GERM 305 - Traces of Empire

Four credits, EXP
Four weeks in Vienna and Graz (Austria)
Professor Debra Prager

Traces of Empire is a cultural studies and German-language immersion course based in Vienna, with the final week spent with host families in Graz, Austria. Students will build their German communication skills while studying the legacy of Austria's past as the powerful, multi-national Austro-Hungarian Empire. The course will examine the traces of that past and its impact on contemporary Austria's politics and its multi-ethnic, multi-cultural identity. In Graz, students will have a one-week immersive experience, learning about Austrian student and family life and contemporary issues in class, on excursions, and at the dining room table.

In Vienna: morning classes focus on the nation's rich cultural history - from the city's origins as a Celtic settlement and later the military Roman encampment Vindobona, which defended the Limes (the line that marked Rome's easternmost frontier); through medieval Vienna, and the 626- year imperial rule of the Habsburg dynasty. Afternoon meetings will alternate between language-building classes and walks, tours, and field trips where we examine the tangible traces of Austria's past. A performance at one of Vienna's opera houses and an outdoor concert by the Vienna Philharmonica in front of the Hofburg will underscore the role of music in forging national - and imperial - identity; and through visits to the magnificent Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Habsburg treasury, we will study the role of power in the socio-political construction of "taste."

In Graz: The course will end with a week with host families in Graz, Austria's second largest city, located at the foot of the Alps in the federal state of Styria. Here, you will spend your final week with a host family, getting a taste of Austrian daily and family life and cuisine, and putting your German communication skills to use at breakfast and dinner. It is an important historical and cultural center and a university town, with a population of 300,000, 60,000 of which are students. It is thus the perfect place to end these intense four-weeks - in a place where students can immerse themselves quickly into Austria language and culture, feel at home in the city, find their favorite café, lunch spot, and bookstore, and be "seen" as students, rather than tourists.

Excursions include a visit to Riegersburg Castle in southern Styria and a Wanderung in the Alps with an overnight in an alpine lodge.

Prerequisite: GERM 262 or equivalent.

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

Program fee (Paid to W&L): $5,086
Includes programming, room, fees, most in-country transportation, some meals (~10 breakfasts, 6 lunches, and 9 dinners).

Additional costs: airfare, books, some meals, cell phone, spending money, farewell gift for family, passport, and visa fees (if applicable)

Please click the "Start New Application" button to start an application. Please click the "Resume Application" button to access an application you've already started. Please do not open multiple applications for the same program.

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Applications open October 4th, 2024.