Dr. Angelica Browne's German 203 Student Projects
Spring 2020
Der Schatten und das Selbst in Chamissos Peter Schlemihls Wundersame Geschichte
Der Schatten und das Selbst in Chamissos Peter Schlemihls Wundersame Geschichte [The Shadow and the Self in Chamisso’s Peter Schlemihl] a painting created by Liam Keeton. My project is about how self and society relate to each other in Peter Schlemihls Wundersame Geschichte. I am communicating how the separation from oneself of one’s shadow may effect one’s view of the world.”
---by Liam Keeton
Musik inspiriert von Peter Schlemihl
Musik inspiriert von Peter Schlemihl [Music inspired by the book Peter Schlemihl] a song and a poem written and performed by Nic Doorlay. “For my project, I wrote a song inspired by the story Peter Schlemihl by Chamisso. I wrote and performed the song on my guitar, and I wrote accompanying lyrics, additionally inspired by the story, that utilized vocabulary and grammar that we learned this quarter. I tried to take the feelings that Schlemihl feels throughout the story and turn those feelings into music. The words, as well, reflect the feelings that Peter felt. The music that I wrote has undertones of sadness and loneliness, and conjures feelings of being thrust into a confusing situation – all things that were present in the story.”
--- by Nic Doorlay
Die wichtigsten und faszinierenden deutschen Erfindungen
Die wichtigsten und faszinierenden deutschen Erfindungen [The most important and fascinating German inventions] “My project will educate my classmates about the most important and fascinating German inventions, many of which are integral to modern life. My project will be in the form of a game in which my classmates must identify seven inventions using short descriptions that I provide. They will then identify a final, unknown invention by correctly ordering different letters they have recorded throughout the game. Not only will 3 my classmates gain a deeper appreciation for German creativity and ingenuity, but they will also learn new and applicable vocabulary.”
--- by Nicholas Blonstein
Unsere Heimatstädte
Unsere Heimatstädte [Our Hometowns] a video created by Aspyn Bessler and Cailin Lorek “Our project is about our hometowns. We showed what our lives are like in Claremont and Palmdale and things you can do and see. The inspiration for our project was the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the pandemic we were both home, so we thought it’d be interesting to show the similarities and differences between where we grew up and San Luis Obispo. We wanted to give some insight into what our lives have been like and where we’ve been during the pandemic as everyone is in their hometowns rather than at Cal Poly. We thought it’d be nice to show our classmates because everybody is from different parts of the state and each city is unique.”
--- by Aspyn Bessler and Cailin Lorek
Die BLM Bewegung in den USA und Deutschland
Die BLM Bewegung in den USA und Deutschland [The BLM Movement in the US and Germany] a presentation by Stefany James inspired by the current BLM protests that have spread across the US and the world.
--- by Stefany James
Spring 2019
Umlicht
Umlicht is “a montage of two German videos, along with transitions and clips from several other films. The purpose of this video is to emphasize the post-modernism of Wim Wenders’ Der Himmel über Berlin's [1987] composition. Post-modernist characteristics include the many voice-overs in the film, the creative use of color, and the artful video editing which draws attention to the video as a piece of film and not a realistic construction of events with consistent construction of space-time. The films included in this video montage are. Der Himmel über Berlin (1987), Das weiße Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009), The Tree of Life (2011), 2 Solaris (1971), Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979) and Im Juli (2000). I am trying to communicate a similar feeling to Der Himmel in Berlin, a feeling of togetherness and finding love in dreams. Letting moments become “history” and sitting silently for a long goodbye.”
---by Bryan Bayhan
Iron Chef Deutschland
Iron Chef Deutschland- a humorous cooking show.
--- created by Carlin Liang and Rita Yu
Bedas Biergarten: Eine Kritik
Bedas Biergarten: Eine Kritik, a blog describing the students’ culinary experience at a local German restaurant in San Luis Obispo. “We both miss some of the food in Germany. We are going to visit Beda’s Garten and critique their food. Does it seem authentic? Is it a nice place to eat?”
--- by Sarah Stütz and Theresa Helseth
German Jeopardy
“Our project is a version of the trivia TV show Jeopardy, where contestants answer questions and compete to get the most points. We modified this concept to fit with what we have learned this quarter in our class, as well as questions that reference information learned in our previous German classes this school year. The inspiration for our project was the TV show Jeopardy because it is a game show based on knowing facts about various subjects, categorized under a few overarching topics. We chose this as the basis for our project because we thought it would be a fun way to remember what we’ve learned and how we’ve grown together as a class throughout the German 200 series. We are communicating new information we can discover together as a class, a review of information likely forgotten by most people in the class, as well as remembering random memories unique to the people in our class. Overall, we are communicating fun!”
--- by Hannah Clarke, Griff Malloy, Jennifer Quint and Sarah Lamp
Password: ger203frau1
Spring 2017
Dr. Angelica Browne's German 203 Intermediate Grammar Class Final Video Projects: Enjoy these original video projects created by intermediate-level German students, who were inspired by the topics covered in German 203, spring 2017.
Im Juni (In June)
“This film is a parody of "Im Juli" and "Lola rennt." We had a lot of fun making this for Cal Poly GER 203.”
--- by Nicole Neumayr, Anna Cowan, Bryce Fable, Sam Miller and Max Sheets
Tips für der Reise Ihres Lebens (Tips for the Trip of your Life)
“Our project is about giving tips that could be helpful for someone who is traveling to Germany. They include nonverbal communication differences between America and Germany. The inspiration for our project is the misunderstandings that can arise from not understanding different cultures. Education can help decrease cultural barriers.”
--- by Ella Herrmann, Jessica Mabry, Anna Reck, Amanda Kraynik
Un-Inglorious Basterds
“Our project is about a group of spies and their encounter with some Nazis in a bar. We made a parody of a scene from the film Inglorious Basterds.”
--- by Laurel Kuehl, Julia Sargent, Tom Schalow, Max Reichardt
K
“Our project is a nod of the head to the film noir/crime genre, more specifically Fritz Lang’s M. It follows two investigators as they struggle to unveil the identity of the perpetrator of a gruesome murder. We wanted to do something original but still had some precedent.”
--- by Tobias Iven, Sammi Cowan, Sandy Serwin, Ralph Battles
Spring 2016
Dr. Angelica Browne's German 203 Intermediate Grammar Class Final Projects: Six educational projects created by intermediate-level German students who were inspired by the topics covered in German 203, spring 2016.
Die Tür [The Door]
"This film is about a man, who simply wishes to traverse through the threshold before him. Another man, perhaps himself, perhaps not, decides to discover the reason why. My inspiration was derived from David Foster Wallace's magnificent interpretation of Kafka's works. That how, when we bang on the doors inside our own hearts, the door opens outside rather than in. It is the struggle to get through that makes us who we are. Not the goal. I tried my best to adapt it to film and add my own personal flair in as well. I wish to communicate to others that life is hard. Every day comes with its own challenges. However, sometimes stubbornly trying to breach the door to your own meaning does more harm than good. It is okay to give up, because when you do - you become free."
Please watch it on Youtube
Praktisches Kochen zu Hause [Practical Cooking at Home]
“Our film is a short cooking video on how to make the German pastry, Apfeltaschen. We chose to do a cooking video because we wanted to do something different and fun. The video’s goal is to share a bit of German culture to its viewers by showing them how to make a classic German dessert.”
--- by Keeleana Peck, Irish Pellas, Ashley Schaefer
Herr Piddles Wundersame Geschichte [Mr. Piddles Wonderous Story]
“Our film was inspired by our first group meeting, in which we all wanted to do something impressive and challenging, but didn’t want o work too hard. As such, we settled on a movie within a movie that makes you think you’ll be watching something incredible. Pay close attention to the fine job we did filming our outer space scene, and enjoy our candid Office style asides.”
--- by Meredith Jaeger, Cameron Hallin, Eric Oeth
Die furchtbare deutsche Krankheit [The Horrible German Disease]
"I have made this video with the intent to playfully satirize the stereotypical German love for sausages through a fictional disease outbreak in the German pork industry. My inspirations are countless bratwurst jokes that I have encountered throughout my exposure to German culture. This video is in no way meant to be offensive. Its sole purpose is to entertain and express my knowledge of the German language.”
--- by Taylor Best
Der Aufstieg und Fall des Ian Meeders [The Rise and Fall of Ian Meeder]
"The Rise and Fall of Ian Meeder" is a mock dramatic film meant to portray the struggle of a college student under pressure. Ian plays a motivated, albeit perfectionist, student burdened with the task of producing a quality, short film for German. When his partner makes a few too many mistakes, Ian loses control of his emotions and, ultimately, his orderly way of life. Ian chooses risk at the detriment of his reputation and the viewer is left to interpret the consequences.
--- by Ian Meeder, Eric, Ryan Gelson, Eric Dreischerf
Drei Jahre später [Three Years Later]
"We decided to make a film that focused on the culture in Europe. We all came from the same place, Germany, but after “graduation” decided to all move to different countries around Europe. Tim went to France, Lindsay went to Italy and Laura went to Austria. After three years, we decided to all meet up again and discuss the different cultures we had to learn to adapt to and live in.”
--- by Laura Tomlinson, Lindsay Otto, Timothy Holst