“Challenge Statements”: One Sentence Writing Assignments
Years ago, I came across a syllabus on the internet that changed how I teach writing. It was by Rudy Koshar, the distinguished historian of German History at the University of Wisconsin. I was looking around for examples of how to structure a course in modern German history, but what I found instead was an […]
Challenge Statements: One Sentence Writing Assignments
Andy EvansSUNY New Paltz “Challenge statements” are short, 50-word, single-sentence statements on course readings. They are designed to a) encourage students to do the reading and b) improve students’ skills of summary and analysis. Challenge statements are also excellent tools for helping students become better writers. Tags: German History, teaching Image Source: By Bundesarchiv, Bild […]
Finding Germany in the Neighborhood
Like many institutions, my university is increasingly emphasizing engaged and experiential learning, where students get out of the classroom and learn and/or apply their learning out in “the real world” (for us, this takes the form of an “Engaged Learning” requirement in the University Core Curriculum). My department also offers a concentration in Public and […]
Found in Translation
Editors’ Note: Kyung Lee Gagum and Patrick Ploschnitzki convened the seminar Found in Translation at the 2022 German Studies Association annual conference. Because the seminar explored pedagogical issues related to translations, the Collaboratory editors asked the conveners to write a recap of the seminar for Zeitnah. Lost or found in translation? We, the seminar conveners, […]
Incorporating German Colonialism into German Studies Classrooms
Editors’ Note: Katherine Arnold and Eriks Bredovskis convened the seminar Colonialism and German Memory Politics: New Approaches to Teaching Colonial Science and German Imperialism at the 2022 German Studies Association annual conference. Because the seminar focused on teaching, the Collaboratory editors asked the conveners to write a recap of the seminar for Zeitnah. Recently, the […]
Rethinking the Survey Course
Editors’ Note: In the coming months, the German Studies Collaboratory will publish a series of blogs related to teaching and pedagogy. We’ll begin with some contributions recapping discussions at the 2022 German Studies Association conference in Houston, the first of which is about a GSA Teaching Network roundtable about “Rethinking the Survey Course.” At the […]
Weiße Rose Stiftung
Weiße Rose Stiftung e.V., Munich The Weiße Rose Foundation offers online pedagogical material and an app about Weiße Rose and resistance in Nazi Germany. There is also an audio guide (in German and English) for a traveling exhibition, the short audios are useful without the exhibition too. Weiße Rose Stiftung website
Shaming and Insulting in the German Empire: Bringing podcasting into the digital workspace
In the German Empire, practices of shaming and insulting were common in political dispute. In the summer of 2020, students were given the opportunity to gain practical experience in researching and analyzing historical examples of these practices and then to present them in a podcast. Their findings contributed to an ongoing research project that is […]
Mr Wissen2go Geschichte
ZDF/Terra X und funk This YouTube channel features a wide variety of short video talks in German about topics in (German) history. They are aimed at German-speaking secondary students and quite useful for North American German-language courses (secondary or post-secondary) with students at roughly the B2 level. MrWissen2go Geschichte wird produziert von ZDF/Terra X und […]
