Course description

The aim of this course is to introduce students of history, political science, sociology, and philology to important aspects of the cultural, scientific, and economic history of Germany and Austria. Social history will also be considered. We will focus on individual, particularly interesting trends and events. Various media will be used, including films and music. Participants will gain profound insights into the mindset of the German-speaking world, including the origins of trends such as the Green movement and German anti-Americanism.     

We will discuss, among other things, the following topics:

the Napoleonic Wars and the genesis of German nationalism; Hohenzollern (Prussia) versus Habsburg (Austria); misleading stereotypes about Prussia; Brahms and Goethe, Wagner and—what?; Humboldt and the German university; the special role of small towns and especially small university towns in German culture; German thinkers as critics of Christianity and the resulting de-Christianization; the history of science, e.g., agricultural chemistry and optics; economic history, biographies of important entrepreneurs; German statism and socialism; the war economy in the First World War; the Weimar Republic; the First Austrian Republic; Austria's tourism marketing.

I will try to obtain English versions of all texts. Should this prove impossible in some cases, you are welcome to run the German texts through translation programs or use Polish translations.