Social Engagement in German Literature and Film

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

How can we work for a more just world? Major works of German film and literature insightfully depict a variety of paradigmatic scenarios of social injustice, suggesting ways these conditions might be ameliorated and perhaps even overcome. Topics include: misogyny; child-murder; prostitution; poverty; workers’ rights; just distribution of resources; wealth and income inequality; the status of minority, migrant and refugee populations; religion and the state (Jewish emancipation and oppression); and the individual’s striving for freedom within an authoritarian regime. This upper-level course taught in German, surveys major works of German literature and film from the 18th to the 21st centuries that prominently engage themes of social engagement.