Week
1: Introduction
Monday, September
4, 2006
• Group Meeting 1:00-2:15
• Introductions
Thursday, September
7, 2006
• Introduction to the Course, Syllabus,
Expectations and Aspirations
• Was 1945 a Zero Hour? The Fall of the
Third Reich and the Division of Germany. A Brief
Review of German History, 1945-1949
Homework:
Read Hayden White, The Content of the Form:
Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation,
Preface pp. ix-xi and Chapter 1 “The Value
of Narrativity in the Representation of Reality,”
pp. 1-25. Prepare
Study Questions. Please
bring the H. White book to class on Tuesday.
Week 2: Cinema
and Nation
Monday, September
11, 2006
• 4:00-5:00pm President Glotzbach’s
welcome reception at Scribner House
Tuesday, September
12, 2006
• Narration and Historical Representation
• Review of reading by Hayden White
• The German Democratic Republic and The
Federal Republic of Germany: Front lines in
the Cold War, 1949-1961
Homework:
Read Konrad Jarausch and Michael Geyer. Shattered
Past: Reconstructing German Histories,
“Introduction: 20th-C Germany: Rethinking
a Shattered Past” pp. 1-36 and Chapter
1: “A Return to National History? The
Master Narrative and Beyond,” pp. 37-60.
Prepare Study Questions.
Please bring the Jarausch/Geyer book
to class on Thursday.
Thursday, September
14, 2006
• Definitions: What is a Nation, Nation-State,
Culture, National Culture?
• Master Narratives
• Review of reading by Jarausch/Geyer
• The Iron Curtain, 1961-1989
Homework:
Read Marcia Landy, ed. The Historical Film:
History and Memory in Media, Introduction,
pp. 1-24. Prepare
Study Questions. Please bring the
Landry book to class on Tuesday.
Week 3: Nostalgia
and Amnesia as Reaction to the Wende
(turn) Tuesday,
September 19, 2006
• Cinema and History
• Review of reading by Landry
• Basic Film terms
FILM
SHOWING: Goodbye
Lenin! (Wolfgang
Becker, 2003) in BO 380
Homework:
Read Jarausch/Geyer. Shattered Past,
Chapter 2: “The Collapse of the Counternarrative:
Coping with the Remains of Socialism,”
pp. 61-84. Prepare
Study Questions. Please bring the
Jarausch/Geyer book to class on Thursday.
Thursday, September
21, 2006
• Sign up for oral report topics
• The fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov.
9, 1989 as a new caesura in German history.
• Review of Reading by Jarausch/Geyer
• Discussion of Goodbye, Lenin!
Homework:
Read Robert Rosenstone, “The Historical
Film: Looking at the Past in a Postliterate
Age” pp. 50-66 in Landry. Prepare
Study Questions. Please bring the
Landry book to class on Tuesday. Formulate
your own Thesis Statement and Write an Outline
for a five- page paper analyzing Goodbye
Lenin!. Choose at least one citation each
from your readings of 1.) White, 2.) Jarausch/Geyer
and 3.) Landry. This written homework should
be typed and emailed to mobrien@skidmore.edu
and handed in as a hard
copy during class on Tuesday, Sept. 26. This
assignment reflects 10% of your grade for your
first essay.
Friday, September
22, 2006: Individual Meetings:
10am ____________________
10.30am __________________
11am ____________________
11:30am __________________
12pm ____________________
12.30pm__________________
2pm _____________________
2:30pm ___________________
3pm _____________________
Week 4: Nostalgia
and Amnesia as Reaction to the Wende
Monday, September
25, 2006: Individual Meetings:
11am ____________________
11:30am __________________
12pm ____________________
12.30pm__________________
2pm _____________________
2:30pm ___________________
3pm _____________________
Tuesday, September
26, 2006
• Review of Reading
by Rosenstone
• The Mechanics of Writing
• Peer Critique of Thesis Statements,
Outlines and Citations
FILM SHOWING:
Berlin
is in Germany (Hannes Stöhr, 2001)
in BO 380 at 7pm
Homework:
Write an introductory paragraph for your essay
and choose 2 examples from the film(s), which
illuminate your thesis. Email a copy of your
homework to peer mentor Kendra
Asplund before class and bring a hard copy
to class for peer critique.
Thursday, September
28, 2006
• Professor O’Brien will be out
of town. Students meet with Scribner Peer Mentor
Kendra Asplund to discuss their essays
Homework:
Write a five-page, typed and double-spaced essay
analyzing either Goodbye Lenin! or
Berlin is in Germany, or comparing
the two films. Your essay should be an analysis
and not a plot summary. Be certain to give a
clear thesis statement on the first page, concrete
examples to support your ideas, a citation from
each of the three main readings (White, Jarausch/Geyer,
and Landry) and provide a conclusion that demonstrates
the relevance of your investigation for a better
understanding of German history or cinematic
history. Your essay is due in class
on Tuesday, October 3, 2006.
Week
5: Research Skillls
Tuesday,October
3, 2006
First essay is
due in class
• Discussion of Berlin is in Germany
• Library Research
NO FILM SHOWING:
meet in Scribner Library at reference desk at
7pm
Homework:
Compile an annotated bibliography of seven sources
for your oral report. Your bibliography should
include two books, four journal articles, and
one web site. The annotated bibliography should
be typed and must be emailed to Professor
O'Brien as an attachment in Microsoft Word
(use .doc extension) and handed in as a hard
copy during class on Thursday, Oct. 5. This
assignment reflects 10% of your grade for your
oral report.
Thursday, October
5, 2006
• Annotated
Bibliography due in class
• MLA style sheet, the usefulness of annotations,
how to choose resources
Homework:
Read Taylor Downing, “History on Television:
The Making of Cold War, 1998” in Landry,
The Historical Film, pp. 294-302 and
Gary Edgerton,“Ken Burn’s Rebirth
of a Nation: Television, Narrative, and Popular
History,” in Landry, The Historical
Film, pp. 303-315. Prepare
Study Questions. Please bring the Landry
book to class on Tuesday.
Week 6: In the
Shadow of the Wall: Political Oppression and
Resistance in the GDR
Tuesday,October
10, 2006
• Documentary versus Fiction and the Question
of Truth
• Review of Readings by Downing and Edgerton
in Landry
• Oral Report on Socialist Realism in
the Visual Arts
FILM SHOWING:
Der
Tunnel (Roland Suso Richter, 2001)
at 7pm in BO 380
Homework:
Read Hayden White, The
Content of the Form, Chapter 2 “The
Question of Narrative in Contemporary Historical
Theory,” pp. 26-57. Prepare
Study Questions. Please bring the H. White
book to class on Thursday.
Thursday, October
12, 2006
• Discussion of Der Tunnel
• Review of reading by H.White
• Oral Report on Socialist Realism in
Literature
Homework:
Read Sue Harper, “Historical Pleasures:
Gainsborough Costume Melodrama,” in Landry.
The Historical Film, pp. 98-124. Prepare
Study Questions. Please bring the Landry
book to class on Tuesday.
Week
7: In the Shadow of the Wall: Political Oppression
and Resistance in the GDR
Tuesday,October
17, 2006
• Melodrama
• Review of Harper reading
• Oral Reports on the Workers Revolt and
the building of the Berlin Wall
FILM SHOWING:
Das
Versprechen
(Margarethe von Trotta, 1994) at 7pm in
BO 380
Homework:
Read Jarausch/Geyer. Shattered Past,
Chapter 5: “The Totalitarian Temptation:
Ordinary Germans, Dictatorship, and Democracy,”
pp. 149-173. Prepare
Study Questions. Please bring the Jarausch/Geyer
book to class on Thursday.
Thursday, October
19, 2006
• Discussion of
Das Versprechen
• Review of Jarausch Reading
• Oral Report on Dissidents in the GDR
Homework:
Write a five-page, typed and double-spaced essay
analyzing either The Tunnel or Das
Versprechen, or comparing the two films.
Your essay is due in class on Tuesday,
October 24, 2006.
Week 8: The Wild
West: The RAF: Terrorism or Freedom Fighters?
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
• Second
Essay due in class
• The Red Army Faction or Baader-Meinhof
Gang
FILM SHOWING:
Die
Stille nach dem Schuß (1999,
Volker Schlöndorff) at 7pm in BO 380
Homework:
Read Hayden White. Chapter 3, “The Politics
of Historical Interpretation: Discipline and
De-Sublimation,” pp. 58-82 in The
Content of the Form. Prepare
Study Questions. Please bring the White
book to class on Thursday.
Thursday, October
26, 2006
• Discussion of Die Stille nach dem
Schuß
• Review of White reading
• Oral Reports on the Economic Miracle
and the 68’ Student Movement
Homework:
Read Jarausch/Geyer. Shattered Past, Chapter
3: “Modernization, German Exceptionalism,
and Post-Modernity: Transcending the Critical
History of Society ,” pp. 85-110. Prepare
Study Questions. Please bring the Jarausch/Geyer
book to class on Tuesday.
Week 9: Trendy
Terrorism: The Uneasy Relationship between Fact
and Fiction
Tuesday, October
31, 2006
• Postmodernism
• Radical Chic, Prada-Meinhof, and Pop
Icons
•Oral Report on the RAF art exhibition
in 2005
• Review of Jarausch reading
FILM SHOWING:
Baader
(2002, Christopher Roth) at 7pm in BO 380
Homework:
Read Sumiko Higashi, “Walker and Missisippi
Burning: Postmodernism versus Illusionist Narrative”
in Landry, The Historical Film, pp.
218-234 and Richard Dienst, “History:
The Eternal Rerun: on Crime Story,” in
Landry, The Historical Film, pp. 286-293.
Prepare Study Questions.
Please bring the Landry book to class on Thursday.
Thursday, November 2, 2006
• Discussion of Baader
• Review of Readings by Higashi and Dienst
Homework:
Read H. White, Chapter 5, “Foucault’s
Discourse: The Historiography of Anti-Humanism,”
in The Content of the Form, pp. 104-141.
Prepare Study Questions.
Please bring the White book to class on Tuesday.
Week 10: East
of Eden: Dissent or State Terrorism?
Tuesday, November
7, 2006
• Youth Rebellion in the GDR
• Oral Report on Youth Organizations in
the GDR
• Review of Reading by H. White
FILM SHOWING:
Raus
aus der Haut (1997, Andreas Dresen)
at 7pm in BO 380
Homework:
Read Anton Kaes, “The Presence of the
Past: Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s The Marriage
of Marie Braun, “ in Landry, The Historical
Film, pp. 173-200 and Miriam Hansen, “Schindler’s
List is not the Shoah: The Second Commandment,
Popular Modernism, and Public Memory in Landry,
The Historical Film, pp. 201-217. Prepare
Study Questions. Please bring the Landry
book to class on Thursday.
Thursday, November
9, 2006
• The 17th anniversary
of the fall of the wall
• Discussion of Raus aus der Haut
• Review of Readings by Kaes and Hansen
Homework:
Write a five-page, typed and double-spaced essay
analyzing either Die Stille nach dem Schuß,
Baader, or Raus aus der Haut or
comparing the three films. Your essay
is due in class on Tuesday, November 14, 2006.
Saratoga Film Forum presents
Sophie
Scholl: The Final Days (2005) on Thursday
Nov. 9 8pm, Friday, Nov. 10 at 8pm, Sunday,
Nov, 12 at 3:00pm.
Week 11: The
1980s as Farce.
History repeats itself, the first time around
as tragedy, the second as farce.
Tuesday, November
14, 2006
• Third
Essay is due in class
• Rebellion in the 80s: Autonomism, Anti-Nuclear
Movement, Squatters, Punks
FILM SHOWING:
Was
tun, wenn's brennt?
(2002, Gregor Schnitzler) at 7pm in BO 380
Homework:
Read Jarausch/Geyer. Shattered Past,
Chapter 10: “In Pursuit of Happiness,
Consumption, Mass Culture, and Consumerism,”
pp. 269-316. Prepare
Study Questions. Please bring the Jarausch/Geyer
book to class on Thursday.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
• Discussion of
Was tun, wenn es brennt?
• Oral Reports on Squatters and German
punk music in the 1980s
• Review of Reading by Jarausch/Geyer
Homework:
Read H. White, Chapter 6. “Getting Out
of History: Jameson’s Redemption of Narrative,”
in The Content of the Form,”
pp. 142-168. Prepare Study Questions. Please
bring the White book to class on Tuesday. Choose
a research topic for your final essay. Write
a paragraph describing the broad outline of
your project and provide an annotated bibliography
of two books and three articles on this topic.
The homework should be typed and must be emailed
to Profesor
O'Brien as an attachment in Microsoft Word
(use .doc extension) and handed in as a hard
copy during class on Thursday, Nov. 21. This
assignment reflects 10% of your grade for your
final research paper.
Week 12: Germany
Today
Tuesday, November
21, 2006
• Research
Proposal due in class
• Oral Reports on the visual arts and
performance art in Germany today
• Review of Reading by H. White.
NO FILM SHOWING:
Research
Topic Presentations in BO 380 at 7pm
Homework: Read Jarausch/Geyer.
Shattered Past, Chapter 8: “A
Struggle for Unity: Redefining National Identities,”
pp. 221-244. Prepare
Study Questions. Please bring the Jarausch
book to class on Tuesday. Happy Thanksgiving
holiday!
Week 13: Creative
Chaos
Tuesday, November
28, 2006
• Oral Report on German youth today
• Globalization
and National Identity: An Oxymoron?
• Review of Reading by Jarausch/Geyer
FILM SHOWING:
Die
fetten Jahre sind vorbei (2005) at
7pm in BO 380
Homework:
Read Jarausch/Geyer. Shattered Past,
Chapter 11: “Survival in Catastrophe:
Mending Broken Memories,” pp. 317-341.
Prepare Study Questions.
Please bring the Jarausch book to class
on Thursday.
Thursday, November
30, 2006
• Discussion of Die fetten Jahre sind
vorbei
• Two different endings for Hollywood
and Babelsberg?
• Review of Readings by Jarausch/Geyer
Homework:
Read H. White, Chapter 7, “The Metaphysics
of Narrativity: Time and Symbol in Ricoeur’s
Philosophy of History,” in The Content
of the Form, pp. 169-184 and Mary Ann Doane,
“Information, History, Crisis, Catastrophe,”
in Landry, The Historical Film, pp. 269-285.
Prepare Study Questions.
Please bring the White book and the Landry
book to class on Tuesday.
Week 14: Mastering
Time
Tuesday, December
5, 2006
• Mastering Time in Narrative Fiction
and in Historiography
• Review of Readings by H. White and Doane
Homework: Read H. White, “The
Context in the Text: Method and Ideology in
Intellectual History, in The Content of
the Form, pp. 185-214. Prepare
Study Questions. Please bring the White
book to class on Thursday.
LAST FILM SHOWING:
Lola
rennt (1998, Tom Tykwer) at 7pm in
BO 380
Thursday, December
7, 2006
• Discussion of Lola rennt
• Review of Readings by H. White
Homework:
Read Jarausch/Geyer. Shattered Past,
Chapter 12: “The Century as History: Between
Cataclysm and Civility,” pp. 342-369.
Prepare Study Questions.
Please bring the Jarausch book to class
on Tuesday.
Week 15: Reflections
and Conclusions
Tuesday, December
12, 2006
• Review of Reading by Jarausch
• Reflections and Conclusions
Final Research
Paper is due on December, 19, 2007 at 6pm in
PMH 406.
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