Beyond the Classroom...
The Grinnell College German Department welcomes both majors and non-majors to activities that expand students' linguistic and intellectual horizons beyond the classroom. These include:
Native German Language Assistant
German Table
Over lunch each week in the Joe Rosenfield Center, "Deutschtisch" gives students and faculty members an opportunity to speak German in an informal setting. Students from the intermediate to the advanced levels of instruction are encouraged to participate, but all students, regardless of their major or formal instruction in German, are invited to practice their Deutsch. This semester, German Table takes place every Monday at noon in JRC 224A. Guten Appetit!
German House
German House is a residential arrangement where up to 7 students live together with the German Language Assistant in a German-speaking setting. Residents often plan special activities for all students in Grinnell, including Oktoberfest celebrations, a regular Kaffeestunde, and other social activities. German House is located at 1221 Park Street, directly across the street from ARH.
Film Series
The department houses an extensive and growing video and DVD collection of over 300 titles ranging from early cinema classics to contmporary blockbusters. Grinnell has several multimedia consultant on its staff who specifically aid foreign language faculty in integrating the latest media technologies into their teaching.
Students are encouraged to make the most of the department's fine collection of German-language film, and in recent semesters several majors have taken the initiative to organize a weekly film series. Usually screened with English subtitles, these films have been well-attended by majors, nonmajors and the wider campus community. Past series have included one on New German Cinema (Fassbinder, Herzog, Wenders) and one on film adaptations of literary masterpieces. Contact German House for more information.
Writer-in-Residence
Each spring semester the department hosts a writer-in-residence from Germany, Austria, or Switzerland, who teaches a seven-week mini-course during the spring semester. Established in 1988, this course focuses on the current literary scene in Germany, and includes novelists, essayists, playrwrights, and screen writers. Grinnell's German department is the only one of its size that offers such a program on an annual basis. Recent guests have included the Berlin writer Jens Sparschuh; Cologne-based screen writer and childrens literature writer Mario Giordano; screen writers Oliver Schuette and Katharina Reschke, and novelist Thomas Pletzinger. We are lucky enough to have Mario Giordano joining us this spring.
For more about this distinguished program and the many writers who have visited Grinnell, be sure to visit the Writer-in-Residence page.
Native-Speaker Language Assistant
Each year the department sponsors a different language assistant from Germany, usually from Freiburg or Berlin. The assistant is an older student who serves as an additional resource for students of German and organizes extracurricular activities that foster students' interest in German culture. In addition to living in German House, the language assistant conducts German 212 (conversational practice) for intermediate and advanced students in addition to a conversation section ("German Lab") complementing the introductory language sequence.
Speakers and Special Events
The department is pleased to sponsor or co-sponsor a wide variety of special events, including guest speakers, performances, and other activities related to German-speaking cultures. Previous speakers have included poets Christoph Meckel, Arno Reinfrank; novelist Barbara Frischmuth; modern Germanists Peter Uwe Hohendahl and Jost Hermand, novelist Thomas Pletzinger and Kristoff Magnusson, and Danish holocaust scholar Torben Jørgensen. For the most up-to-date information, please visit our Events page.
