Campus-Tour - Introduction to German Studies
Neo Rauch: Fundgrube, 2011
This class is taught in English
Modern research universities like the University of Washington are a 19th-century German invention. We think of the university’s divisions into areas of knowledge (natural sciences, social sciences, humanities) and departments (e.g., physics, psychology, history) as naturally reflecting the world, but in fact these categories artificially shape and determine what counts as knowledge in the first place.
In this course we will explore the ways that German thinkers have worked alternately to construct the fields of academic knowledge, to promote cross-fertilization among those fields, and to challenge disciplinary boundaries.
The course provides both an introduction to the modern university and an exploration of the relationship between knowledge and power.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this course, students should be able to
• Recognize, describe, and analyze the intellectual, cultural, and institutional contexts that contributed to the formation and organization of academic knowledge;
• Recognize, describe, and analyze the critical role of specific German thinkers in disciplines ranging from sociology to film, theater or urban studies;
• Articulate critiques by underrepresented voices of dominant cultures of knowledge;
• Think transnationally: incorporate diverse cultural perspectives in assessing fields of knowledge;
• Organize their own university studies in a coherent fashion;
• Recognize how pursuing a German Studies major or minor can add critical focus to courses of study outside the German department.