Writing Our Selves

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This Level V course focuses on autobiographical writings in the three distinct genres of diaries, letters, and reflective essays, both through readings and through creative writing in these three genres. All three genres have a particularly rich tradition in German culture in the 19th and 20th century. By selecting topics representative of a particular period, by including writers who pursued diverse intellectual and professional pursuits, and by providing multiple perspectives on a range of social, ethical, and artistic issues, the course aims to provide a richly textured understanding of a person and his or her time. (Authors include the philosopher Hannah Arendt, the writer Franz Kafka, and the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, among others.) At the same time, students will gain a refined awareness of the dialogic nature of autobiographical writings. The course fosters this insight through careful textual analysis and through engaging students in their own creative writing in these genres, -- with the goal of helping them to develop a voice of their own in German.