This honors seminar provides an important opportunity for 
students interested in German Studies to explore the strong
affinities that exist between literature, poetry and philosophy
in the German field.  Since these "elective affinities" between
the two discourses are arguably unique to German culture, this
new course will offer students the chance to study a seminal
aspect of the German intellectual tradition.  By combining
literature with nonfictional prose and theoretical texts that are
foundational to the German cultural field, this in-depth seminar 
will also allow students to hone their analytical and
interpretive skills. Targeted writing exercises (journal entries)
and interpretive papers will supply the students with the tools
to write advanced and specialized essays. Because of the literary
component, the course will not overlap with courses in other
departments.  Moreover, the course is not geared at specialized
philosophy students but at students in the humanities who combine
a strong interest in literature with an equally keen curiosity
for theoretical questions.

Sample Topical Outline:
Early Beginnings: Plato and Aristotle’s views on poets and 
philosophers (a necessary component of the class, as the German
tradition builds on these early canonical texts)
Poetry and Mysticism: Meister Eckhart, Paul Celan (20th-century 
poet), Else Lasker-Schueler, and Paul Klee
Goethe’s Elective Affinities
Schiller’s Essays: On Naive and Sentimental Poetry
Hoelderlin’s Poetry: Between Classicism and Romanticism
Kleist’s Novellas: Perception, Aesthetics, and the Law
Schlegel’s Irony — Contrasted with Kierkegaard’s reflections on 
Irony
Schopenhauer on Music; Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy
Before the Law: Kafka’s novel The Castle
Orientalism and Herman Hesse’s Siddharta
Rilke’s Thing Poems and Elegies
Celan and Gadamer: Focus on Gadamer’s readings of Celan’s poetry 
Contrasted with Arendt and Adorno’s readings of Post-Holocaust 
literature

Students are expected to conform to the UGA Student Honor Code. 
The instructor will communicate to students the required
documentation for written assignments, what constitutes
authorized assistance in course assignments, and the effect of
dishonesty or unauthorized assistance upon grading.