The Department of Central, Eastern and Northern European Studies (CENES) will be hosting a variety of exciting courses in SUMMER 2024.
Whether you’re looking to start or continue your language studies, fill your literature requirement, or just wanting to explore and learn, CENES has plenty to offer this 2024 summer season. Our courses include both fully online asynchronous, in-person on UBC’s Point Grey campus, or hybrid to suit your busy summer schedule!
Central, Eastern and Northern European Courses
- CENS 201 921 – Language and Social Justice: How does language contribute to social injustice? What role does language play in achieving social justice? These are the overarching questions we will explore through a variety of case studies. Topics will include gender hierarchies, health disparities, cultural differences, race and racialization, language and Indigeneity, language loss and emancipation. Individualized assignments will support your learning progress throughout the course.
- CENS 304 921 – Representations of the Holocaust: Auschwitz: This course will examine the Holocaust and related aspects of Nazi Germany, by focusing on Auschwitz. Auschwitz was an industrial compound, a concentration camp, a medical research site and an extermination facility; it served to imprison, terrorize, enslave, and kill. Its operations, as well as the so-called “twisted road” that led to it, provide a horrific and revealing example of the strange ways in which the Third Reich ruled by a strange mixture of chaos and consent. The course explores these issues by analyzing a set of diverse sources, including first-hand accounts (by both victims and perpetrators), interviews, documentaries, feature films and literary fictionalizations.
German Courses
- GERN 101 921 -Learning German 1: Meant for absolute beginners, this small and experiential workshop-style 3-credit course introduces students to the sounds, shapes, pleasures, and unique features involved in beginning to use the German language. Cultural topics include: Germanophone countries, gender and non-binary identities, German colonialism and ethnic diversity, Indigenous land acknowledgements in German and more.
- GERN 102 921 – Learning German 2: Meant for students who have completed GERN 101 (or one year of high-school German), this 3-credit class helps students speak articulately about past experiences and future plans. Cultural aspects focus on multicultural Germanophone societies, including topics such as diverse foods, coffeehouses, diversity and diaspora, housing and living arrangements, multicultural holidays, fashion, and history of flags.
- GERN 201 921 – Learning German 3: Meant for students who have completed GERN 102 (or two years of high-school German), this 3-credit class helps students practice complex forms of German language and discuss pressing intellectual and social questions. Cultural topics include: climate emergency, alternative modes of travel, fairy tales, Germanophone histories, health care and wellness, technology and digital communication.
- GERN 304 – German for Reading Knowledge I: GERN 304 is a guided self-study online German reading course for students with no prior German knowledge. All of the German reading course materials are grouped into 20 Exploration modules which are embedded in the interactive UBC Canvas platform including online assessments. A step-by-step introduction to German reading skills in synchronous online classes is in English. Students are expected to log on as scheduled.
- GMST 121 – Fairy Tales and Popular Culture: This course examines selected folk and fairy tales from the German-speaking tradition, primarily those collected by the Brothers Grimm, and their adaptation in popular culture. We will locate the texts in the 18th- and 19th-century cultural contexts of their origins and then follow how they have evolved into perennial favourites internationally across various media, including film, video games, board games, and comics.
Nordic Courses
- NORD 414 – Topics in Northern European Cultural Studies: Selected topics, such as ethnicity, migration, identity women’s issues, Danish and Northern European literature and media.
Russian Courses
- RUSS 303 921 – Topics in Russian Culture (in English): This course explores Russian values, and the assumptions that drive Russian cultures. You will discover Russians’ perspectives on their history and how Russian values manifest in religion, philosophy, fairy tales, and etiquette. Special attention is given to Russians’ contemporary attitudes to war. No personal attendance is required. Students may participate in the course either in-person or online.
