German Studies Seniors Present on Campus-Wide Scholarship and Creativity Day

On Thursday April 24, hundreds of CSB/SJU students gave major presentations on their senior projects.  The following gave their presentations in German:    

Deutschlands Kulturerbe: The Resiliency of the German Economy  (Honors Thesis Presentation) 
Austin J Eighan

Lisa Ohm, Advisor

This project aims at identifying the key components of Germany’s Kulturerbe, a type of cultural heritage that strengthens its ability to overcome economic crises. I examine how the political and economic measures that Germany uses to overcome financial crises and sustain economic growth result organically from the socio-cultural aspects of German society that help mold a national identity centered on balancing prosperity with social equality. The Kulturerbe is a socio-historical factor encompassing such elements as work ethic and frugality bred from adversity. Germany’s fundamental preparation for a sustainable plan for economic stability began with the nation’s unification over 140 years ago. Through my research, I uncover some of the major causes, outcomes, and methods used to shape the German economy from its unification until today and the role the Kulturerbe plays. The ultimate goal of my research is to determine the building blocks of a successful economy. By examining why an economy like Germany’s seems better suited to withstand crises than others, I conclude with a recommendation as to whether the German model is one from which struggling or developing markets can learn and upon which they can base future social, political, and economic policies.

The CSB/SJU All-Sky Camera
Daniel T Schmit

Environmental Studies, Physics

Wendy Sterba, Advisor

This project discusses the “Fireball” network of All-Sky cameras in Germany and their effective use in meteorite triangulation and compares it to current research involving the CSB/SJU All-Sky camera. Recent physics research at CSB/SJU has developed a method to calculate the altitude of meteorites observed over SJU. Traditionally meteorite triangulation has involved 3 or more observations. Because a network of cameras in Minnesota is not yet fully developed; it has been necessary to develop a 2 observer method of meteorite triangulation using the CSB/SJU and Morris All-Sky cameras. This paper presents this method and the development of the IDL computer program which uses this triangulation method to calculate the altitude of observed meteorites, along with an analysis of Germany’s Fireball network as a potential example for a future network of cameras in Minnesota that would more accurately and effectively track meteorite flight paths.

Dualism
Per J Lundmark
Environmental Studies, Sustainability

Wendy Sterba, Advisor

In my time at St. John’s, my German major has provided balance to what would have been a totally science based curriculum. By combining the ideas of contemporary environmentalism and German texts from both ancient and modern sources, I have truly engaged the liberal arts. This presentation concerns my senior project, a portfolio combining a series of essays from my experiences in the CSB/ SJU German department which illustrate my development not only in the German language, but also the personal exploration of my major. Influences of CSB/ SJU will also be explored, in terms of, for example, the peculiar dualities of the culture that have frustrated me as well as taught me the importance of the omnipresent Benedictine Values. Finally my fascination with the German Romantic Movement has motivated me to look at my life, as well as the contemporary environmental movement, with a new perspective. My works from my German career are collected and will be accompanied by narration in order for all to share in the self-exploration and development.

Five Analyses of Goethe’s “Mignon”

Joseph W Miller

Andreas Kiryakakis and Mark Thamert, Adivsors

In my presentation I will be looking at five different analyses on the poem Mignon by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The analyses range from the psychoanalytical, the mythological, and the practical. I will then add my own analysis of the poem and justify my reasoning with the help of the analyses and my own interpretation. I hope by the end of the paper, those who do not have knowledge of this work will have a better understanding of it, know more about the context of the poem, and why scholars believe this poem to be relevant in German literature.

German and French Club Students Take in the Guthrie's Tristan and Yyseult

The CSB/SJU French and German clubs combined their efforts to organize a trip to the nationally famous Guthrie theater on Friday evening, March 21, 2014 to see a modern adaptation of the medieval love story of Tristan and Yseult.  

Professor Wendy Sterba to give a Thursday forum talk on March 27 in Quad 346.

Adoring Adorno: A Door to Aesthetics in a Postmodern age? at SJU on March 27.

4:15  Little Theatre (Q346)

 Adoring Adorno: A Door to Aesthetics in a Postmodern age?

We live in a postmodern wonderland where master narratives, authority and values such as good and bad are hard to assess (well, we would have called them bad back in the day but now I guess they are instruments of hegemonic discourse.) Does this mean we are destined to consider all texts as equally valuable? Do we as Walter Benjamin would have it, politicize art at the risk of aestheticizing politics, or is there another answer to this dilemma of disappearing authority. This presentation seeks to look at three directions in German thought and what they say to us about the problems of art in culture and it does so in VERY SIMPLE straightforward terms that we can all understand and interact with.

Professor Lisa Ohm and senior Austin Eighan to present on current issues in Germany -- January 30 in Gorecki

“Update on Germany: Shifting Priorities and Overcoming Crises” has been accepted for the Spring Thursday Forum 2014 series. Th8is presentation will be on January 30, 2014 at 4:15pm, in the President’s Conference Room in Gorecki DCC at CSB.

Oktoberfest a Wild Success! -- Click on Link for 125 photos!

The German Club's fourth annual Oktoberfest was hosted on the 26^th of October.  This year was by far the most attended of years previous, making the German Club excited for the years to come.  This year the German Club was able to do a lot more in terms of getting the campus excited for the event, the highlight being a flash mob of the popular German song, Rock Mi, by VoXXclub, done in the Gorecki Dinging Center.  Games at the event included the popular Steinheben, or Stein hoist, and a costume contest of the most Germanic costume, giving students the opportunity to be creative and show off their Trachten.    
 
Click here to view photos ...
           http://www.flickr.com/photos/106949438@N06/

Oktoberfest Flashmob on Youtube!

Gorecki dining room ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V87eQ7Qnkc&feature=youtu.be

OKTOBERFEST in the Reef on October 1st ~~ Come with a Hearty Apetite!

Join us at the SJU Dining Service Refectory for OKTOBERFEST on Tuesday, October 1st. German Pot Roast, Spatzle, Pork Schnitzel, Jumbo Pretzels with Aged Cheddar and Beer Sauce, Red Cabbage with Caraway, and more! German specialties will be available at dinner. Meals may be paid for using punch or DiningBucks. Cash and credit also accepted. Auf Wiedersehen!

Dessert Night -- Kaiserschmarrn! The Emporer's Watchamacallit!

 

Good food. Good friends. Good fun!

Einen kulinarischen Abend im Zeichen Österreichs verbrachten 25 Studenten letzten Donnerstag. Es wurde Kaiserschmarrn gemacht, deutsche Musik gehört und natürlich auch Deutsch gesprochen. Alles in allem, eine „riesen Hetz“ (ein großer Spaß)!

Last Thursday, 25 students gathered together at the McKeown Center to experience an  Austrian cultural evening. They cooked Kaiserschmarrn (a traditional Austrian dessert), listened to German music and practiced their German speaking skills. All in all, it was a blast!

 

 

 

 

May 5th Sustaina-POLKA-bility Event Draws 130 Students, Faculty and Staff

  "SustainaPOLKAbility! is a community celebration of Collegeville's rich cultural and environmental heritage with live polka music and dancing, traditional German food and Catholic devotions, a beer garden, solar farm and greenhouse tours, as well as a beer brewing demonstration, local pottery sales, a lecture on Collegeville history by the SJU Archivist, Peggy Roske, and resources on sustainable living for students. The event serves as both a model and promoter of how to put on an event while using minimal resources and re-appreciating our own local identity. Long live the Polka-Revolution!

   The planners of this event are the students of the SJU Eco-Houses, in cooperation with our counterparts at CSB and the CSB/SJU German Club. See you next year!"

Austrian Novelist and Poet Ludwig Laher Enthralls Students and Faculty

Ludwig Laher read from his book Herzfleischentartung (Heart Flesh Degeneration) on Tuesday, April 30, 2013, at 7 PM in the Gorecki Center. the following day he also met with a student-lead book discussion group and Mark Thamert's upper-division German Poetry class. Here is a description of his book from Amazon.com:

In 1940 the Nazi Storm Troopers set up a Work Education Camp in St. Pantaleon near Salzburg and then, after its overhasty closure in 1941, a Gypsy Detention Center. Hundreds of arbitrarily incarcerated prisoners are tortured there, some murdered. The Camp Doctor is the parish doctor who has been called in specially. For a long time he records some harmless cause of death or other. (The 'heart-flesh degeneration' of a gypsy woman is, however , not his invention). But one day he calls in the State Attorney's Office. The files relating to the ensuing investigation are extant and form the basis for Ludwig Laher's literary work. It makes use -- in a sometimes chilling way -- of the language and logic of the murderers, but at the same time introduces a collective narrator and lets him follow the horrific events once again from the 1940s point of view, and then again from today's viewpoint. Laher also pursues the perpetrators into the resurrected Austria, and unfolds the later court proceedings: the judges are mild; in 1955 the principal perpetrator profits from the amnesty to mark the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Second Republic. The reader, who is drawn into the midst of events, may well feel his heart miss a beat when he witnesses how quickly the incursion of bestial conditions into the every-day life of the Austrian provinces becomes normality, and how quickly everything can be forgotten.

  Special thanks to our colleague, Dr. Greg Schroeder from the History Department, who arranged Laher's visit and packed schedule!  

35 Top Students of German from 9 Minnesota High Schools Honored at CSB/SJU Awards Banquet

On Saturday, April 27, 2013, one hundred students, faculty members, parents and friends gathered in the Saint John's University Great Hall to celebrate the achievements of some 35 students who placed in the 90th percentile on the national AATG German test. Before and after a hearty lunch of Wienerschnitzel, Spätzele, Rotkohl und Apfelstrudel, event MC Mark Thamert lead the crowd in singing zwei Kanon-Lieder, Für Speis und Trank and Wann und wo?   

    

Wienerschnizel, Rotkohl, Spätzele, Salat, Apfelstrudel!

Click herer for the complete set of 80 photos from the awards ceremony:  AATG banquet 4-27-13

Dear Minnesota German teachers, Congratulations on your superb work
on behalf of Minnesota's students of German!

This year's honored High Schools:
Academy of the Holy Angels

Apple Valley High School

Hermantown High School

Irondale High School

Northfield High School

Rosemont High School

Saint John's Preparatory School

Saint Paul Academy and Summit School

Wayzata High School

And here are some of Minnesota's finest students of German:

Andreas Kiryakakis, Jae Cody (MNAATG president) and Lisa Ohm

Jae Cody and Mark Thamert, event MC.

Jae Cody congratulates Matt Mitchell on
his being named Minnesota German Teacher of the Year



Jutta Crowder receives the prestigious Concordia Language Villages
4-week summer scholarship on behalf of Saint Paul Academy 



Thank you, Lisa Ohm, for organizing such a wonderful event! 


Here is the complete set of 80 photos from the ceremony: AATG banquet 4-27-13

Special thanks to Jutta Crowder, Jim Nagel, Verena Luthy-Clay, Emmy Sack, Susan Sullivan, Rebecca Waterhouse and Jae Cody for being present to support and congratulate some of Minnesota's finest students of German!

Kafka's M e t a m o r p h o s i s hits the stage at CSB/SJU!

German theater at its best!

Metamorphosis by Steven Berkoff adapted from Franz Kafka

April 19 at 7:30 pm, April 20 at 2 pm and 7:30 pm
Colman Theater, Benedicta Arts Center, CSB
Note:  This is a free event.  Done in English.
The story begins with a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking to find himself transformed into a monstrous vermin.  His family struggles in dealing with his new appearance and situation, which causes much emotional and financial heart-ache.  Eventually, the family makes a decision about his future and their own.   An ethical and psychological dilemma.

Karneval Celebration a Big Success

Karneval at Gorecki this year featured mask making, games, German music, musical chairs, and trivia about German speaking countries.  At the end of the night, the winner of the best mask contest won a $5 Local Blend gift card, as did the winner of music chairs.  We had a lot of fun and thank you to the 60 students who participated in this great event. 

Thank you too to all who helped plan this event: Kristine Bornus, Steve Pignato, Katie Tillman, Martin Leimser, Rebecca Bilbro, and Jessica Raboin. 

German Club Presents Film TRISTAN UND ISOLDE

This magnificent masterpiece among the medieval love legends is coming to third quad.

This one is a must-see.  See you there!

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. 

MN Council on Teaching of Languages and Cultures Meets at SJU

Nearly 20 executive board members, regional representatives, and affiliate organization representatives of MCTLC met at Saint John's on July 25-26 for its annual planning retreat. Much progress was made in organizing the fall conference as well as regional activities for MCTLC members. 

CSB/SJU Hosts State High School Awards Banquet

  On Saturday April 28 forty of Minnesota's most accomplished high school students of German gathered with their teachers and families to be honored at the Saint John's/ Saint Ben's awards banquet.  More than 650 Minnesota students took the written exams.  Those placing in the 90th percentile also participated in oral interviews at the College of Saint Benedict on February 25.  Saint John's Preparatory was awarded a $2,025 scholarship from the Max Kade Foundation to be used for sumemr courses at Concordia Language Villages.  Kelsey Murphy of Moundsview Senior High was awarded national honors and a all-expenses paid trip to Germany.

Pictured L to R in the Great Hall: Kelsey Murphy (awarded a trip to Germany), Leyla Soykan, Jessica Trost (German teacher), and John Spear, Mounds View High School

German Club Is all about Wienerschnitzel and Bretzn!

German Club Karneval 2012 Features Three Bands at O'Connell's Pub

 

Thanks to the German Club for making this event such a success!