This 30 credit module offers students the opportunity to examine in detail shifts in the representation of the GDR since 1989 and key developments in the social, cultural and political life of a united Germany, looking in particular at the ways in which artists (filmmakers, musicians, writers, photographers) have sought to engage with the topic of German unification over the past three decades.

Organised thematically, the module focusses on, among other things, the memory debates, the politics of nostalgia, the legacy of the GDR and its shifting representation, and examines these in their social and political contexts.

Students analyse a selection of texts and images from a range of media (including film, television, journalism and literature) in order to deepen their understanding of German post-unification life. Is there more to Ostalgie than mere nostalgia? Why do GDR ruins fascinate? How has the GDR been presented in museums and galleries? How should we understand East German identity after East Germany?

The module will include virtual tours of museums, guest speakers and the opportunity to contribute to an exhibition on campus ( if the University deems it safe and practicable)

1. Critically analyse a range of media and be able to examine these in their social, historical and political contexts
2. Read and evaluate scholarship
3. Critically explore ways in which artists have contributed to modern German culture, in particular via film and literature;
4. Critically analyse cultural, historical and political questions as they are articulated across a range of media
5. Critically create work in the form of either a poster presentation or photo essay.

The module will be delivered through a range of interactive teaching sessions supplemented by online teaching and learning activities and materials – and may include, where relevant, asynchronous materials such as lecture recordings. Full details on the delivery mode of this module will be available on Learning Central at the start of the academic year – and may be, in part, determined by Welsh Government and Public Health Wales guidance.  

Students have opportunities to ask questions and include time in which students are asked to reflect on a proposition, or to react to a particular claim. Film screenings will (likely) be online. Clear instructions and relevant reading are provided in advance of each seminar giving students time to prepare for each session. There will also be some online activities (a discussion forum for some weeks; research tasks etc). Sessions will include group discussion, student collaboration, and student-led discussions.

You will receive continuous feedback (both oral and written) throughout the semester. There will be sessions dedicated to understanding assessments so that students feel well prepared. Guidance on how to write a quality essay will be given in advance of the essay and students are encouraged to submit an essay plan for feedback.

The module offers students the opportunity to enhance academic skills and to develop further the kind of skills useful in the workplace. Students will thus practice how to:

• Communicate ideas effectively and fluently, both orally and in writing
• Use communications and information technologies for the retrieval and presentation of information
• Work independently, demonstrating initiative, self-organisation and time-management
• Collaborate with others and contribute to the achievement of common goals
• Gather, organize and deploy evidence, data and information from a variety of sources
• Develop a reasoned argument, synthesize relevant information and exercise critical judgement
• Present their research to others
• Reflect on their own learning and make use of constructive feedback
• Manage their own learning self-critically

The method(s) of assessing the learning outcomes for this module are set out in the Assessment Table, which also contains the weightings of each assessment component.

Mapping of Assessments to Intended Learning Outcomes

This module has three summative assessments.

The first two are designed to develop the skills and methods needed for the final essay,

These assessments assess Learning Outcomes 1-5:

A scholarly film  review (Autumn)

A review of scholarship (in which students either evaluate 2 or 3 academic articles or review an academic text) (early Spring Semester) .

An essay of 2500 words that assesses Learning Outcomes 1-4.

Focussed sessions will be offered to help prepare for these options

There will formative (group) assessments (including for e.g. compilation of a bibliography, reports on certain topics, and film reviews) designed to enhance research and presentation skills.

Reassessment

You may be required to resit one or more of the assessments in this module if you fail the module. The Examination Board will advise you which assessments you need to resit during the August resit period. Resit assessments that are not supported by extenuating circumstances will be capped at the pass mark applicable to your programme.

We will be studying a range of media (including a range of films, from cult films to mainstream dramas, comedies to horror –   but also including ways in which artists, writers and musicians have responded to unification) in terms of their narrative structures, social and historical contexts, and formal composition, analysing their role in mediating social/political messages and assessing their contribution to post-unification discourse.

The course will draw on a range of theories and disciplines including film studies, history, critical and cultural studies. The study of these diverse texts offers an ideal opportunity to gain a comprehensive understanding of German society and culture in the period since 1989. By the end of the semester students will have developed their knowledge of some of the key issues in Germany's recent history.

Among the topics we will be examining are:

• encounters between east and west
• life in the east German provinces
• memory debates and curating the GDR
• mourning and melancholia among the Left
• the development of Ostalgie and retro pop culture
• the GDR as lost future and Unification as missed opportunity

Films/TV include some of the following (TBC - indicative only)

• Alles Lüge (Schier 1992)
• Barbara (Petzold, 2012)
• Das deutsche Kettensägenmassaker (Schlingensief, 1992)
• Deutschland ’83 (TV series 2015)
• Go Trabi Go (Timm, 1990)
• Kleinruppin Forever (Fiebeler, 2004
• Lichter (Schmid, 2003)
• Not a Love Song (Ralkse, 1997)
• Sonnenallee (Haussmann, 1999)
• Stilles Land (Andreas Dresen, 1992)
• Der rote Kakadu (Graf, 2005)

Reading includes some of the following  (TBC - indicative only)

• Christoph Dieckmann (extracts)
• Ulrich Plenzdorf, Ein Land, genannt die DDR (extracts )
• Karl Otto Conrady (ed.), Von einem Land und vom anderen. Gedichte zur deutschen Wende 1989/1990 (extracts)