CSB/SJU Launches First Exchange Partnership with Eichstätt University North of Munich

With the leadership of Nicole Clements and Peggy Retka of the CSB/SJU Office of Education Abroad, CSB/SJU has begun its first official exchange program with a German University.  Die Katholische Universität Eichstätt is located about 90 minutes north of Munich by train and features a beautiful campus with about 4000 students in the rolling hills of northern Bavaria.    
     Starting as soon as Fall 2013, two to four German students will come to CSB/SJU and the same number of our more advanced students will spend a semester or year in Eichstätt.  Eichstätt is also home of the Benedictine Monastery which founded The Monastery of Saint Benedict more than 150 years ago.   Thank you to Nicole and Peggy, as well as professors Lisa Ohm and Charles Bobertz who have all had a hand in making this exchange partnership come to fruition.   
     Students interested in this exchange program should apply in January 2013 for spring term in Eichstätt 2014.   It is financially a very affordable program. 

Dr. Lonnie Johnson, Executive Director, Fulbright (Austrian-American Educational) Commission Visits CSB/SJU

Lonnie Johnson (CSB/SJU German Studies graduate 1974) is the executive director of the Austrian-American Educational Commission (Fulbright Commission) in Vienna. During his visit to CSB/SJU in late November, Lonnie gave a talk to members of the Office of Education Abroad, the Center for Global Education, the Global Business Leadership Department and the German Studies Program. In his remarks, Lonnie analyzed the changing nature of study abroad and its ever-increasing importance for American students.   The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 to promote mutual understanding between people of the United States and people of other countries. Dr. Johnson’s research and publications focus on the history of Central Europe and Austria. Dr. Johnson has published books and articles on Austrian and central European history and politics including, Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends; Vienna: The Past in the Present; and Introducing Austria. He received a B.A. from St. John’s University in Minnesota and a Ph.D. from the University of Vienna.

   Over the years, dozens of students from the German Studies Program at CSB/SJU have participated in the Austrian and German Fulbright Teaching Assistant Programs for one to three years after graduating from college. We deeply appreciate Lonnie's ongoing support of his undergraduate German Program. 

Saint Ben's and Saint John's Receive Award for Achievements in Internationalization

   The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University have received the 2012 Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization by NAFSA: Association of International Educators. The award was announced March 6 by NAFSA.
    Named for the late senator from Illinois, the award recognizes outstanding and innovative achievements in campus internationalization. Simon was a strong supporter of international education and foreign language learning.
    Besides CSB/SJU, four other schools also received the award - Juniata College (Huntingdon, Pa.), Northern Arizona University, San Francisco State University and the University of Michigan.
    "We are being recognized for comprehensive internationalization," said Joe Rogers, director of the Center for Global Education at CSB and SJU. "This is another way of saying the degree to which we have built international ideas, perspectives and learning opportunities into all aspects of our campus community and into all phases of our students' four-year experience. This is reflected in the support we receive from institutional leadership, the committed and internationally minded faculty, our international education staff and our globally engaged student body."   More: http://www.csbsju.edu/paul-simon-award.htm   

    Our program in Salzburg, Austria, is the longest running of the study abroad programs at CSB/SJU. This year 22 students are spending their fall term at the University of Salzburg.

German Studies Faculty Scholarship Update

    Lisa Ohm has completed her monograph, Johanna Heusser Spyri’s Double Bildungsroman Heidi & Her Literary Oeuvre: The Swiss-German Writer’s Contributions to Late 19th-Century Literature and Thought. She gave two presentations on Spyri at the Midwest MLA in Cincinnati in November, and she will attend the 2013 MLA in Boston, thanks in part to a Faculty Development travel grant, to meet with acquisition editors of several publishing companies. She also received a Fellowship for spring 2014 to complete a scholarly introduction to and translation of Spyri’s Sina: A Story for Young Girls, first published in 1884 and never translated into English. This book contains one of the first discussions in European literature of women studying at the university level.

     Wendy Sterba has just submitted her manuscript, Photos of the Reel: What the Photograph in Contemporary Film Tells us about Art and Truth in the Age of New Media for publication.  Wendy will also attend the International Film Studies Conference Melancholia: Imaging the End of the World in Marburg, Germany, thanks to a Faculty Development travel grant. The title of her talk is “The Corporate and Corporeal: Min(d)ing the Body - Conscience and Consumption in Early 21st Century Hollywood Dystopia." She presented a paper in September at the Film and History Conference in Milwaukee entitled, "What Would Medusa Do? Psychology, Photography and Pegasus Envy in Films about 19th Century Monstrous Women." She has received a Fellowship for Fall of 2013 to pursue the topic of Aesthetic Issues Concerning Film in the Age of Electronic Media for her new book which explores film related aesthetic theories of Manfred Frank, Theodor Adorno, Walther Benjamin and the Frankfurt School.

    Andreas Kiryakakis is deeply involved in translating Der letzte Mönch von Tibhirine by Freddy Derwahl. This book recounts the same events as the award-winning film, Of Men and Gods.  Here is a description of the book from amazon.de: 

In der algerischen Wüste harrt eine kleine Schar von christlichen Mönchen im Kloster Tibhirine aus. Im durch Revolutionen aufgewühlten Nordafrika werden sie, im Spannungsfeld von Christentum und Islam, mehrfach von Rebellen bedroht. Nach intensiver Beratung beschließen die Mönche dennoch zu bleiben. Sie haben sich entschieden, für die Menschen da zu sein. Sie wollen ihre Krankenstation weiterhin öffnen, für Versöhnung eintreten und mit ihrem Leben dem christlichen Glauben Gestalt geben. Am 26. März 1996 kehren die Rebellen zurück. Sieben Mönche werden nachts entführt und später enthauptet. Die Umstände und Hintergründe der Morde sind bis heute ungeklärt. Dieses Buch erzählt das Leben von Frère Jean-Pierre Schumacher, den die Terroristen damals nicht entdecken. In seinen Erzählungen spiegelt sich, was damals wirklich geschah.

    Mark Thamert is working on a translation of Die Benediktsregel: Eine Anleitung zu christlichem Leben, a commentary on the Rule of Saint Benedict written by the Abbot Georg Holzherr of Einsiedeln Abbey, Switzerland. This translation will be published by Cistercian Publications in 2013 or 2014.  He is also working on a translation of Anselm Grün's Zeit der Erfüllung. Ein Begleiter für Advent und Weihnachten to be published by the Liturgical Press in 2013.  Anselm Grün is Abbot of Münsterschwarzach Abbey in Germany.  Mark will also give a presentation at the American Council of the Teaching of Foreign Languages Conference in Orlando, November 2013, on "Recent Research on Best Practices for Teaching Writing in Foreign Languages -- and Computer-Assisted Feedback that Works."

Movie Night! Das Leben der Anderen -- Homemade Apfelstrudel!

Greeting Friends in GERMAN!!!!

Tonight the German Club is showing

Das Leben der Anderen
(The lives of others)

(with English subtitles) in the

Quad Little Theater (346).

tonight at 7pm.

AWARD –WINNING  SUSPENSE … LOVE STORY …  CIA TYPE PLOT.

Academy Award Winner

We have ordered

HOMEMADE Apple Strudel...
which will be delicious.

And if you come your teacher will give extra-credit

(and the semester end is right around (gahhhhhhh)

the corner so extra credit is kinda a big deal...).

I hope to see all of you tonight!!!!!!!

 Katie  German Club

Brian Williams (1988) Visits Gastfamilie in Salzburg

Dear Salzburgers!

   Frohe Weihnachten und ein gutes neues Jahr!! 

 

   Jane and I (and our three kids) traveled to Europe (Germany, Italy and Austria) in mid-October to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary.  I didn’t think we’d make it 20 years either.  Just kidding.  The weather was outstanding and the fall colors were spectacular.

   The best stop of the trip, of course, was Salzburg.  After hitting all of the sights (Hohensalzburg Castle, Getreidegasse, Augustiner, etc.), I drove the family out to Am Abstwald 10.

   I wanted them to see where “Dad” lived in Europe -- twenty-five years ago (really??).  After parking the car, we walked down to the Paeske house to snap a couple of photos.  The house was quiet.  Much to my amazement, the name on the gate still said Gerhard Paeske. 

   I wondered if the Paeske children now owned or took care of the home.  We began walking back to the car when my eldest son spotted a tiny, gray-haired woman coming from the backyard.  “Dad, I think that’s her,” he said.  I couldn’t believe my eyes. 

   “Frau Paeske?,” I called out.  “Ja?,” she answered with a truly puzzled look.  I nearly fell over. 

   “Ich heise Brian Williams.  “Ich war 1987 hier” (close enough, I figured).

   I’m not sure which of us was more shocked.  Of course, she immediately invited us all into her house (which hadn’t changed much at all).  Frau Paeske is now 94 years old.  She looks great (and could pass for someone at least ten years younger).  She is as sharp as ever.  She has lived alone in the house for seven years (since Herr Paeske passed away).  Sadly, she informed us that one of her daughters had also died of a brain tumor.

   We spoke (or I at least tried to) for the better part of an hour (my daughter recorded a fair chunk of it on video).  Many times throughout our short visit, Frau Paeske said, “I so happy.”  Her English is probably still better than my German.  Ha.  We had a wonderful time paging through her scrapbooks and recalling a few moments from our semester stay.

  I got a big laugh from her when I re-enacted Herr Paeske scolding us for plugging the toilet – “Zuviel papier!!!  Zuviel papier!!!”  Frau Paeske also laughed when she realized that I married the girl who called the house so much when we lived there.  “Brine, telephone.”  We almost have those phone bills paid off.  Ha.

   She took us upstairs to view the old bedrooms and the bathroom mirror made famous by Der Salzburger Butcher (Metzger, if you prefer).  After our visit, we stopped at a local grocery store (unfortunately, the ADEG is no more) and purchased some rolls and “burp” wurst for a quick lunch in our car.  We returned to the house a while later with a few small gifts, and Frau Paeske forced us to take some chocolates in return.

   Our time with Frau Paeske proved to be the highlight of the entire trip.  By the end of our visit, it had become clear that CSB/SJU’s Salzburg Program had affected her life as much as it impacted mine.  I will always cherish our time together in Salzburg in 1987.  Thanks for all the great memories!  We should find the time to meet for a cold Austrian lager real soon.   

Peace and Merry Christmas,

Brian Williams

16670 7th Street South

Lakeland, MN 55043

(651)600-2006

Chris Pignato Thriving in His Fulbright Teaching Position

Dear German Students, Faculty and Friends,

 

Since late September I have been in Europe experiencing all I can. I returned this year to teach English at an Austrian secondary school. I currently work 13 hours a week, and these hours are split between a HTL and a HAK. The HTL is directed more toward Interior and Structural Design. The HAK puts a focus on Business and Management. I always have Fridays free, and sometimes Thursday also.  I have covered many subjects with the students so far, including the recent elections, holidays, and schools in the US.  

I have enjoyed my first two months here. The town is small and quaint, and has the amenities that I need. Teaching here has allowed me to get an idea of whether I would like to continue my education to be able to teach. 

This is a great opportunity for German students, and also students who've studied education and English. 

Liebe Grüsse aus Imst (near Innsbruck), Österreich.

Chris Pignato  SJU '12

 

CSB/SJU Offers International Teaching Externship Germany

Summer: Mid-May to mid-June

Winter: Mid-January to mid-February

Program Description

The CSB/SJU Education International Teaching Externship (ITE) program is a 4-week international opportunity where students will have a chance to work as a teaching assistant and/or team teacher in one of several locations. The ITE program is a professional teaching experience that you participate in following your teaching internship (student teaching) experience in the US. It is an additional opportunity to put your teaching skills into use in an international environment as you work with an on-site cooperating teacher. Teaching internationally is a great way to set yourself apart from others for job applications. ITE will be a professional adventure you will never forget! View a PowerPoint Presentation on the ITE program. View a PowerPoint Presentation on the ITE program.
Please see Education Department Chair, Professor Janet Grochowski, for more information.

Program Cost
The estimated program cost is $3,800. Students will also be given a $500 stipend to help offset costs.

Estimated fees include:Round trip international airfare from Minneapolis to Dusseldorf, Germany

• International insurance and student card
• Domestic transportation and travel
• Essen lodging and meals (30 days and nights)
• Personal entertainment

Qualifications and Requirements

• Submit your ITE Application form the semester BEFORE your teaching internship (student teaching):
  Application Deadline for Summer 2013 is November 4, 2012
  Application Deadline for Winter 2014 is April 4, 2013
• Your application will be reviewed by the ITE Committee and you are notified.
• You will complete 16 weeks teaching internship in the US.
• Participate in all pre-departure and re-entry orientation activities.
• You will be automatically registered for EDUC 368 (1-2 credits) during your teaching internship (student teaching) semester, so no additional tuition charges.
• You must have a current passport at departure time
• Students must have an ability to pay all travel expenses and personal expenses including room and board, but participants will receive a $500 stipend to help offset the program costs.

ITE Committee

• Professor Janet Grochowski, PhD, Chair
• Allison Spenader, PhD
• Del Brobst, Director K-12, 5-12, 9-12 Teacher Candidates
• Melisa Dick, Director Elementary Teacher Candidates