belongingness. Over the course of the semester, we will read Die Liebe unter Aliens, a series of short stories by award-winning writer, Terézia Mora. Each story features strangers, non-natives, or tourists - all people who find themselves in a place that is not their home. Interspersed in those readings, students will interact with poetry from different centuries alongside current event reporting, and students will end with Friedrich Dürrenmatt's Die Physiker, a satire about the future of humanity. Students will be able to engage with these texts critically and creatively through both formal and informal written and oral performances.
As a writing-intensive course, students will complete three formal writing assignments, including a short literary analysis, a persuasive essay, and a creative narrative. Students will also complete collaborative dialogues with their fellow students, and they will end the semester with an oral report.