This course examines key periods in German history from unification to the present in order to understand how history is presented, contested, and remembered through visual media. The primary medium will be film, but the course will include various media including television, painting, photography, graphic novels, posters, and social media. Each offering may focus on different historical periods (e.g. Weimar Germany, the Third Reich, divided Germany) and themes (e.g. propaganda, identity, memory). Students will engage in close readings of visual texts alongside historical sources to develop skills in medium-specific analysis and historical contextualization. Students who have taken German courses will have opportunities to work withsource material in German. This course is taught in English and may be repeated for different topics. Especially appropriate for students interested in German, History, International and Global Studies, Film Studies, and WPI’s global Project Centers in Europe.
This course will be offered in academic years ending in odd numbers.