2011 Chapter Reports Midwest Region - American Association of ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Ongoing throughout the year: Daily Infoblatt and periodic announcement regarding local events and job opportunities sent out by Paul Schons; preparation for Deutschfest (which took place this year on March 13) Submitted by Jae Cody, Chapter President 029 Missouri January: (MO‐AATG's Chapter Project for 2011): Instructor's Day ‐ Christian Martin ‐ Politics and Economics in Germany The Missouri‐AATG was able to offer its members a captivating Chapter Project, "Deutschlands europolitische Wirkung." In accordance with the efforts of the Missouri AATG to maintain a useful dialogue on contemporary topics of interest and importance in Germany and the United States, Missouri‐AATG and Washington University in Saint Louis sponsored this event. It was held at Washington University in January of 2011, and attended by members from all over the state. How did this event come about? When Missouri‐AATG met in the Spring of 2010, we asked our members what kind of topics they would most like to learn about, and their responses led us to invite Dr. Christian Martin, who was at that time Visiting Assistant Professor at Northwestern University in German and Political Science, as well as serving as the local representative of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). His research interests include international political economy, processes of policy diffusion, and agent‐based modeling of social phenomena. He is also the author of the book “Die doppelte Transformation”. We feel very fortunate that he accepted our invitation. To advertise the event, we created a flyer we hoped would be catchy, and entitled it: GERMAN POLITICS & ECONOMICS 101 Since we were hoping to serve the needs of a diverse audience, we asked Dr. Martin to speak primarily in English but to add, where possible, German vocabulary which might be employed in classroom lessons on these topics. He did so, as well as provided his entire power point for all who attended. Though I have already mentioned two titles for the event, Dr. Martin entitled his talk: "Politics, Monetary Policies and Economic Performance (and why all this matters to students and teachers of German)." Dr. Martin shared with us intricate details and analyses of some very complex topics, and did indeed help break them down into information that we could all understand. He began with the idea of Germany being "the sick man of Europe" with sluggish growth and high unemployment, which then emerged from the financial crisis of 2008 as an economic powerhouse. He spoke of "two types of capitalism: 'Liberal Market Economies' and 'Coordinated Market Economies'," of which the U.S. and U.K. belong to the former, and Germany and countries of continental Europe to the latter. He told us how a climate of compromise is the hallmark of German labor relations and policy‐making. Near the end of his talk he explained how the Euro was first and foremost a
political project, intended to encourage and strengthen European integration. Finally, he gave a very succinct explanation of the debt crisis in Greece. Dr. Martin graciously answered many questions after his very eloquent talk. I hope you will all have the opportunity to hear him speak one day, and would like to leave you with this: Why do these topics matter to teachers and students of German? According to Dr. Martin: •Modern Germany is a (relatively) diverse country, open to the world •Without Germany, there would be no European integration •Germany is the most important economy in Europe March: German Day at Washington University March 31 st , 2011: All German teachers from Missouri and Illinois and their students were invited. The event was an overwhelming success, drawing approximately 729 students from 24 high schools (79 more students than in 2010). The event had much positive feedback. Students competed in contests including: Skit, Video, Poster, Schnitzeljagd, Spelling Bee (Beginning & Advanced), Declamation and several others. The topic was, "Deutsche Erfindungen in Kunst, Wissenschaft und Technik". April: Two events at UMSL April 8 & April 9 ‐ sponsored by the German Culture Center & coordinated by Larry Marsh, presented in cooperation with Missouri AATG: Topic: Learning and Teaching about the New Federal States. A teacher workshop was held in German on Friday April 8th, and a general seminar, open to the public, was presented in English on Saturday morning, April 9th. Students were invited to the Saturday event. The presenters live and work in Brandenburg and their program included information on culture and travel in the former East, plus snacks and musical entertainment. Both sessions were offered free of charge. June: Membership Drive announced & flyers sent out to all current members. (See attached flyers) September: MO‐AATG meeting held in conjunction with Workshop for German Teachers at the University of Saint Louis (UMSL): Professor Robert DiDonato. Friday September 23rd, 4 p.m.‐9 p.m. Topic: Combining Language and Cultural Competence in German. 35 area teachers attended. October: MO‐AATG Meeting at Annual FLAM Conference (Foreign Language Association of Missouri). December: Informal gathering for German instructors and graduate students to meet and speak German: "Drink doch eene met" at Schlafly's Taproom December 9, 2011, 6‐9 p.m. Submitted by Kimberly AdyMcDonald, Chapter President
Page 1 and 2: 2011 Chapter Reports Midwest Region
Page 3: • Holding Schülerkongress at the
Page 7 and 8: Wendy Brennan was honored as the K
Page 9 and 10: Appleton. Solicitations for immersi
Page 11: Michael Koch agreed to continue in

2011 Chapter Reports Midwest Region - American Association of ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?