Week 1: Introduction to Berlin and Weimar Era
Tuesday Date23 May | Introduction Homework Watch: Berlin, Symphony of a City Write: Film Analysis Form |
WednesdayDate25 May | Homework Read: Kathleen Canning, “Introduction” Weimar Subjects/Weimar Publics Read: Imagining America,” Chapter 15 of Weimar Sourcebook |
| Thursday Date 25 May | Homework Read: Berlin: City of Stones (chapters 1-4) |
| Friday Date 26 May | Homework Read: Berlin: City of Stones (chapters 5-8) Write: Avatar Research and Character Development; set up Voices access |
Week 2: Graphic Novel and Historical Representation
MondayDate29 May | Graphic Novel and Film as Historical RepresentationHomework Read: Finish Lutes graphic novelRead: Scott McCloud: Understanding Comics, chapters 2 & 3 |
TuesdayDate30 May | Homework In class discussion on Lutes; mini lecture on comics and Weimar historyRead: Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics 4 & 5 |
| Wednesday 31 May | Homework Read: McCloud, chapter 6 Write: Short Response Sheet (SRS): How does reading McCloud change your understanding of the “language of images” in Lutes’ City of Stones? |
| Thursday 1 June | Homework Read: Hayden White/Rosenstone on historiography and historiophoty Write: Short Response Sheet: What is your position on the reflection of history on film? What is White’s primary premise? What is his position on Rosenstone? |
| Friday 2 June | Homework Write: Avatar Research and Blog #1 Watch: Netflix series Babylon Berlin, first two episodes from season one Write: Film Analysis Form |
Week 3: Sociology of the City I: Gender and Sexuality / New Woman / New Man / Institute for Sexual Research (Magnus Hirschfeld)
Monday5 June | Men in WeimarHomeworkRead: George Simmel, “War Neuroses and ‘Psychic Trauma’” (p. 7); Paul von Hindenburg, “The Stab in the Back” (p. 15); Willi Wolfradt, “The Stab in the Back Legend?” (p. 16); Carl Zuckmayer, “Erick Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front” (p. 23) = All from: Weimar Republic Sourcebook (Chapter 1, pp. 5-25, “The Legacy of War”) Write: Short Response Sheet: How has your reading from these primary sources shifted/reinforced/changed your thinking about men and war? |
Tuesday6 June | Women in Weimar in class discussion on gender and sexuality; mini-lecture on same Homework Read: “The Rise of the New Woman,” Weimar Republic Sourcebook (chapter 8, pp. 195-218); “Sexuality: Private Rights versus Social Norms” Weimar Republic Sourcebook (chapter 29, pp. 693-715) |
| Wednesday 7 June | Women’s Movement Homework Read: Kristin McGuire’s study “Feminist Politics Beyond the Reichstag” (in Canning’s book) on Helene Stöcker |
| Thursday 8 June | Homework Watch: G.W. Pabst’s films Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) (on Kanopy or YouTube) Write: Film Analysis Form |
| Friday 9 June | Homework Watch: F. W. Murnau’s film The Last Laugh (1924) (on Kanopy) Write: Film Analysis Form Write: Avatar Blog #2 |
Week 4: Sociology of the City II: Race, Ethnicity and Class / Jewish Community / Black Community / Proletarian Culture / White-Collar Workers
Monday12 June | Sociology of the City IIHomework Read: “White Collar Workers: Mittelstand or Middle Class?” Weimar Republic Sourcebook (chapter 7, pp. 181-191); “Forging a Proletarian Culture,” Weimar Republic Sourcebook (chapter 9, pp. 220-245) Watch: Netflix series Babylon Berlin, 2 more episodes from season one |
Tuesday13 June | In class / mini lecture and discussion on race, class, and ethnicity Homework Read: “The Jewish Community: Renewal, Redefinition, Resistance” Weimar Republic Sourcebook (chapter 10, pp. 248-276) Write: Short Response Sheet: How do reflections on Jewishness mesh with perspectives offered by Lutes and/or in Babylon Berlin? |
| Wednesday 14 June | Homework Read: “The Roaring Twenties: Cabaret and Urban Entertainment” Weimar Republic Sourcebook (chapter 22, pp. 551-566) Watch: Cabaret (1972) (can find on different streaming services, HBO Max, Google, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu for small fee). |
| Thursday 15 June | Homework Read: “Blackness and Classical Music in the Age of the Black Horror on the Rhine Campaign,” Kira Thurman Singing Like the Germans: Black Musicians in the Land of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms (pp. 97-133); “Black Voices on the Black Horror on the Rhine,” Christian Rogowski, Remapping Black Germany (pp. 118-131) Write: Short Response Sheet: How has your reading of this historical research (Thurman and Rogowski) shifted/reinforced/changed your thinking about race and/or entertainment in Weimar Berlin/Europe during the interwar years, esp. in comparison to chapter 22 of The Weimar Republic Sourcebook from Weds.? |
Friday 16 June | Homework Write: Avatar Blog #3 |
Week 5: Documenting the City: Challenges and Promises of Modernity / Mass Media
Monday19 June | Visual CultureHomework Read: “Visual Culture: Illustrated Press and Photography,” The Weimar Republic Sourcebook (chapter 26, pp. 641-651) |
Tuesday20 June | Photography / Advertising Homework Read: “Visions of Plenty: Mass Consumption, Fashion, and Advertising,” Weimar Republic Sourcebook (chapter 27, pp. 655-672) View: Photography of August Sander; Marianne Brandt, Dorothea Lang; Expressionist art and New Objectivity art Write: Short Response Sheet: How do the photographs of Sander, Brandt, and Lang as historical documents mesh with your reading of primary articles from The Weimar Republic Sourcebook? |
| Wednesday 21 June | Homework Read: “The Cult of the Body: Lebensreform, Sport, and Dance,” Weimar Republic Sourcebook (chapter 28, pp. 673-691) |
| Thursday 22 June | Homework Read: Jill Smith, “Prostitutes in Weimar Berlin” in Beyond Glitter and Doom Watch: G.W. Pabst’s film Joyless Streets (1925) Write: Film Analysis Form |
| Friday 23 June | Homework Read: “Orphan Photos, Fugitive Images,” Tina Campt, Archive, Photography, and the African Diaspora in Europe, (pp. 83-114). Write: Avatar Blog #4 |
Week 6: Putting it Together and Wrapping it Up / Critical Theory & Analysis of an Era Then and Now
Monday26 June | Critical Theory Homework Read: “Critical Theory and the Search for a New Left,” Weimar Republic Sourcebook chapter 12, pp. 309-329); “Cultural Pessimism: Diagnosis of Decline,” Weimar Republic Sourcebook (chapter 14, pp. 355-386) |
Tuesday 27 June | Final Discussion and Analysis Homework Read: Föllmar, Moritz, “Which Crisis? Which Modernity? New Perspectives on Weimar Germany,” in Beyond Glitter and Doom: The Contingency of the Weimar Republic. Write: Short Response Sheet: Compare the primary documents of Weimar Republic Sourcebook with the essay “Which Crisis?” Think about what you knew about Weimar six weeks ago and what you know now. What are your main takeaways? Due Friday Write: Final Avatar Blog Entry #5 |