IDIS 350 r/p – Arts and Culture in Germany / Austria

IDIS 350r – Arts and Culture in Germany

The course taught on side in Berlin, Germany, familiarizes students with the rich cultural fabric of German art and culture. Visits include not only museums, but also to the hotbeds of street art and concerts. Berlin’s Museumsinsel (Museum Island) unites in five museums world-class art collections that encompass 6000 years of world heritage and the best of German art. We will also investigate how Germany deals with its Nazi past and the period of division by visiting the former concentration camp Sachsenhausen and the GDR museum. Students will keep a daily travel diary in which they will record impressions and interesting discoveries, and will also write a final paper on one of the cultural sites in Berlin.

IDIS 350p – Arts and Culture in Austria

This study abroad course offers students the opportunity to experience one of the great European cities – Vienna, the capital of Austria and former capital of the Austro-Hungarian empire – and to visit many of the city’s most iconic sites. Home to many famous artists, writers, musicians, and thinkers, including Sigmund Freud, Gustav Klimt, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Arthur Schnitzler, Theodor Herzl, and Gustav Mahler, Vienna is a city with an extraordinarily rich cultural and historical past. Students will explore the city’s parks, museums, and key historical sites while also enjoying Viennese life and cuisine – we will visit, for example, a few cafés that were earlier frequented by Viennese literary legends. We will also spend one day visiting Mauthausen, the infamous concentration camp not far from Vienna, along with its museum and memorials. Students will keep a daily travel diary in which they will record impressions and interesting discoveries, and will also write a final paper on a Viennese figure of their choice.

Austrian Culture in Vienna Sample Syllabus