Classical and Archaeological Studies and German - BA (Hons)

The module will introduce archaeology as an academic discipline, providing grounding in basic concepts and methodology and techniques of analysis relating to archaeological evidence. It will provide background relevant to other archaeological and historical modules in the Classical & Archaeological Studies and related programmes, through examining aspects of the archaeological process and examples in prehistoric, Roman, medieval and post-medieval contexts. It will enable students to make an informed choice of subsequent modules. Topics will include ceremonial, religious and burial sites, the emergence of settlement sites, the creation and development of towns, trade and exchange, artefactual and landscape studies using cases through time. Seminars will focus on methods and approaches, and the presentation of data and its interpretation.

The history will centre on Athens in the 5th century B.C. We begin with Solon's reforms, then after considering the period of the Persian invasions we study the developed democracy with its empire under Pericles and its destruction in the Peloponnesian War. After 5 weeks, we move to the literature of the period, more specifically, the development of tragedy and comedy in fifth-century Athens, examining staging and dramatic conventions such as the role of actor, chorus and religious function and plot, especially the handling of mythological themes. We will analyse a selection of major plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes. Within this framework the module explores the role of tragedy and comedy as vehicles for public debate in the democracy, and its treatment of justice, religion, rationalism and patriotic themes.

In the Roman part of the course we shall treat the last century of the republic. Our focus will be on how that republic fell and was replaced by the empire whose founder was Augustus. Among the themes examined will be political violence, the intrusion of the army into political life and the rise of the warlord. In the literature part of the Spring term the module is concerned with the patronage of the arts (poetry, history writing, art and architecture) under Augustus, with the role of the arts as propaganda, and the thesis that writers were recruited to act as spokesmen for the policies and ideals of the principate. The central theme is the creation of enduring images of Rome and Empire, using traditional historical and mythological materials; alongside this the module treats areas of public policy such as moral legislation, festivals, religious reform and the position of women. The module is also concerned with the responses of the writers, whether as supporters of public policy, or as commenting on and reacting against it. Thus, its content is much better understood as a result of the historical development outlined in the first part of term.

This module is for Post-A-level students and students who have mastered level A2 but not yet B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). On successfully completing the module students will have mastered level B1. The emphasis in this course is on furthering knowledge of the structure of the language as well as vocabulary and cultural insights while further developing the speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.

This is an intensive module for absolute beginners, Post-GCSE students and students who have not yet mastered level A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). On successfully completing the module students will have mastered level A2. The emphasis in this course is on acquiring a sound knowledge of the structure of the language as well as basic vocabulary and cultural insights while developing the speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.

This introduction to the modern period in German literature covers a variety of representative authors and works including lyric poetry, drama, the novella and short story. Texts are selected for their relevance, not only to the development of varieties of German writing, but also to the social and political development of the German-speaking territories during these seminal years. Literary movements discussed include the Sturm und Drang, Romanticism, Naturalism, Expressionism and political engagement in the interwar period. Political and social currents include the repression of free speech during the Vormärz, German Nationalism in the late nineteenth century, the Unification of Germany, the First World War and the rise of National Socialism.

German cultural production since 1945 had been largely dominated by ideologies and politics, by the forced forty-year division into two republics in opposite camps in the Cold War, and by the legacy of National Socialism, which factors all contributed to the eruption of student unrest in the 1960s. The material studied on the module covers the problems of returning soldiers in 1945 and the hardships endured by the civilian population; the trauma of the Holocaust; the pioneering idealism in the foundational phase in the German Democratic Republic and a satirical take on that; the pain caused to ordinary individuals by the erection of the Berlin Wall; the significance of the Vietnam War to the Left in the 1960s and the turn to violence in the pursuit of political goals in the following decade; and the study of these materials will allow students to attain a well-grounded cultural and historical understanding of the period from 1945 to the present.

This module is designed to introduce students to German-language literature and its development from the 1760s to 1933). All texts will be taught in English translation, and throughout the module students will be encouraged to consider the implications of literary translation and of studying translated texts. A variety of genres will be covered, including poetry, drama and narrative prose. Works will be analysed not only within their literary-historical but also their social and political context.

The fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 led to fundamental cultural and political re-alignments in German-speaking countries, unleashing a wave of cultural comment and creative activity. The 1990s and early twenty-first century saw a revitalisation of the film scene in both Germany and Austria, evident not only in highly acclaimed niche productions but also in a series of international box-office hits. This module will explore the themes and styles of 'post-Wende' German-language cinema, focusing on representations of the past and the phenomenon of ‘Ostalgie’; multiculturalism and migration; the transformation of Berlin post-1989; and the documentary turn in German and Austrian film since 2000.

This is an intermediate level module. Its aims are to strengthen and widen the linguistic knowledge provided in GRMN3010, to consolidate students' vocabulary and improve their knowledge of written and spoken German through immersion in a variety of texts, and to practise translation skills both from and into German.

This module is the natural follow-on for those who have, in the previous academic year, successfully taken an intensive beginners German course such as GE329, and who have covered the basics of grammar, acquired a stock of high frequency vocabulary and reached a degree of proficiency beyond GCSE and approaching A-level (A2 way stage in terms of the Common European Framework of Reference).

The module is designed to allow students, upon completion, to demonstrate a level of ability up to B2 threshold, turning students into independent users of German, in both oral and written contexts. The course is thus also designed to prepare students for their year abroad and independent life in Germany as a foreign country. This module is an intensive course, which develops the student's active and passive aural and written skills.

This module will explore the development of German-language poetry in the 20th century. The methodology will comprise three main strands: the thematic, the stylistic and the politico-historical. Individual poets will be read in terms of what they write, how they write and why they write (i.e. the context of historical and political events). The module will introduce students to a range of poetic styles and movements: starting with the fin-de-siècle and Impressionist poetry, the module will move through Expressionism, war poetry, anti-war poetry, holocaust poetry, political poetry of East and West Germany, the poetry of exile and return and contemporary post-Wende poetry, to name but a few of the periods covered.

Students will learn to analyse literary texts and respond critically to a challenging body of work, with a particular emphasis on commentaries and close reading. Both their linguistic and their analytical skills will be developed through sustained exposure to a representative cross-section of one of the key genres in German literature, the Novella. The module will trace the emergence of the short prose narrative around 1800 and examine its adaptation during the nineteenth century, when realism asserted itself and became the subject of critical controversy. It will look at the major writers of the period to see what scope the development of realism offered them for artistic variation and psychological depth. Their works will be studied as reflections of the societies and regions to which they belonged and as indications of the profound political and economic changes occurring during the period.

Each extended essay will require a different programme of study, depending on the topic (chosen by the student in close consultation with the supervisor). Typically, the work will be divided into three periods: (1) gathering information and identifying the essay's exact focus, (2) writing up individual chapters and discussing these with a supervisor, and (3) putting the extended essay into its final form and observing the conventions necessary for this type of work.

This module examines a selection of essential texts drawn from the period from 1775 to the first years of the nineteenth century, in which German literature achieved European stature. It looks at innovation and newly emerging confidence in the treatment of the major literary forms (prose fiction, drama, and lyric poetry). But it also studies the currents of violence, passion and madness which these forms were used to convey in an era defined by the iconoclasm of the Sturm und Drang movement and by revolutionary upheaval in France. We will look at the original angry young men of German literature (Werther, Die Räuber), dramas of love and betrayal (Faust), as well as prose fiction which retains its power to shock and puzzle even today (Kleist). The texts studied treat desire, problematic relationships of power and gender, and the crisis of individuals caught up in the painful birth of European modernity.

This module focuses on the recent history of Vienna and Berlin, the cultural capitals of the German-speaking world. Many of the key events and movements that influenced Europe over the past century are intimately linked to these two cities, from the collapse of the Habsburg Empire, the development of extremist left- and right-wing parties in the interwar period to the division and re-uniting of Europe as embodied by the Berlin Wall. Changes and continuities in the political, social and physical topography of Vienna and Berlin will be traced by studying representations of both cities in a range of texts and films from the early twentieth to the early twenty-first century. Alongside feature films and prose genres such as short stories and reportage, the module will also consider theoretical texts on the city and the contribution of urban life to modern German-language culture. Central themes are the interplay of individual and collective, urban anonymity and liberation versus alienation and uniformity, multiculturalism and migration.

This module explores one of the major contributions of Germanic culture to modernism. Straddling the period immediately before, during, and after the First World War, Expressionism emerged as a reaction against the mechanising forces of modern industrial society, seeking nothing less than a 'renewal of mankind'. With compelling intensity, the Expressionists developed an immediately recognisable style that found an audience across Europe. This module looks at works from a range of genres: from poetry to drama, from prose (both fiction and manifestos) to painting, Expressionism was a key strand of international modernism across the Arts, embracing figures as diverse as Georg Kaiser, Kurt Pinthus, Else Lasker-Schüler, Franz Kafka, and Oskar Kokoschka. A century later, it remains one of the most important – and most idiosyncratically Germanic – of all modern artistic movements.

This module examines in detail the history of the Roman Empire from the commencement of the Principate of Augustus in 30 BC to the death of the Emperor Domitian in AD96, and provides both a survey of a major period of Roman imperial history and an opportunity to study in greater depth the administrative, social, economic and religious developments of this period. Students will read widely from the ancient sources, historical, literary and documentary, and will be introduced to the inscriptional evidence for imperial history. This module will concentrate on the main administrative, social, economic and religious developments throughout the period rather than on the details of political and military history.

Students will read widely in the major ancient sources, including Tacitus, Pliny and Suetonius, and will be introduced to the inscriptional and documentary evidence for imperial history.

This module is designed to give students a thorough introduction to a well-studied aspect of Greek archaeology, that of its Art and Architecture. The class will begin with examinations into the Greek Bronze Age by looking at Minoan and Mycenaean archaeology, followed by the art and architecture of the Iron Age. It will then focus on the archaeology of the Archaic, Classical (early-to-late) and culminate with the Hellenistic periods.

The main areas of Greek occupation will be studied: mainland Greece, the Greek Islands, Asia Minor, Southern Italy and Sicily, with concentration on major sites such as the Athenian Acropolis and Agora, Corinth, Ephesus and Syracuse. Religion is important for an understanding of the Greek world, so sanctuaries such as the sites of Delphi and Olympia will be explored and juxtaposed with smaller ones like Brauron and Sounion.

Throughout the class, the styles, development and changes to the art and architecture will be studied, but also questions will be raised about the cultural view of the remains. This is important for understanding the role the sites and artistic work played in Greek societies. Moreover, the historical events of specific periods will be explored to see what significance and influence they played on artistic and architectural styles, as well as patronage. The class will, therefore, supply students with a thorough grounding in the multiple issues raised by the study of Greek art and architecture.

The course provides an introduction to the study of Roman art and architecture, including the close interpretation of works of art and buildings, and an investigation of the role of art and architecture within the wider Roman world. The geographical area covered will include both Rome and Italy, and provincial Roman sites and material. Aspects to be examined include context, dating, technique, styles and subject matter, and ideology including the role played by art in Roman society. Arranged broadly in chronological order, from the Republican to the late Roman period, the course gives an overview of the varied media and techniques used in Roman art and architecture and the changes in art style that occurred throughout the Roman period.

The course will cover the period of history in Britain from the initial raids of Julius Caesar to the fifth century AD. We will not only discuss the historical changes in Roman Britain, but explore urban and rural settlements, life in the Roman army, death and burial, art, trade and daily life in Roman Britain. Throughout the module, critical examinations will be given to theories of Romanisation, identity and interaction. We are fortunate that there are a number of sources, which can be used to study Roman Britain: classical texts, epigraphic remains and remains of burials, material culture and architectural structures. These sources, however, do not provide us with the entire picture of the past, thus the student will learn to use them in a critical manner.

This module is concerned with the impact of the Classical World on ancient Egypt between Alexander's invasion and the Arab conquest, and on the nature and permanence of the brilliant hybrid civilisation which emerged under Greek and Roman rule.

Alexander entered Egypt as a liberator, but he and his successors created a colonial regime with Greek as the ruling language and Greeks as the ruling elite under their own law. Mercenaries were settled on reclaimed land, Greek cities were founded, especially Alexandria, one of the glories of the ancient world. An elaborate system of economic regulation maximised production to support warfare, city-building and display. The temples became a department of state. New cults were created to unite the two peoples and strengthen the regime. Native Egyptians showed their resentment in disaffection and rebellion. Roman rule (after the spectacular end of the Ptolemaic dynasty) was if anything harsher and more remote, and the rise of the Copts is often interpreted as an anti-Roman, anti-Classical movement.

Yet it is a mistake to see the relationship as wholly negative. Art and architecture flourished – most temples surviving today are the work of the Ptolemies. In civil service, army, business the new regime offered avenues to advancement for native Egyptians. A genuinely bilingual upper class emerged, able to make significant contributions to Classical culture. The ancient religion retained its prestige and was adopted by many Greeks, spreading far outside Egypt. Coptic culture was as much Classical as Egyptian, and Greek language long survived the Arab conquest. Sources for this vivid, complex and often neglected phase of Egyptian history are rich and varied: temples, tombs, remains of cities and villages, mummies, inscriptions, sculpture, coins, and an extraordinary range of papyrus documents, able to offer unique insights into an ancient civilization.

The module examines the Iron Age peoples of temperate Europe, their ways and means of living combining the archaeological, artefactual and historic sources of evidence. This was the era of the proto-historic Celts: farmers, crafts people and warriors. Peoples described as Celts sacked Rome in the early fourth century BC; they probably ravaged Delphi towards the mid third century BC; and from the later second century BC they were in conflict with the expanding Roman Empire, ultimately becoming the majority of its subjects in the West. The intent of this module is to search for the Iron Age Celts of Antiquity... but participants should not embark on the study with the certain expectation that they will be found! For long interpreted within a largely Classically-derived pan European model, the archaeological evidence is now increasingly discussed in ways which emphasise the diversity rather than the uniformity of life and culture across west/central Europe during the centuries in which the Classical World was in contact with those whom it identified as Celts.

The module will critically evaluate the evidence for the pre/proto historic Celts derived from the Classical writers, the concept of a widespread European Celtic culture in antiquity, and the contrasting interpretations which can be generated by the archaeological evidence for the conventional pre Roman Iron Age in temperate Europe. The Iron Age of temperate Europe presents a rich array of burials, finely crafted metalwork, settlements, hillforts, ritual, religious manifestations, artefacts and environmental remains plus evidence of travel, trade, contact and warfare both within its realms and with the Mediterranean peoples: all these elements form curriculum subjects via study, characterisation and contextualisation.

This module reviews texts relating to sexual behaviour attitudes and relationships throughout Latin Literature, raising questions both about the perception of sexuality in antiquity and how perception was translated into social and political relationships. Because of the nature of its coverage it can be counted as either a literature or a social history course, and is intended as a wide ranging complement to both. The module relies on primary texts from a variety of literary genres, from Epic and poetry to private letters, legal texts and inscriptions.

How do you imagine Roman Antiquity? How do the images produced for film, TV and popular fiction reflect the lives of those in antiquity? Can we see the everyday experience of Pliny, Juvenal or Augustine or of those who were killed in the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79? This module will explore everyday life in the Roman world, from haircuts, tattoos and gestures, to everyday rites and rhythms, whether domestic, social, political or religious, focusing on human experience, with its culturally specific organisation rather than abstract scholarly constructions. It will range from Augustan Rome to Late Antique Constantinople, and will draw on depictions, literary evidence (such as poems), original documents (from personal letters to minutes of meetings), inscriptions and especially archaeology, focusing on key sites where preservation is good, such as Pompeii, Ostia, Sardis and Petra. Here buildings, graffiti, occupation deposits and other traces will allow snapshots of everyday life to be constructed: of the houses, workshops, taverns, temples, theatres and churches of Antiquity. Students will be encouraged to undertake both empirical studies and imaginative reconstructions as part of their assessment, so that they understand the importance not only of describing what evidence remains of everyday life, but of actively reconstructing the past, and of engaging different types of evidence in a critical dialogue.

This module covers the battery of up-to-date fieldwork techniques deployed in the discovery, recording and excavation of archaeological sites using a combination of lectures, small-group work and practical assignments in the field. Topics include strategies for finding and recording sites, from the analysis of historical sources and aerial photographs, to geophysics, field walking, and the survey of earthworks and standing buildings. The full range of excavation techniques is examined including approaches to the excavation of special deposits such as burials and cremations and sampling strategies for the recovery of artefacts and environmental remains. The module concludes with post-excavation analysis and strategies for publication and dissemination of archaeological reports covering both traditional and computer-based applications. Students enrolling for this module should be aware that some of the fieldwork practicals may be outside, and occasionally off campus, and possibly conducted on, Saturdays or during the Easter Vacation (for a Spring term module) or Summer Vacation (for an Autumn term module), the specific arrangements being dependent upon weather and site availability, etc.

This module explores the monsters of Roman culture, mythological and otherwise, treated as a series of self-contained but interrelated topics. Most were inherited from Greece but adapted for new tastes and purposes. Latin poetry in translation is the focus, and Virgil's Aeneid and Ovid’s Metamorphoses are the central texts, but prose sources and the visual arts are included where appropriate, as well as comparisons with earlier Greek sources. Major figures such as the Cyclopes, the Centaurs and Medusa are included, but the definition of the 'monster’ is broad, incorporating (for example) the supposed bodily imperfections of emperors, or the strange features of personified figures such as Hunger and Envy.

The module will allow students to acquire knowledge and critical understanding of the principles related to heritage sites conservation and management. Students will learn about the principles of protecting, listing and conserving heritage, as well as about value-led management of heritage, with the full participation of local populations. Students will learn about drafting management and tourism plans, as well about integrating heritage within development strategies. As part of their internship, each student will devise a special project in consultation with the mentor and the module convenor. Precise objectives and skills to be learnt will be recorded and tracked regularly. Students will keep a weekly log of their activities. The placement may take place either as a block during the Easter vacation of Stage 2 or 3, or at regular intervals over the Autumn and Spring terms

This module provides an introduction to some of the major works in ancient Greek philosophy in relation to ethics, aesthetics, political theory, ontology and metaphysics. Students will study substantial portions of primary texts by the Pre-Socratics, Plato and Aristotle. The emphasis throughout will be on the philosophical significance of the ideas studied. The module will concentrate on understanding key philosophical arguments and concepts within the context of the ancient Greek intellectual tradition. This means that students will gain a critical distance from normative and modern definitions of philosophical terms in order to understand how Greek philosophy generally approached questions and problems with different suppositions and conceptions of reality, reason and the purpose of human existence.

This module explores 5th-century Athenian history through the plays which were put on stage during this period of war and political upheaval. Greek tragedies and comedies produced during this tumultuous period (472-405 BC) offer us some of the most enticing, yet challenging, evidence for the state of Athenian politics and attitudes to contemporary events (especially war and empire). In this module, the evidence of key plays will be set against other forms of historical evidence to illuminate the complex relationship between the types of evidence which survive and the nature of 'making history'.

Virgil composed the Aeneid in order to provide Rome with an epic equal to any that Homer produced. Commonly regarded as one the greatest epics of the ancient world, the Aeneid is the story of the foundation of Rome; a tale of exile, war, passionate love and the deepest humanity. We will analyse, comment on and explore the epic, book by book. This will be intertwined with a thematic approach, investigating issues concerning the gods, fate, morality, art and gender.

Students will participate in the close reading and interpretation of Greek prose texts. Translation of the text(s) from the original will enhance understanding of its construction by the author(s) and invite reflection on the use of stylistic and linguistic features (and their effect). This understanding may be further developed through the study of the literary and cultural context within which the text was produced.

Students will participate in the close reading and interpretation of Greek verse texts. Translation of the texts from the original will enhance understanding of their construction by the authors and invite reflection on the use of stylistic and linguistic features (and their effect). This understanding may be further developed through the study of the literary and cultural context within which the text was produced.

Students will participate in the close reading and interpretation of Latin prose texts. Translation of the texts from the original will enhance understanding of their construction by the authors and invite reflection on the use of stylistic and linguistic features (and their effect). This understanding may be further developed through the study of the literary and cultural context within which the text was produced.

Students will participate in the close reading and interpretation of Latin verse texts. Translation of the texts from the original will enhance understanding of their construction by the authors and invite reflection on the use of stylistic and linguistic features (and their effect). This understanding may be further developed through the study of the literary and cultural context within which the text was produced.

The module develops advanced proficiency in writing, speaking and comprehending German. It concentrates on translation into German and English and the development of analytical skills in the production of written and spoken German. Translation exercises confront students with a variety of advanced texts in different styles and registers, and encourage accuracy and critical reflection as well as acquisition and consolidation of grammatical structures. The language skills component combines discursive writing on advanced topics with the development of proper oral competence through discussion. Conversation classes with a native speaker develop presentational ability, and enable students to speak fluently and idiomatically at the advanced level.

This module explores 5th-century Athenian history through the plays which were put on stage during this period of war and political upheaval. Greek tragedies and comedies produced during this tumultuous period (472-405 BC) offer us some of the most enticing, yet challenging, evidence for the state of Athenian politics and attitudes to contemporary events (especially war and empire). In this module, the evidence of key plays will be set against other forms of historical evidence to illuminate the complex relationship between the types of evidence which survive and the nature of 'making history'.

The module is based on individual scholarship and research. The project will be chosen by the student with the advice of the tutor. In terms of the primary data it could involve investigation of antiquarian literature; archive documentation including cartographic sources; Sites and Monuments Records; museum collections; observation of monuments in the field; or participation in approved field work or excavation. Choice of project will be informed by personal interests, the fulfilment of the aims of the module, the availability of expert supervision, and the accessibility of data. Typically the project may have a local or regional focus.

Virgil composed the Aeneid in order to provide Rome with an epic equal to any that Homer produced. Commonly regarded as one the greatest epics of the ancient world, the Aeneid is the story of the foundation of Rome; a tale of exile, war, passionate love and the deepest humanity. We will analyse, comment on and explore the epic, book by book. This will be intertwined with a thematic approach, investigating issues concerning the gods, fate, morality, art and gender.

The module examines the Iron Age peoples of temperate Europe, their ways and means of living combining the archaeological, artefactual and historic sources of evidence. This was the era of the proto-historic Celts: farmers, crafts people and warriors. Peoples described as Celts sacked Rome in the early fourth century BC; they probably ravaged Delphi towards the mid third century BC; and from the later second century BC they were in conflict with the expanding Roman Empire, ultimately becoming the majority of its subjects in the West. The intent of this module is to search for the Iron Age Celts of Antiquity... but participants should not embark on the study with the certain expectation that they will be found! For long interpreted within a largely Classically-derived pan European model, the archaeological evidence is now increasingly discussed in ways which emphasise the diversity rather than the uniformity of life and culture across west/central Europe during the centuries in which the Classical World was in contact with those whom it identified as Celts.

The module will critically evaluate the evidence for the pre/proto historic Celts derived from the Classical writers, the concept of a widespread European Celtic culture in antiquity, and the contrasting interpretations which can be generated by the archaeological evidence for the conventional pre Roman Iron Age in temperate Europe. The Iron Age of temperate Europe presents a rich array of burials, finely crafted metalwork, settlements, hillforts, ritual, religious manifestations, artefacts and environmental remains plus evidence of travel, trade, contact and warfare both within its realms and with the Mediterranean peoples: all these elements form curriculum subjects via study, characterisation and contextualisation.

Each dissertation will require a different programme of study. Typically, the year will be divided into three periods: (1) gathering information, (2) writing-up individual chapters and discussing these with a supervisor, and (3) putting the dissertation into its final form and observing the conventions necessary for this type of work.

This module examines a selection of essential texts drawn from the period from 1775 to the first years of the nineteenth century, in which German literature achieved European stature. It looks at innovation and newly emerging confidence in the treatment of the major literary forms (prose fiction, drama, and lyric poetry). But it also studies the currents of violence, passion and madness which these forms were used to convey in an era defined by the iconoclasm of the Sturm und Drang movement and by revolutionary upheaval in France. We will look at the original angry young men of German literature (Werther, Die Räuber), dramas of love and betrayal (Faust), as well as prose fiction which retains its power to shock and puzzle even today (Kleist). The texts studied treat desire, problematic relationships of power and gender, and the crisis of individuals caught up in the painful birth of European modernity.

This module will explore the development of German-language poetry in the 20th century. The methodology will comprise three main strands: the thematic, the stylistic and the politico-historical. Individual poets will be read in terms of what they write, how they write and why they write (ie. the context of historical and political events). The module will introduce students to a range of poetic styles and movements: starting with the fin-de-siècle and Impressionist poetry, the module will move through Expressionism, war poetry, anti-war poetry, holocaust poetry, political poetry of East and West Germany, the poetry of exile and return and contemporary post-Wende poetry, to name but a few of the periods covered.

This module explores one of the major contributions of Germanic culture to modernism. Straddling the period immediately before, during, and after the First World War, Expressionism emerged as a reaction against the mechanising forces of modern industrial society, seeking nothing less than a 'renewal of mankind'. With compelling intensity, the Expressionists developed an immediately recognisable style that found an audience across Europe. This module looks at works from a range of genres: from poetry to drama, from prose (both fiction and manifestos) to painting, Expressionism was a key strand of international modernism across the Arts, embracing figures as diverse as Georg Kaiser, Kurt Pinthus, Else Lasker-Schüler, Franz Kafka, and Oskar Kokoschka. A century later, it remains one of the most important – and most idiosyncratically Germanic – of all modern artistic movements.

This module introduces students to the forms and varieties of modern written German through engagement with a wide variety of print and digital media. It explores the similarities and differences between different dimensions of German as it is used today, for example in the media, in teaching and in business. Students taking this module will examine the rhetorical patterns underlying all of these forms of communication, and will thereby improve their own language skills. Emphasis is placed on using a variety of resources (news media, websites, blogs) to build up a thorough awareness of the modern German language in context, and on encouraging students to work together in using up-to-date resources in producing German texts. In particular, the module aims to prepare students for their graduate life and for the uses of written German that will be expected of them on work placements, in their graduate jobs and in the German public sphere.

This module is aimed at those students who would like to follow a career as Primary or Secondary School teachers, but is also suitable to those who would like to consider a career in HE language teaching by providing them with the opportunity to develop their knowledge and understanding of Languages in the primary and secondary school context as well as in HE.