GERMAN 31Q: Das Auto: Car Culture in Germany and its Global Context
General Education Requirements
Not currently certified for a requirement. Courses are typically considered for Ways certification a quarter in advance.
No German language required, seminar will be taught in English.
Course Description
Germany’s postwar economic and political fortunes have been decisively shaped by the car, in particular the car industry and its international luster. At the same time, Germans have usually associated car culture with the United States—its highways, scenic routes and road trips. But that doesn’t mean that the car hasn’t impacted German culture—this class investigates the way the car has shaped postwar German literature, philosophy, film, music and television. And it helps students investigate how the car has structured German domestic politics and foreign policy. Finally, students will explore our current moment—and how the challenges of climate change and the rise of the electric car are remaking German labor, politics and culture.
Meet the Instructor: Adrian Daub
“I teach German Studies and Comparative Literature and direct the Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research. My research is about how gender and sexuality shape various aspects of our culture and history. Some recent books of mine are What Tech Calls Thinking (2020) and The Cancel Culture Panic (2024). I live in San Francisco, where I am a (reluctant) driver, (reluctant) biker and enthusiastic pedestrian.”
