GERM 109(F) Berlin-Multicultural Metropolis Between East and West

We will concentrate on the time period before and after the fall of the Wall, as well as investigating some of the city's unique features and historical contributions to Germany's social transformations. These include the working-class "Mietskasernen," Berlin as a center for migration from Eastern Europe, Berlin at the outbreak of World War One, Berlin's Jews during the Nazi era, Berlin's special brand of irreverent humor called "Berliner Schnauze," the divided city in the cold war era, recent proposed architectural changes for the new capital, and Berlin as a center for the arts (Christo's recent "Wrapped Reichstag" may serve as an example). Interactive multimedia exercises will allow you to explore cultural and historical information tailored to each course segment. On a regular basis, we will consider websites about Berlin. Short texts will include: Walter Benjamin, "Berliner Kindheit um 1900," excerpts from an anthology about the Jewish ghetto, fiction about the so-called "golden twenties," the architecture of Berlin as the Nazi capital, recent newspaper articles, interviews with Berliners since unification, poetry and stories about Turkish and Afro-German minorities in Berlin, two recent memoirs: Irina Liebmann, In Berlin, Bodo Morhäuser, Gezielte Blicke. Films: Wim Wenders, Wings of Desire, Helga Reidemeister, Drehpunkt Berlin, and documentaries. Frequent short multimedia and written exercises. Conducted in German. Prerequisite: German 104 or permission of instructor.

Hour: ZILCOSKY