The Curriculum

Courses taught by our own professors explore intellectual and cultural history as revealed in literature, art and music. Insights thus gained are enriched by tours with the faculty through Austria, Italy and the Balkans.

UPCOMING SALZBURG FACULTY FELLOWS:

Hongwei Lu - Fall 2023

SALZ 360: Outdoor and Environmental Films (LAI Cat: CPI)

Scott Randolph - Spring 2024

Salz 360: Navigating Competitive Niches in an International Economy: Studies in Austrian and Central European Business Enterprise (LAI Cat: OC)

REQUIRED:

GERMAN 101s, 201s, 350s INTENSIVE GERMAN 4 Units

This course will introduce you to the basic elements of the German language and grammatical structure while developing a core vocabulary of words and phrases which you may use in daily living activities in Salzburg. Your study in German will include exercises in reading, writing, listening, speaking, and even singing. Differences in learning styles, customs, and traditions between Americans, Austrians, Germans, and other European cultures will be discussed as appropriate to course content.

SALZ 240: AUSTRIA IN EUROPE: HISTORY, IDENTITY and REMEMBRANCE: 4 Units, LAI: H

This course is designed to introduce students to the history, culture and economics of Austria and its place in Europe from early settlement to the present day. We will study Austria's role in the Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, Austria-Hungary, World Wars I, II, the Soviet Empire and Austria's eventual membership in the European Union. Extensive travel around Austria, Europe and the Balkans compliments in-class work.

SALZ 230: TRAVELERS AND CITIZENS: 3 Units, LAI: CER and TG

This course integrates the various aspects of the Salzburg Program curriculum through travel and service-learning.  On excursions, experiential assignments draw on students' studies in language, history, art and music.  Community service appointments in Salzburg and the Balkans provide an opportunity to examine institutions and customs for addressing community needs in Austria.

ELECTIVES - CHOOSE TWO

SALZ 251: SITES OF SALZBURG: 3 Units , LAI: ESS

Students engage directly with visual art and its historical development in the European context, and the understanding of architecture as a reflection of the European ideal.  Emphasizes experiential learning by blending museum and site visits in Salzburg, readings and case studies, and excursions to select European cities.

SALZ 252: SOUNDS OF SALZBURG: 3 Units, LAI: ESS

Students develop an appreciation in particular for the music of the European classical tradition on site in Salzburg and other European centers.  Emphasizes methods for "informed hearing," first in theory during class sessions, then in practice with museums, important historic sites, and concert venues.

Fall 2023 SPECIAL TOPICS COURSE: Outdoor and Environmental Films (LAI Cat: CPI) 3 to 4 units

Outdoor and Environmental Films is an MVC class that focuses on the concepts of “nature,” “environment,” “wilderness,” “nomad land,” and “the outdoors”, etc. from filmic, literary, philosophical, and social perspectives, and across African, American, Asian, and European cultural traditions. Students will study Eurocinema for the climate, Asian and African Eco cinema documentaries, and American Hollywood and independent arthouse cinemas on the outdoors and nomad land cultures. Different film genres such as anime, science-fiction, documentary, indie art film, and Hollywood blockbuster, etc., will be covered. Students will engage in interdisciplinary inquiries through critical analysis of outdoor and environmental films. Topics of discussions will include but not limited to film art and environmentalism, culture and space, religion and pilgrimage, nationalism and the control of nature, the outdoors and discovery, sustainability, renewable energy, and climate change, agriculture and industrialization, nature and civilization,  nature and self-identity, nature, modern ills, and counter-culturalism, nature and feminism, internal and external colonialisms, consumerism and modern ills, the land ethic and democracy, animal rights protection, racism and American frontiers history, globalization, pollution, and recycling, consumerism and development, governance policy and NGO, environmentalism and social activism, etc.

This class will take advantage of the location of the Salzburg campus with a special focus on films that touch on topics of culture and alpine nature of the Austrian Alps. Research and fieldwork assignments will be part of this Austrian Alps focus on contemporary issues particular to the region. Besides the Austrian Alps regional focus, this course will also encourage students to inquire about the relationship between music and nature at Salzburg. Students will be asked to inquire about how composers obtain inspirations from nature, for example, music environmentalism, folklore music and geography, and/or analyze the soundtrack of environmental and outdoor films, etc. As an interdisciplinary seminar, the class should be of interest to students of environmental studies, literature, philosophy, investigative journalism, audio-visual arts, and film studies.

Spring 2024 SPECIAL TOPICS COURSE: Navigating Competitive Niches in an International Economy: Case Studies in Austrian and Central European Business Enterprises (LAI Cat: OC) 3 to 4 units

The modern European business environment is both complicated and diverse.  European firms, by necessity, operate in both a super-national marketplace (the European Union) and globally. In many ways, European firms have far more experience navigating international borders than is the case for competitors in the United States and elsewhere, a consequence of post-WW2 efforts that led eventually to the creation of the European Union and the Euro. 

The course is a set of business case studies featuring Austrian and Central European firms. Some case studies will ask students to examine leadership practices in disruptive business and political environments, others will provide opportunities to examine how centuries-old organizations respond to the challenges of digital technology and live streaming; others will ask students to examine change management in firms that move back and forth between for-profit and social enterprise (non-profit) structures and stakeholder goals; others will ask students to think about the challenges of small, family enterprises as they seek to expand the market in China for artisanal chocolates, another will present students with a deep dilemma: how can a nearly 1000-year old Austrian Benedictine monastery act when its principle source of revenue, a lumber mill specializing in high-end flooring, is battered by foreign competition, yet the mill is also one of its charities – providing work and training to residents in a poorer region of the country? 

No previous business coursework required, although ECON 100 or ECON 101 will be helpful.

MUSP 350s.01 APPLIED MUSIC (CR/NCR only) 4 Units

Music majors can elect to take this course. The music major can enrich their musical experiences in Salzburg by being tutored in their applied lessons by a member or associate of the world famous Mozarteum faculty.

The opportunity to audition for full inclusion in the Mozarteum does exist for the serious music student with appropriate language and music skills and full backing of their University. Admission into the Mozarteum is the sole province of the Mozarteum itself, and can be finalized only in Salzburg by a student satisfying the audition and exam requirements administered by the Mozarteum staff. If accepted, the student would adapt to the calendar and curriculum of the Mozarteum and such involvement would likely come at the expense of involvement in any of the field experiences of the regular Salzburg Semester program.