Courses

This is an unofficial list of courses that will be offered in Germanic Studies in spring 2026. It is strictly for the use of expanded course descriptions. For the complete official course offerings, please consult the My.UIC portal.

For a list of all courses and general course descriptions, please see the UIC Academic Catalog.

Germanic Studies Classes Spring 2026

GER 101, 102 (Elementary German I & II); GER 103, 104 (Intermediate German I & II). MWF 4 hours.
All beginning and intermediate German language courses are blended-online and classroom courses. Use of computer and internet access is required.

  • 101:    11-11:50, 12-12:50 
  • 102:    10-10:50, 12-12:50
  • 103:   12-12:50
  • 104:    9-9:50

GER 212:  Rural, Urban, Global: German Geographies; 3 hours. Instructor: Dr. Sara Hall; TR 11-12:15

We will study movies and television to discover what they can teach us about specific cities and towns (as well as the concepts of place, space, home, and geographic mobility more generally) and investigate how these media use language, image, and sound to represent and shape perceptions of German-speaking locations of the past and present and to imagine the spaces and places of the future. Prerequisite(s): GER 104 or the equivalent.


GER 401: AI Research in German Studies. 3 or 4 hours. Instructor: Dr. Patrick Fortmann; TR 2-3:15 pm

This course introduces students to the transformative potential of artificial intelligence for research in the Humanities and related fields. Using the multilayered discourses in Daniel Kehlmann’s global bestseller Measuring the World as our point of departure, students will learn to use platforms, tools, and techniques for working collaboratively with Large Language Models (LLMs), while pursuing humanistic inquiries across disciplinary boundaries. The course will provide students with a solid foundation for designing workflows that combine human expertise with AI capabilities and integrate recent technologies ethically and responsibly into established research practices. Open to undergraduate and graduate students interested in leveraging the results of AIapproaches as well as probing their limits in German-language contexts. The skills and technical expertise that students will gain in the course transfer seamlessly to a variety of industries and occupational fields.

No prior technical experience is expected. Extensive computer use is required. Taught in German.

Spring General Education Courses Taught in English

GER 100: Sports and German Culture. 3 hours. Instructor: Dr. Imke Meyer

This class will focus on the role of sports in German-speaking cultures. Sports are everywhere in modern culture, but they signify much more than simply the game. Sports can shape communities; they can reflect national and regional identities; and they are often catalysts for change. We will explore these issues through the lens of German literature, film, and other media. Taught in English.


GER 217: Introduction to German Cinema; Instructor: Dr. Imke Meyer; 3 hours; asynchronous online; Term A

This course introduces students to a diverse selection of films made in Germany between 1895 and 2020 and offers practice in examining them as explorations and expressions of the human imagination and the human experience during the socio-historical events and transitions specific to twentieth-century Germany (East and West). Through reading assignments, in-class discussion, on-line discussion, quizzes, homework assignments and paper writing, students will develop analytical skills in the viewing and interpretation of films and in writing original arguments about film history and cinema culture. Students taking GER 217 will gain the vocabulary for interpreting, analyzing, evaluating and researching films in the context of the history that shaped and was shaped by them. They will advance their ability to read, experience and view films carefully, to think critically, to argue cogently and to communicate ideas about cinema and a non-US culture in written and oral form. This course serves as an elective in the Germanic Studies major and minor, the minor in Moving Image Arts and as a General Education course in the categories of World Cultures and Creative Arts and Ideas. This is a great course for people with an interest in German cultural history or international film history in general. Films will be watched outside of class, supplemented by online discussion and interactive elements on Blackboard. Course Information: Taught in English. No knowledge of German required. Area literature/culture. Creative Arts course, and World Cultures course.


GER 219: Princesses and Storytellers; Instructor: Dr. Patrick Fortmann; Online Asynchronous 

This course analyzes the structure, meaning, and function of German fairy tales and their enduring influence on global literature, film, and popular culture. Concentrating on the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and the course examines fairy tales from a variety of cultures and traditions, ranging from Norse mythology to present-day America. The course is organized in topic-based modules. It will investigate the origins of the fairy tale form in cultures of oral storytelling and its eventual transposition to print. Students will examine the historical and socioeconomic circumstances that informed the Grimms’ project of collecting, editing, and disseminating tales as well as emerging practices of tale creation. The course will also introduce standard scholarly approaches to interpreting fairy tales and their adaptations, such as folk lore studies, narratology, gender studies, psychoanalysis, and animal studies. Through close readings of literary tales, the course provides basic tools for narrative interpretation and critical argumentation. Course Information: Taught in English. Area literature/culture. No knowledge of German required. Creative Arts course, and Past course.

For more information about Germanic Studies courses, please contact Ms. Meg LaLonde (mlalonde@uic.edu) or Dr. Patrick Fortmann (pfortmann@uic.edu): http://lcsl.uic.edu/germanic.

Fall 2025 Graduate Courses

GER 540: History, Memory, and Trauma in Literature. Instructor: Dr. Elizabeth Loentz; R 3:30-6 pm

The study of history, memory, and trauma in German literature has focused primarily on the Holocaust and the collective memory and trauma of Jewish victims and their descendants. Using Holocaust memory and trauma as a point of departure, this course examines representations of collective memory and collective and individual trauma associated with a broader range of historical events and experiences. These include, among others, the experience of non-Jewish Holocaust survivors and their descendants, non-Jewish Germans’ experiences of National Socialism and the Second World War and its aftermath, perpetrator trauma, migration and postmigration, the histories and trauma that immigrants and refugees bring with them, colonization, racism, and the “Wende.” We will explore a variety of theoretical concepts, approaches, and voices, including intergenerational or historical trauma, multidirectional memory (Michael Rothberg), collective memory and trauma (Aleida Assmann), psychological and psychoanalytical approaches (Cathy Caruth, Shoshana Felman, A. and M. Mitscherlich), transcultural empathy, testimony, history writing and trauma(Dominic LaCapra), and intersectionality and trauma. Primary readings will include narrative prose, poetry, and graphic novels by W.G. Sebald, Herta Müller, Yoko Tawada, May Ayim, Jenny Erpenbeck, Bernhard Schlink, Olga Grjasnowa, Emine Sevgi Özdamar, Birgit Weyhe, and Barbara Honigmann, among others.

 

Past Course Descriptions