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Adrian Daub

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Building 260, Room 212
Phone: 650 723 9079
Fax: 650 725 8421
daub@stanford.edu

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Tuesday 3:00-5:00PM

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Marxism
Frankfurt School
Idealism
philosophy of music
sexuality
Romanticism
film
philosophy
20th century
19th century

Adrian Daub

Associate Professor of German Studies

Director, Undergraduate Studies

Chair, Undergraduate Studies, DLCL
 

My research focuses on the long nineteenth century, in particular the intersection of literature, music and philosophy. My first book, "Zwillingshafte Gebärden": Zur kulturellen Wahrnehmung des vierhändigen Klavierspiels im neunzehnten Jahrhundert  (Königshausen & Neumann, 2009), traces four-hand piano playing as both a cultural practice and a motif in literature, art and philosophy (an English edition of the book recently appeared as Four-Handed Monsters: Four-Hand Piano Playing and Nineteenth-Century Culture (Oxford University Press, 2014)). My second book Uncivil Unions - The Metaphysics of Marriage in German Idealism and Romanticism  (University of Chicago Press, 2012), explored German philosophical theories of marriage from Kant to Nietzsche. My most recent book, Tristan's Shadow - Sexuality and the Total Work of Art (University of Chicago Press, 2013), deals with eroticism in German opera after Wagner. One of my current book project will trace the fate of the dynasty in the age of the nuclear family, the other will present a comparative study of the ballad-form in nineteenth century Europe. In addition, I have published articles on topics such as fin-de-siècle German opera, the films of Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, literature and scandal, the cultural use of ballads in the nineteenth century, and writers like Novalis, Stefan George, Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno and W.G. Sebald.

Education

2008 Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania
2004 M.A. University of Pennsylvania
2003 B.A. Swarthmore College

COURSES

GERMAN 300 Concepts of Modernity I: Philosophical Foundations (ENGLISH 334A, MTL 334A)

In the late eighteenth century Immanuel Kant proclaimed his age to be "the genuine age of criticism." He went on to develop the critique of reason, which set the stage for many of the themes and problems that have preoccupied Western thinkers for the last two centuries. This fall quarter course is intended as an introduction to these themes and problems. We begin this course with an examination of Kant's philosophy before approaching a number of texts that extend and further interrogate the critique of reason. In addition to Kant, we will read texts by Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Weber, Freud, Lukács, and Heidegger.nThis course is the first of a two-course sequence. Priority to graduate students in MTL and English. The course will be capped at 12 students.

GERMAN 88Q Gateways to the World: Germany in 5 Words

This course explores German history, culture and politics by tracing five (largely untranslatable) words and exploring the debates they have engendered in Germany over the past 200 years. This course is intended as preparation for students wishing to spend a quarter at the Bing Overseas Studies campus in Berlin, but is open to everyone. Preference to sophomores.

GERMAN 88 Germany in 5 Words

This course explores German history, culture and politics by tracing five (largely untranslatable) words and exploring the debates they have engendered in Germany over the past 200 years. This course is intended as preparation for students wishing to spend a quarter at the Bing Overseas Studies campus in Berlin, but is open to everyone. Taught in English.

GERMAN 310A Music and Critical Theory (MUSIC 310A)

The seminar provides an opportunity to study some of the seminal texts of Critical Theory dealing with music. Concentrating on Theodor Adorno's writings on music, we will also include key philosophers who informed Adorno's thinking (in particular Kant, Hegel and Nietzsche), influential nineteenth-century aesthetics of music (Hoffmann, Schopenhauer and Hanslick), other contemporaries of Adorno (for example, Ernst Bloch), and some later authors whose work was influenced by the Frankfurt School (such as Carl Dahlhaus). We will also consider the impact of Critical Theory on recent scholarship. Weekly meetings will be organized around various topics, ranging from central concepts such as "Enlightenment" and "musical material" to individual composers. Music by Wagner, Mahler, Schoenberg, Stravinsky and Weill will feature prominently on the syllabus.

GERMAN 200 The Ballad Tradition (COMPLIT 227A, ENGLISH 383A)

This team-taught cross-disciplinary course traces the history and aesthetics of the ballad in German, English, and Scottish literature, from the 18th century to the early 20th century. No knowledge of German is required, but reading knowledge is a plus.

GERMAN 298 Writing Workshop

Open only to German majors and to students working on special projects, including written reports for internships. Honors students use this number for the honors essay. May be repeated for credit.