Syllabi and Comprehensive Course Schedule
Filmstadt Berlin: Cinema / City / Memory (CHID 471) Filming Berlin (CHID 498) Prof. Eric Ames - Fall 2007 eames@u.washington.edu Office hours: By appointment Description This year, the CHID program in Berlin will explore the city through the aspect of film and memory. For more than a century, the cinema has been a key site of public memory in Germany. It has also been a cultural and political battlefield. Nowhere is this idea more evident than it is in Berlin. How has the space of this city been imagined and configured on film? In what ways has the cinema been used to shape and reshape a sense of place for historical spectators? How has it articulated complex issues of German history and identity? Films to be shown include, most notably, Berlin: Symphony of a Big City (1927), Germany Year Zero (1947), A Berlin Romance (1956), Wings of Desire (1987), The Wall (1990), Run Lola Run (1998), and Good-bye, Lenin! (2002). We will also be making our own “Berlin films,” using equipment and software provided by the program. The idea is to explore and experience first-hand the role of film and visuality in the representation and memory of Berlin. Readings Each reading is to be completed in advance of the date indicated on the syllabus; please come prepared to discuss the reading in class on that day. There is one textbook, which you were asked to obtain in advance--namely, Brian Ladd’s The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in the German Landscape (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997). All other readings are available in PDF format on the UW Libraries’ website for electronic reserves (Seattle campus), saved under “CHID 470.” Screenings All screenings take place in class as indicated on the syllabus. I am willing to loan out my personal copies of the DVDs, for additional viewings, after our discussion of each film. Some of the more recent titles can be found in local video rental stores. Students are expected to demonstrate familiarity with all films screened in class (see Assignments and Evaluation). Workshops Friday sessions will generally be devoted to work on group film projects. The agenda of each workshop will depend upon the status of each project. Although most of the work will necessarily take place outside of the classroom, workshops create an important space for the members of each group to meet, coordinate, and collaborate. They also offer an opportunity to share ideas, ask questions, solve problems, and help others--both within your group and among the different groups. The success of this class will depend on our effectiveness at pooling collective resources. Equipment Filmmaking equipment is available for use within the context of group projects. All of this equipment is the property of the University of Washington, and therefore must be signed out from the instructor, and returned to the instructor by December 11, 2007. Each group is responsible for the care and safe-keeping of any equipment on loan, and is expected to share that equipment with other groups, as needed (if your group needs additional equipment on a temporary basis, please notify the instructor directly). Assignments and Evaluation Although the two courses (CHID 471 and 498) have different emphases--the one on film history, the other on filmmaking--they are linked on every level. They also involve a mix of individual and group work. For these reasons, assignments for both classes have been conceived, and will be undertaken, jointly. In addition to participating in class discussions, each student is expected to complete the following assignments: • Individual “Production Journal” o Minimum of 2 pages each week. Entries must address not only the process of filmmaking in the narrow sense, but also the selected films, readings, and discussions for each week. Personal experiences of “being abroad” are totally appropriate topics, but cannot substitute for discussion of course materials. The idea is to develop through the act of writing a personal, “holistic” approach to the program as both an intellectual project and a lived experience. Journals will be evaluated at four different times throughout the quarter, as indicated on the schedule • Team exercise in “Filming Place” o One short exercise per group, at a length of 5-10 min. per film. Each exercise has a different due date, as indicated on the schedule • Final team film project o Completed film, at least 25 min. in length, to be presented at the beginning of finals week, as indicated on the schedule Your course grade will be calculated as follows: • Participation in class discussions and workshops = 20 % • Production journal = 20 % • Team exercise in “filming place” = 20 % • Final team project = 40 % The course grade that you earn will be used for CHID 498 as well as for CHID 471. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Memory and Urban Space Sites of Jewish History and Representations of the Holocaust in Berlin: Museums, Memorials, and Tourism (Course Number Not Yet Assigned) Thorsten Wagner - Fall 2007 Phone: 0177-4837039 thorsten_wagner@hotmail.com Office hours: By appointment Description: Berlin was once one of the most important and creative Jewish communities of Europe. The mass murder of European Jewry, primarily initiated and organized from within the confines of this same city, meant a brutal end to this flourishing, intellectual and religious power center. The course sets out to explore the interrelated fields of Berlin history, urban topography/ architecture, and politics of memory. Within this constellation, it focuses on the ways in which both Jewish life and culture as well as Nazi terror and genocide become defining elements of the construction and commemoration of an urban past with direct repercussions for present-day cultural and political dynamics. At the same time, these constructions obviously serve certain needs – be it in terms of power, identity politics or cultural hegemony. By examining different dimensions and layers of this complex web of meaning, memory, and manipulation, the course aims at a more nuanced understanding of the local, national, as well as global implications of the transformation of memory politics. Assignments and Evaluation: Each student is – besides active participation both in class discussions of the assigned literature, and in the obligatory weekly excursions – expected to take over one special assignment (potentially as a team). This has to be prepared in writing, and this paper (of approx. 3-5 pages) discussed with the instructor at least one week before it is due. It then forms the basis for an informal 10-15 min oral presentation by the student, who also assists in leading the class discussion. Your course grade will be calculated as follows: • preparatory paper for class session = 20% • oral presentation = 20% • participation in class discussions = 30% • final project (to be defined) = 30% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comprehensive Schedule (Color coded: Eric’s courses / Thorsten’s course) Our course schedule is such that we can make changes to it (e.g., add workshops or discussions), as needed. The following schedule refers only to in-class activities. (Special events taking place outside of class--e.g., visits to local museums, theaters, monuments, and other locations--will be posted on the weekly schedule blog. Click on the “Weekly Schedule” tab on the homepage of our website.) *Important note: Class meeting times and locations vary from week to week, so please refer to the schedule on a regular basis. Humboldt University Building Key UL = Unter den Linden DS = Dorotheenstrasse W 9/26, 9:00-11:00, in UL 6, Room 3054 (2nd floor) Screen: Displaced Person (Daniel Eisenberg, 1981; 12 min.) Read: “Film Terms” and “Reading a Film Sequence” Artist’s statement: http://www.danieleisenberg.com/statement.html Th 9/27, 14:00-16:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 (1st floor) Workshop Hardware/Software Handout, etc. Screen: Lumière films of Berlin, 1896-1897 Read: Ladd, Ghosts of Berlin, Introduction and Ch. Two, “Old Berlin” Simmel, “The Metropolis and Mental Life” Schlör, “Night-walking” F 9/28, 9:00-11:00, in UL 6, Room 3054 Thorsten Wagner – course orientation Topic and focus of course Reading Excursions Assignments Tu 10/2, 16:00-18:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 Screen: Berlin: Symphony of a Big City (Berlin: Sinfonie einer Grossstadt, dir. Walter Ruttmann, 1927; 72 min.) W 10/3, 9:00-11:00, in UL 6, Room 3054 - Urban Landscapes of Memory Read: Mary Fulbrook, German National Identity after the Holocaust, 25-47. Jennifer A. Jordan, Structures of Memory, 1-22. *Special assignment (2): Presenting categories such as “collective/cultural memory” and “lieux de memoire” (Émile Durkheim, Maurice Halbwachs, Pierre Nora, Jan Assmann) (JESSICA) Th 10/4, 14:00-16:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 Read: Gaughan, “Ruttmann’s Berlin” “Berlin and the Countryside,” from The Weimar Republic Sourcebook Ladd, Ghosts of Berlin, Ch. Three, “Metropolis” Kracauer, “Farewell to the Linden Arcade” F 10/5, 9:00-11:00, in UL 6, Room 3054 Workshop Production Journals (1) due Excursion (Friday Oct. 5th , 11am-1pm): Neue Wache, “Library” memorial at Opera Square; Schloßplatz; memorial to the Herbert-Baum group. *Special assignment: Presenting the concept of counter-memorial, using James E. Young, “Memory, Counter-Memory and the End of the Monument”, in: Shelley Hornstein and Florence Jacobowitz (eds.), Image and Remembrance, 59-78. (or Young, At Memory’s Edge, 90-119) (JOEL) T 10/9, 16:00-18:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 - The Jewish Quarter? Spandauer Vorstadt between Jewish Revival and Jewish Disneyland Read: Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, “Destination Culture”, Part 1, Exhibiting Jews, 79-130. Iris Weiss, “Jewish Disneyland: the appropriation and dispossession of “Jewishness”.” Golem – European-Jewish magazine, vol. 3. (http://www.hagalil.com/golem/diaspora/disneyland-e.htm) [Optional: Discussion on movie “Rosenstrasse” (2003), by Margarethe von Trotta] *Special assignment (2): Discussing the concept of virtual Judaism on the basis of Ruth Ellen Gruber, Virtually Jewish: Reinventing Jewish Culture in Europe. University of California Press, Berkeley 2002
(JESSIE) W 10/10, 9:00-11:00, in UL 6, Room 3054 Screen: Kuhle Wampe or: Who Owns the World? (Kuhle Wampe oder: Wem gehört die Welt? dir. Bertolt Brecht, Slatan Dudow, 1932; 71 min.) Th 10/11, 14:00-16:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 Read: Wolf, “Art is a Weapon!” Brecht, “Film without Commercial Value” and notes on Kuhle Wampe F 10/12, 9:00-11:00, in UL 6, Room 3054 Workshop Exercise 1 due: “Object” Excursion (Friday Oct. 12th , 11am-1pm): Rosenstraße, Barn Quarter, Große Hamburger St. and New Synagogue. *Special assignment: Explain the controversy between Nathan Stoltzfus (Resistance of the Heart) and Wolf Gruner. (KERRY AND KATE) Sa 10/13 Early train/bus to Koldenhof (returning Monday, 10/15) T 10/16, 16:00-18:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 - City districts and decentralized Holocaust commemoration Read: Rudy Koshar, “From Monuments to Traces”, chap. 4: Traces, 225-285. Karen Till, The New Berlin, 155-160. Caroline Wiedmer, The Claims of Memory. Representations of the Holocaust in Contemporary Germany and France, Ithaca 1999, 103-119. *Special assignment: Special assignment: Renata Stih and Frieder Schnock. (CHRISTOPHER) W 10/17, 8:00-10:00, in DS 24, Room 1404 Screen: Germany Year Zero (Germania Anno Zero, dir. Roberto Rossellini, 1947; 71 min.) Th 10/18, 14:00-16:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 Read: Shandley, “Dismantling the Dream Factory” F 10/19, 8:00-10:00, in DS 24, Room 1404 Workshop Exercise 2 due: “Acoustic Movie” Excursion (Friday Oct. 19th , 11am-1pm): Lewetzowstr., Putlitzbrücke, Grunewald deportation site, Spiegelwand Steglitz, and Bavarian Quarter. T 10/23, 16:00-18:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 - Premature closure or unique gesture of assuming historical responsibility? The project of a national Holocaust Memorial for Germany Read: James E. Young,. “At Memory’s Edge”, chap. 7: Germany’s Holocaust Memorial Problem – and mine, 184-223. Karen Till, The New Berlin, 161-188. W 10/24, 18:00-20:00, in DS 24, Room 1404 Screen: A Berlin Romance (Eine Berliner Romanze, dir. Gerhard Klein and Wolfgang Kohlhaase, 1956, 81 min.) Th 10/25, 14:00-16:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 *Guest speaker: Prof. Anton Kaes, UC Berkeley Read: Claus, “Rebels with a Cause” Ladd, Ghosts of Berlin, Ch. Five, “Divided Berlin” F 10/26, 8:00-10:00, in DS 24, Room 1404 Workshop Exercise 3 due: “Point of View” Production Journals (2) due Excursion: (Friday Oct. 26th , 11am-1pm): Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe, and exhibition by Simone Mangos at the Museum of Photography, Jebensstr. 2 *Special assignment: give a tour of the photo exhibition. (DUNG) T 10/30, 16:00-18:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 - Resurfacing Ruins: The “Address of Terror” and the Gestapo and SS headquarters. Read: Information about the memorial institution at: www.topographie.de/en/index.htm Karen Till, The New Berlin, 63-152. *Special assignment: Discuss the developments that led to the establishment to the Topography of Terror in view of the research on present-day family remembrance in the framework of the Center for Memory Research. (www.memory-research.de), on the basis of: Harald Welzer, Grandpa wasn't a Nazi. The Holocaust in German Family Remembrance, 2005(ED) W 10/31, 18:00-20:00, in DS 24, Room 1404 Screen: Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin, dir. Wim Wenders, 1987; 128 min.) Excursion: (Wednesday, 31st[!], 10am-12am): The Topography of Terror. Th 11/1, 14:00-16:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 Read: Harvey, “Time and Space in the Postmodern Cinema” Hooks, “Representing Whiteness” F 11/2 Early train to Hamburg (returning Monday, 11/5) T 11/6, 16:00-18:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 - Competing memories, conflicting uses of history: Concentration Camp Memorials Read: Information about the memorial institution at: www.stiftung-bg.de/gums/en/index.htm Sarah Farmer, Symbols that face two ways: Commemorating the victims of Nazism and Stalinism at Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. Representations 49 (1995), 97-119. Claudia Koonz, “Between Memory and Oblivion: Concentration Camps in German Memory.” In: Commemorations. The Politics of National Identity, ed. John Gillis, Princeton 1994, 258-280. Caroline Wiedmer, The Claims of Memory. Representations of the Holocaust in Contemporary Germany and France, Ithaca 1999, 164-199. *Special assignment: Give an introduction to “anti-fascist” narratives about the Nazi period on the basis of: Dan Diner, “On the Ideology of Antifascism.” New German Critique 67 (1996), 123-132. Also, an article found in the UW eReserves. (KELLY) W 11/7, 18:00-20:00, in DS 24, Room 1404 Screen: The Wall (Die Mauer, dir. Jürgen Böttcher, 1990, 99 min.) Th 11/8, 12:00-14:00, in DS 24, Room 1404 *Discussion with Wolfgang Kohlhaase Read: Ladd, Ghosts of Berlin, Ch. One, “Berlin Walls” Kilborn, “The Documentary Work of Jürgen Böttcher” F 11/9, 8:00-10:00, in DS 24, Room 1404 Workshop Excursion: (Friday, Nov. 9th , 11am-3pm): Sachsenhausen/Oranienburg *Special assignment (2): Compare the situation here to the findings of Harold Marcuse, Legacies of Dachau. The Uses and Abuses of a Concentration Camp, 1933-2001, Cambridge 2001.; Isabella Engelhardt, A Topography of Memory, Bruxelles 2002. (CHRIS & CYNTHIA) T 11/13, 16:00-18:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 - Staging Jewish culture in an architecture of trauma Read: Noah Isenberg, Reading “Between the Lines”. In: Unlikely History, Leslie Morris and Jack Zipes (eds.), 155-179. Susannah Reid, The Jewish Museum Berlin – a review (www.vl-museen.de/aus-rez/reid01-1.htm) *Special assignment: Discuss the staging of Jewish life at the Jewish Museum vis-a-vis the challenges and chances of Jewish revival in Germany today, using Jeffrey Peck, Being Jewish in the New Germany, 2006. (SHAWN & JOSH T.) W 11/14, 18:00-20:00, in DS 24, Room 1404 Screen: Run Lola Run (Lola rennt, dir. Tom Tykwer, 1998; 81 min.) Th 11/15, 14:00-16:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 Read: Sinka, “A Blueprint of Millennial Berlin” Ladd, Ghosts of Berlin, Ch. Six, “Capital of the New Germany” F 11/16, 8:00-10:00, in DS 24, Room 1404 Workshop Exercise 4 due: “Map” Excursion: (Friday, Nov. 16th , 11am-1pm): The Jewish Museum *Special assignment: Present the results of a visitor research project on the expectations, perceptions, and experiences of visitors to the Jewish Museum, especially regarding the architecture. (JOSH T. & SHAWN) T 11/20, 16:00-18:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 - The coordination of genocide in suburban exclusivity: Wannsee. Read: http://www.ghwk.de/engl/kopfengl.htm http://www.max-liebermann.de/en Mark Roseman, The Wannsee Conference and the Final Solution – a Reevaluation, 2003, 79-140. *Special assignment: Explain the historical importance of the building for the development of the Final Solution. (NATHAN AND JOHN) W 11/21, Eric’s Class/Workshop Period Cancelled Exercise 5 due: “…wish you were here” Production Journals (3) due Thorsten’s excursion is NOT cancelled Excursion: (Wednesday, Nov. 21st , 10am-12pm): Liebermann-Villa and House of the Wannsee conference. Th 11/22 Holiday F 11/23 Holiday T 11/27, 16:00-18:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 - German victims, German heroes Read: David J. Case, The Politics of Memorial Representation: The Controversy over the German Resistance Museum in 1994. German Politics and Society 16 (1991), 58-81. *Special assignment: Web/newspaper research on recent debate regarding the new Stauffenberg movie. (JOSH H.) W 11/28, 18:00-20:00, in DS 24, Room 1404 Screen: Me Boss, You Sneaker (Ich Chef, Du Turnschuh, dir. Hussi Kutlucan, 1998; 92 min.) Th 11/29, 14:00-16:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 Read: Göktürk, Gramling, and Kaes, Introduction to Germany in Transit Göktürk, “Strangers in Disguise” F 11/30, 8:00-10:00, in DS 24, Room 1404 Workshop Excursion: (Friday, Nov. 30th , 11am-1pm): Museum of German Resistance and T4-memorial. T 11/20, 16:00-18:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 - Conclusions and Perspectives: Globalization, Americanization, Personalization? Read: Andrew Gross, “Holocaust Tourism in Berlin.” Journeys 7, 73-100. Tim Cole, Selling the Holocaust. From Auschwitz to Schindler. How history is bought, packaged, and sold. New York 2000, 146-188. W 12/5, 18:00-20:00, in DS 24, Room 1404 Screen: Good-bye, Lenin! (Wolfgang Becker, 2002; 121 min.) Th 12/6, 14:00-16:00, in DS 24, Room 3135 *Guest speaker: Ralf Schenk, German film critic and film historian Read: Allan, “Ostalgie, Fantasy, and Normalization” F 12/7, 8:00-10:00, in DS 24, Room 1404 Reflections Final Checklist □ Film presentations on M 12/10 and Tu 12/11, at time(s) and location(s) TBA □ Equipment to be returned by Tu 12/11 □ Production Journals (4) due W 12/12 by 13:00 mailto:eames@u.washington.edumailto:thorsten_wagner@hotmail.comhttp://www.danieleisenberg.com/statement.htmlhttp://www.hagalil.com/golem/diaspora/disneyland-e.htmhttp://courses.washington.edu/berlin07/Readings/NathanStoltzfus_ResistanceOfTheHeart.pdfhttp://courses.washington.edu/berlin07/Readings/RudyKoshar_FromMonumentsToTraces.pdfhttp://courses.washington.edu/berlin07/Readings/KarenTill_ANewBerlin.pdfhttp://courses.washington.edu/berlin07/Readings/CarolineWiedmer_TheClaimsOfMemory_103-119.pdfhttp://courses.washington.edu/berlin07/Readings/JamesEYoung_AtMemorysEdge.pdfhttp://courses.washington.edu/berlin07/Readings/KarenTill_ANewBerlin_p.161-188.pdfhttp://www.topographie.de/en/index.htmhttp://courses.washington.edu/berlin07/Readings/KarenTill_ANewBerlin.pdfhttp://www.memory-research.dehttp://courses.washington.edu/berlin07/Readings/Welzer_Grandpa.pdfhttp://www.stiftung-bg.de/gums/en/index.htmhttp://courses.washington.edu/berlin07/Readings/SarahFarmer_SymbolsThatFaceTwoWays.pdfhttp://courses.washington.edu/berlin07/Readings/CarolineWiedmer_TheClaimsOfMemory_164-199.pdfhttp://courses.washington.edu/berlin07/Readings/DanDiner_OnTheIdeologyOfFascism.pdfhttp://quod.lib.umich.edu.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=acls;;idno=heb00114.0001.001http://courses.washington.edu/berlin07/Readings/NoahIsenberg_ReadingBetweenTheLines.pdfhttp://www.vl-museen.de/aus-rez/reid01-1.htmhttp://www.ghwk.de/engl/kopfengl.htmhttp://www.max-liebermann.de/enhttp://courses.washington.edu/berlin07/Readings/MarkRoseman_WannseeConference.pdfhttp://courses.washington.edu/berlin07/Readings/DavidCase_PoliticsOfMemorialRepresentation.pdfhttp://courses.washington.edu/berlin07/Readings/AndyGross_HolocaustTourismInBerlin.pdfhttp://courses.washington.edu/berlin07/Readings/TimCole_SellingTheHolocaust.pdfshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4shapeimage_2_link_5shapeimage_2_link_6shapeimage_2_link_7shapeimage_2_link_8shapeimage_2_link_9shapeimage_2_link_10shapeimage_2_link_11shapeimage_2_link_12shapeimage_2_link_13shapeimage_2_link_14shapeimage_2_link_15shapeimage_2_link_16shapeimage_2_link_17shapeimage_2_link_18shapeimage_2_link_19shapeimage_2_link_20shapeimage_2_link_21shapeimage_2_link_22shapeimage_2_link_23shapeimage_2_link_24shapeimage_2_link_25shapeimage_2_link_26