Tennessee Tech University

Independent Studies and Special Topics

GERM 4910—Word/Image: German Graphic Novels

In this inquiry-based learning course, students worked individually, under my guidance, as they explored the graphic novel as a product of and practice in German-speaking cultures. We moved beyond understanding graphic novels solely as “stories” by learning how to analyze their discourse, the various ways readers can make meaning from the genre’s constituent elements—words and images. In order to answer this course’s core question “how do graphic novels work?”, we first learned how word and image interact on the page before considering how the panels containing these words and images represent chronologic sequences. We explored, analyzed, and critiqued the unique ways that graphic novels engage with various social, political, cultural, and philosophical themes, such as love and sexuality; family and society; beauty and aesthetics; identity and alienation. We read contemporary works like Antoinette kehrt zurück, nonfiction texts like Haarmann, autobiographical texts like drüben, and adaptations of major literary works like Schnitzler’s Traumnovelle, Kafka’s “Die Verwandlung” and “In der Strafkolonie,” and Bernhard’s Alte Meister.

GERM 4910—Immigration and Transculturalism in German Cinema

Students worked individually, under my guidance, to explore a variety of German films that depict and address the lives and identities of both first-generation immigrants and children of a diaspora. Students developed their abilities to appreciate, understand, and analyze what the medium of film can tell us about the social, personal, political, and cultural challenges that arise for immigrants in the German historical context.

GERM 4810—Difference and Disability in German Comedy

This course examined how major German-language comedies construct, situate, and use different or disabled bodies while exploring the boundaries between normalcy, difference, impairment, and disability. Students explored what the comedy genre can tell us about how norms (social, cultural, aesthetic, political) are constructed, enforced, and challenged in these texts and the world around us. We investigated dramatic structure, elements/effects of comedy in the German-speaking world, and themes such as personal/public identities (alienation/assimilation, language and identity), beauty and aesthetics (ideals of beauty, ugliness, and normality), and global challenges (diversity, globalization).

Upper level Courses

GERM 3200—Business German

I guide students as they learn how to interact with others and present themselves in a German commercial environment. A mixture of monitored, in-class interactions and at-home exercises helped students develop the listening, reading, writing and speaking skills necessary to achieve their communication goals within the German-speaking business world. Course topics included preparing yourself for a professional life in a German-speaking context (preparing for job interviews, discussing professional qualifications, plans, and education background), navigating the business world (business structures, interacting with co-workers and superiors), and discussing work routines (describing responsibilities, communicating with others via email and telephone; making, rescheduling, and canceling appointments)

GERM 3150—Intro to German Literature

Students developed an appreciation of German literature and the sociocultural perspectives, products, and practices it represents. Together, we explored and discussd overarching cultural themes and the essential questions they present as conceived of and performed through language. In order to sharpen our interpretive skills, we engaged in short, individual tasks, known as our “Interactive Reading Journal.” These daily assignments required students to employ a specific set of interpretive, reflective, and connective strategies to a text. Students developed strategies to support them as they moved through literal interpretation (e.g., identifying keywords, defining important or main ideas of a text, etc.) towards a more advanced, theoretical interpretation (e.g., inferring the author’s cultural perspective, discussing the organizing principle of a text, using specific information from the text to describe their personal reaction, etc.).

GERM 3112—German Civilization and Culture

This German-language survey course introduced students to Germany, its political system, its history, and its culture. In addition to providing a broad overview of German history and politics, this course sharpened critical thinking skills by teaching students how to look at current events in a meaningful way. Additionally, students learned to consider broader topics such as politics, society, economics, religion, and intellectual life while learning to be suspicious of single-minded approaches to human problems and to appreciate differences, contradictions, and diversity in human affairs.

Language Proficiency Courses

GERM 3020—Oral Communication in German

GERM 3010—Written Communication in German

GERM 2020—Intermediate German II

GERM 2010—Intermediate German I

GERM 1020—Elementary German II

GERM 1010—Elementary German I

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University of Virginia

Language Courses

GERM 3526—Umwelt und Energie

Authentic cultural texts, class discussions, and multiple roleplay exercises helped students explore Germany’s role in addressing environmental issues and their global, national, political, economic, and social dimensions. After securing a grant from the German embassy, my students organized a number of outreach events to highlight German environmentalism. This project engaged the main topics of this course and provided students the opportunity to apply what they have learned in a setting beyond the traditional classroom.

GERM 325/326—Business German I/II

My main learning goal for these courses was for students to explore, discuss, and analyze the expectations, trends, and economic foundations of German business practice with particular emphasis on applying and expanding advanced vocabulary and structures. The topics and practices covered in this course were explored and applied through partner discussions, short presentations, and role plays, including a mock visit to a German trade fair. Lessons featured at least one formative assessment tool in order to gauge learner comprehension and proficiency. Summative assessments took the form of a written mid-term and final exam. I designed all aspects of these courses.       

GERM 300—Advanced Grammar

I redesigned this lecture course into an interactive seminar which would allow the students opportunity to implement the advanced structures we were discussing. The freedom to design this course also allowed me to include instructional technology in the classroom to prompt interaction and enrich our grammar lessons—forum discussions, YouTube videos, German songs, articles and magazines. While the course featured numerous summative assessments (tests, quizzes, essays), students benefitted greatly from formative self-assessments in which they graded themselves and others during numerous peer review exercises. 

GERM 322—The German Play (Herr Peter Squenz)

While the objectives of this course are pre-determined, I selected the play, created the syllabus and rehearsal schedule, lectured on Baroque theater history, conducted interpretive discussions of the play with my students, directed the production, and finally graded the class participants. To help other German teachers across the globe navigate the process from start to finish, I created a Wiki to the course and have encouraged other teaching assistants to contribute. While it still empowers instructors to make their own pedagogic choices, this guide attempts to cull answers to basic questions—such as “Which play should I choose?”—so that the course might be planned more efficiently.

GERM 202—Intermediate German

This course was designed by our language coordinator for third and fourth semester German students. Using the textbook Kaleideskop, this course has three 50 minute sessions a week and features more group discussion of reading assignments. As grammar instruction was essentially review, our sessions focused more on communicative interactions which culminated in discussions of and short performances from Dürrenmatt’s Besuch der alten Dame.

GERM 101-102—Beginning German

These first and second semester German language courses met five days a week for 50 minutes sessions. Although the course goals, grading policies and the syllabi were all determined by our department’s language coordinator, individual instructors were responsible for preparing content and materials of each lesson. Supervised by the Model Teaching Assistant, the instructors take turns composing hour-long chapter tests that will assess all sections. The final exam is produced through group effort. This developed our learning expectations and assessment abilities. Each TA also conducted oral interviews twice during the semesters of 101 and 102.  

GERM 101G—Reading German for Graduate Students

This was a self-designed course for graduate level students who wished to develop their German reading and translation skills. While this was a credit/no credit course, I still maintained a syllabus filled with daily assignments and assessment exercises. I have taught this course twice, each with a different textbook after listening to the comments of my students. Each student in my course who attempted our department’s proficiency exam passed it.

SFLI—Summer Foreign Language Institute

This was a discussion section of a larger intensive German course. To supplement my course, I created numerous transparencies and classroom activities to allow the students time to put into practice the grammar structures they learned in the lecture section. I also directed a drill session, during which I tested the oral proficiency of these students. After our semester together, my students informed me how they felt our drill sessions best facilitated their entry into the language.  

1. Literature Courses
   1. CPLT 201—Introduction to European Literature

For this course, I lead two discussion sections of larger lecture course. I would construct a 75 minute lesson during which I would prompt students to engage in and reflect upon the more salient or challenging points of the lecture. This course satisfied a second writing requirement, which meant that students had to produce over 20 pages of self-written material. Under the professor’s supervision, the other instructor and I would suggest questions for these essays. As I taught two sections—one Thursday evening and one Friday morning, 8 AM–I often adjusted the lesson plan between these classes: if Thursday’s students raised an interesting issue or concern, then I made certain to mention it to my Friday students and vice versa.

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Technical University of Dortmund

Comparative Culture Seminars cross listed in the Germanistik & Amerikanistik departments

Komödie auf deutschen und amerikanischen Bühnen

This course was taught in a truly intercultural, comparative literature classroom. German and American students read literature from both cultures and discussed the works bilingually. I found Americans less willing to speak the other language than my German students, so I made extra effort to both situate these American students in groups with my more genial and supportive German students and to facilitate group or partner work so that each lesson involved some level of intercultural interaction and reflection.  My responsibilities included selecting the works read, facilitating class discussions, grading response papers and devising the final exam.

Wahnsinn in der deutschen und amerikanischen Literatur

This comparative literature presented a different challenge. After the success of my first semester course, I walked in my classroom to find over 200 students wishing to participate. With the help of my department chair, we quickly pared down the enrollment to more advanced students and I offered to teach an early morning section for those who were willing to enroll in it. I then adjusted the course requirements for the two sections of 50 plus students and my evaluations show I was able to retain a seminar atmosphere in a class so large. While these two sections were extra work, it was invaluable experience as I was able to monitor and adjust my lesson plans in between these sections to ensure my lessons were as effective as possible. Although it required me to prepare lessons a week ahead, I decided to implement Guided Reading Questions, questions I emailed to my students to be used as points of departure for essays as well as group work assignments at the beginning of some sessions. These questions (see Appendix) helped prepare students to analyze rhetorical, narrative and structural aspects as opposed to the thematic. My questions often required higher level thinking skills, such as the creative level when I asked my students to re-order the scenes of Woyzeck and then evaluate the effects of this new sequence.

Intensivseminar

I taught a module in an honors course on the topic of September 11^th. As I was responsible for the material of my module, I selected an article evaluating Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 as a documentary. Each week, I facilitated a discussion of the article and documentary representations of the tragedy with a new group of three students. The culminating exercise of my module required my students to plot out the documentary they would like to make about 9/11.