German and German Studies
January Term Abroad
JanTerm 2012: (proposed) CHEM/MLGR 398 – The Art, Science & Culture of Brewing in Europe
This course, if it gets accepted for JangTerm 2012, will be team-taught by Prof. Brian Gilbert from the Chemistry department and Prof. Gudrun Hommel from Modern Languages. The intended itinerary takes students to Germany, the Czech Republic, and Belgium. More information will be posted soon. If you have questions about the course, please contact Prof. Gilbert (bgilber@linfield.edu) or Prof. Hommel (ghommel@linfield.edu).
JanTerm 2003: Business and Culture in Germany and Austria
In January of 2003, this course was team-taught by Prof. Michelle Nelson, Business Department, and Prof. Gudrun Hommel, Modern Languages Department.
Prof. Nelson and Prof. Hommel spent three weeks with a group of Linfield German as well as International Business students exploring business practices as well as customs and culture in Germany and Austria. This included visits to the Ditsch Pretzel Factory in Mainz, the world famous Bösendorfer piano manufacturer in Austria, a trip to Germany's oldest university in Heidelberg as well as to Munich's famous sites. There the group toured the city, the Ayinger Brewery and the Audi factory.
JanTerm 2001: MLGR101: Introduction to German in Mainz, Germany
In January 2001, Prof. Hommel taught a beginning German course, MLG 101, in her hometown of Mainz, Germany. Fifteen Linfield students spent nearly four weeks in this lovely town, introducing themselves not only to the German language, but also to a lot of "Western Culture".The students went on daily outings where they had the opportunity to use and practice the language they had learned in class. They were "learning by doing" in Mainz, with the expectation that they continue German 102 at Linfield, to qualifiy to spend the following semester studying in beautiful Vienna, Austria. (For more information on our semester abroad in Vienna, please visit the International Programs site about Semester Abroad Programs.)
The Western Culture aspect of the course came into play during many excursions, some mandatory, some voluntary. Among them were a guided tour of parts of the Gutenberg Museum; hands-on printing in the Gutenberg Print Shop; attedance at a classical concert; a guided tour of the Mainzer Dom (cathedral), not long after students had had the chance to attend a Catholic mass in the cathedral; a guided tour of the Kupferberg Sektkellerei, a local sparkling wine producer; a walking-tour, lead by Prof. Hommel's father, Ortwin Hommel, of Roman sites in Mainz; a guided tour of Old Town Mainz; a trip along the Rhine to the Marksburg, a well-preserved medieval castle; an overnight in the youth hostel in Burg Stahleck, a castle that overlooks the Rhine; trips, by some students, to Berlin, München, and Heidelberg.
