German Cultural Studies A

Students will acquire fundamental research skills needed to complete a German major including the use of the library, online research resources and relevant bibliographical software. Students will learn to synthesise information from a range of scholarly sources. In the seminar, students will begin to engage with important cultural and linguistic aspects of German and acquire a broader genre literacy. Students will also engage with key cultural organisations and undertake site visits. They will become aware of some of the formal properties of discourse in German on cultural and historical issues. In their written and spoken German they will begin the transition to higher-level output such as the presentation of different points of view, and will be introduced to academic genres such as the analytical essay and the literature review (in English). This subject will equip German major students from the German 1 entry point with the language and research skills needed for admittance into the German Studies Capstone subject with its greater emphasis on cultural, historical and social themes and their related linguistic forms.