Graduate Program News
The graduate programs in German have had a great year. We expanded our graduate faculty and welcomed a new cohort of intellectually promising graduate students. Beverly Weber joined the faculty as an assistant professor, and already in spring 2008 our graduate students will be able to benefit from her research expertise in her graduate seminar on Islam in Western Europe. Saskia Hintz, Senior Instructor, will contribute her expertise in second-language pedagogy to the department.
The M.A. program welcomed a vibrant, intellectually strong group of new M.A. students this year: Jerome Bolton, Ben Egbers, Katharina Gerrits, Niina Nykanen, Barbara Pausch, Stephanie Rapp, and Emily Smith. We’re also happy to welcome two exchange students: Petra Watzke from the University of Regensburg and Hendrik Kammerer from the University of Göttingen.
It’s been a good year for funding for the graduate programs. We continue to enjoy the support of the Max Kade Foundation and a number of generous alumni. And this year, the Graduate School awarded additional financial support to the graduate programs, which has allowed us to offer more competitive fellowships, funding for graduate student travel to conferences and for research, and support for a visiting lecturer invited by students. This support will allow us to increase the opportunities available to our graduate students during their studies at CU.
Luise Link
In August and September, the German Program hosted intern Ms. Luise Link, a student at the University of Halle majoring in language pedagogy. As part of her internship, Ms. Link gave classes in the articulation and pronunciation of German to our students, in addition to visiting many of our German classes. The German Program is grateful to Ms. Link for her very successful internship with us.
German Club
We've had a successful start to reinstituting the German Club on campus thus far. We started by seeking student leaders willing to take on initiative for planning and administering the Club. Kerry Floyd and Stephen Call have been particularly active, while an additional group of five students has been providing input and polling their friends for ideas. In our informal polling, students have expressed first and foremost a desire for increased publicity for events already happening, such as the Stammtisch, the Kaffeeklatsch, and local cultural events. Students also expressed a desire for continued film events, informal study groups and professional preparation events.
At this point, we've instituted plans for the weekly film series, twice weekly study groups, and a general interest meeting to discuss long range planning for a larger event. Attendance at the weekly film series is growing, and given that the most current films are upcoming, I expect this to continue.
German Club Sponsored Study Groups:
A German study group meets Tuesdays from 3-5pm and on Thursdays from 7-9pm. On Tuesdays a German professor is present to help with questions. All levels of German are welcome. This is not a formal tutoring session, but instead a chance for peers to converse and help one another with homework and or test preparation.