GER 240 presents German poetry Slam

What can we learn from reading and writing poetry? Why is it still important? Where do we encounter poems in our everyday-life? How can we bring back the fun into reading and writing poetry? How can poetry contribute to successful second language learning?

These were the questions that students in GER 240 discussed during the spring 2018 semester. Yet, the students did not only discuss form and function of German poetry, but also engaged in writing poetry themselves. In addition, they created beautiful small booklets, and collected their own and their favorite German poems in these books.

At the end of the course, the students presented a German Poetry Slam as final project. They read their own and classic poems in German and English. After the event, students, faculty and staff  celebrated the students’ accomplishments and the end of the semester.

 

Dr. Uta Larkey presented at Hebrew University

During the spring semester 2018, Uta Larkey was invited to give a talk at Hebrew University. The talk examined the missing commemoration of the brutal expulsion of Polish Jews from Nazi Germany in October 1938 as well as the existence of hundreds of thousands Jewish displaced persons in German after WWII. Dr. Larkey discussed why these two historical events and developments have hardly played any role in the otherwise rich and considerate Memorial Culture in Germany. The talk was well received, and triggered a rich discussion.