GERM 327 - Reinventing Berlin: Memory, Culture, and Urban Space

Berlin has long been considered the quintessential modern metropolis and one that continually reinvents itself as an ongoing experiment in urban culture. Today, the capital of united Germany’s “Berlin Republic” is a vibrant, ethnically diverse city with political and cultural meanings that resonate far beyond its borders. Students approach contemporary Berlin by way of historical, political and cultural stories of its urban landscape. Through study of monuments, architecture and city planning, film, art and literature, eyewitness reporting and historical analysis, students explore reinventions of the city and the transformations of its urban space and public culture in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In doing do, the changing conceptualizations of civic and national identity, collective memory and imagined futures elicited by Berlin’s complex history are also addressed. Participation in the accompanying FLAC section is mandatory for students wishing to earn GERM major/minor credit.

Credits: 1
Prerequisites: None
Major/Minor Restrictions: None
Class Restriction: None
Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
Liberal Arts CORE: None

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