Mar 28, 2024  
2017-2018 Academic Catalogue 
    
2017-2018 Academic Catalogue [ARCHIVED CATALOGUE]

GER 315 - Topic: Fall of the Berlin Wall (in English) (1)

For 28 years, the Berlin Wall divided Berlin into East and West and represented not just a massive ideological divide between Communist East Germany and capitalist West Germany but also the separation of families, lovers, and ethnic and religious communities. And then, in one night, Berliners tore the wall apart, bit by bit, and celebrated a reunion with their fellow Berliners that was filled with both joy and confusion about what would happen next. This course will investigate the peaceful revolution of 1989-1991, where two Germanys became one, through the lens of this world-changing event on November 9, 1989. We will examine what the wall meant, how it worked, and how Berliners came to live with it (which included trying to escape its hold on their lives); we will look at the events and individuals leading up to the wall’s collapse; and we will study Germany’s rocky path to reunification after the wall came crumbling down, focusing on questions of political and economic structures, gender and sexuality, and international diplomacy. TAUGHT IN ENGLISH. Can count towards History major and minor.
(Humanities)