Dear all,
 
Congratulations on completing (or, if you are still taking exams, almost completing) this exceptionally difficult semester! We hope you will be able to rest, relax, and recover in the coming weeks, and that you will stay healthy. Hopefully, you will also look back happily on your German class(es) from this semester. Some suggestions for keeping up with German over the break (for fun!) are included below 🙂 Barring unforeseen circumstances, this will be the last of these weekly emails until classes resume in January.
 
The German Lab is now closed. It will reopen in the Winter, and conversation opportunities will resume then also.
 
Please check out this list of ideas for keeping up with German! It is written for Spring/Summer, but is applicable for the Winter break as well.
  • If you are looking for German films/series to watch, you may find the Telescope Film website useful, and additional resources are included further below in the web version of this email.

Promote German! If you’ve enjoyed your German courses here, please tell your friends about them! Encourage your friends here to think about taking German 101. Encourage your younger friends and relatives back home to take German classes at your high school. Email your high school German teachers and tell them about your experiences in college, or offer to visit your high school to encourage students to take German there or in college!

The Course Guide for Winter 2021 courses is online.  Here is the list of German dept. classes offered in Winter 2021. Please note that the list also includes a wide variety of interesting courses in English. If you have questions please contact our advisors, Mary and Kalli. Mary and Kalli are available for virtual meetings. You may also still be able to schedule virtual meetings with our Peer Advisors. See also the “German Courses & Majoring/Minoring in German” section below.

Other highlights from this week’s email, and what section to check for more details:

  • Conversation Opportunities – Conversation Hours, German Lab
  • Study Abroad, Internships, Scholarship Deadlines – Study Abroad/Internships/Scholarship Info
  • Advising Info – German Courses & Majoring/Minoring in German
  • Conversation Partner Options – Miscellaneous
  • International Center Global Engagement and Education Abroad email list – Miscellaneous
  • Student Resources for Learning Remotely; Virtual BlueCorps office hours for students – Miscellaneous
  • Reserving Study Spaces & Adjusting Your Study Habits During COVID – Miscellaneous
  • FU Best Lectures Series – Miscellaneous
  • Finding German Films and Series Online – Miscellaneous
  • Arts & Culture “Attend at Home” event listings – Local Events and Opportunities

The German Lab is now closed, and will re-open on the first Monday of classes in January. The German Lab is a virtual office hour taking place Monday-Thursday 1-4 pm. You can ask shorter and longer questions, come for conversation practice, help with homework etc. Here is more info about the German Lab – please take advantage of this great resource! Please sign up in advance on the German Lab Signup: instructors will check the signup at the beginning of their German Lab hour, and will leave the lab for that hour if no one has signed up.

German Convo Home Edition” and the Max Kade events (Kaffeestunde, Deutschtisch, Yoga auf Deutsch) will resume in the Winter semester!

LRC Conversation Partner Site

Go to this page to sign up or find a conversation partner. Please notify the LRC if you notice problems (e.g. outdated records etc.). Don’t be shy: the more people sign up, the better the site will work!

Ann Arbor Stammtisch

  • We assume Stammtisch is on hiatus for now. Please let us know if you have information about virtual meetings of the Stammtisch, so we can include it here!
  • A German Stammtisch meets once a week, usually on Thursdays at 8:00 pm at Grizzly Peak or another bar near Main Street. Join the email list to stay up-to-date on where and when the group will meet.
  • There’s also a facebook page: look for “German Table / Stammtisch”
  • Alternatively, contact Mechthild Heerde-Olind at heerdeolind@yahoo.com for the current location and for more information.
  • This is NOT something you can do to make up an absence, but you can still go for fun and/or write about it for an AMD.
See the “Upcoming Deadlines and Events” section for this week’s German Club activities!
 
The German Club works to connect students of all levels with a passion for German language and culture to opportunities for language practice, cultural events, and networking! This semester, its events have been adjusted to allow for fully remote participation, and you are encouraged to come to as many or few as you would like! In addition to virtual Stammtisch (German conversation table), the German Club will offer online game nights where you can win German Club swag, virtual German cook-alongs, tutoring, and more.

Email germaneboard@umich.edu to get put on the email list, or “like” the club on Facebook at facebook.com/germanclubumich for updates!

Faculty Advisors Mary Rodena-Krasan & Kalli Federhofer

Contact our two faculty advisors, Mary or Kalli, for advice on study abroad, internships abroad, a German major/minor, upper-level German courses, career opportunities in German, study-abroad and work-abroad opportunities, etc.

German Peer Advisors/Mentors

If you would like to get in touch with a peer mentor in our Department, please write to: germanmentors@umich.edu. Their expertise includes:

  • Current classes and potential courses
  • Study abroad, internship, and traveling in Germany
  • Academic requirements (major/minor, LSA language requirement) and combination (engineering, pre-health, etc.)
  • Max Kade House
  • Departmental scholarships/fellowships
  • On- and off-campus German opportunities (German Club, German Day, etc.)
  • Career/job search
  • Getting involved – enhancing your undergraduate experience with the German Department

This page will only include entries in this category when there is a job/internship etc. aimed at German students at all levels. To see more internship and job opportunities, scroll through Kalli’s blog, addressed to all upper-level German students

Max-Kade German Residence 2021/2022 (Thursday, January 21; Application Deadline)
 
Check out the arts.umich.edu “Attend at Home” event listing for this week. Each week’s listing includes a wide range of exciting events, including
  • that week’s Penny Stamps Lecture (A high-profile artist or public figure speaks about their work each week. These lectures are a highlight of UM’s intellectual life. If you aren’t aware of this series, please read more about the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series here, where you can also see a list of upcoming speakers)
  • virtual exhibits, lectures, discussions etc.

There are two German Department facebook groups:

  • “German Advising at University of Michigan” [Read news here!]
    • Join this group to see much of the information you see in this email, as well as other relevant info, in the form of individual announcement posts.
  • “German Program at University of Michigan – Vorwärts Blau!” [Post things here!]
    • You are encouraged to join this group to in order to read and post interesting/fun items related to German language and culture. If you have trouble joining the group or posting something, please email Hartmut!

AND there is a German Department facebook page. Check it out: https://www.facebook.com/umichGerman/

You can find weekly updates similar to this email but with lots more content on this blog.

We also encourage you to join us on our LinkedIn site: ‘University of Michigan German Department’

You can also follow us on Twitter: @umichGerman

Conversation Partner Options: Various options for finding conversation partners are listed on this page.

Sign up here for the International Center’s Global Engagement and Education Abroad email list. Weekly emails include info on workshops regarding travel and work abroad, conversation groups, cultural info sessions etc. SEHR interessant!

The Study Spaces at U-M website helps you find and reserve study spaces on campus.

Study Advice: “Adjusting Your Study Habits During COVID”

  • If you are looking for ways to structure studying under these new circumstances, here is some great advice for adjusting your study habits. VIELEN Dank to the German Club’s Paul Chamberlain for finding this. It is full of excellent advice. I am a big fan of the “Pomodoro method” for focussed “mono-tasking.”

Student Resources for Learning Remotely; Virtual BlueCorps office hours for students

FU Best Lectures Series

Check out the FU/Best Lecture series (e.g. for an AMD in German 101, 102 or 221/231). A 45-minute lecture is released each Wednesday; a recording of the Lecture can be accessed anytime after that date (just expand the description to see the link). Topics include e.g. Jewish-German Life – Then and Now; Young Culture: Hip Hop and Street Art as Expressions of Youth Identity in Germany; Multicultural Berlin: The Dynamics of Muslim Cosmopolitanism; etc.

Finding German Films and Series