Location

Vienna, Berlin, Austria, Germany

Program Description

“Modern Dreams, Modern Nightmares” is a hybrid study-abroad/online course that fulfills an Arts and Humanities General Education requirement. Students spend fifteen days in Vienna and Berlin in late June and early July after doing four weeks of asynchronous coursework online. Since all coursework is completed before the travel component begins, each day abroad is spent out-and-about exploring the cities: visiting museums, historical sites, and cafes and restaurants. Highlights of the trip include the Hofburg winter palace of Austria’s Habsburg emperors, the catacombs of Vienna’s gothic St. Stephens Cathedral, the Jewish Museum of Vienna, Berlin’s Nazi-era Sachsenhausen concentration camp memorial, the headquarters of the East German secret police, and the Berlin Wall. The course focuses on the history and culture of Vienna and Berlin from the 1880s through 1989, looking at political, social, and artistic developments. Special attention is given to the political movements of socialism, fascism, and communism and to cultural luminaries like the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the painter Gustav Klimt, and the film director Fritz Lang.

This course explores how Germans and Austrians from the 1890s to the 1990s attempted to transform their societies by articulating a view of themselves and the world around them in sync with modern times or, alternatively, to fulfill visions of a radically different, and purportedly better, future. This involved the rejection in Austria of conventional values and perspectives in modern art, architecture, and literature (i.e. Gustav Klimt) and the elaboration of new theories of the mind (i.e. Freud). It also involved the creation of a genocidal racial state in Hitler’s Greater Germany and the construction of an authoritarian East German communist government. While abroad, we will visit museums and historical-cultural sites that exhibit or played important roles in these momentous cultural and historical processes. Among others, these include: the Austrian and German parliament buildings, Vienna's Hofburg and Belvedere palaces, Vienna's Leopold Museum, the Berlin Wall, Berlin's Nazi-era Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, and the former headquarters of East Germany secret police (the Stasi). During our first few days in Vienna, we also visit locations connected to the city's medieval and early modern past, like the gothic St. Stephen's Cathedral and the Baroque-style monastery called Melk Abby.

Location Description

Students will stay in hotels inside or very near the historic central districts of Vienna and Berlin, the capital cities of the German-speaking Central European nations of Austria and Germany. Both cities played pivotal roles in Europe's tumultuous twentieth century from the two world wars to the end of European communism. Our hotels are within a short walking distance of major historical sites, like the Imperial Winter Palace of Austria's Habsburg Emperors, Vienna's gothic St. Stephen's Cathedral, Berlin's beautiful Volkspark (people's park) Friedrichshain, and Berlin's gigantic television tower (the Fernsehturm) built by the communists. In Berlin, we will stay in the part of the city that was once the capital of the communist East German state, which was behind the infamous Berlin Wall. Both cities are filled with museums, cafes, parks, and impressive government buildings, as well as neighborhoods and districts where ordinary people live and work. Students will become familiar with not only the cities' historical districts, but with their food and the public transportation systems (subways and trams), and they will have opportunities to explore on their own. During our stay in Vienna, students may use an activity-free day to visit nearby cities (like Prague).

Director

Christian Davis | davis2cs@jmu.edu | History

Accommodations

Students will stay in hotels, two or three to a room, located in or very near the historic centers of both cities. The hotels are near public transportation (subways and trams) and are in neighborhoods with restaurants and grocery stores. 

Additional Items to Consider

Passport is required.

No knowledge of German is necessary (but German speakers will have plenty of opportunities to practice!), and all majors are welcome. The course satisfies a General Education Arts and Humanities Requirement (HUM 251).

Applicant Criteria

Applicants must have a GPA minimum of 2.0

Students at every level are welcome (freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, graduate students).

Application Process

This list serves as an application preview. To apply, students will need to complete the following:

• Study Abroad Online Application ($40 fee)
• Short essay 
• Interview with Program Director may be required
• Official transcript required for non-JMU students

Further details and instructions about these application requirements will be available upon log-in.