Module Information

Module Identifier
GE26020
Module Title
Die Wende: Representations of Division and Unification in German Film
Academic Year
2024/2025
Co-ordinator
Dr Andrea Hammel
Semester
Semester 1
Pre-Requisite
GE11020, GE11120 or GE19930
Reading List
View on Aspire

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Presentation  (in English including slides) 10 Minutes  20%
Semester Assessment Essay  2000 Words  50%
Semester Assessment Written assessment  (Short written piece such as Learning resource or Film Review) 2000 Words  30%
Supplementary Assessment Essay  2000 Words  50%
Supplementary Assessment Written assessment  (Short written piece such as Learning resource or Film Review) 2000 Words  30%
Supplementary Assessment Presentation  (in English including slides) 10 Minutes  20%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

Demonstrate good understanding of the social and cultural history of division and unification of Germany.

Demonstrate good knowledge of the theoretical, political, and cultural expressions of this history in German film.

Analyse theoretical, political, historical and filmic sources and make appropriate use of secondary material.

Identify connections between the cultural, political and theoretical components of the module.

Express key ideas clearly through the medium of English/Welsh and/or German In the form of an oral form.

Express key ideas clearly through the medium of English/Welsh and/or German In written form.

Brief description

In this module students will explore the history of the division and unification of Germany, and thus one of the most important social, political, and cultural developments that defines Germany to this day as it is represented in German film.
Students will examine representations of life in the divided Germany and in unified Germany in 21st century German-language feature films, exploring German history, memory politics as well as popular culture in a post-unification context. The fims will be studied in German and therefore module will help the students linguistic understanding as well as their analytical skills.

Aims

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Content

The module will be taught in 10 two hour seminar sessions. The students will be expected to watch the films in their original German version and carry out secondary reading before each seminar, mainly in English with a small selection of German material..

Films studied will include a selection of the following:

Das Leben der Anderen (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck 2006)
Barbara (Christian Petzold 2012)
Sonnenallee (Leander Hausmann 1999)
Bornholmer Strasse (Christian Schwochow 2014)
Goodbye Lenin (Wolfgang Becker 2003)
Halbe Treppe (Andreas Dresen 2002)
Gundermann (Andreas Dresen 2018)

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Adaptability and resilience Through participating in seminar discussions, completing assignments and acting on feedback, students will enhance their personal developments. Ste students’ resentation and communication skills will be developed and this will anhance the students employability and career planning.
Co-ordinating with others Seminar discussions and seminar group tasks
Creative Problem Solving Discussing tensions and challenges posed by the historical development and as represented in film. A discussion of these challenges will be part of all the assignments.
Digital capability Both accessing the films, the secondary reading as well as the assignments will involve the use of information technology.
Professional communication Verbal and written communication skills, in Seminars and for all the assignment
Real world sense Historical research and audience research involves the application of numbers. It will be assessed in all the assignments.
Reflection Through seminar discussion and feedback on assignments the students will be able to improve their own learning and performance.
Subject Specific Skills Research of context for seminars and for all the assignments. German language skills, comprehension, verbal and written, Knowledge of German social and cultural history, knowledge of German film. Assessed in all the Assignments.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5