A Continuing Introduction to the Beginning

Yesterday I was sent my course list for the classes I'll be taking next fall, and I must say, I could not be happier! They made us pick our top 12 courses on the application, which made me a little nervous.... I really didn't want to get stuck in my bottom 3 choices! Fortunately, I was assigned my top 3!! So next fall, I will be taking:

• German Cinema Before 1945 - which should be fascinating because we'll be looking at some Nazi Propaganda films, and because it's in Berlin, the films will probably be way different than any you'd see in the US!
• Modern German History in European Context: A Thematic Approach - which takes basic German history, but then contrasts it to the evolving political and social situations occurring in the rest of Europe... so again... should be fascinating!
• The Human Condition and the Totalitarian Experience - This is the course that actually made me chose this specific program! I am so excited because it is one of those hybrid, psychohistory courses! So using psychological analysis and theory, we'll be looking at the motivations, pressures and reactions to totalitarian governments and the genocides that often accompany them.

I've already done a lot of work on the last course - I've taken a psych class and my history seminar on similar topics, but this course really seems to just encompass everything I'm interested in. Looking at the course description, it looks like the professor is basing his curriculum on Philip Zimbardo's incredible book "The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil." This is easily one of my favorite books. For those of you who don't know, Zimbardo was the genius behind the Stanford Prison Experiments, and this book is essentially a full manuscript of exactly what happened in the experiment. He also discusses other studies, and historical events which psychological research has helped to explain. I highly recommend this book! It's pretty dense, but so worth it!

I suppose this has been one of my nerdier posts, but I am just so excited about the courses I got! They are right on key with what I'm interested in! Oh yeah, and besides these awesome classes, I'll also be taking Experiential German on Mondays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. So hopefully I'll get really good at German! I'll probably do a post later about how awful my German currently is, but for now, I am off to lunch!

Auf Wiedersehen! (That means goodbye to those of you who don't speak German, or watch Project Runway) :)