The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall:
Politics and Culture During the Cold War
HANS 200
Professor Klaus Weissenberger,
GONZO247 of Aerosol Warfare, and
Carolyn Casey of CKC StART Street and Urban Arts
Summary
Against the background of WW II and its aftermath, this course investigates the political and socio-economic reasons of the GDR for building the wall in 1961 and the dynamics of the peaceful revolution for its fall in 1989, which manifested itself in the political, literary, and religious arena as well as in the graffiti on the Berlin Wall. The course includes public speaking competition on worldwide reactions to this event and a graffiti contest.
Syllabus
August 25Introduction to the course and explanation of its structure; requesting names and skills in order to etablish six groups; short video clips about the Berlin Wall.
September 1
Lecture by Meyer Minchen, U.S. Navy pilot (ret.), on the Berlin blockade between June 25, 1948 and September 30, 1949 and the "Berlin Air Lift." Reading: Fulbrook, The People's State, chapters I and II.
September 8
Reading: Fulbrook, The People's State, chapters III and IV. Film: Divided Heaven.
September 15
Reading: Fulbrook, The People's State, chapters V and VI. Film: The Lives of Others.
September 22
Reading: Fulbrook, The People's State, chapters VII and VIII, and Peter Schneider, The Wall Jumper.
September 29
Reading: Fulbrook, The People's State, chapters IX and X, and Jana Hensel, After the Wall.
October 6
Reading: Fulbrook, The People's State, chapters XI and XII. Discussion of the material of each group for the public speaking contest. Handing out mid-terms.
October 20
Lecture by Robert Moore, Senior Pastor at Christ the King Lutheran Church and President of the Houston-Leipzig Sister City Association, on "The Impact of Religion on the 'Peaceful Revolution'." Reading: Fulbrook, The People's State, chapters XIII and XIV. Mid-term exams due.
October 27
Public speaking contest by the six groups in front of a jury.
November 3
"Graffiti on the Berlin Wall ... Then and Now," presented by GONZO247 of Aerosol Warfare and Carolyn Casey of CKC StART Street and Urban Arts. Bring pencil and paper.
November 10
Bring your design for graffiti. Discussion and critique of design. Finish project by end of class.
November 17
Presentation by Katrin Hattenhauer, artist, civil rights fighter, and participant in the "Monday Marches" in Leipzig.
November 24
Berlin Wall Graffiti (GONZO247) and deadline for installation on the front glass wall of Hanszen Commons.
November 25
Jury on the graffiti.
December 1
Berlin Wall graffiti. Film: Goodbye, Lenin.
December 5
Gala dinner in the Hanszen Commons and awards ceremony.
Books
Mary Fulbrook,
The People’s State: East German Society from Hitler to Honecker, 2004
Christa Wolf,
Divided Heaven, Adler’s Foreign Books, 1981
Peter Schneider,
The Wall Jumper, Chicago 1983
Jana Hensel,
After the Wall: Confessions from an East German Childhood and the Life that Came Next, New York 2004
Work Constituting the Grade
- Mid-term exam on the historical and political developments in both Germanies between 1945 and 1989 and their literary renditions (34%)
- Participation in public speaking contest (33%)
- Participation in graffiti contest (33%)