Course Details

Berlin between the two world wars was a locus of chaos and dramatic social upheaval; it was also the site of some of the most dynamic shifts in gender roles and identity, sexual freedoms and gay and lesbian rights. In this course we will examine the New Woman and her relationship to the rise of mass media and consumer culture, the contradictions of the promised sexual liberation in the new metropolis, the emergence of new gender roles in the theater and cabarets, Berlin as the center of gay culture, and the dramatic shifts in the perception of masculinity after the war. With an interdisciplinary focus on the intersection of gender, sexual orientation, race and class, we will explore the way in which gender was constructed at the time, the development of the first gay emancipation movement and the move to a more open, flexible definition of gender identity. Students will not only receive a thorough overview of the most important figures, works and ideas of the time period, but will also reflect on responses to the shifting gender constructions, the threat to LGBTQ rights, ways of resisting persistent patriarchal structures, and the fragility and vulnerability of our hard-won freedoms. Given the urgency and universality of these topics, students can see the relevance of the course content to their own lives, and our discussions on Weimar Berlin will serve as a framework to critically examine current social justice issues. Innovative methods of evaluation will emphasize a creative processing of the material, allowing students to adapt their analyses of the coursework to correspond to their interests and to utilize their unique skill sets.