Articulating the Curriculum through Cultural Themes: A Literacy and Genre Approach to Teaching Protest, Rebellion, and the Reevaluation of the Past

Conceived of as a response to the 2007 MLA Report on the state of foreign language teaching and learning in the United States, this article takes up some of the report's recommendations and puts them into practice. The first part of the article offers a response to current debates concerning foreign language programs and lays the conceptual foundation for a unit intended to help bridge the gap between second and third year courses in German Studies. This is followed by a pedagogical unit developed around Gregor Schnitzler's (2002) comedy thriller, Was tun, wenn's brennt? The film provides material for students of German to explore the idea of Vergangenheitsbewältigung (‘coming to terms with the past’) beyond the context of the Nazi period, focusing instead on post‐war periods of German history.