Liebe Studis – Dear students,
 
Barring unforeseen circumstances, this is the last weekly email I will send to the German 101-231 class email lists from this Winter semester. I will send emails to the Spring/Summer German 100-232 classes roughly once a week over the summer. If you are NOT taking German 100-232 this summer and would like to see these emails, you could visit the weekly email archive periodically to check for updates, or email me in order to be added to the Sp/Su email list.
  • German Lab, Schokoladenstunde/German Convo on the Go, Kreativwerkstatt, Max Kade Kaffeestunde & Deutschtisch, and German Club events will resume in the Fall.
  • There will hopefully be “Deutschtische” twice a week from about 12:15-12:55, associated with German 230 in the Summer half term. If these take place, all German students are welcome to attend. More info will be in my weekly emails over the summer.
  • If you are looking for German films/series to watch over the summer, many suggestions are in the “Miscellaneous” section near the end 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!

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

If you still need to fulfill any humanities requirements and are looking for an online or in-person course, consider taking our department’s hybrid German 386 (Fairy Tales) course this Spring term. This is a discussion-based seminar which you can take in person if you are in Ann Arbor, or online as a remote student; all you need to do is sign up! It will be taught in a highly interactive way, examining well-known fairy tales and hidden gems from a multitude of perspectives, including ecocriticism, psychoanalysis, feminism, literary studies, and anthropology. We will take full advantage of the hybrid format to explore digital storytelling and gaming elements, with students interpreting and making their own digital fairy tale adaptations. The course will give you a nuanced understanding of the Grimm brothers’ fairy tales as well as adaptations and modern versions of them. More information is here.

If you are interested in applying for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship abroad or a Fulbright Study Grant for 2025-2026, you will have to apply by Sunday, August 25.
 
If you can imagine pursuing a graduate degree in German, you are invited to apply for a ‘Grad for a Day’ Scholarship to visit the German program at the University of Minnesota in October. The application deadline is Wednesday, May 15.
 
If you are looking for some paid opportunites for the upcoming academic year, you may want to secure an internship with the Institute for the Humanities (application deadline: May 17), or be a Paid Student Leader at the LSA Opportunity Hub (application deadline: May 31), or become a Peer Advisor at CGIS (application deadline: August 1).
 
Undergraduates in the German Department uploaded submissions for “Schriftlich“. You can find the publication here.

Here is the list of German dept. classes offered in Spring, Summer, and Fall 2024. Please note that even if you already know your plans for German language classes, the list also includes a wide variety of interesting courses in English. If you have questions please contact our advisors, Mary and Kalli. We also strongly encourage you to contact one of the German Peer Mentors, who are undergraduates and who have taken/are taking our German courses. See the “German Courses & Majoring/Minoring in German” section below for contact info.

Advisor office hours and contact info: You can reach the German advisors through a general email: germanadvising@umich.edu. We have two advisors. They are available for advising hours throughout the semester:

A link to their current office hours will always be included in the full text of these weekly emails, which you can find online:  scroll down to the section “German Courses & Majoring/Minoring in German.” You can schedule appointments with Mary and Kalli here.
 
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
  • Finding German Films and Series Online – Miscellaneous
  • Chrome Extension for Dual-Language Subtitles – Miscellaneous
  1. DAAD German Studies Research Grant (Wednesday, May 1; Application Deadline)
 
  2. ‘Grad For A Day’ Scholarship Opportunity at University of Minnesota (Wednesday, May 15; Application Deadline — See Attachment)
 
  3. Public Humanities Internship Program 2024-2025 (Friday, May 17; Application Deadline)
 
  4. Job Posting: Paid Student Leader for LSA Opportunity Hub (Friday, May 31; Application Deadline)
 
Weekly conversation hours and Max Kade events will resume in the Fall. Check these weekly emails in Spring/Summer for information about Deutschtische [lunchtime conversation hours] associated with German 230 in the Summer.
 
The “German Lab” will also reopen in the Fall.
 
LRC Conversation Partner Site Check out this site to find a conversation partner, and/or register so others can find you on the site. 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!
 
A2 Stammtisch
  • Meets every other Thursday at 8:00 pm at Grizzly Peak, 120 West Washington St. Pre-registration is requested: Contact Mechthild Heerde-Olind at heerdeolind “at” yahoo.com to be added to the email list. You can also check the event listings in the Ann Arbor Observer for info on meeting times and locations. [last verified: 1/23/2023]
  • 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.
German Club events will resume in the Fall!
 
Check the “Upcoming Deadlines and Events” section to see upcoming German Club events. You can earn 2 “A&P” make-up/bonus points by attending any of these events!
 
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. You are encouraged to come to as many or few events as you would like!

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]

There is a German Department facebook group, and a German Department facebook page:

  • “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 Department facebook page: Check it out!

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!

Finding German Films and Series

Chrome Extension for Dual-Language Subtitles

A German 101 student has found a Google Chrome extension that allows for subtitles in two languages, and has found this very helpful for watching e.g. “Dark” in German for his AMDs. I have not had time to try this, but if you find the dual language subtitles in the “Easy German” videos helpful, then this may be worth checking out. The extension is called Language Reactor.