Course content
The first semester of Area Studies in German is built on two dimensions: Content and Language
The content dimension of German 1 provides a basic historical, geographical, political and cultural introduction to the German-speaking countries and regions (with a particular view to Germany), covering their identities, political cultures, economies and institutions as well as their international relations.
The topics, concepts and perspectives raised during the course help develop the student's cultural sensitivity and understanding of viewpoints, narratives and institutions that are specific to the language area.
Topics dealt with in the course include: The characteristics and formation of the modern German, Austrian and Swiss states, their political and economic development after 1945 and after 1990, their identities (national, regional and local) and cultures (cultural standards), society and societies (demography, media, education and the family), economic relations (export, trade) and international co-operation.
The language dimension aims at improving the students’ basic language skills (grammar and vocabulary), pronunciation and fluency; as well as their reading and oral comprehension of the foreign language. Emphasis is also put on learning and using phrases needed to make presentations and to participate actively in discussions.
Integration
The course lays the foundation of the second semester area studies course in German 2 - that focuses on markets, institutions and the interplay between globalization and local/specific contexts in the German speaking countries.
It integrates with the course on Cultural Analysis for Business and it seeks to apply the concepts from this course to actual problems and cases from the German-speaking countries.
Students are expected to apply the theories and methods from Cultural Analysis for Business to analyse and explain developments and behaviours in business-contexts in the German-speaking countries. They are trained in being aware of culturally based differences in behaviour and to reflect on the reasons for these differences and the consequences for intercultural communication and collaboration.
Nordic nine
In the course students acquire deep knowledge on markets and learn to interpret the workings of markets in the broad context of language, identity, history, and culture. They learn to deduce knowledge from different sources and to be critical about their own cultural understanding and possible biases when interpreting and discussing new knowledge with fellow students.
See course description in course catalogue