Alle lernen Deutsch

Transcription

Alle lernen Deutsch
The Minority Steering Committee,
Alle lernen Deutsch
of the
American Association of Teachers of German
presents
Making Connections with the World Community:
Working at the Local Level and Beyond
ACTFL
Session 9482
11/17/2006
1:45 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Alle Lernen Deutsch Resource Guide
Guide Objectives.
Three (3) main objectives frame the use of this Guide:
1. To promote advocacy for World Languages;
2. To provide a resource of materials that support making
cultural and linguistic connections, locally, nationally, and
globally;
3. To offer secondary, two-year and postsecondary
curricular models that may more rigorously encourage the
recruitment to and retention of underrepresented student
groups in the study of the German language and culture.
(This handout will also be available at www.ALD.AATG.Org)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE OF CONTENTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Why make connections? “Alle lernen Deutsch”
Resource Guide : An Introduction
By Janice D.M. Mitchell, Ed.D.
4-7
2. Making Connections: Advocacy 101:
* Making Connections with the World Community:
Working at the Local Level and Beyond, Tying
Students of Color to the German Classroom;
* Making Connections through the Advocacy of
World Languages and German
By Anita Ratwik
8-30
3. Making Connections Locally: Using the City or Town
as Text or Resource, Washington D.C.
By Janice D.M. Mitchell, Ed.D
31-34
4. Making Connections Locally: Resources for
your classroom
By Karen Fowdy
34-37
5. Making Connections: Bibliography of sources
of information
By Leroy Hopkins, Ph.D.
38-42
6. Making Connections with the World Community:
Multicultural America, Multicultural Germany
By Leroy Hopkins, Ph.D.
43-48
7. Making Connections Locally, and Internationally:
Active Website Resources, Internships,
Study Abroad, Teacher Resources
By Elisabeth Collins, Margaret Hampton, Ph.D.,
Annette Loomis
49–52
8. Making Connections Globally: Strategies for
Developing Competencies in the International Arena:
The Berlin Study Visit Program
By John Long, Ph.D.
53–64
9. Making Connections Through the Use of Film:
A Bibliography of Films Bibliography of Films
By Mary Bronfenbrenner
65–89
10. Making Connections for Teaching Social Justice in the
German classroom: Interviews with Turkish and
Kurdish women
By Kamakshi P. Murti
90-102
“Alle lernen Deutsch” Resource Guide: Introduction
Janice D. M. Mitchell, Ed. D.
“Our future is inextricably
linked to the complex
challenges of the global
community. For our children
to be prepared to take their
place in that world and rise
to those challenges, they must
first understand it”—Rod
Paige, U.S. Secretary of
Education
The Alle Lernen Deutsch Committee, a subcommittee of the national AATG,
focuses its summer seminars on the strategies and recommendations for
increasing underrepresented groups of students in German language and
German studies classrooms, K-16 inclusively. The Committee annually
gathers new materials, updates old ones and creates new venues by which to
share the work they do across the nation to teachers and professors of
German at all levels, and offer their own expertise in the area of German
diversity issues to any field educator who might seek them out. One of those
current resources is the ALD website at http://ald.aatg.org/,or, through the
Teacher’s Resource area of the AATG website (July, 2005), launched at
ACTFL, November, 2005 in Baltimore.
This year at the July session, the seminar group decided to produce a printed
resource guide that could easily be accessed by all German teachers who
wish to make the connections through community ties following the
guidelines of the American Council on the Teaching of Languages and
Cultures (ACTFL), Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st
Century’s Five C’s: Communication, Culture, Community, Comparisons and
Connections. (1996)
Why Make Connections? The ACTFL national standard for Foreign
Language Teaching speaks to us of the Five C’s. When we reflect upon how
communities of practice share ideas and attend to world views, we come to
understand better, how we as individuals, and as U.S. citizens of all ages,
can become better world citizens and move about the globe with confidence
and competence, but using a more inclusive lens. The time is now for us to
consider how to go about introducing our students to the issues of
international diversity that have an effect upon business and trade, national
security, everyday crossing of borders in world travel and educational
diversity. The Committee maintains there is a critical need for all of our
students to learn how to compete fairly and equitably by successfully
completing study of additional world languages and English. To that end,
the study of a culture is paramount to making the language work toward a
true sharing of ideas and acceptable social standards of behavior.
On April 30, 2005, the College Board addressed equity in the study of world
languages:
For the study of world languages, The Equity Policy Statement
translates into long-sequences of study---it is imperative that
state policy makers consider the addition of formal sequential
instruction of world languages as essential, beginning in the
middle school and even sooner, to allow equitable access to
everyone.
Some statistics also show that students learning a world language score
higher on standardized tests, including math, science and language arts tests;
this as an indication that cognitive and academic learning are enhanced by
the study of world languages. Certainly our national defense depends upon
better qualified users of world languages, the same way it did with the
advent of Sputnik and the burgeoning space program in the middle fifties.
This is a call to arms for world language educators once again.
(See http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/article/0,150-157-0-2200,00.html)
In the 13:06 minute video by the Asian Society (2003) “Putting the World
into World-Class Education”, Morley Shafer shared some harrowing
statistics with us:
• 25% of U.S. students were unable to identify the ocean that separates
the U.S. from Asia.
• U.S. students are next to last in their knowledge of the world.
• Most U.S. students can’t find Israel or Afghanistan on a map.
• Most U.S. students do not know that India is the world’s largest
democracy.
The message here is that we need to define cultural competency to include
‘international literacy’. All our futures will depend upon it: but, this then
creates a big shift for this educational responsibility onto the shoulders of
foreign language and international studies professionals.
In a final answer to the question, “Why make connections?” we ask, “Why
not?” The ALD group has made such connections across educational levels
within the profession. In so doing, it has grown and collected and developed
materials that speak to a variety of students and teachers in an effort to
provide students--often underrepresented in our German language
classrooms-- the ability to “see” themselves everywhere in the world, using
a diverse or similar way of thinking, working and behaving. Young people
around the world must find ways to connect with each other so that
international learning can be a two-way communicative process, in an effort
to eliminate an ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ global mentality.
Such community-based connections as the Guide may suggest via
• the nearby community college or university,
• the nearest heritage clubs,
• a guest speaker from a representative group with expertise in aspects
of the topics of American and/or German diversity and
multiculturalism,
• using your city or town as text and resource,
are but a few ways to make meaningful connections in each home town,
large city or urban suburb, whether homogeneous or diverse. Such
communities of practice may bring a new level of awareness to colleagues in
other allied disciplines as well i.e., you, the German teacher, thus become a
catalyst or conduit for further input on related topics about German speakers
and German-speaking countries across disciplines in your school or district,
and ultimately building a new respect for our own world language of
German-speaking countries and their cultures.
In essence, although we are embarking upon an educational territory which
is very contemporary as much as it is historical, that of German
multiculturalism, and the native German and German-speaking people that
live daily with their diversity and mixed heritage, we believe, that as modern
language educators, we all are up for the challenge of learning more and
teaching more about German language and culture in a more inclusive way.
The ALD committee hopes you will accept our invitation to use this
Resource Guide “Making and Understanding Connections: Locally,
Nationally, and Globall,” as a vehicle to sharing world equity with your
students through German language education:
“Die beste Möglichkeit, Träume zu
verwirklichen ,ist aufzuwachen. …
Erfülle deine Träume, damit du Platz für
neue hast.” (Unknown)
Advocacy 101:
--Making Connections with the World Community:
Working at the Local Level and Beyond, Tying Students
of Color to the German Classroom
--Making Connections through the Advocacy of World
Languages and German
Anita Ratwik
Audience: K-16 Teachers, Parents
Objective: To provide tools, information, suggestions, and resources for
those advocating for the study of German for all students, particularly those
students currently under-represented in the German classroom
Introduction
This section is divided into five parts. Although these overlap with each
other, they do provide some measure of arbitrary organization to this topic.
Resources and materials, including web links, referred to in each section, are
at the end of the article, listed by section. There are references to Minnesota,
but the situations and information are similar in many states. This is a work
in progress and we encourage you to submit your own resources to this list.
I. Advocacy begins in the Classroom
The first section deals with the individual classroom because the classroom
has the most powerful and lasting impact on people who make many, if not
most of the decisions relative to world language programs on every level.
II. Advocacy on the Individual Level
The second section is about advocating for world languages by individuals
to students, parents, decision makers, administrators, legislators, and other
interested people.
III. Major Changes Impacting World Language Programs
and Our Response to them as Advocates
The third section provides some insights into issues and changes in the
minds of decision makers that we, as advocates, need to be aware of as we
try to influence their decisions and solicit their support. This section begins
with a list of changes we face and the impact changes have on us and on our
efforts to advocate for world languages and German for all students.
IV. World Language Learning for All Students
The fourth section addresses the issue of recruiting/advocating world
languages for ALL students, followed by
V. German for All Students
The last section focuses on why we choose German and German for ALL
students. This portion of the ALD website is a work in progress and others
are invited to add resources that are missing here, as we continue to develop
and strengthen all aspects of this website.
I. Advocacy begins in the Classroom
Absolutely key in advocating for world languages is the individual world
language classroom. The experience people have had with the foreign
language classroom in the past has created the foundation for their beliefs
about world languages today; they ask why one needs to learn a language,
who should learn a language, what happens in a world language classroom,
what we teach, and what students learn. World language teachers may think
that what happened in a classroom thirty to forty years ago is outdated as a
reference point, but most people still cling to that outdated knowledge base.
What those of us within the world language teaching profession think is not
relevant here. Almost every time we speak with legislators, administrators,
and people in general, their first response is to refer to their own world
language experience in a classroom, followed by that of their children. The
impressions formed from the world language classroom thirty to forty years
ago still remain the most common reference point for our audience, and we
need to bear that in mind when addressing them. Too many times the
classroom has not changed much between their school days and that of their
children. This reference point frequently works against us, but it is our own
profession and colleagues, and maybe even we, who are responsible for
fostering this misperception.
As a profession, our own history and current situation contradicts what we
preach today. We say ALL students should learn a world language, but when
we look at our classes nationally, we see fewer students of color or from
diverse backgrounds in the beginning levels, and even less in advanced
levels, than their numbers represent in the school student population. Our
administrators know this and it hurts our credibility. We have to prove to our
administrators and parents that we are serious about teaching all students, in
making changes, that we know how to and can accomplish this.
We must incorporate newer teaching methods, strategies, and familiarize
ourselves with newer research, so that we can question more traditional
practices and change what we are doing in our classrooms in an informed
fashion. We need to learn new ways of relating to our students, new ways of
seeing them, learn what their interests are and their needs. We need to learn
what engages them and incorporate their interests into our lessons. (See
some resources listed below!)
THEREFORE the statement “Advocacy begins in the classroom”! The
world language classroom will be the strongest and loudest voice for world
languages for all students, and it has to demonstrate how it can be a
successful, relative, important and valued experience for all students. In
order to do that, we need to work on changing the world language classroom
experience, particularly for students from groups traditionally
underrepresented in our classrooms. (See suggestions to guide changes
below and at the end of the article!)
Advocacy begins in the classroom—some questions:
What would the classroom look like in ten years, if all students were
successfully learning a world language?
What would have to change to accomplish this? How will it happen?
If the growth of world language instruction depended upon what happened
in your classroom, what would you want your classroom to look like?
What would have to change for that to happen? How will you go about it?
If you were able to retain ALL students that start your class, what strategies
did you use to accomplish such retention? What would have to change for
that to happen? How will you go about it?
II. Advocacy as an Individual
No matter what you are advocating or to whom you are advocating
something, one must be aware of one’s own attitude and use just plain
common sense. Put yourself in the position of your audience: what basic
things make someone most effective in gaining your attention and support?
The handout, “Tips for Advocating for World Languages,” available at
(http://www.mctlc.org/newvisions/advguide.html and at the end of this
article, is the basis for this section and contains a summary of what we need
to remember as we approach other people about world languages learning.
However, I want to add the following points.
• Learn what “resonates” with your audience: What will hook them to
your issue? You need to get their attention, for them to realize that
your goal will also help them reach their goals. You need to know
what their goals are, and demonstrate to them how what you want will
help them meet their goals.
Example: If they want to raise their math test scores in their
schools, start teaching world languages. Then give the information
about the results in Louisiana, (Article listed below) and/or the many
other studies that show these results.
• When advocating for your issue, program, agenda, etc., find
something that you and your audience agree on and work from there.
If you cannot agree on whether or not to have a full time world
language coordinator in your state, maybe you can agree on the
importance of international education.
The section of resource articles at the end of this article is intentionally
broad. The range of people and situations we will be addressing also have a
broad spectrum of priorities and level of understanding regarding world
languages and culture. For example, materials aimed at parents of college
bound students most likely would not be the same as for administrators in a
district where raising test scores for all students is the top priority. Although
some articles could be useful for various people, you need to use reference
materials that will appeal to the priorities of your specific audience. Don't
just try to convince them of your viewpoint, tell them why world languages
will help them meet their priorities. Remember, this is not about you, but
your audience.
The areas that currently seem to be the highest priority just now are, in
varying order depending upon the audience:
1. Developing cognitive abilities and raising test scores of all students
2. Developing skills to cope today and in the future with a multicultural
society where we, the different constituents of this society, see each
other as different
3. Teaching skills that will enable our students to compete successfully
in a global world when they leave school, i.e., a "world class
education"
4. To learn world languages to meet the needs of our national security
just as "Sputnik" did in the 1950's.
5. To meet the world language requirements of secondary and post
secondary schools.
Which of these priorities is the most important to the person or group you
are addressing? To you? Find and use a quote or an article which addresses
this issue. You may use a quote and reference the source, hand out the whole
article and highlight the most appropriate portion or develop your own
library of background knowledge. The resources at the end of this article
will be helpful to you.
There is a final point that needs to be included when talking about
advocating for world languages and for your own classes. It seems lately that
when two or more language teachers get together their conversation revolves
around a series of topics including cuts to language programs, how over
worked and overwhelmed they are, and all the negatives that their world
language programs and teachers have been responding to. These topics
either start or finish many conversations and usually end with an equally
long list of “We can’t do _______. Fill in the blank with whatever task, idea
or plan of action was being put forth.
We cannot let ourselves be caught up in the futility of why something can’t
happen. If we start from this point, it will sap our energy, set up a defeatist
attitude, and stop creative thinking in its tracks. It accomplishes nothing
positive and is just plainly a “turn off.” People really don’t want to be part of
such a conversation for very long and even steer clear of others who
constantly focus on such topics.
Do businesses sit around a boardroom discussing why they can’t do
something? No, they discuss what needs to be done, what they want to do
and how they will do it. They create a strategy, they plan, and they move
forward. They talk about what WILL happen and HOW they will do it.
Marcia Rosenbusch, who initiated the idea for New Visions, now New
Visions in Action (NVIA), says she started NVIA because she had heard one
too many such conversations and decided it was time to do something more
than just complain and not have a plan to change any of these issues. We
need to learn from her.
It is about what you want to happen and what you will do to make it happen.
If you find yourself thinking why it can’t happen, you need to retrain
yourself to focus on what needs to happen, what you want to do, and how
you will do it. Frankly, we need our energy to go into creating change, we
need to be aware of protecting ourselves and our colleagues from such
defeatist conversations
III. Major Changes Impacting World Language Programs, the
People to whom we Advocate, and Our Response as Advocates
to these Changes
The Big Picture – Changes
There are many facets to advocating an issue to people. When we are
addressing people to advocate for world languages, we are only a piece of
their day, or their agenda, or their schedule, and usually not one of their
priorities. We need to be aware of how they, too, are reacting to the many
changes now occurring in education. There are a number of forces driving
change in world language learning and education today in the U.S. Let us
look at the big picture and break it down until we see how all these changes
have an impact on us and our audience, like “Planning Backward” for our
class lessons. This is a huge and complex topic. Many of the people in our
audience will tend to react to these changes by being “chronically
overwhelmed.” We need their support now and cannot wait until they are
better able to deal with new ideas and change, but we also need to realize
what is happening when we meet with such people. We need to keep our
message simple, clear, direct, and find some point that will “resonate” with
them.
Within various professional communities such as in the government in
Washington, D.C. and in businesses involved in exporting and importing,
there is a growing awareness of the globalization of the world today. Global
education, international education, other combinations of terms express this
and the need for our students to be educated in such a way that they will be
able to successfully make a transition into this world, and productively meet
the needs of this global society in the 21st century.
International companies have typically hired native speakers or trained their
own personnel. Companies such as 3M now also provide language lessons
for the families of their personnel going abroad. Business has not looked on
world language teachers as partners, but simply overlooked us, because our
students do not have the language skills or cultural knowledge they need.
Starting language training at a young age would enable students to reach
levels that approach those needed by business. International business helps
drive an awareness of globalism and has an impact on us daily, including our
pocketbooks, but we need to engage them as partners and work toward
meeting their needs and those of our students. Last year’s, 2005’s, trade
deficit was over $600 billion dollars and this year’s deficit is on track to go
over $700 billion. We need to compete more effectively to change that. We
know that world language teachers are part of that change.
Departments of the U.S. government, i.e., the State Department, the
Department of Defense, and the Commerce Department, are acutely aware
of their need for people who have language capabilities and knowledge of
the cultures of countries worldwide. The Department of Defense (DOD), and
other departments can no longer meet their needs by recruiting college
students and training personnel at their Language Institute in Monterey,
California. In June 2005 they spearheaded a national conference in Maryland
called the National Language Conference that brought the big hitters
together to start the process of identifying what needed to happen for the
U.S. to develop greater language capability and awareness. The white paper
from that conference is on the ACTFL and JNCL websites listed at the end
of the article. It calls for a National Language Authority Coordinator,
appointed by the President. This person would oversee a National Language
Coordination Council. At the conference, they realized that they could not
reach their goals without developing a system where the students in the U.S.
begin language learning at a young age, as is done in so many other
countries of the world. The Department of Defense has continued to work
closely with ACTFL and JNCL to increase funding and move the action
plans developed at this conference forward. The Department of Defense
has instituted a new plan, the Plan to Improve Foreign Language Expertise,
where ALL officers must reach language capability in a world language
other than English, in order to be promoted. The State Dept. has instituted a
policy where senior personnel must reach the superior level of language
competence in two languages, not just one, in order to be considered for
positions and/or promotions.
JNCL- Joint National Committee on Languages- J. David Edwards, the chief
lobbyist and the name you hear the most, is always in the middle of
legislation regarding world languages in Washington. The updates, current
news reports, and information are always on their website, on your sheet. It
also has information, such as Advocacy 101, etc. to help you. In spite of the
needs identified by the Department of Defense, State Department,
Commerce Department and the Department of Education, it takes a
tremendous amount of lobbying for any of the bills for money for world
languages to pass. There is a disconnect in Washington, just as there is in
our state legislatures, when it comes to understanding the needs and benefits,
and funding of world languages learning. They need our help. Cynthia
Wierzbieki, JNCL, said that just 50 letters to a legislator is considered a
really good turn out, and that often when they speak with congressional
legislators, they are told that no one has contacted them about any of the
legislation for world language learning. We hear the same thing from our
state legislators.
Another area that is an agent for change is the tremendous awareness of
“Global Education,” International Education,” preparing our students for the
21st century, but often there is no mention of world languages as being part
of that. We have to make people aware of that connection. It is a “nobrainer” to us, but decision makers frequently make remarks about education
for the 21st century, but then act as if our schools are preparing students for
life a hundred years ago. We still need to continually reinforce the
connection to world languages. Frequently, these decision makers have
grown up monolingually, have not seen the necessity for other languages
because of the hegemony of English.
Reforms in education have typically started at a national level, then spread.
That has been the path of recent educational reforms also. One of the most
profound changes in our profession has been the call to teach ALL, ALL
students a world language. This goal is cited in the mission statement or
position paper of numerous national organizations, just a few of which are
listed below. It is also called for in the No Child Left Behind Legislation by
being listed as a core academic subject.
Part of educational reform is the move from teachers being responsible for
what they presented their students, to being held accountable for what their
students can do with the information taught, how well they perform on “the
test.” Our entire profession is now organized around the performance of a
student and being able to meet the needs of all students. All the pieces are
coordinated—for students, ACTFL’s Standards for Foreign Language
Learning in the 21st Century, ACTFL’s Proficiency Guidelines, and NAEPNational Assessment of Educational Progress, for student teachers, NCATENational Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and for current
teachers, National Board Certification (NBC).
STATE LEVEL- Minnesota, but similar to most states
At the state level there are decisions that have an impact on our classrooms,
many to a greater degree than changes at the national level. State
educational funding cuts have hurt us deeply. Emphasis on test scores and
NCLB cut into world language programs, in spite of their being a core
subject under NCLB.
Minnesota New Visions in Action is trying to help teachers promote world
languages. We learned very quickly that the legislators and the
administrators, everyone, threw up their hands and rolled their eyes at the
mention of another mandate, or requirement on the schools and staff. We
also learned that we had to find a different tack that would “speak” to these
decision makers to support more world languages learning.
Look at our sheet! The Big Picture, it is all related and all of it has an impact
on us. Nothing is isolated. The national level is saying one thing and pushing
for more world languages. That requires us to deal with those changes, but
then on the other hand at the state and local level, we have to fight to be
taken seriously, as well as dealing with other challenges and changes. The
changes we are now seeing in education are as big as those over a hundred
years ago. This period of change will continue for years.
We all react to change in different ways, for some it causes stress, for some
it causes shock, fear. Some people embrace it and move forward. We need
to be alert to how our audience is responding to these changes, because it
will change how they respond to our issue when we speak with them.
One of the most dramatic changes in our field is the goal of teaching ALL
students world languages, which we will discuss more in the section IV next.
IV. World Languages for ALL Students
What reasons do we cite for students to learn a world language? At the high
school level? At the junior high? In the elementary levels? Whom do we see
when we list these benefits? The websites and studies listed below are full of
reasons why all students benefit from learning a world language. They
include cognitive, academic and societal advantages. If those reasons are all
valid for students that are college bound, or the students best equipped to be
successful after high school, don’t the rest of the students in our schools
need these benefits, skills and advantages also?
Myriam Met’s article, "Why Language Learning Matters," (see below!),
touches on the inequity of the typical lack of world language programs in
less affluent areas, that results in these students also losing out on the
cognitive, academic, and societal benefits gained from learning world
languages.
Imagine giving polio vaccine, or measles vaccine, etc. only to the richest
children, to children who have the best access to health care. We describe all
the advantages and needs for world languages, but withhold them from a
huge percentage of our students for whom these benefits and advantages are
crucial.
The College Board, AP Central has a strong statement on equity and the
need for college bound students of color to have access to and be learning
world languages at
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/article/0,,150-157-0-2200,00.html
A colleague had been telling her school board and administrators for years
that the schools in the poorest parts of their town also had the fewest world
language programs, despite the advantages of learning a world language.
One day she plotted the world language offerings, by school, on a city map.
When the administrators and board members saw that the world language
offerings were clustered in the more affluent areas of the city, they were
embarrassed. It had brought home the question of equity loud and clear.
Such patterns of access to world language training are a question of equity,
ethics and the will of the decision makers.
V.
Recruiting students for German
Administrators and parents today are frequently clamoring for Chinese. But
the reasons given for learning Chinese usually include reasons that are
equally valid for learning German. Germany is the fifth largest trading
partner of the U.S.. Germany is also a major trade partner for many states.
Every state has a trade office, with a website that will include information or
even graphs showing their major trading partners. If Chinese is needed for
trade, so is German.
There is great attention today on the need for languages seen as critical to
our current security and economic needs. We support that, but the reality is
that in Minnesota we have over 2200 highly qualified teachers of German,
French and Spanish, at the elementary and secondary level, but fewer than
25 teachers of Chinese, and only a couple of teachers of Arabic. It will take
years to train teachers of Arabic and other languages critical today, and just
as long to train more teachers of Chinese.
Ambassador Michael Lemmon, Dean of the U.S. State Department’s School
of Language Study in the Foreign Service Institute in 2004, currently at the
National Defense University, addressed the national conference of foreign
language teachers in November 2004. The State Department and the military
are looking for students who have already learned one or more languages.
These students are able to learn another language much faster than students
who have not had any prior world language training. Students need to be
learning a language now, not waiting until a teacher of a particular language
is ready years from now. The broader public needs to understand this. As
teachers of Chinese and other languages become available at the elementary
and secondary level, our students need the opportunity to learn these
languages also.
SECTION 1- RESOURCES and REFERENCES
Good Resources related to making changes within your classroom
What to teach? Standards for Foreign language Learning in the 21st Century
ACTFL (www.actfl.org)
How to teach? National Board Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)
Standards- World Languages Other than English
www.nbpts.org/pdf/ecya_wloe.pdf)
What should students be able to do -ACTFL – Performance Guidelines for
K-12 Learners (www.actfl.org)
Understanding by Design
Grant Wiggins, Jay McTighe, Merrill Prentice Hall with ASCD
(www.merrilleducation.com) ISBN 0-13-093058-X
Teacher’s Handbook, Contextualized Language Instruction, 3rd Ed
Judith Shrum, Eileen Glisan Thomson/Heinle (www.thomson.com/learning)
ISBN 1-4130-0462-8
Languages and Children, Making the Match, 3rd Ed.
Helena Curtain, Carol Ann Dahlberg, Pearson Education
(www.pearsonatschool.com) ISBN 0-205-36675-9
(May also be ordered from the AATG store- www.aatg.org)
ACTFL – New Visions in Action, Curriculum, Instruction, Articulation,
Assessment Strand – Criteria to Evaluate Program Models for Diverse
Students. (http://www.nflrc.iastate.edu/nva/newsite/ciaa/ciaa_resourc.html)
This is a three- page list of characteristics that are helpful as a resource when
designing classrooms that successfully meet the needs of all students.
Ruby Payne materials- (http://ahaprocess.com/) Good information/ideas for
all students, not just those targeted by her materials
Action Research – Creating Change in your Classroom.This is a powerful
tool to enable you to evaluate some activity or practice in your classroom. It
can also help you understand why or if some practice or activity is
successful in reaching your goals. (This article is attached to the end of this
section –page 19)
SECTION TWO- RESOURCES AND REFERENCES
How to Advocate: Handouts/ websites that are helpful
The following website, from Minnesota New Visions in Action includes
many articles that are helpful in advocating for world languages, including
the following four resources.
http://www.mctlc.org/newvisions/legcontents.html
1. Tips for Advocating for World Languages
http://www.mctlc.org/newvisions/advguide.html
2. The articles listed below are particularly helpful. "Why Language
Learning Matters" by Miriam Met (2001) Educational Leadership. ASCD:
Alexandria, VA. (http://www.mctlc.org/newvisions/legcontents.html)
3. Louisiana Elementary School Foreign Language Study, Executive
Summary" (Fall 2004) in Learning Languages. National Network for Early
Language Learning: Winston-Salem, NC.
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:8GTAPl2gO_EJ:etd02.lnx390.lsu.edu
/docs/available/etd1103103111054/unrestricted/01FrontMatter.pdf+%22Carolyn+Taylor%22+
%2B+%22Foreign+Language%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8)
4. Foreign Language Education For ALL (!!!) Students
(http://www.mctlc.org/newvisions/legcontents.html)
Promoting a Language Proficient Society: What You Can Do.
ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics #ED441349
Title: ERIC Digest. Authors :Marcos, Kathleen M.; Peyton, Joy Kneeft;
Is available at http://www.cal.org/ericcll/digest/0001promoting.html
Tips for Advocates (Article can be found at the end of this section- page 26)
What Teachers Can Do to Advocate for World Languages (Article can be
found at the end of this section- page 26)
This website contains tips for actually talking with others about world
languages http://www.mctlc.org/newvisions/advocating.html
ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics #ED441349
Title: Promoting a Language Proficient Society: What You Can Do. ERIC
Digest. Authors :Marcos, Kathleen M.; Peyton, Joy Kneeft; Gives list of
things that people at all levels can do to promote world language learning,
including how to write letters, speak with someone, etc. Available at
http://www.cal.org/ericcll/digest/0001promoting.html
www.languagepolicy.org
Joint National Committee for Languages and the National Council for
Languages and International Studies (JNCL-NCLIS)
This national member organization promotes the idea that all Americans
must have the opportunity to learn and use English and at least one other
language. The JNCL-NCLIS website features information about pending
legislation related to language learning and international studies, press
releases on what is happening on Capitol Hill, funding opportunities and
more. The site also includes information on mounting a letter writing and
advocacy campaign for foreign languages under the menu item, Advocacy
101.
Central States Conference of ACTFL – advocacy site with many helpful
links. http://www.centralstates.cc/17states.html
National Network for Early Language Learning (NNELL) has a good
section on advocating for elementary world language programs
www.nnell.org
Background articles for IV. World Language Learning for All Students:
Organizations/well known people calling for World Language Education for
ALL students. There are many organizations calling for world languages for
all students at the national level, although their state level organizations
may not be particularly helpful in working toward this goal.
The articles listed below are particularly helpful.
"Why Language Learning Matters" by Miriam Met (2001) Educational
Leadership. ASCD: Alexandria, VA.
(http://www.mctlc.org/newvisions/legcontents.html)
The College Board, AP Central. Their statement at this site speaks to equity
and the need /importance for college bound students of color to have access
to and to learn foreign languages.
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/article/0,,150-157-0-2200,00.html
Annotated Bibliographies
Research in Support of Elementary School Foreign Language Learning
The bibliography, compiled by Carol Ann Pesola and Helena Curtain,
includes research that shows the benefits of early language learning. The
bibliography is divided into two parts:
http://www.cal.org/earlylang/benbi1.htm
http://www.yearoflanguages.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3653
The Effect of Second Language Learning on Test Scores, Intelligence and
Achievement--An Annotated Bibliography
Prepared by Elizabeth L. Webb, Program Specialist for Foreign Languages
and International Education
Georgia Department of Education: Cooper, T. C. (1987). Foreign Language
Study and SAT-Verbal Scores. The Modern Language Journal, 71/4, 381387. http://www.mctlc.org/newvisions/legscores.html
President Bush launches the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI)
http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=4249
US Department of Education, No Child Left Behind legislation lists foreign
languages as a core subject.
(11) CORE ACADEMIC SUBJECTS- The term core academic subjects'
means English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign
languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography.
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/ESEA02/pg107.html#sec901
American Council on the Teaching of Languages and Cultures “2005-2015:
Realizing Our Vision of Languages for All” Audrey L. Heining-Boynton,
Editor, ISBN 0-13-196347-3
www.ACTLC.org
National Network for Early Language Learning, Position Paper on early
language learning for all
http://www.nnell.org/nnell_position.php
Center for Applied Linguistics / Report “FOREIGN LANGUAGE
TEACHING: What the United States Can Learn From Other Countries”
Ingrid Pufahl, Nancy C. Rhodes, and Donna Christian
Available at either of these sites
http://www.cal.org/ericcll/countries.html , summary
http://www.nnell.org/nnell_position.php
Center for Economic Development
Education for Global Leadership: The Importance of International Studies
and Foreign Language Education for U.S. Economic and National Security
which focuses on improving language and international education in the
U.S. for all students.
http://www.ced.org/projects/educ_forlang.shtml
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (www.ascd.org)
Educational Leadership, (Their journal) Vol. 62, No. 4, December 2004
/January 2005
(http://www.ascd/publications/ed_lead200412/cutshall.html)
North Carolina State Board of Education “Balanced Curriculum” Paper
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/downloads/balancedcurriculum.
pdf
The Asia Society/ www.asiasociety.org
International Education, States Prepare for the Global Age
http://www.internationaled.org/statespreparefortheglobalage.htm
Educating Leaders for a Global Society
http://www.internationaled.org/educatingleaders.htm
National Association of Secondary School Principals – NASSP Bulletin,
January 2000, “Foreign Language for a Global Tomorrow”
(http://www.nassp.org/s_nassp/sec_abstracts.asp?CID=42&DID=42)
COUNCIL FOR BASIC EDUCATION NEWS RELEASE
Academic Atrophy: The Condition of the Liberal Arts in America’s Public
Schools” http://www.c-b-e.org/news/nr040308.htm
National Asociation of School Boards of Education
“The Complete Curriculum” October 2003, Ensuring a place for the arts and
foreign languages in American's schools
http://www.nasbe.org/archives/10_21_1_03.html - is a summary of the
article. The full 32 page article can be ordered at the web address below
http://www.nasbe.org/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Cod
e=N&Product_Code=TCC&Category_Code=MNR
NAFSA, Association of International Educators
“Securing America’s Future: Global Education for a Global Age” November
2003 Can be downloaded at
http://www.NAFSA.org/public_policy.sec/public_policy_document/study_a
broad_1/securing_america_s_future
“Do We Have the Will to Educate All Children?” Asa Hilliard III, Education
Leadership, September, 1991, pages 31-36
“Lessons Learned: Model Early Foreign Language Programs” Douglas F.
Gilzow and
Lucinda E. Branaman, ISBN1-887744-63-0, www.cal.org Describes seven
elementary foreign language programs that also teach all students.
Resources for V. German for All Students
There are many resources for German for students and we will not
list them here, but assume that a German teacher already has these
materials. We will list just the following resource from Goethe
Institute because their materials are particularly multicultural and
up to date. They reflect and speak to a diverse group of students.
Goethe-Institute USA
“Pro-Deutsch – Promoting Your German Program” New huge advocacy
binder includes great resources for every aspect of advocating for German.
Good multicultural representation of German students. Topics include:
Foreign language learning today, Why learn another language, Why learn
German, Resources, and Advocacy. It is a revision of the “Werbemappe”
http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/prj/pdt/enindex.htm
Pro-Deutsch as a (hardcover) binder can be ordered for $10.00 from: AATG
112 Haddontowne Circle #104, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034-3668, Tel. 856-7955553
The Alle Lernen Deutsch Website, listed below, has many resources
listed that reflect a diverse population both in German and in the US. Many
of these materials also work well when advocating or recruiting/retaining
students of color learn German.
http://ald.aatg.org/
http://ald.aatg.org/resources/
http://ald.aatg.org/resources/general/links/
http://www.isoplan.de/aid/index.htm
http://www.Berlin.de/lb/intmig/publikationen/religion/kalender.html
http://www.beys.de/berlinertulpe/content/content_10.htm
www.hamburger-tulpe.de -good multicultural pix
ACTION Research - Creating Change in your
Classroom
As the name implies, it is research intended to provide you with information
you can use to address some need or goal you have identified in your
classroom. You can use action research to make your classroom a more
productive place for your students to learn.
STEPS:
1. Brainstorm about your classroom. What can you think of that needs to
be changed? Especially with regards to your students’ language
proficiency or performance?
2. Write a list of things you would like to improve or change in your
classroom.
3. Decide on one item on this list to develop into an action research
project.
4. Brainstorm as many ideas as you can to address and change the issue
you chose in number three. Make a list.
5. Decide on one idea that would be doable and realistically improve the
situation you chose to address.
6. Plan what you will need to do to make this plan operational, i.e. develop
your “action plan.”
A. Do you need some background or help to develop your plan?
Classes? Conferences? Books? A mentor? Identify and plan how
you will do that.
B. Identify and set your long term, intermediate and short term goal
or goals.
How will you know that you have achieved them? What records
will you need to keep in order to compare ‘before’ and ‘after’?
How will you set that up? Don’t be afraid to set your goals high,
but be realistic. You will achieve more by setting your goals high,
even if you do not achieve them, than you will by setting your
goals too low and reaching them. If you are doing this as part of a
formal staff development plan such as Q Comp, and your work
will be reviewed by your peers, you will be expected to set
meaningful goals, not just fill out some paperwork. Your
credibility is important. If your school is part of a program such
as Q Comp, your work will be part of the data decision makers
will look at to determine the success or value of the Q Comp plan.
C. Develop your calendar, plan backwards, when do you want the
pieces of your action plan in place?
D. Brainstorm/research classroom activities you will use to help you
achieve your goal. How will you do them? When? Do you have
some backup activities?
7. Start. Do it. If you do this diligently, you will see changes in your
classroom.
Tips for Advocates
Know What You Want the Legislators to Remember: This is the
most important item you need to figure out
Be Brief and to the Point: Be as concise as you can when explaining
complicated points. Make every statement count.
Be Accurate: Legislators need to know they can depend on your
information; don’t exaggerate the consequences or the benefits.
Don’t Fudge: If you don’t know the answer, say so, then go and find it.
If You Promise Something, Follow Through: Even if you think
they won’t remember and don’t really care.
Be Polite and Respectful: Don’t argue, just make your points. Be on
time for meetings.
Listen to their Concerns: Respond politely, ask questions to clarify.
Find a solution if possible.
Compromise if You Can: If you can make a friend by agreeing to a
small change, do it.
Never Threaten: No matter how mad someone makes you or how
disappointed you are in someone’s actions.
Your Credibility is Crucial. Your Reputation is All You Have.
What will they take away from their encounter with you?
What Teachers Can Do To Advocate for World Languages
National and State Level
1. Create a calendar—do one thing a month to advocate for world
languages
2. Make a list of your congressional and state legislators, with their
addresses
3. Create a sample letter to which you can make quick appropriate
changes and mail off quickly throughout the sessions, as needed.
4. Invite a legislator or administrator or decision maker to visit your
class. Develop relationships with all your legislators.
5. Join and be active in MCTLC. Also MnNew Visions, if possible.
6. Work together on an advocacy project. Check out the 2005 Year
of
Languages (now 2006: Discover Languages, Discover the World)
website for ideas. (www.yearoflanguages.org)
7. Your ideas______________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Local Level
1. Contact service groups and solicit their support for world
languages and international education.
2. Develop ties with local businesses that export/import and see
how you can help one another.
3. Your ideas
___________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
School/Classroom Level
1. Welcome/recruit/retain all students to your classroom.
2. Develop a curriculum that addresses the needs of all students and
enables them to be successful. Model this attitude for administrators,
other teachers, counselors, students and parents. Convey that all
students need world languages.
• Develop an action research project based on your class
• Videotape yourself and students during the class.
• See how you can benefit/make use of new state programs for your
professional development.
3. Invite legislators, decision makers, administrators to your classroom.
Sell world language learning.
4. Develop a service learning project that will highlight use of world
languages
5. Be a team player.
6. Your ideas
____________________________________________________
Making Connections Locally: Using the City or Town as
Text and Resource
Janice D. M. Mitchell, Ed.D.
Resource #1: “Using the City or Town as Text and Resource”
Region: Washington, D. C.
Language(s): English and beginning level German
Time required: A full day 8:30-5 p.m. *( 7 pm )
Target audience: Educators, secondary students, parents
Underrepresented student groups
Additional resources: Transportation to a central site from which to branch
out in a specific connected area which can be reached by walking, if
possible. (The use of the Gallaudet University shuttle to the main train
station, Union Station, the focal meeting point for the walking tour
experience.)
Purpose: The City as Text and Resource Walking Tour in Washington, D. C.
was developed and arranged by the author, a German professor who is a
native Washingtonian. Contacts were made with the following city
resources:
• The Goethe Institute—
- Two-hour Introduction and Walking Tour that links the early
Germans with abolition and the architecture of very important
historical educational institutions (The Franklin School and the
Charles Sumner School) and the history of slavery and segregation of
the nation’s capital; and churches in the predominately African
American nation’s capital. (Website link: http://www.goethe.de)
-A movie-showing of recent filming by diverse directors about
diverse topics on German multiculturalism
- A representative to talk to the group about resources and new
programs
• The Café Mozart-----Lunch at one of the city’s oldest German-owned
restaurants in the heart of downtown.
• The CoRAL Network---An educational research and learning network
that focuses on social justice through community-based research and
learning in all disciplines at the postsecondary level, but with
connections to those working to bridge educational gaps through
reciprocal research and service learning projects within the city.
(There are several around the country: Website
link:http://www.coralnetwork.org) The staff is housed in the very
historical “M” Street Perry School where W. E. Dubois once taught.
• The Café Berlin—German Restaurant for dinner*
• Return to Union Station, take the Shuttle back to the University
Resource #2. A dessert and coffee hour.
Region: Washington, D. C.
Languages: English or German
Time required: 20-25 minutes
Target audience: Adults and postsecondary and high school seniors
A twenty-five minute evening reading for ALD members of “Communist
Ghosts” in English, by Mrs. Lilly Pierce—her story as a Romanian-German
woman escaping to freedom amidst abuse, and who later risked her life to
bring her mother and grandmother to Germany and the U.S. to freedom.
Mrs. Pierce lives in the D.C. area with her husband and was asked to come
as a ‘surprise’ guest to share her story which is currently being translated
into Romanian.
Resource #3.
Region: Washington, D.C.
Languages: English
Time requirement: 90 minutes
Target Audience: Educators and administrators of study abroad programs
The German Embassy. A representative visited for 90 minutes to share
information as to study abroad opportunities for students from
underrepresented groups and the push and support for more attention to the
study of world languages and cultures in the U.S.
Try it!
Such organizations exist and such interesting people live around us all;
we must search them out and share them with our students and
colleagues. The coffee was from the faculty lounge; the cookies from a
great bakery and the Strudel—a surprise from Mrs. Pierce’s mother. She
has taught both for the Goethe Institute and a Defense group at the
University of Maryland. We met her quite by accident and she graciously
accepted to do this. We were very grateful and enlightened. The others
were organizations in the area who were eager to participate in this
learning activity to broaden our own thinking about our work and
develop a resource guide for your use in our effort to educate our current
student body and increase our German language class enrollments with
more diverse- heritage students.
Making Connections Locally
Karen Fowdy. (Additional input: John Long and Janice Mitchell)
Before teaching the unit, it is vital that the teacher take the first step in
“connections” by becoming informed about the histories of the
underrepresented group(s), both in the U.S. and in the German speaking
cultures. Without this background, it is difficult to accurately address the
Standards of Comparisons (Standard 4.2: Students demonstrate
understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures
studied and their own). In addition to the resources in this Guide, the
teacher can find a wealth of information on the Alle lernen Deutsch website,
including an extensive bibliography and contact information for individuals
with whom the teacher can connect and consult.
Connecting with other disciplines: (Standard 3.1 Students reinforce and
further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language.)
Become familiar with the Content Standards, curricula, and course syllabi of
other disciplines in your institution to find ways to support, enrich, and
expand the curriculum with resources from German speaking countries.
For example:
Connect with...
…History by expanding the study of World War II to include the
situation for Afro-Germans, Sinti, Roma, and other underrepresented
groups, in addition to the persecution of the Jewish people in the Third
Reich
…English by becoming a resource to teachers of World or European
Literature or Literature of Minorities classes, by recommending or coteaching materials about multicultural German speaking groups. Use
resources from this website (essays, personal stories, movies, books,
Internet resources) to expand the scope of the information available to
your colleagues.
…Art and Music by sharing background and examples of work by
multicultural artists from German cultures.
…Business classes by having German students create and share “culture
capsules” that demonstrate the importance of understanding other
cultures in the global economy. Include the multicultural nature of the
German culture in the presentation.
…other classrooms around the world through programs such as
iEARN (www.iEarn.org) to work on intercultural, interdisciplinary
projects.
Within your own German curriculum:
Does your curriculum reflect the multicultural nature of the German
speaking countries? Look for ways to address the Culture Standard more
accurately by adding thematic units that address the underrepresented groups
and their histories in German speaking countries. Update and enrich the
Culture (Products and Practices) Standards in your curriculum units to
include examples of multicultural Germany. Check the resource list in this
guide and on the Alle lernen Deutsch website for background information,
movies, posters, music, essays, personal stories, and internet resources.
Examples:
• The posters and visuals displayed in your room should reflect the
multicultural faces of German speaking countries.
• Use music and lyrics by popular current German multicultural groups
(like Afrob, Brother’s Keepers, Sister’s Keepers, Xavier Naidoo, Joy
Denalane, Tarkan, Aziza A, or Mokka) as resources for thematic
units in your curriculum.
• Display student work from presentational performance tasks done for
multicultural units. If you teach the unit from the ALD website about
the African Diaspora in Germany, display the student work in the
school library or display case during Black History month, or as a
special exhibit during the year.
• During international fairs, parent evenings, etc. present the
multicultural face of German culture through your displays and
activities throughout the year.
Connecting with the Community
(Standard 5.1 Students use the language both within and beyond the school
setting.)
Find and incorporate resources in your community to connect to the history
of the underrepresented groups in your area and in the German speaking
cultures.
• Invite guest speakers to your classroom. Locate individuals
who have a connection to the underrepresented groups in the
German speaking countries by contacting a nearby university,
Ethnic heritage group, or one of the consultants listed at the
Alle lernen Deutsch website.
• Contact the German Heritage groups in your area to find
historical connections to underrepresented groups (e.g. German
immigrants were influential in abolitionist movements,
including the Underground Railroad. What roles did these
immigrants play in the history of the underrepresented groups
your area?)
• If you are in a school that has a homogeneous study body,
connect with the German teacher in a school that has a more
diverse population. Create a pen pal, e-pal, or teacher exchange
with German as your common bond.
• Create an oral, video, or written history of German-speaking
immigrants in your area by organizing and facilitating
interviews by your students.
• Outreach to other schools—if your students work with younger
students (university to secondary or secondary students to
middle and elementary schools), seek opportunities to share the
multicultural nature of the German culture with the students and
the German studies faculty.
• Take a field trip, using the “city or area as text and resource.”
Focus on connections between the history of German
immigrants and the history of underrepresented ethnic groups in
the U.S. (For example: Contact the Goethe Institute in
Washington D.C. for information about the Cultural Heritage
Trail Series: Germans and Abolition in Washington, D.C.)
• Consider incorporating Service Learning into your German
curriculum. Explore the Community Research and Learning
Network (www.coralnetwork.org) for sample programs.
Making Connections- Bibliography of sources of
information
Leroy Hopkins, Ph.D
Banks, James A., and Cherry A. McGee Banks. Handbook of Research on
Multicultural Education. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004.
Barth, Melissa, Thomas McLaughlin, and James A. Winders, eds. Reading for
Difference: Texts on Gender, Race, and Class. New York: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, 1993.
---. Multicultural Education, Transformative Knowledge, and Action : Historical
and Contemporary Perspectives. Multicultural Education Series (New York,
N.Y.). New York: Teachers College Press, 1996.
Beitter, Ursula, Ed. Literatur und Identitaet: Deutsch-deutsche Befindlichkeiten
und die multikulturelle Gesellschaft. New York: P. Lang, 2000.
Benseler, David P., Craig W. Nickisch, and Cora Lee Nollendorfs. Teaching
German in Twentieth-Century America. Madison: University of Wisconsin
Press, 2001.
Bialystok, Ellen. Communication Strategies : A Psychological Analysis of SecondLanguage Use. Applied Language Studies. Oxford, UK ; Cambridge, Mass.,
USA: B. Blackwell, 1990.
Böhncke, Heiner und Harald Wittich, Eds. Buntesdeutschland. Ansichten zu einer
multikulturellen Gesellschaft. Reinbeck: Rowohlt, 1991.
Bräuer, Gerd. Pedagogy of Language Learning in Higher Education : An
Introduction. Advances in Foreign and Second Language Pedagogy ; V. 2.
Westport, Conn.: Ablex, 2001
Clark, Irene L., ed. Writing About Diversity: An Argument Reader and Guide.
Philadelphia: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1994.
Davis, James D. “Reflections on the History and Future of Foreign Language
Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.” Reflecting on the
Past to Shape the Future. Eds. Diane W. Birkbichler, Robert M. Terry and
James J. Davis. Lincolnwood: National Textbook Co., 2000.
Davis, James J. and Paul L. Markham. “Student Attitudes toward Foreign
Language Study at Historically and Predominantly Black Institutions.”
Foreign Language Annals 24.3 (1991): 227-36. Delpit, Lisa. Other People's
Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. The New Press: New York,
1995.
Engelmann, Bernt. Du Deutsch? Geschichte der Ausländer in Deutschland.
Göttingen: Steidel Verlag, 1991.
Flood, John L., John L. Flood, and University of London. Institute of Germanic
Studies. Modern Swiss Literature : Unity and Diversity : Papers from a
Symposium. 1985.
Friedrichsmeyer, Sara, Lennox, Sara, Zantop, Susanne, eds. The Imperialist
Imagination. German colonialism and its Legacy. Ann Arbor: The
University of Michigan Press 1998.
Funke, Maurice R., and Robert Di Donato. Neue Grenzen : A German Cultural
Reader. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993.
Gienow-Hecht, Jessica C. E., and Frank Schumacher. Culture and International
History. Explorations in Culture and International History Series. New York:
Berghahn Books, 2003.
Guillaume, Jr., Alfred. "Whose Language is it Anyway?: Minority Participation
Within Our Reach." Bulletin of the Association of Departments of Foreign
Languages: Chairing the Foreign Language and Literature Department.
Special Issue. 25.3 (1994): 65-68.
Guillaumin, C. "RASSE, Das Wort und die Vorstellung. " In: U. Bielefeld Ed. Das
Eigene und das Fremde Hamburg: Jamus, 1991, p. 159-173.
Henderson, Ingeborg. "Multikulturalismus als Unterrichtsgegenstand." Die
Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German. 27.2 (1994): 29-33.
Hohendahl, Peter Uwe. German Studies in the United States : A Historical
Handbook. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003.
Hopkins, Leroy T., Jr. “Expanding the Canon: Afro-German Studies.” Die
Unterrichtspraxis 25.2 (1992): 121-26.
Howard, Gary R. We Can't Teach What We Don't Know : White Teachers,
Multiracial Schools. 2nd ed. New York: Teachers College Press, 2006.
Huber, Bettina J. “Incorporating Minorities into Foreign Language Programs: The
Challenge of the Nineties.” ADFL Bulletin 21.2 (1990): 12-19.
Jackson, Philip W., and American Educational Research Association. Handbook of
Research on Curriculum : A Project of the American Educational Research
Association. New York: Maxwell Macmillan International, 1992.
Jefferson, Louise M. "Adapting Black Francophone Literature to the Secondary
School Classroom," in Creating Opportunities for Excellence Through
Language: Selected Papers from the 1996 Central States Conference. Eds.
Emily Spinelli, Linda Harlow, and Jacqueline Moase-Burke. Lincolnwood,
IL: National Textbook Company, 1996.
Ladson-Billings, Gloria. Beyond the Big House : African American Educators on
Teacher Education. New York: Teacher College Press, 2005.
---. Critical Race Theory Perspectives on the Social Studies : The Profession,
Policies, and Curriculum. Research in Social Education. Greenwich, Conn.:
Information Age Pub., 2003.
---. "Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy." American Education
Research Journal: 32.3 (1995): 465-91.
Ladson-Billings, Gloria, and William F. Tate. Education Research in the Public
Interest : Social Justice, Action, and Policy. New York: Teachers College
Press, 2006.
Lohnes, Walter F. W., and Valters Nollendorfs. German Studies in the United
States : Assessment and Outlook. Madison: Published for Monatshefte [by]
University of Wisconsin Press, 1976.
Lorenz, Dagmar C. G., and Renate S. Posthofen. Transforming the Center, Eroding
the Margins : Essays on Ethnic and Cultural Boundaries in GermanSpeaking Countries. Columbia, S.C.: Camden House, 1998.
Mahalingam, Ram, and Cameron McCarthy. Multicultural Curriculum : New
Directions for Social Theory, Practice and Policy. New York: Routledge,
2000.
Malik, Jamal. Muslims in Europe : From the Margin to the Centre. Münster.
Piscataway, NJ: Lit; Distributed in North America by Transaction
Publishers, 2004.
McBride, David, Leroy Hopkins, and Carol Blackshire-Belay. Crosscurrents :
African Americans, Africa, and Germany in the Modern World. Columbia,
SC: Camden House, 1998.
McCarthy, Cameron and Warren Crichlow, eds. Race. Identity, and Representation
in Education. New York: Routledge, 2005. 2nd ed.
Mecheril, Paul and Thomas Teo Eds. Andere Deutsche: Zur Lebens-Situation von
Menschen multiethnischer und multikultureller Herkunft. Dieitz Verlag,
Berlin 1994.
Moeller, Aleidine J. and Mary Ashcraft. "Creating a Culturally Relevant
Environment for the African American Learner in the Language Classroom,"
in Building Community Through Language Learning: Selected Papers from
the 1997 Central States Conference. Eds. Robert Di Donato, GaleK. Crouse,
and Dena Bachman. Lincolnwood, IL: National. Textbook Company, 1997:
58-76.
Moore, Zeena. “African American Students’ Opinions About Foreign Language
Study: An Explanatory Study of Low Enrollments at the College Level.”
Foreign Language Annals 38.2 (1999): 191-199.
Mullen, Edward J. "Foreign Language Departments and the New
Multiculturalism," in Profession 92. New York: The Modern Language
Association of America, 1992.
Nieto, Sonia. Affirming Diversity : The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural
Education. 4th ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2004.
Nirumand, Bahnman, Ed. Angst vor den Deutschen. Reinbek bei Hamburg:
Rowohlt, 1992. Adams, Maurianne, Lee Anne Bell, and Pat Griffin, eds.
Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice: A Sourcebook. New York:
Routledge, 1997.
Osborn, Terry A. Language and Cultural Diversity in U.S. Schools : Democratic
Principles in Action. Educate Us,. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers,
2005.
Perry, Theresa and James W. Fraser, eds. Freedom's Plow: Teaching in the
Multicultural Classroom. New York: Routledge, 1993.
Peters, George F. “Integrating Culture in Beginning German.” Die
Unterrichtspraxis 36.2 (2003): 102-134.
Peters, George F. “Report and Recommendations of the Committee for the
Recruitment and Retention of Minorities in German.” Die Unterrichtspraxis
26.1 (1993): 97-98.
Peters, George F., ed. Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German: Focus on Diversity
(Special Issue). 25.2 (1992).
Peters, George F., and American Association of Teachers of German. Teaching
German in America : Past Progress and Future Promise : A Handbook for
Teaching and Research. Cherry Hill, NJ: American Association of Teachers
of German, 2002.
Pizer, John David. The Idea of World Literature : History and Pedagogical
Practice. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2006.
Reagan, Timothy G. Language, Education, and Ideology : Mapping the Linguistic
Landscape of U.S. Schools. Contemporary Language Education. Westport,
Conn.: Praeger, 2002.
Rosenthal, Judith W. Handbook of Undergraduate Second Language Education.
Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum, 2000.
Scholz, Hannelore and Britta Baume. Der Multikulturelle Weibliche Blick. Band I
der gleichnamigen Schriftreihe. Berlin: trafo, 1995.
Scott, Barbara Ann, and Richard P. Sloan. The Liberal Arts in a Time of Crisis.
New York: Praeger, 1991.
Sears, James T. Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Issues in Education : Programs,
Policies, and Practices. New York: Harrington Park Press, 2005.
Shor, Ira. Empowering Education: Critical Teaching for Social Change. Chicago:
U of Chicago P, 1992.
Sleeter, Christine E., and Carl A. Grant. Making Choices for Multicultural
Education : Five Approaches to Race, Class, and Gender. Wiley/Jossey-Bass
Education. 4th ed. New York: J. Wiley & Sons, 2003.
Sleeter, Christine, ed. Empowerment Through Multicultural Education. Albany:
State U of New York P, 1991.
Snyder, Barbara, et al. Second Language Acquisition : Preparing for Tomorrow :
Selected Papers from the 1986 Central States Conference. Lincolnwood, Ill.,
U.S.A.: National Textbook Co., 1986.
Spring, Joel H. Deculturalization and the Struggle for Equality : A Brief History of
the Education of Dominated Cultures in the United States. 4th ed. Boston:
McGraw-Hill, 2004.
Strupp, Christoph, et al. German Americana, 1800-1955 : A Comprehensive
Bibliography of German, Austrian, and Swiss Books and Dissertations on
the United States. Publications of the German Historical Institute.
Washington, DC: German Historical Institute, 2005.
Tatum, Beverly. "Talking About Race, Learning About Racism: The Application
of Racial Identity Development Theory in the Classroom." Harvard
Educational Review 62.1 (1992): 1-24.
Trachtenberg, Stephen Joel. “Multiculturalism Can Be Taught Only by
Multicultural People.” Phi Delta Kappan 71.8 (1990): 610-11.
Trachtenberg, Stephen Joel. Reflections on Higher Education. Westport, CT: Oryx
Press, 2002
Van Cleve, John Walter, and A. Leslie Willson. Remarks on the Needed Reform of
German Studies in the United States. Studies in German Literature,
Linguistics, and Culture (Unnumbered). 1st ed. Columbia, SC: Camden
House, 1993.
Veteto-Conrad, Marilya. “Turks in the Federal Republic of Germany and Their
German-Language Literature as the Basis for a Fourth-Semester German
Course. Die Unterrichtspraxis 25.2 (1992): 144-52.
Wlodkowski, Raymond J., and Margery B. Ginsberg. Diversity and Motivation :
Culturally Responsive Teaching. 1st ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Publishers, 1995.
Making Connections with the World Community
Leroy Hopkins, Ph.D.
In seeking to make connections with the world community it is important to
realize:
1) Like the U.S., the German-speaking world is culturally diverse
with numerous ethnic and racial minorities.
2) Since German is a world language the impact of German language
and culture is found not just in Europe but also in Africa, the
Americas, the Caribbean, Asia, and the Pacific.
To help students understand and learn from German connections to the
world community, a secure knowledge base on the various groups involved
in the connections must be provided. Furthermore, students need to
understand not only specific historical contexts but also how intercultural
contacts with the German-speaking world have contributed to American as
well as the Germanic culture. The following annotated bibliography of
essays and personal stories in German and English is not intended to be
comprehensive. Our intent is to provide some essential references and
suggest avenues for personal or group exploration.
Multicultural America:
Takakai, Ronald. A Different Mirror. A History of Multicultural America.
Little, Brown and Co.: Boston, 1993. ISBN 0-316-83111-5 [Covering
the period from the colonization of the New World to the LA riots of
1992 this excellent history provides an inclusive history of the U.S. A
must read for teachers who are concerned about diversity in their
Classrooms]
African-American History:
[There is, of course, an entire library of historical and contemporary
accounts on African Americans. Out of the myriad of excellent texts I have
chosen two authors who can legitimately be considered giants of AfricanAmerican historiography in the 20th century. Their books can be used as
portals to explore specific themes in the rich and varied history of persons of
African descent in America]
Franklin, John Hope. From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African
Americans, 8th edition, Knopf, 2000. ISBN 0375406719 [This is the
standard text for introductory African-American history classes. Dr.
Franklin is Harvard trained {incidentally, he had difficulty learning
German there: just an aside from me} and gives interesting insights.
Teachers can use portions for orientation]
Quarles, Benjamin. The Negro in the Making of America, 3rd editon,
Touchstone, 1996, ISBN 0684818884. [The late Dr. Quarles was a
profoundly learned scholar and his survey book can be read by
undergraduates or secondary students interested in the topic. Also
insightful for teachers]
Multicultural Germany
General Reference:
Bechhaus-Gerst, Marianne und Reinhard Klein-Arendt (hg). Die (koloniale)
Begegnung. AfrikanerInnen in Deutschland 1880-1945 Deutsche in
Afrika 1880-1918. Peter Lang, 2003. ISBN 1-57113-098-5
[Proceedings of the 2001 conference in Cologne; leading scholars in
the field explore the historical contexts of contacts between Africans
and Germans; primarily in German with some articles in English; for
teachers]
Debrunner, Hans Werner. Presence and Prestige: Africans in Europe before
1918. Basel, 1979. [Difficult to find but this is the definitive
encyclopedia of Africans who lived in diverse countries such as
France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and Italy from the Middle Ages up
to World War I; a must read for anyone wanting to deepen their
knowledge of historical interactions of Africans with Europeans]
Hopkins, Leroy T. Who is a German? Historical and Modern Perspectives
on Africans in Germany. American Institute for Contemporary
German Studies, 1999. ISBN 0-941441-38-5 (also available online).
[A usual orientation for teachers and advanced students interested in
the broad range of African and African-American interaction with
German society including academic as well as popular culture themes,
e.g hip hop and rap]
Horrocks, David and Eva Kolinsky (eds) Turkish Culture in German Society
Today. Berghahn Books, 1996.ISBN 1-57181-047-1 [excellent
introduction to subject matter with strong bibliography]
Kolinsky, Eva and David Horrocks (eds) Jewish Culture in German Society
Today. Berghahn Books, 1998. ISBN 1-57181-952-5 [another in the
series on German contemporary culture; a useful tool for
understanding the current situation]
Lotz, Rainer E. Black People: Entertainers of African Descent in Europe,
and Germany. Birgit Lotz Verlag: Bonn, 1997. ISBN 3-498-07662-0
[fascinating look at an aspect of intercultural exchange usually
neglected by academicians]
Lützeler, Paul Michael (hg) Schreiben zwischen den Kulturen.
Multikulturelle deutschsprachige Literatur der Gegenwart. Fischer
Taschenbuchverlag, 1996. ISBN 3-596-12962-1.
____________ (ed.) Multiculturalism in Contemporary German Literature.
Special edition of World Literature Today, Vol. 69, Nr. 3, Summer
1995. [These two items are German and English versions of selected
papers from the conference of same name at Washington University
(St. Louis) in 1995. Featured are original texts by German, Swiss, and
Austrian writers as well as from scholars treating Arab-German, AfroGerman, Post-colonial themes, and Ausländerliteratur. In the German
version is also an essay on Jewish-German Literature]
Martin, Peter. Schwarze Teufel, edle Mohren. Junius Verlag: Hamburg,
1993. ISBN 3-88850-6219-4. [This comprehensive overview of
Africans and African Americans in Germany from the Middle Ages
up to about 1850 is a fascinating survey for teachers with a good
proficiency in German and some historical knowledge]
____________ und Christine Alonzo (eds). Zwischen Charleston und
Stechschritt: Schwarze im Nationalsozialismus. Dölling und Gallitz
Verlag: Hamburg, 2004. ISBN 3-935549-84-9. [This catalogue to a
recent exhibit contains not only rare photographic materials but also
scholarly essays on a range of subjects that begin in Imperial
Germany and cover a wide range of topics on Black life between
1933-45. Can be used with advanced students with some editing]
Mazon, Patricia and Reinhild Steingröver (eds). Not So Plain as Black and
White. Afro-German Culture and History, 1890-2000. University of
Rochester Press: 2005. ISBN 1-58406-183-2 [The proceedings of a
2000 conference in at the University of Buffalo; presents an excellent
overview of cultural topics; useful as a resource]
McBride, David et al. Crosscurrents: African Americans, Africa, and
Germany in the Modern World. Camden House: Columbia, SC, 1998.
ISBN 1-57113-098-5. [Proceedings of the 1995 Penn State conference
that covered a broad spectrum of academic disciplines focused on
intercultural exchange]
Oguntoye, Katharina. Eine Afro-deutsche Geschichte. Zur Lebenssituation
von Afrikanern und Afro-Deutschen in Deutschland von 1884 bis
1950. Hoho Verlag Christine Hoffman: Berlin, 1997. ISBN 3-92912008-9. [research based on archival visits as well as personal interviews]
Reed-Anderson, Paulette. Berlin und die afrikanische Diaspora. Rewriting
the Footnotes. Die Ausländerbeauftragte des Berliner Senats, 2000.
[This book must be ordered from Berlin Senate. Its text is in German
and English and contextualizes the Black experience in Germany in
terms of Berlin. Hopefully it will be available in this country soon]
The Afro-German Experience: Essays and Personal Stories
Opitz, May et al. Farbe bekennen. Fischer Verlag. ISBN 3596110238
__________. Showing Our Colors: Afro-German Women Speak Out.
University of Massachusetts, 1992. ISBN 0-87023-759-4 [Only the
English translation of this seminal text is available. Used copies of the
original can be requested, however, from amazon.de]
AntiDiskriminierungsBüro Köln/cyberNomads (hg) The Black Book.
Deutschlands Häutungen. IKO-Verlag für Interkulturelle
Kommunikation, F/M, 2004. ISBN 3-88939-745-X [The continuation
of Farbe bekennen with some of the original contributors but with
expanded focus of two decades experiences. Entirely in German and
suitable only for teachers and advanced post-secondary students]
Harnisch, Antje et al (ed). Fringe Voices. An Anthology of Minority Writing
In the Federal Republic of Germany. Berg: NY, 1998. ISBN 1-85973132-5 [An excellent compilation of texts by Afro-Germans, JewishGermans, Aussiedler, Arab-Germans; in English and appropriate at all
levels]
Autobiographies/Biographies
Gerunde, Harald. Eine von uns. Als Schwarze in Deutschland geboren. Peter
Hammer, 2000. ISBN 3087294-844-X [a biography]
Huber, Charles Muhammed. Ein Niederbayer im Senegal. Mein Leben
Zwischen zwei Welten. Fischer, 2004. ISBN 3-502-18339-2
[autobiography of first Afro-German actor to be featured in a
recurring role on German television, Der Alte. Interesting also
because he is the nephew of Leopold Senghor]
Hügel-Marshall, Ika. Daheim unterwegs. Ein deutsches Leben. Orlanda,
1998 . ISBN 3-29823-52-7 {also paperback: Fischer, 2001, ISBN
3596147239).
___________. Invisible Woman. Continuum, 2001. ISBN 0-8264-1294-7
[Together with Massaquoi’s book this autobiography is both
complementary as well as a standard work on the travails of a young
Black woman who lacked Massaquoi’s connections. A must read for
students and teachers alike]
Oji, Chima. Unter die Deutschen gefallen. Erfahrungen eines Afrikaners.
Peter Hammer, 1993. ISBN 3-87294-488-6 [exposed everyday racism
in Germany]
Massaquoi, Hans J. Neger, Neger Schornsteinfeger. Fischer. 1999.
____________. Destined to Witness. William Morrow and Co.: NY,
1999. ISBN 0-688-175155-9
__________. Hänschen klein, ging allein. Fischer, 2004. ISBN 3-50210460-3 [Perhaps the literary sensation since 1945. Massaquoi’s
autobiography of his life in Germany from 1926 to 1949 was so
popular that he was encouraged to publish a sequel which only
appeared in German. A CD (not spoken by the author) is available and
in 2006 a made-for-television film was scheduled to appear on
German television]
Zöllner, Abini. Schokoladenkind. Meine Familie und andere Wunder.
Rowohlt, 2003. ISBN 3-498-07662-0. (A CD with the author also
available) [Interesting autobiography of a Black German who grew up
in the GDR, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. The book had a
favorable review in the Jewish-German-American press, Aufbau ]
Making Connections Locally, and Internationally--Active
Website Resources
Elisabeth Collins, Margaret Hampton, Ph.D. , Annette Loomis,
Internships
These organizations located in the D.C. area offer internships to college
students. Students need a good command of German.
Post Secondary
• Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
http://www.fesdc.org/internship.html
• Heinrich Böll Foundation North America
http://www.boell.org
• Konrad Adenauer Stiftung
http://www.kas.de/proj/home/home/1/2/index.html
• German Marshall Fund
http://www.gmfus.org/about/office.cfm?city=washington
• American Institute for Contemporary German Studies
http://aicgs.org/about/internships.aspx
• German Historical Institute
http://www.ghi-dc.org
• Friedrich Naumann Foundation
http://www.fnstusa.org
Study Abroad Scholarships for Minority Students
Secondary
• Young Leaders Fellowship
Full Scholarships for African-American students for a year-long
program in Germany
www.YFU-USA.org
• YFU Stiftung Scholarship
Full year and semester scholarships open to U.S. minority high school
students
www.YFU-USA.org
• YFU Stipendium Program to Germany
Full year or semester stipend program to Germany for U.S. high
school students
www.YFU-USA.org
• Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program
Full scholarship for study abroad in Germany
http://www.usagermanyscholarship.org
Post-Secondary
• Congress-Bundestag Exchange Program for Young Professionals
Internship opportunity for short- or long-term experience in Germany
http://www.cdsintl.org/cbyx/cbyxfromusa.htm
• Institute for the International Education of Students Minority
Scholarships – HBCU Scholarship
Scholarship toward semester-long study in Germany for students
studying at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
http://www.iesabroad.org/hbcu/Scholarship.do
• Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic
Exchange Service)
Opportunities for individuals for:
o Long- and short-term scholarships
o Research fellowships
o Informational visits to Germany
o Specialized training for lawyers and scientists
o Guest lectureships
o Language grants
http://www.daad.org
Incorporating Service-Learning into the German Curriculum
• Community Research and Learning Network, Washington, D.C.
www.coralnetwork.org
Making Connections with the Greater Community
At the Local Level
Using the City as Text (see pg. 31—Janice Mitchell)
• Using Washington, D.C. as a model for showing how AfricanAmerican and German history connect
www.goethe.de/cluss
www.adolf-cluss.org
Virtual Tour of Washington, D.C.
http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/was/pro/vtour/dc1/B1/en_index.htm
(Virtual Tours available for other U.S. cities such as San Francisco
and Chicago
Regional
• Look for additional information on local AATG chapter websites
http://www.aatg.org
Global
Resources Abroad
Germany
• ISD – Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland
http://www.isdonline.de
• BPB – Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung
http://www.bpb.de/suche/?all_search_action=search&all_search_text=
afrikanische+Diaspora&OK.x=4&OK.y=6
• University of Frankfurt
http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/fb/fb09/afr/index.html
• Joliba
Joliba is an organization in Berlin that fosters intercultural
understanding in Germany
http://www.joliba.de:8080/Joliba/controler
• Anne Frank Zentrum in Berlin
Offers variety of strategies of addressing diversity and intercultural
living
http://www.annefrank.de
• Der Beauftragte für Integration und Migration
Informative and rich in materials on diversity and integration of
immigrants into Berlin society
http://www.berlin.de/sengsv/auslb/index.html
Africa
• National Archives of Namibia
The website of the National Archives of Namibia has a wealth of
information about German colonialism in Namibia
http://witbooi.natarch.mec.gov.na/
Educator Resources and Support
• ACTFL American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Language
www.actfl.org
• National Board Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)
www.nbpts.org/pdf/ecya_wloe.pdf
• Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL) and the National
Council for Languages and International Studies (NCLIS)
www.languagepolicy.org
• American Association of Teachers of German
www.aatg.org
Making Connections Globally:
Strategies for developing competencies in the
International Arena: The Berlin Study Visit Program, the
African centered German Studies Program.
John Long, Ph.D
Introduction
Many colleges and universities have incorporated goals to increase the
number of its students in study abroad activities. The African American
student poses a challenge to this goal. As a group, African Americans have
the lowest number of students participating in study abroad programs. There
are a number of reasons for this. A large number of African Americans are
first generation college students and they do not come to the campus with
exposure to foreign travel. As compared to other groups, traveling abroad
has not become a rite of passage for African Americans. A major key to
addressing this problem is an early involvement in study abroad programs at
the high school and middle school levels.
In this article I would like to offer the reader strategies to develop and
implement a successful study abroad program for African Americans that
will instill in the students the confidence and desire to become citizens of the
world. The article is about my experiences in establishing a comprehensive
study abroad program for minority high school students called the Berlin
Study Visit Program. I will discuss the vision and conceptual framework,
the purposes, goals, program thrusts and activities, and the expected
outcomes.
Vision and conceptual framework
As the saying goes, when we reach a stage of maturity, we usually tend to
refer to things in the past as, “back in the day.” I was Director of a PreCollege program for low-income students, called Upward Bound. One of
the advantages of Upward Bound was that it was a required 6-8- week
academically oriented summer program. Directors, at that time, had the
freedom to create programs. One of the programs that I implemented was a
foreign language program.
During one period our summer program offered Swahili, French, and
German. We began to offer those programs in the 1980s. I felt that if these
students, poor, and mostly African Americans, were to succeed they needed
to be exposed to different cultures. We did that through language courses.
Admittedly, the courses were small steps in comparison to the sophisticated
study abroad programs that are now available. However, it was a precursor
to our study abroad program.
Yet, it was not until I went to Germany in the 1990s to take an intensive
German language program myself, that I really understood the importance of
students being able to function in an international climate. Two incidents
happened during that time that forced me to refocus on the need to
implement an African-centered study abroad program.
The first incident occurred when I was observing a group of American
students touring the medieval centre of the small city, Schwäbisch Hall,
where I was studying German. There was the 1200 year-old church
surrounded by the gingerbread-type houses in the village. Within the group,
I observed one African America male student, who I felt was making a real
effort to fit in. So, to make him feel at home, I went over, made eye contact
with him to assure him that there was another person of color in the
“neighborhood.” What this incident points out is that many of the young
people in the group felt they were in their ancestral homeland. On the other
hand, the young African American was just an outsider, a participant
observer in this land. That is not a good feeling.
The other incident happened when I was in the University town of
Heidelberg. I had already been in Germany for two weeks and I saw only
one or two Africans during that period. No African Americans! I was sitting
on a bench on the railway platform, waiting to go back to Mannheim to take
the train to Schwäbisch Hall. I heard this distinct African American accent
and noticed two African Americans; at least I believed so. The young
American couple boarded the train with me. I started to talk to the man, and
learned that he was from Atlanta, and he was living with his parents in
Mannheim. His father was in the Army, stationed in Mannheim. After about
ten minutes, I turned to his wife, and asked where she lived in the States?
She surprised me by saying that she had never been to the States and that she
was German.
Note: We all have experienced life-changing events. What that young lady
said next, was my life-changing event. She said, “Although my mother is
German, and I went to a German school and grew up in Germany; Germans
do not make me feel like I am German.” Those words, Germans do not
make me feel like I am German, kept haunting me and still do. To me, that
young lady was denied her birthrights, just because she happened to be a
shade darker than her countrymen and -women.
The next year, 1996, colleagues from Howard University, Washington, DC
and I organized a visit to study the Black community in Berlin, Germany.
The next year, 1997, we organized the first conference of Black Germans
and African American community leaders. The conference was held in
Washington, DC and Chicago. From that conference the Berlin Study Visit
Program, an African–centered German language program was created.
The experiences that we gained from the two incidents mentioned above
shaped the program. Our program highlighted the existence and the
contributions of members of the African Diaspora in Germany. It also
helped the African American students to better understand the issues of
social justice, racism and discrimination.
Rationale and Background
Unfortunately, African people, African Americans and other members of the
African Diaspora, in the United States, do not participate in sufficient
numbers in study abroad programs, long and short time international study
or intern/externships, and other types of global interaction activities. This
low participation is a major problem in a global society such as ours is and
will continue to be. African Americans and other diverse heritage groups
are the persons who have been affected more negatively by globalization
through such things as outsourcing and the increase in multinational
companies and agreements, and a different educational agenda, all of which
exclude minorities, and will continue to do so, if they are not offered early
opportunities of international engagement.
Some of the major reasons for the low participation are: 1) the lack of
opportunities due to finances and the lack of programs; 2) the lack of foreign
language exposure in elementary and high schools; 3) the lack of urban and
suburban community education programs, which promote global awareness
and education; and, 4) study abroad programs and international studies that
relate to and celebrate the experiences of African Americans and other
minorities.
Programmatic attributes
I would like to offer here an African-centered German Studies study abroad
program for high school and university students. I will describe the Berlin
Study Program, which I developed and directed for three years. It was a
four-week African-centered cultural and academic program that took place
in Berlin, Germany. The major goal of the program is to present Germany
to the students from an African-centered perspective. The framework of the
program is to allow the participants to be able to identify, connect, and relate
to the experiences of the members of the African Diaspora in Germany. For
example, students will be able to read about African Americans’ experiences
in Germany, such as Marian Anderson and W.E.B. Dubois. This means that
the students will have been exposed to the members of the African Diaspora
through literature, workshops, popular culture, current events, staffing, and
cultural activities. One of the biggest advantages of the program is the
opportunity to relate to and share ideas with African people from the African
continent inter-culturally in an international setting.
The students are provided a balanced approach to German language
instruction, history, literature, and culture from an African perspective.
These attributes can be demonstrated through a power point presentation of
documented experiences that I captured during the three years of the
program.
Summary Slide
Alle lernen Deutsch:Strategies for
Developing Competencies in the
International Arena, Berlin Study Visit
©
Alle Lernen Deutsch: Strategies for Developing
Competencies in the International Arena, The Berlin
Study Program, the African centered German
Studies Program.
Ź
The Berlin Study Visit Program
Presented by Dr. John W. Long
Ten Reasons for African American Students
to Go Abroad
Expand employment opportunities.
Increase your understanding of the world and our society.
Broaden your experience. Travel outside the U.S. is an education in
itself.
Meet people from different backgrounds and cultures. A period of
study outside the U.S. enables you to meet students not only from the
host country but other nations as well.
Increase your income potential. Study abroad on your resume
definitely gives you a competitive edge.
Ten Reasons for African Americans Students
to Go Abroad
Explore new interests. One student went to Mexico to learn the
language and have fun.
Learn specific skills that are career related. Learn a second language or
do an international internship.
Gain new insights and outlooks while enjoying new relationships.
Take control of your future. While the debate still continues on the
preservation of affirmative action, you will be in a position to compete
and fully participate in a global, ethnically diverse workforce.
Ten Reasons for African American Students
to Go Abroad
Find out what you want to do in life. . Many students report that study
abroad can be a life-changing experience that can also open many new
career choices.
Find out what you want to do in life. . Many students report that study
abroad can be a life-changing experience that can also open many new
career choices.
STARLETT R. CRAIG is the Director of Pre-College Enrichment Programs at Clemson Univ.
Origins of the BSV
Outcome of a conference of Black Germans
and African Americans in 1997
Facts of BSV
Number of years of the program: 3 years (1998, 1999 & 2000)
Number of students served: 1998-10, 1999-15, & 2000-19
Ethnicity of the students: African Americans, except for two Mexican
Americans
Length of each program 24-28 days
Location: Berlin, Germany, The Technical University
Cost: Approximately $50, 000/ program
Factors in Developing BSV
Identity: Seeing oneself in Germany ( Afri-centric vs.
Eurocentric)
Instruction: German and history of Germany in relations to
Africans
Culture exposure: Exposing the students African, Jewish,
Turkish, and German culture
Staffing Pattern: Staff reflects the students
Population: African Americans and other underrepresented
groups
BSV Student Recruitment Plan
Goal: Overcoming GermanyÕs past and its history racism
Hold meetings with parents and students to relieve
anxieties
Emphasize GermanyÕs multicultural population
Emphasize the benefits of international study
Emphasize human developmental growth
Instill confidence in the students that they will be
successful
Activities of the BSV
Receptions with members of the Afro German and African
Communities
An Afro German German instructor
Lectures by Africans, African American and Afro-German
community and educational leaders
Afro-German youth mentors
Attended youth activities with African and Afro German
youths
Activities of BSV
Residential program
Tours of the city of Berlin, Munich,
Duesseldorf, and other cities
Students and staff use the U Bahn rail
system
Elective classes in Black German literature
and history
Outcomes of BSV Experiences
Learned basic German skills
Improved knowledge of various countries on the African
continent
Became familiar with German culture
Met new friends and maintained relationships
Developed and improved self esteem
Improved academic skills
Broaden studentsÕhorizons
Broaden studentsÕcareer horizons
Making Connections Through the Use of Film: A
Bibliography of Films
Mary Bronfenbrenner
Film Resources for the ALD Website:
(Please thoroughly review the ALD Guide Objectives and Making
Connections)
Locally. Before teaching new materials, whatever the medium, it is vital that
the teacher take the first step in “connections” by becoming informed about
the histories of the underrepresented group(s), both in the U.S. and in the
German speaking cultures. It is also vital that the teacher previews the
film(s). Please refer to the URL addresses for information and reviews about
the materials. Without this background, it is difficult to accurately address
the Standards of Comparisons (Standard 4.2: Students demonstrate
understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures
studied and their own).
Film Objectives:
• Many of the films deal with historical events and their effect on a
culture or cultures. Students will learn to recognize and discuss the
central focus of a film and how it relates to the past, present and
future. Students will also recognize and comprehend cultural
differences. For instance, discussions could evolve into a more
global forum as the students become better acquainted with the
cultures. An example of this would be permitted types of clothing,
music and literature, and available food products in the former
GDR, and how these could define people. The objective would be
to help students search for and find the key to the door through the
wall—how to get beyond the stereotypes and become an aware
member of the world community.
Connections - Connect with Other Disciplines and Acquire Information
Standard 3.1: Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other
disciplines through the foreign language.
Standard 3.2: Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive
viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its
cultures.
• Euro-German-language films will serve as a prism for interpreting
important historical and current political and social events, along
with other primary documents (movie and political posters, songs,
music, propaganda, speeches, etc.) from the period to put the
movie into context. This information will enrich students’
academic work in other subjects like literature, art, history, foreign
languages, political science and economics.
Comparisons - Develop Insight into the Nature of Language and
Culture
Standard 4.1: Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language
through comparisons of the language studied and their own.
Standard 4.2: Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture
through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.
• The visual art of film will encourage students to investigate the
concept of a physical and cultural construction site. The map of
Europe has changed radically in the past 100 years. We hope as
educators to challenge students to question how an opening or
closing of a “wall”, a border, a “curtain” can alter relationships,
perceptions, languages, religions and cultures.
Communities - Participate in Multilingual Communities at Home and
around the World
Standard 5.1: Students use the language both within and beyond the school
setting.
Standard 5.2: Students show evidence of becoming life-long learners by
using the language for personal enjoyment and enrichment and standards
for foreign language learning.
Using films as a teaching resource will encourage students to appreciate
German and international films both as a source of entertainment and
information to help them understand the world they live in. The more
students are able to value different or “foreign” perspectives the more likely
they are to participate in culturally diverse activities in their communities.
URL ADDRESSES for Films
1. [email protected]
2. http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international
3. [email protected]
4. http://www.netflix.com
5. http://worldfilm.about.com/od/germany/
German Title: Angst essen Seele auf
English Title: Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
Format: (DVD, DVD PAL, subtitles?, VHS?)
Languages: German / some Arabic
Subtitles: English
Availability: Netflix,( Facets, DEFA Film Library, Goethe Institute, local
libraries, university libraries
Multicultural Topics: Minorities, Class, Guest Worker, Woman, Gay and
Lesbian, Holocaust, East/ West, Religions
Time Period: These would be reflected in the topics and the films- teacher
needs to be informed before showing film …ALD Mantra
Appropriate for: At the instructor’s discretion, school policy, etc
Information from IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071141/ see other
urls
Summary: See ALD FILM OBJECTIVES
ABBREVIATIONS USED:
A = Austria, CH = Switzerland, D = Germany,
DDR = East Germany (1945-1989), F = France
Ab Heute Heißt Du Sara Director: Claus Peter Damitz
Aguirre, The Wrath of God (D, 1972, Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes) Director:
Werner Herzog (DVD) > Directors
Aimee & Jaguar (D, 1999) Director: Max Färberböck
alaska.de (D, 2000) Director: Esther Gronenborn
Ali - Fear Eats the Soul (D, 1974, Angst essen Seele auf) Director: Rainer
Werner Fassbinder
Alles auf Zucker( Go for Zucker) Director: Dani Levi
Amadeus Director: Milos Forman
American Friend, The (D, 1977, Der amerikanische Freund) Director:
Wim Wenders (DVD) - WEB > Wenders - German-Hollywood
amerikanische Soldat, Der (D, 1970, The American Soldier) Director:
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
An Image Director: Farocki
An uns glaubt Gott nicht mehr Director: Axel Corti
Angry Harvest (D, 1986, Bittere Ernte) Director: Agnieszka Holland >
Directors
Animal Love (D, 1995, Tierische Liebe)
Architects, The (DDR, 1990, Die Architekten) Director: Peter Kahane WEB > DEFA Films
Autumn Milk (D, 1989, Herbstmilch) Director: Joseph Vilsmaier >
Directors
Bagdad Cafe (D, 1988, Out of Rosenheim) Director: Percy Adlon (DVD)
Bandits (D, 1997) Director: Katja von Garnier (DVD)
Baron Münchausen (D, 1943, Münchausen) Director: Josef von Baky
(DVD USA)
Before the Fall( Napola) Director Dennis Gansel 2004
Bella Martha (D, 2001, Fünf Sterne, Mostly Martha) Director: Sandra
Nettelbeck
Bellaria - As Long as We Live (A/D, 2001, Bellaria - Solange wir leben!)
Director: Douglas Wolfsperger
Berlin - Symphony of a Great City (D, 1927, Berlin - Die Sinfonie der
Großstadt) Director: Walter Ruttmann (DVD USA)
Beware of a Holy Whore (D, 1971, Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte)
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder (DVD)
bewegte Mann, Der (1994, Maybe...Maybe Not) Director: Sönke Wortmann
(DVD PAL)
Beyond Silence (D, 1997, Jenseits der Stille) Director: Caroline Link
(DVD)
Bibi Blocksberg (D, 2002) Director: Hermine Huntgeburth (DVD PAL)
Big Girls Don't Cry (D, 2002, Große Mädchen weinen nicht) Director:
Maria von Heland (DVD)
Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, The (D, 1972, Die bitteren Tränen der
Petra von Kant) Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder (DVD)
Bittere Ernte (D, 1986, Angry Harvest) Director: Agnieszka Holland
Black Box BRD (D, 2001, TV) Director: Andres Veiel (DVD PAL)
blaue Engel, Der (D, 1930, Blue Angel, The) Director: Josef von Sternberg
(DVD)
Blechtrommel, Die (D, 1979, The Tin Drum) Director: Volker Schlöndorff
(DVD)
Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary (A, 2002, Im toten Winkel) Director: André
Heller (DVD)
Blue Angel, The (D, 1930, Der blaue Engel) Director: Josef von Sternberg
(DVD)
Blue Light, The (D, 1932, Das blaue Licht) Director: Leni Riefenstahl
(DVD)
Bonhoeffer 2003 Director: Martin Doblmeier
Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace 2000 Director: Eric Till
Boot, Das (D, 1981) Director: Wolfgang Petersen (DVD
Boot ist voll, Das
BRD Trilogy (D, 1979-82, Lola, Marriage of Maria Braun, Veronika Voss,)
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder (DVD)
Bridge, The (D, 1959, Die Brücke) Director: Bernhard Wicki
Brother of Sleep (D, 1995, Schlafes Bruder) Director: Joseph Vilsmaier
Brücke, Die (D, 1959, The Bridge) Director: Bernhard Wicki
Büchse der Pandora, Die (D, 1929, Pandora's Box) Director: G.W. Pabst
(DVD) > Directors
Bundle of Joy (D, 2000, LiebesLuder) Director: Detlev W. Buck
Bungalow (D, 2002) Director: Ulrich Köhler (DVD PAL)
Burning Wall, The Documentary
Cabaret Director: Bob Fosse
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The (D, 1920, silent)
Captain from Koepenick, The (D, 1957, Der Hauptmann von Köpenick)
Director: Sigfried Dessauer
Comedian Harmonists (D, 1997, The Harmonists) Director: Joseph
Vilsmaier (DVD) > Directors
Coming Out (DDR, 1989) Director: Heiner Carow
Crossing the Bridge Director Fatih Akin
Daughter of Keltoum 2001 Director Mehdi Charef
Destiny (D, 1921, Der müde Tod, silent) Director: Fritz Lang
Deutschland im Herbst (D, 1978, Germany in Autumn) Director: Rainer
Werner Fassbinder
Dinner for One (UK, TV, New Year's sketch)
Doppelte Lottchen, Das
Downfall (D, 2004, Der Untergang) Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Dreigroschenoper, Die (D, 1931, The Threepenny Opera) Director: G.W.
Pabst
Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (D, 1922, Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler) Director:
Fritz Lang (DVD USA) > Directors
East Side Story (DDR, 1997) Director: Dana Ranga (DVD)
Edukators, The (D, 2003, Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei) Director: Hans
Weingartner (DVD US)
Effi Briest (D, 1974) Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Ehe der Maria Braun, Die (1979, The Marriage of Maria Braun) Director:
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Emil und die Detektive ( 1931 and 1954) Director Billy Wilder These 3
films could be taught as “city as text”- I have done this with my 9th graders
Emil and the Detectives (D, 2001, Emil und die Detektive) Director:
Franziska Buch
England! (D, 2000) Director: Achim von Borries
Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, The (D, 1974)
Enlightenment Guaranteed (D, 2000, Erleuchtung garantiert) Director:
Doris Dörrie
Eolomea (DDR, 1972) Director: Herrmann Zschoche
Erleuchtung garantiert (D, 2000, Enlightenment Guaranteed) Director:
Doris Dörrie
Europa Europa (D, 1990, Hitlerjunge Salomon) Director: Agnieszka
Holland
Experiment, Das (D, 2003) Director: Tomy Wigand
Experiment, The (D, 2001) Director: Tomy Wigand
Faraway, So Close! (D, 1993, In weiter Ferne so nah!) Director: Wim
Wenders (DVD USA) - WEB > Wenders German-Hollywood
Farewell, The - Brecht's Last Summer (D, 2000, Abschied - Brechts
letzter Sommer) Director: Jan Schütte
Faust (D, 1926, silent) Director: F.W. Murnau
Faustrecht der Freiheit (D, 1975, Fox and His Friends) Director: Rainer
Werner Fassbinder
Fear of Fear (D, 1975, Angst vor der Angst) Director: Rainer Werner
Fassbinder
Felsen, Der (D, 2002, A Map of the Heart) Director: Dominik Graf
fetten Jahre sind vorbei, Die (D, 2003, The Edukators) Director: Hans
Weingartner (DVD US)
Fifth Horseman is Fear, Director: Zynek Brynych.
Fitzcarraldo (D, 1982) Director: Werner Herzog (DVD)
fliegende Klassenzimmer, Das (D, 2003) Director: Tomy Wigand
Flucht aus Laos (D, 1997, Little Dieter Needs to Fly) Director: Werner
Herzog (DVD) > Directors
Fox and His Friends (D, 1975, Faustrecht der Freiheit) Director: Rainer
Werner Fassbinder
F.P.1 antwortet nicht (D, 1932) Director: Karl Hartl. Sci-fi
Frau im Mond (D, 1931, Woman in the Moon, silent) Director: Fritz Lang
Frau2 sucht Happy End (D, 2000) Director: Edward Berger
Freunde (D, 2000, Friends) Director: Martin Eigler (DVD PAL)
Gegen die Wand (2004, Head On) Director: Fatih Akin
Germany in Autumn (D, 1978, Deutschland im Herbst) Director: Rainer
Werner Fassbinder
Goebbels Experiment, The 2005,Director: Lutz Hach Meister
Golem, Der (D, 1920, The Golem, silent) Director: Paul Wegener
Good Bye, Lenin! (D, 2003) Director: Wolfgang Becker
Ghosts(Gespenster) Director Christian Petzel
Great Dictator,The Director: Charlie Chaplin
Grill Point (D, 2003, Halbe Treppe) Director: Andreas Dresen
Gripsholm (D, 2000) Director: Xavier Koller
Große Mädchen weinen nicht (D, 2002, Big Girls Don't Cry) Director:
Maria von Heland
Gun-Shy (D, 2003, Schussangst) Director: Dito Tsintsadze
Halbe Treppe (D, 2003, Grill Point) Director: Andreas Dresen
Harmonists, The (D, 1997, Comedian Harmonists) Director: Joseph
Vilsmaier (DVD) > Directors
Hauptmann von Köpenick, Der (D, 1957, The Captain from Koepenick)
Director: Sigfried Dessauer
Head On (D, 2004, Gegen die Wand) Director: Fatih Akin
Heart of Glass (D, 1976, Herz aus Glas) Director: Werner Herzog
Heart Over Head (D, 2001, Herz im Kopf) Director: Michael Gutmann
Heimat - A Chronicle of Germany (D, 1984, Heimat) Director: Edgar
Reitz. See the entire Heimat Trilogy (Parts 1-3).
Herbstmilch (D, 1989, Autumn Milk) Director: Joseph Vilsmaier >
Directors
Herr der Diebe (D, 2006, Thief Lord) Director: Richard Claus. Based on
the best-selling novel by German author Cornelia Funke.
Himmel über Berlin, Der (D, 1987, Wings of Desire) Director: Wim
Wenders (DVD) - WEB > Wenders German-Hollywood
Hitlerjunge Salomon (D, 1990, Europa Europa) Director: Agnieszka
Holland
Ich wollte immer blond sein auf der Haut: Porträt einer farbigen
Deutschen
In a Year With 13 Moons (D, 1978, In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden)
Im toten Winkel: Hitlers Sekretärin (A, 2002) Director: André Heller
Inheritors, The (D, 1998, Die Siebtelbauern) Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky
(DVD)
In July (D, 2000, Im Juli) Director: Fatih Akin
In the Dust of Stars (DDR, 1976, Im Staub der Sterne) Director: Gottfried
Kolditz - WEB > DEFA Films
In weiter Ferne so nah! (D, 1993, Faraway, So Close!) Director: Wim
Wenders > Directors
Indoctrination Director:Harun Farocki
Interview, The Director:Harun Farocki.
Jacob the Liar (DDR, 1975, Jakob der Lügner) Director: Frank Beyer
Jacob the Liar USA version
Jenseits der Stille (D, 1997, Beyond Silence) Director: Caroline Link >
Directors
Joyeux Noël New (F/D/UK 2005, Merry Christmas) Director: Christian
Carion. More...
Judgement at Nurenberg
Leben ist eine Baustelle, Das
Lied von Liebe und Tod , Ein
Leben der Anderen, Das (D, 2006, "The Life of Others")
Legend of Paul und Paula, The (DDR, 1973, Die Legende von Paul und
Paula) Director: Heiner Carow
Legend of Rita, The (D, 2000, Die Stille nach dem Schuss) Director: Volker
Schlöndorff
LiebesLuder (D, 2000, Bundle of Joy) Director: Detlev W. Buck
Little Dieter Needs to Fly (D, 1997, Flucht aus Laos) Director: Werner
Herzog (DVD) > Directors
Lola (D, 1981, Lola) Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder (DVD)
Lola Rennt (D, 1998, Run Lola Run) Director: Tom Tykwer (DVD)
Lost Honor of Katherina Blum, The (D, 1979, Die verlorene Ehre der
Katherina Blum) Director: Volker Schlöndorff (DVD)
Love in Thoughts (D, 2004, Was nützt die Liebe in Gedanken) Director:
Achim von Borries (DVD) M (D, 1931, M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder)
Director: Fritz Lang (DVD) - WEB > F. Lang Filmography - IMDb
Mädchen Rosemarie, Das (D, 1958) Director: Rolf Thiele (DVD PAL)
Männer (1985, Men) Director: Doris Dörrie
Making Up! (D, 1993, Abgeschminkt!) Director: Katja von Garnier (DVD
PAL)
Map of the Heart, A (D, 2002, Der Felsen) Director: Dominik Graf (DVD
PAL)
Marlene (D, 1984) Director: Maximilan Schell. Dietrich documentary
(DVD USA)
Marlene (D, 2000) Director: Joseph Vilsmaier. Katja Flint as Dietrich
(DVD PAL)- WEB > J. Vilsmaier Filmography - IMDb
Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song (USA/D, 2001) Director: J. David Riva.
Dietrich documentary (DVD USA)
Marlene Dietrich: Shadow and Light (USA/D, 1996) Director: Chris
Hunt. Riva family
Marquise von O, Die (D/F, 1976, The Marquise of O) Director: Eric
Rohmer (DVD USA)
Marriage of Maria Braun, The (1979, Die Ehe der Maria Braun) Director:
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Maybe...Maybe Not (1994, Der bewegte Mann) Director: Sönke Wortmann
(DVD PAL) - WEB > S. Wortmann Filmography - IMDb
Mein liebster Feind (D, 1999, My Best Fiend) Director: Werner Herzog
(DVD) - WEB > W. Herzog Filmography - IMDb
Meine Stunde Null Director: Joachim Hasler
Men (1985, Männer) Director: Doris Dörrie
Mephisto (D/A/H, 1981) Director: István Szabó
Marlene (D, 1984) Director: Maximilan Schell. Dietrich documentary
(DVD USA)
Merry Christmas New (F/D/UK 2005, Joyeux Noël) Director: Christian
Carion. More...
Miracle of Bern, The (D, 2003, Das Wunder von Bern) Director: Sönke
Wortmann
Mörder sind unter uns, Die (D, 1946, The Murderers Are Among Us)
Director: Wolfgang Staudte
Mostly Martha (D, 2001, Bella Martha or Fünf Sterne) Director: Sandra
Nettelbeck
Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven (D, 1975, Mutter Küsters Fahrt zum
Himmel) Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder (DVD)
müde Tod, Der (D, 1921, Destiny, silent) Director: Fritz Lang
Münchausen (D, 1943, Baron Münchausen) Director: Josef von Baky
(DVD USA)
Murderers Are Among Us, The (1946, Die Mörder sind unter uns)
Director: Wolfgang Staudte
My Best Fiend (D, 1999, Mein liebster Feind) Director: Werner Herzog
(DVD) - WEB > W. Herzog Filmography - IMDb
Nackt (D, 2002, Naked) Director: Doris Dörrie
Naked (D, 2002, Nackt) Director: Doris Dörrie
Nasty Girl, The (D, 1990, Das schreckliche Mädchen) Director: Michael
Verhoeven
Never Mind the Wall (D, 2001, Wie Feuer und Flamme) Director: Connie
Walther
Nibelungen, Die (D, 1924, silent) Director: Fritz Lang (DVD)
Nibelungen, Die - Der Fluch des Drachen New (D, 2004, Ring of the
Nibelungs) Director: Uli Edel. More... (DVD PAL)
Nikolai Kirche, Die
Nirgendwo in Afrika (D, 2001, Nowhere in Africa) Director: Caroline Link
Nowhere in Africa (D, 2001, Nirgendwo in Afrika) Director: Caroline Link
Ninth Day, The
Nosferatu - eine Symphonie des Grauens (D, 1922) Director: F.W.
Murnau
Nosferatu the Vampyre (D, 1979) Director: Werner Herzog
Olympia (D, 1936-38) Director: Leni Riefenstahl
Pandora's Box (D, 1929, Die Büchse der Pandora) Director: G.W. Pabst
Princess and the Warrior, The (D, 1999, Der Krieger und die Kaiserin)
Director: Tom Tykwer (DVD)
The Producers: directed by Mel Brooks
Promise, The (D, 1995, Das Versprechen) Director: Margarethe von Trotta
Querelle (D, 1982) Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder (DVD)
Ritchie Boys Documentary WW11
Ring of the Nibelungs New (D, 2004, Die Nibelungen - Der Fluch des
Drachen) Director: Uli Edel. More... (DVD PAL)
Rosa Luxemburg (D, 1986) Director: Margarethe von Trotta
Run Lola Run (D, 1998, Lola rennt) Director: Tom Tykwer (DVD)
Santa Fe Director: Axel Corti
Schindler’s List: directed by Steven Spielberg
Schlafes Bruder (D, 1995, Brother of Sleep) Director: Joseph Vilsmaier
WEB > J. Vilsmaier Filmography - IMDb
Schuh des Manitu, Der (D, 2001) Director: Michael Herbig (DVD PAL)
Schwarzfahrer ( Facets)
schreckliche Mädchen, Das (D, 1990, The Nasty Girl) Director: Michael
Verhoeven
Schultze Gets the Blues (D, 2003) Director: Michael Schorr (DVD)
Schussangst (D, 2003, Gun-Shy) Director: Dito Tsintsadze
Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss, Die (D, 1982, Veronika Voss) Director:
Rainer Werner Fassbinder (DVD)
Siegfried (D, 1924, silent) Director: Fritz Lang (DVD)
Slaughter House Five Director:
Sonnenallee (D, 1999, Sun Alley) Director: Leander Haussmann (DVD)
Sonnensucher, Die (DDR, 1958/1972, Sun Seekers) Director: Konrad Wolf
- WEB > DEFA Films
Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage (D, 2004) Director: Marc Rothemund
(DVD PAL)
Spione (D, 1929, Spies, silent) Director: Fritz Lang (DVD USA) - WEB >
F. Lang Filmography - IMDb
Stalingrad (D, 1992) Director: Joseph Vilsmaier (DVD)
Stille nach dem Schuss, Die (D, 2000, The Legend of Rita) Director: Volker
Schlöndorff
Stunde Null, Die Director: Christian Marthaler
Sun Alley (D, 1999, Sonnenallee) Director: Leander Haussmann (DVD)
Sun Seekers (DDR, 1958/1972, Die Sonnensucher) Director: Konrad Wolf WEB > DEFA Films
Tausend Augen des Dr. Mabuse, Die (D, 1960, The Thousand Eyes of Dr.
Mabuse) Director: Fritz Lang (DVD USA) - WEB > F. Lang Filmography IMDb
Testament of Dr. Mabuse, The (D, 1933, Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse)
Director: Fritz Lang (DVD USA) - WEB > F. Lang Filmography - IMDb
Thief Lord (D, 2006, Herr der Diebe) Director: Richard Claus. Based on the
best-selling novel by German author Cornelia Funke.
Threepenny Opera, The (D, 1931, Die Dreigroschenoper) Director: G.W.
Pabst
Tiefland (D, 1954, Lowlands) Director: Leni Riefenstahl - WEB >
Riefenstahl German-Hollywood
Tin Drum, The (D, 1979, Die Blechtrommel) Director: Volker Schlöndorff
(DVD)
(T)Raumschiff Surprise (D, 2004) German 'StarTrek' spoof
To Be Or Not To Be Director Ernst Lubitsch
Tough Enough(Knallhart) directed by Detlev Buck
Trial, The Orson Welles
Triumph des Willen (D, 1934, Triumph of the Will) Director: Leni
Riefenstahl - WEB > Riefenstahl German-Hollywood
Tunnel, Der (D, 2001, The Tunnel) Director: Roland S. Richter (DVD)
Tunnel, Der (D, 1933, The Tunnel) Director: Curtis Bernhardt, Sci-fi
Türkisch für Anfänger TV series
Tweeling, De (2002 Twin Sisters)Director: Ben Sombogaart
Unveiled(Fremde Haut) Director: Angelina Maccarone
Vaya con Dios (D, 2002) Director: Zoltan Spirendelli
Veronika Voss (D, 1982) Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Versprechen, Das (D, 1995, The Promise) Director: Margarethe von Trotta
Warum läuft Herr R. Amok? (D, 1970, Why Does Herr R. Run Amok?)
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Was nützt die Liebe in Gedanken (D, 2004, Love in Thoughts) Director:
Achim von Borries
Weiße Massai
Weiße Rose, Die (D, 1982, The White Rose) Director: Michael Verhoeven
(DVD PAL, VHS USA)
What To Do in Case of Fire (D, 2002, Was tun, wenn's brennt) Director:
Gregor Schnitzler
Where to and Back? Director: Axel Corti
White Roar, The (D, 2002, Das weiße Rauschen) Director: Hans
Weingartner
Wie Feuer und Flamme (D, 2001, Never Mind the Wall) Director: Connie
Walther
Winterschläfer (D, 1997, Winter Sleepers) Director: Tom Tykwer
Wings of Desire (D, 1987, Der Himmel über Berlin) Director: Wim
Wenders (DVD) –
WEB > Wenders German-Hollywood
Wir müssen zusammenhalten DVD ~ Boleslav Polívka
Woman in the Moon (D, 1931, Frau im Mond, silent) Director: Fritz Lang WEB > F. Lang Filmography - IMDb
Wunder von Bern, Das (D, 2003, The Miracle of Bern) Director: Sönke
Wortmann (DVD PAL) - WEB > S. Wortmann Filmography - IMDb
Zur Sache, Schätzchen (D, 1967) Director: May Spils
http://www.german-films.de/app/filmarchive/film_view.php?film_id=1276
Search Archive
The 100 Most Significant German Films
* Emil und die Detektive by Gerhard Lamprecht
* Kaninchen bin ich, Das by Kurt Maetzig
* Asphalt by Joe May
* Mephisto by István Szabó
* Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The / Muenchhausen by Josef von
Baky
* Adventures of Prince Achmed, The / Abenteuer des Prinzen
Achmed, Die by Lotte Reiniger
* Aguirre, The Wrath of God / Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes by Werner
Herzog
* Alice in the Cities / Alice in den Staedten by Wim Wenders
* American Friend, The / amerikanische Freund, Der by Wim
Wenders
* Aren't We Wonderful? / Wir Wunderkinder by Kurt Hoffmann
* Artists Under The Big Top: Perplexed, The / Artisten in der
Zirkuskuppel: ratlos, Die by Alexander Kluge
* Ballad of Berlin, The / Berliner Ballade by Robert A. Stemmle
* Berlin - Alexanderplatz by Piel Jutzi
* Berlin - Schoenhauser Corner / Berlin - Ecke Schoenhauser by
Gerhard Klein
* Berlin, Symphony of a City / Berlin. Die Sinfonie der Grossstadt by
Walther Ruttmann
* Biographies – The Story of the Children of Golzow / Lebensläufe by
Winfried Junge, Barbara Junge
* Blue Angel, The / Blaue Engel, Der by Josef von Sternberg
* Boat, The / Boot, Das by Wolfgang Petersen
* Bridge, The / Bruecke, Die by Bernhard Wicki
* Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The / Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, Das by
Robert Wiene
* Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach / Chronik der Anna Magdalena
Bach by Jean-Marie Straub
* Comradeship / Kameradschaft by Georg Wilhelm Pabst
* Congress Dances / Kongress tanzt, Der by Eric Charell
* Death is My Trade / Aus einem deutschen Leben by Theodor Kotulla
* Destiny / muede Tod, Der by Fritz Lang
* Devil Strikes at Night, The / Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam by Robert
Siodmak
* Diary of a Lost Girl / Tagebuch einer Verlorenen by Georg Wilhelm
Pabst
* Divided Sky, The / geteilte Himmel, Der by Konrad Wolf
* Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler: Inferno, Men Of Our Time (Part 2) / Dr.
Mabuse, der Spieler: Inferno, Ein Spiel von Menschen unserer Zeit (Teil
2) by Fritz Lang
* Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler: The Great Gambler, A Picture Of Our
Time (Part 1) / Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler: Der grosse Spieler, Ein Bild der
Zeit (Teil 1) by Fritz Lang
* Effi Briest / Fontane Effi Briest by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
* Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, The: Every Man for Himself and God
Against All / Jeder fuer sich und Gott gegen alle by Werner Herzog
* Faust - A German Folk-Tale by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
* Fears Eats the Soul / Angst essen Seele auf by Rainer Werner
Fassbinder
* Germany in Autumn / Deutschland im Herbst by Alexander Kluge,
Edgar Reitz, Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus, Volker Schloendorff, Alf Brustellin,
Bernhard Sinkel, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Maximiliane Mainka, Peter
Schubert, Hans Peter Cloos, Katja Rupé
* Germany Year Zero / Deutschland im Jahre Null by Roberto
Rossellini
* Girl Rosemarie, The / Maedchen Rosemarie, Das (1958) by Rolf
Thiele
* Girls in Uniform / Maedchen in Uniform by Leontine Sagan
* Golem, The / Golem, wie er in die Welt kam, Der by Paul Wegener
* Great Freedom No. 7 / Grosse Freiheit Nr. 7 by Helmut Kaeutner
* Heimat by Edgar Reitz
* Heimat II / Zweite Heimat, Die by Edgar Reitz, Robert Busch
* Hooligans, The / Halbstarken, Die by Georg Tressler
* Hunting Scenes from Bavaria / Jagdszenen aus Niederbayern by
Peter Fleischmann
* I Was Nineteen / Ich war 19 by Konrad Wolf
* Jakob The Liar / Jakob, der Luegner by Frank Beyer
* Kaiser's Lackey, The / Untertan, Der by Wolfgang Staudte
* Katzelmacher by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
* Kings of the Road / Im Lauf der Zeit by Wim Wenders
* Last Laugh, The / letzte Mann, Der by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
* Legend of Paul and Paula, The / Legende von Paul und Paula, Die
by Heiner Carow
* Liebeblei by Max Ophuels
* Lola Montez by Max Ophuels
* Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, The / verlorene Ehre der Katharina
Blum, Die by Volker Schloendorff, Margarethe von Trotta
* Lost One, The / Verlorene, Der by Peter Lorre
* M - A Town Is Looking For A Murderer / M - Eine Stadt sucht
einen Moerder by Fritz Lang
* Marianne and Juliane / Die Bleierne Zeit by Margarethe von Trotta
* Marriage in the Shadows / Ehe im Schatten by Kurt Maetzig
* Marriage of Maria Braun, The / Ehe der Maria Braun, Die by
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
* Merchant of Four Seasons, The / Haendler der vier Jahreszeiten,
Der by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
* Metropolis by Fritz Lang
* Mother Krausen Goes to Heaven / Mutter Krausens Fahrt ins
Glueck by Piel Jutzi
* Murderers Are Among Us, The / Moerder sind unter uns, Die by
Wolfgang Staudte
* Mysteries of a Hairdresser's Shop, The / Mysterien eines
Frisiersalons, Die
* Nosferatu by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
* Not Reconciled or Only Violence Helps Where Violence Rules /
Nicht versoehnt oder Es hilft nur Gewalt, wo Gewalt herrscht by JeanMarie Straub
* Olympia I + II by Leni Riefenstahl
* Pandora's Box / Buechse der Pandora, Die by Georg Wilhelm Pabst
* Passion / Madame Dubarry by Ernst Lubitsch
* People On Sunday / Menschen am Sonntag by Robert Siodmak
* Prozess, Der by Eberhard Fechner
* Romance in a Minor Key / Romanze in Moll by Helmut Kaeutner
* Roses for the Prosecutor / Rosen fuer den Staatsanwalt by Wolfgang
Staudte
* Rotation by Wolfgang Staudte
* Seven Journeys / In jenen Tagen by Helmut Kaeutner
* Solo Sunny by Konrad Wolf
* Stars / Sterne by Konrad Wolf
* Street of Sorrow, The / freudlose Gasse, Die by Georg Wilhelm Pabst
* Street, The / Strasse, Die by Karl Grune
* Student of Prague, The / Student von Prag, Der by Stellan Rye
* Testament of Dr. Mabuse, The / Testament des Dr. Mabuse, Das by
Fritz Lang
* Three From the Filling Station / Drei von der Tankstelle, Die by
Wilhelm Thiele
* Threepenny Opera, The / Dreigroschenoper, Die by Georg Wilhelm
Pabst
* Tin Drum, The / Blechtrommel, Die by Volker Schloendorff
* To Whom Does The World Belong? / Kuhle Wampe by Slatan
Dudow
* Traces of Stones / Spur der Steine by Frank Beyer
* Under The Bridges / Unter den Bruecken by Helmut Kaeutner
* Vampire, The / Vampyr by Carl Theodor Dreyer
* Varieté by Ewald André Dupont
* VIktor and Viktoria / Viktor und Viktoria by Reinhold Schuenzel
* Waxworks / Das Wachsfigurenkabinett by Paul Leni
* Western Front 1918, The / Westfront 1918 by Georg Wilhelm Pabst
* White Hell of Pitz Palu, The / weisse Hoelle vom Piz Palue, Die by
Georg Wilhelm Pabst, Arnold Fanck
* Wings of Desire / Himmel ueber Berlin, Der by Wim Wenders
* Wintergartenprogramm by Max Skladanowsky
* Yesterday Girl / Abschied von Gestern by Alexander Kluge
* Young Toerless / junge Toerless, Der by Volker Schloendorff
Making Connections for Teaching Social Justice in the
German classroom: Interviews with Turkish and
Kurdish women as minorities who are doubly
marginalized
Kamakshi P. Murti
Middlebury College
Motivation: In Spring 2005 I taught a senior seminar in the German
Department using what is known as “Deliberative Dialogue”—the aim of
which is to establish a framework for mutual understanding and a common
purpose that transcends mere ideas and opinions. While it may not produce
consensus, it can produce collective insight and judgment reflecting the
thinking of the group as a whole—personal disagreements notwithstanding.
One commonly assumes that the only alternatives to consensus are
compromise and dissent. But Deliberative Dialogue offers another
possibility by assuming that individuals' views may be to some degree
amorphous and indeterminate until they have been refined and enlarged
through the process of deliberation with others. The process of deliberation,
when it worked well, seemed rather to link people's private ideas and
interests to something more closely resembling public values—values
clarified and corroborated through a process of group inquiry. At the end of
the semester, my students unanimously voted for a continuation of this
approach to teaching in other upper-division courses. Since one of the most
important issues all over the world has to do with identity politics, I decided
to find out how best to structure my teaching so as to make identity issues
transparent especially in a country like Germany that sees itself as
possessing a singular, i.e., white, Caucasian, identity.
Proposal: In the Spring semester of 2006 I spent the months of March and
April in Istanbul, Turkey, with the help of a Mellon Foundation Grant. As
the title of this text indicates, my focus was on Muslim women and the
headscarf. My proposal “To Veil or not to Veil: Turkish-/Germans, Islam,
and the headscarf-debate,” began as a project aimed at understanding the
nature of the current debates in Germany and Turkey about the Muslim
headscarf for women, debates that had become increasingly contentious. In
the wake of the horrific events of September 11, there was a heightened
awareness of Islam in Germany. The Turkish population in Germany came
under surprisingly intense, at times hostile scrutiny, which continues to this
day. Hence, my investigation of the head-scarf debates was extremely
timely. My objective was to prepare what is known as an “issue book,” i.e.,
gather as much information as possible about the headscarf issue to hand
over to my students and have them use deliberative dialog to move from
inquiry and exploration to more purposeful deliberation, and perhaps even to
civic action.
Using the deliberative dialog as a tool, I was convinced that the students
would act on my interviews—distilling the essence of a problem is, after all,
a step towards taking action to resolve it.
For the German classroom? As a South-Asian woman doing research in
German Studies, my teaching and research have increasingly dealt with my
own double marginalization within this profession: as a South-Asian, i.e., as
a non-White; and as a non-native speaker of German (see my article on
native versus non-native in the bibliography below!). This has led me to
question the homogeneity of “the German.” Is it a myth? Who is this
“German”? What does s/he look like? It became increasingly clear to me
that a statement made by a German policeman to an African-German: “If
you are black, you cannot be German” revealed a continuing racist structure
in German society, albeit covert. Germany’s denial of its multicultural
society, especially and ironically since its re-unification, had to be
confronted. The German language classroom would offer an ideal platform
for discussing this problem. I began looking more closely at the largest
minority in Germany, namely the Turks. There seemed to be a distinction
made, albeit covertly, between “acceptable” and “not acceptable” minorities.
My research and teaching had given me the tools with which to comprehend
some of the acrimony that lies at the very heart of the tension between the
Judeo-Christian and the Islamic worlds. I wanted to bring back to my
classroom a culturally and politically deeper and more differentiated
understanding of these problems.
Background for headscarf debate: When did this so-called headscarf
debate penetrate the consciousness of the German-speaking communities?
On September 24, 2003, Germany’s highest court ruled that Afghan born
Fereshta Ludin could not be forbidden from wearing a head scarf in a public
school. In ruling 5-3 in favor of Ludin, the court basically maintained that
there was no law prohibiting her from wearing a scarf, leaving it however to
the discretion of the states to decide whether to pass such a law. Turkey, a
country that does not define itself as an Islamic state, is presently debating
the headscarf in an equally heated fashion.
Many of the women who went to Germany in the 1960s as unskilled
labor were from Anatolia, one of the poorest regions in Turkey. The Turkish
writer Emine Sevgi Özdamar has addressed many of the issues confronting
these women. Özdamar herself left Turkey in 1970 to study dramaturgy in
Germany. Her works have provided me with important insights into the
struggles that these women underwent in Turkey and Germany. Her
autobiographical accounts of a childhood in Malatya (Anatolia) discuss
extensively the role of women in a society that is covertly Islamic. The
liminal space that these women occupy in Germany has provided me with
clues to the trans-nationalist and migratory influences on identity formation.
The headscarf debates, appropriating the bodies of Muslim women, are
being used, I believe, to obscure underlying tensions and fears about Islam
and its alleged reactionary and fundamentalist nature.
It is now, more than ever, my contention that the debates are a tug-of-war
between two patriarchies for the exclusive right to define “universal” values.
Structure of project:
My project consists of two parts:
I - Interview Turkish and Kurdish women who had returned to Turkey
II - Interview Turkish and Kurdish women who had decided to remain in
Germany
I - The debates in Turkey
The Turkish debates present an interesting enigma. As a secular state, the
Turkish constitution declares a strict separation of state and religion and
abhors fundamentalism of all kinds. On the other hand, small but visibly
aggressive pockets of fundamentalist groups are attempting to reinstate the
headscarf as a metaphor for an Islam “untainted” by Judeo-Christian
hegemony, aggravated perhaps by resentment about Europe’s unwillingness
to include Turkey in its Union.
I wanted to investigate the emergence of new kinds of identity constructed
under the hegemony of globalization and trans-nationalism. I hoped to find
clues to these contradictory impulses in the various interviews that I planned
to conduct and the archival materials that I would access at the Sabançi and
the Boğaziçi Universities in Istanbul.
In order to complete the research segment of my project, I conducted
interviews with the following three groups:
GROUP #1: Turkish women who had migrated to Germany, then
decided to return to Turkey
GROUP #2: selected Turkish media (managers/editors of the
newspaper Hürriyet; TRT1 (National Television Network); Turkish
Radios On-line; Kurdish TV programs)
GROUP #3: Turkish intellectuals (faculty in the departments of
sociology, anthropology, and comparative literature) at the Sabanci
and Boğaziçi Universities.
As a US citizen of South-Asian origin, I saw myself as very well positioned
to contribute to a greater understanding of these tensions, since my own
Hindu upbringing allowed me to blend more readily with cultures that were
predominantly non-Judeo-Christian. I had decided to emphasize my Indian
heritage rather than my U.S. citizenship for obvious reasons. I was also very
fortunate in establishing contacts with a white woman of U.S. heritage who
had settled down in Istanbul, and her partner, a Kurdish woman, who invited
me to stay with them in their apartment located in the Asian part of Istanbul.
This was a distinct advantage for me, since the European part of the city
would not have enabled all the contacts I was able to establish through my
friends in the Asian section.
In the following, I will describe the content of two of the interviews that I
conducted, from group #1. Although I had equipped myself with a video
camera and an audio tape recorder, it became very clear to me during the
first interview that I wouldn’t be able to gain the trust of the interviewee if I
waved a camera in front of them! In Turkey, like in India, one has to pay a
formal visit and introduce oneself to the family, which may or may not be
reciprocated. I made it a habit to announce through my Kurdish friend that I
was anxious to talk about family life in Turkey as compared to that in India,
especially with regard to the role of women. Since I was clad in my
traditional clothes, I was welcomed everywhere without any hesitation. I
was always accompanied by an interpreter—one a Kurdish, the other a
Turkish woman.
Interview # 1 with “H”
Date: 15. April 2006
Place: Üsküdar, Istanbul
H’s background: 50 year old woman (lower-middle class) who had
accompanied her father to Germany in 1973 when she was 17. She was
sent back by her father two years later to Turkey to get married. She had
recently re-married after her first husband died. The second husband was a
“hacı”, i.e. one who had completed the “hac” (pilgrimage) to Mecca and
Medina. Outside the house, the woman wore a “çarşaf”, i.e. she was
completely covered in black, with only her eyes and nose exposed. At
home she wore a caftan with just a head-scarf because all the males
present were close family members (father, husband, brother, father’s
second wife). The day of our visit was the brother’s wedding day. The
family was busy with preparations, but invited me and my Kurdish friend
very warmly to come in!
KPM: How did you like Germany?
H:
I was very happy there. I could wear exactly what I wanted. [Points to her
legs] You could see way up there! –my skirts were so short!
KPM: Why did you return to Turkey?
H:
Ask my father! (disappears into the kitchen)
H’s Father: Girls have to get married. I didn’t want her to get corrupted! She is a
good girl. Look at my son! He stayed in Germany and had schooling in
Mannheim. Now he is getting married. I worked until 1988 in Germany.
They laid me off due to ill health. I still have a work and stay permit for
Germany – go back and forth.
KPM [to H’s husband]: Were you also in Germany?
H’s Husband: Yes, but since 1990 work conditions are very bad in Germany. Lots
of unemployment. So I came back.
H’s Father: I changed career from mechanic to linoleum and tile layer (in a
mosque). Also translation work.
[H returns with tea and snacks] Please eat and drink! This is a happy day!
[My interpreter and I leave after about ten minutes. At the front door I ask H]
KPM: Why do you wear a “çarşaf” when you go out? Isn’t the headscarf
enough?
H:
It is my will. Now I’m working for Allah. It is now my idea, my belief.
Come again! I welcome all religions. Everyone is free to choose … Allah
is great that way.
H’s Father’s second wife: Why are you asking all these questions?
My interpreter: She is interested in the position of women.
H:
We are strong women! I dress and live as I wish.
Interview # 2 with S
Date: Thursday, March 30, 2006
Place: Avanos, Cappadocia
S’s background: 57 year old woman (daughter acted as interpreter). Also
present: daughter-in-law, three grandchildren – all male - . Father returned
from his gardening work in time for afternoon ‘namaz’. The older son was
at work. The youngest son, who is about 20 years old, was away at school
in Cyprus.
KPM: When did you go to Germany?
S:
My father went illegally in 1964 to Germany. He had to return in 1971
because of his illegal status. In 1972 my husband went legally to Germany
(near Dortmund), after four months of marriage. He is a High School
graduate, worked as a mechanic in a mining company, as equipment repair
technician. He’s very proud of his schooling. He found work in Germany
demeaning, didn’t want to socialize. He made me do all the outside work
(banking, grocery shopping, etc.). Because of prejudice about “garlic
smelling Turks” amongst Germans, he stops taking garlic. Even when he
has to take it for medicinal purposes (as antibiotic), he swallows the pods
so that his breath is not tainted! He learns to speak very good German.
KPM: When did you join him?
S:
1974, with my children. I only had only primary school. I come from a
very poor family, so further education was not possible. As a child I had to
help my mother weave carpets.
KPM: Your daughter mentioned returning to Turkey – when did this happen?
S:
In 1981 we sent our daughter and son back to Turkey to my grandparents
(my mother took care of them).
KPM: Why?
S:
We didn’t want our children to end up as workers/laborers, but to get a
decent education in Turkey like their cousins. I took up work in Germany
as a seamstress in a factory. Missed my two older children terribly—I
cried and cried—, but the work in the factory makes time go by fast. I
would have liked more German friends, but I was surrounded by other
Turks all the time. I had only one German friend, Ingrid, who looked after
my youngest son, while I was away at work. My German is very poor.
After return to Turkey, I’ve lost touch with Ingrid, don’t even have her
telephone number!
KPM: When did you return to Turkey?
S: 1984. The German government was offering Turks substantial sums to return
to Turkey voluntarily because of tightening labor situation.
S’s daughter: End of the Cold War, the Wall comes down, East German
problem…
S: But my husband didn’t come back with me. He returned only in 1989 after
saving a lot of money. Bought a gas station in Avanos. We built a twostoried house. Our son and wife, and their two kids live with us. My
husband has now retired from the gas station business, my older son runs
it.
KPM: [to the daughter] When do the men come home?
S’s daughter: Our men are never home before 11 at night, unless they want food!
KPM: What is your educational background?
S’s daughter: I graduated from METÜ in Ankara [the Middle Eastern Technical
University—a very prestigious public university), but now I have a twomonth old baby boy. My husband is a Professor of English in Ankara. We
are very proud of Avanos’ modernity. No one wears a headscarf here. My
mother wears it only during prayer times. I remember a time when we
were on vacation in Spain. A German tourist approached me and said:
“Don’t Turkish women have to wear a headscarf and a long coat?” when
he saw me dressed in shorts and a sleeveless tank top! Of course I also
hear the comment: “Do you use camels for transportation?” I always tell
them: “I’ve seen camels in the zoo.”
During my stay in Germany, I knew of seven different mosques in the
town where we lived, and seven different beliefs. My father never joined
any group on principle (“religion is between the individual and God”).
Once—I was 11 years old—I was in Germany and wore a sleeveless shirt.
On the street, a Turkish man criticized me and asked me whether my
parents approve of the way I dress. I told him that my father approved and
that my mother had bought me the shirt.
KPM: What did you think of such criticism?
S’s daughter: When such criticisms are leveled about a perceived lack of decorum
or adherence to Islamic beliefs, women and men are forced to join one of
these groups in order to “belong” and not be ostracized. Otherwise,
acceptance of any kind is difficult, with Germans or with fellow Turks!
My two female cousins living in Germany: one doesn’t wear a headscarf,
the other one has begun wearing one now!
KPM: Why do you think this is?
S’s daughter: There are various reasons:
assimilate into Turkish population in Germany
belong to a group
form of political statement
Many Turkish women lead double lives in Germany. On the way to
work/school, they step out of their houses in headscarf and long coat, then
quickly remove the coat under which they wear trousers or short skirt, etc.,
remove headscarf. Veiling is now purely a political statement. Different
types of headscarves are worn (turban is one of them)
[When my visit was almost over, S’s husband came home, greeted me
with a brusque: “Guten Tag!” and disappeared into the bedroom,
apparently to wash up before afternoon ‘namaz’. S’s daughter offered this
as an excuse for his behavior]
S’s daughter: Turks in Germany – those reverting to the headscarf and “traditional
values untouched by Germany”—are similar to other diasporic
populations who sense a loss of their identity. It leads to a stagnation of
their own “original” culture. But the Turks in Turkey are much more
progressive, their culture remains dynamic.
II – Debates in Germany
In the spring of 2007 I hope to be able to complete the second half of my
research, namely in Germany. I will interview the following three groups:
Group #1: three Turkish women who live and work in Germany
(ideally, I will find a representative from each of three generations,
beginning with the first group that arrived in Germany in the 1960’s);
Group #2: six members of the Turkish youth (three boys and three
girls between the ages of 15 and 21) born and/or brought up in
Germany;
Group #3: managers/directors/editors of various German media (the
German T.V. station 3SAT; the German radio station B5 Aktuell (a
news station); the Babelsberg Film Studios in Potsdam, Berlin; the
German daily newspaper taz)
In order to understand how integration is measured, I will address the
following issues:
• Socialization practices
• Interest in obtaining German citizenship
• Contact with Germans and the German mass media
• Problems in schooling, language acquisition (of both German and
Turkish) and obtaining job training)
• Role of the media (how do the media help Turkish women come to
terms with their ‘otherness’?)
• Role of Islam in their lives.
Interestingly enough, Turkish women living in Germany with no dress or
employment restrictions, seem to constitute one of the largest groups of
Turkish women to return to a more orthodox Muslim life. These interviews
will thus provide not only information about the migrant experience, but also
offer insights into the boundaries of identities and encourage our students to
rethink their notions of a singular, monolithic identity within the
predominantly monolingual environment of the U.S..
Selected Bibliography:
Abadan-Unat, N., ed. Turkish Workers in Europe (1960-1975). Leiden: E.J.
Brill, 1976.
Afsaruddin, Asma, ed. Hermeneutics and Honor: Negotiating Female
“Public” Space in Islamic/ate Societies. Harvard Middle Eastern
Monographs XXXII Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Harvard
University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1999.
Ajami, Fouad. The Arab Predicament: Arab Political Thought and Practice
Since 1967.
Altinay, Ayşe Gül. The Myth of the Military-Nation. Militarism, Gender,
and Education in Turkey. New York, NY: Palgrave-Macmillan 2004.
(Altinay teaches at the Sabanci University in Istanbul and appears
often on Turkish TV to talk about women’s issues)
Anil, Ela et al. Turkish Civil and Penal Code Reforms from a Gender
Perspective: The Success of Two Nationwide Campaigns. First
Edition, Istanbul, February 2005.
Arat, Zehra F., ed. Deconstructing Images of “The Turkish Woman.” New
York: Palgrave 1999.
Bagöz, Ilhan, and N. Furniss, eds. Turkish Workers in Europe. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1985.
Boos-Nünning, Ursula, ed. Die Türkische Migration in deutschsprachigen
Büchern 1961-1984. Opladen: Leske and Budrich, 1990. (interesting
insights!)
Bowen Donna Lee & Evelyn A. Early, eds., Everyday Life in the Muslim
Middle
East (Second Edition) Indiana University Press. November 2001.
Bozdoðan S. & R. Kasaba, eds., Rethinking Modernity and National
Identity in Turkey. Seattle 1997. (A must read!)
Brandt, Bettina. "Memories of the Future: Language, Politics and Identities
in the Early Prose of German-Turkish writer Emine Sevgi Özdamar."
Lecture on November 15, 2002, at the University of Arizona, Tucson.
(Excellent analysis! Hope she publishes it!)
Çalar, Aye. “Das Kultur-Konzept als Zwangsjacke in Studien zur
Arbeitsmigration,” Zeitschrift für Türkeistudien 1991, 1:92-105. (An
English
version is available as Sozialanthropologische Arbeitspapiere Nr. 31,
Institute for Ethnology, Free University of Berlin.)
Çalar, Aye. German Turks in Berlin: Migration and Their Quest for Social
Mobility.
Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, McGill University, 1994.
—Die Bundesrepublik: Ein Einwanderungsland? Zur Soziologie der
Gastarbeiterbevölkerung als Einwanderer-Minorität. Stuttgart: KlettCotta,
1981. (Excellent source of information)
Elwert, G. “Problem der Ausländerintegration - Gesellschaftliche Integration
durch Binnenintegration?”Köllner Zeitschrift für Soziologie 1982,
34:717-731.
Esposito. John L. Islamic World: Past and Present. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2004. (He is a professor of religion and politics at
Georgetown University. Very solid research)
Esposito, John L. The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. New York: Oxford
University press, 2003.
Esposito, John L. Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2002.
Esposito, John L. What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2002.
Esposito, John L. Women in Muslim Family Law, 2nd Edition. Syracuse:
New York, 2001.
Esposito, John L. & J. Voll. Makers of Contemporary Islam. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2001.
Esposito, John L. & Y. Haddad. Muslims on the Americanization Path? New
York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Gellner, Ernest. Nations and Nationalisms. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University
Press, 1983. (Gellner is always thought-provoking! Very important
definitions of nation, nationality, nationalism)
Göle, Nilüfer. The Forbidden Modern. Civilization and Veiling. University
of Michigan Press, 1996. (She is one of the foremost critics and voices
for women’s issues. She is also very well known in the U.S. This is a
most thought-provoking book)
Hardin, Şerif. “Europe in Turkey”, in Taciser Belge (ed.), Where Does
Europe End?, Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Turkey, Istanbul, 1993, p.
119.
Heckmann, F. “Einwanderung als Prozess,” In J. Blaschke and K. Greussig,
eds., “Dritte Welt” in Europa. Frankfurt: Syndikat, 1980, pp. 95-106.
Hiro, Dilip, War Without End: The Rise of Islamist Terrorism and the
Global Response. Great Britain: Routledge, 2001. (All of Hiro’s
books are excellent)
Hiro, Dilip. Secrets and Lies: Operation “Iraqi Freedom” and After: A
Prelude to the Fall of U.S. Power in the Middle East? New York,
N.Y.: Nation Books, an Imprint of Avalon Publishing Group
Incorporated, 2004.
Kandiyoti D. & A. Saktanber, eds. Fragments of Culture: The everyday of
Modern Turkey. New Brunswick: 2002. (Extremely useful insights
into the complexity of modern Turkey)
Kocturk, Tahire. A Matter of Honour. Experiences of Turkish Women
Immigrants. Zed Books, UK, N. Jersey, 1992.
Konuk, Kader. Identitäten im Prozeß. Literatur von Autorinnen aus und in
der Türkei in deutscher, englischer und türkischer Sprache. Essen,
Germany: Verlag Die Blaue Eule, 2001.
Leggewie, C. & Zenocak. Deutsche Türken/Türk Almanlar: Das Ende der
Geduld/Sabrn sonu. Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1993.
Lewis, Bernard. The Emergence of Modern Turkey. Great Britain: Oxford
University Press, 1961. (Lewis is one of the authorities on Turkey and
Islam. Although many of his ideas are outdated, he is one of the
stalwarts in the field and anyone interested in modern Turkey must
have read him.)
Mandel, Ruth. “Shifting Centres and Emergent Identities: Turkey and
Germany in the Lives of Turkish Gastarbeiter,” In D.F. Eickelman
and J. Piscatori, eds., Muslim
Travellers: Pilgrimage, Migration, and the Religious Imagination.
London:
Routledge, 1990, pp. 153-171.
Mandel, Ruth. “Turkish Headscarves and the ‘Foreigner Problem’:
Constructing
Difference Through Emblems of Identity,” New German Critique
1989, 46:27-46. (A brilliant analysis!)
Martin, Philip L. The Unfinished Story: Turkish Labour Migration to
Western
Europe. With Special Reference to the Federal Republic of Germany.
Geneva:
ILO, 1991.
Mernissi, Fatima. Beyond the Veil. Male-Female dynamics in Modern
Muslim Society. Revised Edition. Indiana University Press, 1987.
(Mernissi is a must-read! She is one of the first Muslim women—she
is Moroccan—who read the Q’uran in the original in order to dispute
some of the assumptions and interpretations offered in the name of the
sacred word of Islamic law (“sharia”).
Mhçyazgan, U. Wir haben uns vergessen. Ein intellektueller Vergleich
türkischer Lebensgeschichten. Rissen: G.B. Verlag, 1986.
Murti, Kamakshi P. “Whose Identity? The Nonnative Teacher as Cultural
Mediator in the Language Classroom.” ADFL Bulletin, 34, no. 1 (Fall
2002): 26-29 (I discuss the kind of marginalization that occurs when a
non-German enters the German classroom and ways to overcome such
prejudices!)
Murti, Kamakshi P. India: the Seductive and Seduced "Other" of German
Orientalism. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001. (This book is
helpful, I think, in understanding why Germans insist on denying their
multiculturalism—this mode of thinking goes back to the early 19th
century when German philosophers and other thinkers jointly created
a discourse and a vocabulary about the “other”, i.e. the colonized
African, Asian, or Native American “other”)
Öncü, Ayşe & Petra Weyland, eds. Space, Culture and Power: New
identities in globalizing cities. London and New Jersey: Zed Books,
1997.
Özdamar, Emine Sevgi. Das Leben ist eine Karawanserai, hat zwei Türen,
aus einer kam ich rein, aus der anderen ging ich raus. Berlin,
Germany: Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 1994. (Very complex reading! I
would begin with her Mutterzunge.)
Özdamar, Emine Sevgi. Seltsame Sterne starren zur Erde. Berlin, Germany:
Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2004. (This book will fascinate students
because it is set in today’s Berlin!)
Özdamar, Emine Sevgi. Mutterzunge. Berlin, Germany: Kiepenheuer &
Witsch, 1998. (Very important for discussing the relationship between
language and identity)
Pfluger-Schindlbeck, Ingrid. “Achte die Älteren, liebe die Jüngeren:
Sozialisation türkischer Kinder.” Frankfurt/Main: Athenäum, 1987.
Renter, L.-R. & M. Dodenhoeft. Arbeitsmigration und Gesellschaftliche
Entwicklung. Wiesbaden: Steiner Verlag, 1988.
Riemann, W. & O. Harrassowitz. Über das Leben in Bitterland:
Bibliographie
zur türkischen Deutschland Literatur und zur türkischen Literatur in
Deutschland. Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz, 1990.
Roy, Olivier & Carol Volk, Translators, The Failure of Political
Islam. Massachusetts, U.S.A.: Harvard University Press, 1996.
Saktanber, Ayşe. Living Islam. Women, Religion & the Politicization of
Culture in Turkey. London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 2002; NY:
Palgrave Macmillan.
Schiffauer, Werner. Die Bauern von Subay. Das Leben in einem türkischen
Dorf. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1987.
Schiffauer, Werner. Die Gewalt der Ehre. Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 1983.
Schiffauer, Werner. Die Migranten aus Subay. Türken in Deutschland: Eine
Ethnographie. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1991.
Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr, Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Soysal, Yasemin N. Limits of Citizenship: Migrants and Postnational
Membership in Europe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994.
(Essential reading)
Suhr, Heidrun. “Ausländerliteratur: Minority Literature in the Federal
Republic of Germany,” New German Critique 1989, 46: 71-103.
Weinstein, Michael M., ed. Globalization. What’s New? New York, N.Y.:
Columbia University Press, 2005. (Very good collection of articles
about globalization and nationalism)
White, Jenny. Islamist Mobilization in Turkey: A Study In Vernacular
Politics. Seattle 2002.
White, Jenny. Money Makes Us Relatives: Women's Labor in Urban Turkey.
Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994. (White’s research has
brought important insights into the relationship between Muslim
women and Islam)
Wierschke, Annette. Schreiben als Selbstbehauptung: Kulturkonflikt und
Identität in den Werken von Aysel Özakin, Alev Tekiinay und Emine
Sevgi Özdamar. Mit Interviews. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Verlag
für Interkulturelle Kommunikation, 1996. (The interviews with the
three writers are especially interesting)
Wolbert, Barbara. “Aufstieg und Einstieg durch Ausbildung: Eine
Reintegrationsstrategie türkischer Rückkehrfamilien,” In H.
Barkowski and G.R. Hoff, eds., Berlin Interkulturell. Berlin:
Colloquium Verlag, 1991, pp. 279-298.
Wolbert, Barbara. “Rückkehr: Statuspassage und Passageriten türkischer
Migranten,”
Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 1992, 115: 169-197.
Wolbert, Barbara. Migrationsbewältigung: Orientierungen und Strategien.
Biographisch-interpretative Fallstudien über die Heirats-Migration
dreier
Türkinnen. Göttingen: Edition Heredot, 1984.
Yegenoglu, Meyda. Colonial Fantasies: Towards a Feminist Reading of
Orientalism. London and New York: Cambridge UP, 1998. (A mustread! It attempts very successfully to balance Edward Said’s
Orientalism by offering a feminist, non-Judaeo-Christian perspective)
Zürcher, Erik J., Turkey: A Modern History. London: 1997. (Informative)
Notes on Contributors:
1. Bronfenbrenner, Mary …
2. Collins, Elisabeth …
3. Fowdy, Karen …
4. Hampton, Margaret …
5. Hopkins, Leroy …
6. Long, John …
7. Loomis, Annette …
8. Mitchell, Janice …
9. Murti, Kamakshi: Professor of German, Middlebury College,
Middlebury, VT.
10.Ratwik, Anita: German teacher, St. Paul Public Schools, Ret., St.
Paul, MN.