GERM 305: Traces of Empire: Exploring the Cultural Centers of Austria-Hungary Austria

GERM 305 (4 credits)

Traces of Empire: Exploring the Cultural Centers of Austria-Hungary

4 weeks in Austria

Professor Debra Prager

The course is designed as a literary-historical overview of Austria's rich history exemplified by the cities of Graz and Vienna. Students will be based in Graz and have the opportunity to explore a well-preserved baroque city center that was clearly influenced by the Italian Renaissance. Students will tour the old town, attend a lectures at the University of Graz, visit the Landeszeughaus with the world's largest preserved armory, and the Landesmuseum Johanneum, Austria's oldest public museum. In Vienna, students will study the uniquely Viennese Café-Culture of the late 19th century and the works of writers such as Hugo von Hoffmannsthal and Rainer-Maria Rilke, by holding class discussions in some of the city's most prominent literary cafes. Performances at the Vienna Opernhaus and musical concerts will underscore the role of music in forging national-and imperial-identity, and through multiple visits to the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Habsburg Treasury, students will analyze the role of power in the social construction of "taste".

Prerequisite: GERM 262

Program Fee (paid to W&L): $4,675*. This includes accommodation in Graz, Vienna and Budapest (homestays in Graz with daily breakfast and dinner four times a week); ground transportation, language course in Graz; Budapest program;  welcome and farewell dinners. *Estimate

Estimated Other Expenses: Airfare - $1,200;other meals - $290

For further details, please contact Professor Prager at pragerd@wlu.edu.