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Project Background and Overview

Germany in the Age of Globalization

Gabi Eichmanns, Department of Germanics
Mentor: Richard T. Gray, University of Washington, Department of Germanics

Project Proposal
Student Statement

Project Motivation

Traditionally, language departments used to study literary texts as their primary source of inquiry. In the last two decades, however, cultural studies found its way into language departments, combining literary studies with such diverse fields as history, sociology, or cultural anthropology. This trend can be clearly seen in the Department of Germanics in terms of its undergraduate classes German 351 (Vienna 1900) or German 293 (Introduction to Contemporary German Culture), where a variety of topics is being covered, ranging from detailed background information on Germany’s Nazi past to the emergence of new cultural and literary trends, be it the New German Cinema, the Viennese Workshops, or impressionistic writing. Even though these classes are extremely cross-disciplinary in their approach, their chief focus remains a national one; the broader cultural context or the impact of world affairs do not come into play. Yet we believe that in an age where countries are seemingly moving closer together, particularly in Europe, with the disappearance of borders, the implementation of one currency, and the establishment of a European Parliament, it is not only German culture itself but German culture with regard to globalization that needs to become the focus of Germanics as well. Consequently, the goal of our proposed project is to develop a course that will not only contain a cross-disciplinary component, but will focus on the direct influences of globalization on the newly formed German nation and its culture after reunification.

It is precisely due to its reunification more than fifteen years ago that Germany lends itself extremely well to such an investigation: Not only did a people that had been separated and divided for forty years come together again as one nation, but specifically the downfall of socialism opened the way for the uninhibited intrusion of globalization into the East. Thus, East Germany became “a microcosm of the globalising trends found in the rest of the world” (Cooke 26), offering the rare possibility of studying the emergence of globalization from day one.

In addition, the fall of the Berlin Wall initiated a new debate about Germany’s responsibilities on a global scale: former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder spoke of globalization as a process that would certainly force people in the Federal Republic to reassess their economic expectations, but also their attitudes towards the Nazi past, Germany’s role in world affairs and the values of the nation. In particular, Schröder’s government was determined to complete the process of German ‘normalisation’, to finally end the special treatment Germany had received due to the atrocities committed in WWII and move on to become an equal partner regarding military, political, as well as economic issues. Within this context, globalization was perceived as an essential factor in order to turn over a new leaf.

Taken these historical developments into account, our proposed course will broaden the scope of German Studies adding a more global perspective to what has up until now been treated primarily as a national analysis of German affairs.   

 Project Implementation  

Since globalization is usually used synonymously with the term Americanization to describe the growing colonization of the world by American consumer products, a rather hedonistic lifestyle, and fierce capitalism, it seems to us of special interest to offer this class to an American audience; to involve American students in the critical study of global (American) tendencies in the reunified Germany, and to examine closely the negative as well as positive stereotypes linked to American influences. In order to clarify the ubiquitously used term globalization, Gabi intends to begin her class with a number of definitions by both German and international scholars (such as Ulrich Beck, Arjun Appadurai, and Fredric Jameson) and to carefully compare their respective thoughts on this phenomenon.

In Week Two, Gabi will break the class up into groups of five and assign research projects on the following topics: the globalization of the Holocaust and Germany’s drive for ‘normalisation’; multiculturalism in German society; American consumer products and their growing popularity among the German people; the German advertising industry and their use of Americanisms; the changing face of the German literary market; globalization in recent German film; and East Germany’s relationship to globalization after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The respective research topics will also be lectured on and discussed during class; however, the challenge for the students lies in taking their projects a step further and focusing on an aspect not previously addressed in class. In order to facilitate the process of finalizing the project on time, one hour each week will be exclusively devoted to the furthering of the project. Students will work in their respective groups according to general guidelines provided by Gabi. The first evaluation of their progress will take place in the form of a first draft to be handed in in Week Five, thus replacing an individual midterm paper. The second half of the quarter will be used to expand and fine-tune the project. Eventually, the final versions of the projects will be put on a website which the students, with the help of Gabi, will design together. Due to this interactive aspect, class size needs to be limited to thirty students.

To insure that students will keep up with the reading material and not solely focus on their projects, five one-page response papers are required over the course of the quarter. The papers will have to focus on material discussed in class and will give students the opportunity to voice their own critical thoughts on the issue of globalization. In particular the existing tension Germans feel toward the United States will serve as an excellent starting point to get students interested in the current German debate: on the one hand, students will encounter the strong German fascination with things American, be it consumer products, the American language, the entertainment industry, or the world’s most renowned education system. Yet, at the same time, a certain fear cannot be denied among the German population, a fear of being invaded by a dominant American market and a culture that seems to replace the so dearly cherished ‘high culture’ of the German people.  

 Project Assessment

In winter 2007, Gabi will develop lectures as well as the overall structure and organization of the class. Prof. Gray will oversee the preparations and assist Gabi in designing the course syllabus, developing teaching strategies, and using technology in the classroom. The Department of Germanics will offer the course in spring 2007. It will be cross-listed with Comparative Literature, English, History, and Comparative History of Ideas (CHID) and will be specifically designed to focus on learning outcomes. We will carefully monitor the students’ learning experience with regard to their diverse backgrounds in various academic fields. The group projects are geared towards the exchange of knowledge and expertise among the students. The class time devoted to the group projects will give Gabi the opportunity to help students on a more individual level and to respond to individual needs. In addition, the five response papers should also serve as a good monitor to gauge the students’ understanding of the class topics. 

This class serves as a pilot project, since there is currently no other class nationwide that focuses specifically on the implications of globalization in the field of German studies. Thus, if the class is successful, Gabi intends to offer her syllabus to the American Association of Teachers of German archive section so that other instructors, too, might benefit from her new approach. Furthermore, this new approach toward a better understanding of the global influences on Germany will be outlined in a conference paper and presented at the annual meeting of the German Studies Association. Finally, the results as a whole will be summarized in an article, which will then be submitted for publication to the journal Die Unterrichtspraxis, the primary pedagogical journal of American German Studies.

In addition, Gabi will use different techniques to monitor the students’ assessment of the new teaching materials: brief questionnaires throughout the quarter, a student interview by a CIDR evaluator, as well as a final survey at the end of the quarter. Moreover, the content of the website as well as of the respective response papers will serve as a means to measure both the students’ progress and their overall involvement in the project. In addition to these methods, a class journal Gabi intends to maintain will also help her to evaluate her daily performance and to make possible changes and improvements over the course of the quarter. Finally, her mentor as well as a CIDR consultant will assess Gabi’s teaching performance using in-class video-taping and class observations.

We strongly believe that this course will be a crucial addition to the field of Germanics and, if successful, could be implemented by other language and literature departments as well.

References

 Alter, Peter. The German Question and Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

 Appadurai, Arjun. Modernity at Large. Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota             Press, 1996.

 Beck, Ulrich. Was ist Globalisierung? Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1997.

 Cooke, Paul. “East German writing in the age of globalization.” Ed. Stuart Taberner. German literature in the age of globalization. Birmingham: U of Birmingham Press, 2004.

 Harder, Matthias. Bestandsaufnahmen. Deutschsprachige Literatur der neunziger Jahre aus             interkultureller Sicht. Würzburg: Könighausen und Neumann, 2001.

 Taberner, Stuart. “Introduction: German literature in the age of globalization.” Ed. Stuart Taberner.             German literature in the age of globalization. Birmingham: U of Birmingham Press, 2004.

Student Statement

In Fall 2005, I was given the rare opportunity by the Department of Germanics to independently teach an interdisciplinary 300 level course entitled Vienna 1900. Cross-listed with European History as a 400 level class, the course focused on a variety of different aspects, among them the historical background of the Hapsburg Monarchy, the political developments within the Austro-Hungarian Empire that led to WW I, the advancements in the world of science and technology, as well as numerous new movements in art and literature such as Jugendstil or Expressionism. I was solely responsible for planning my lectures, conducting group projects, giving tests, and assigning grades. Since it was the first large enrollment class I taught entirely by myself, I benefited enormously from this experience; the plethora of topics that were addressed furthermore sparked my interest in developing my own class, a class in which the important role of globalization in a reunified Germany would come into play.

I have also taught a variety of different classes in Germanics, including language classes at all levels as well as several literature courses. In classes with large enrollment that were taught by a professor, it was usually my task to offer writing workshops, conduct review sessions, assign grades, and lead discussion sections in order to facilitate the students’ learning experience. Furthermore, since I enjoy teaching tremendously, I have been organizing a German Stammtisch (a weekly get-together) for more advanced students since the summer of 2004. In the course of these past two years, I have had the chance to use the Stammtisch as a venue to try out new topics and learning material before I decided to incorporate them into my regular courses. Similarly, I volunteered to co-teach a 300 level drama-class with a colleague this coming Spring quarter. This class will focus on the rehearsal and public performance of a German play at the Ethnic Cultural Center, after the students have appropriated it according to their language ability. Given all my previous teaching experience and my enthusiasm for interacting with students, I feel that I am extremely well qualified to execute my proposed project. 

My main research interest focuses on the German notion of Heimat, or “homeland” – a concept that depicts the epitome of Germanness and has, consequently, been subject to significant changes over the course of the last century – with regard to a world characterized by ever growing global markets. I am particularly interested in the perception of Heimat, after Germany’s reunification, by East and West German authors and theoreticians alike. I recently presented a paper on a panel entitled ‘Geographies of Transnational Identities’ at the Northeast MLA, where I talked about the significance of consumer products as a new way of forming transnational communities. Furthermore, since receiving my Master’s degree from the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Washington, I have developed a solid background in interdisciplinary studies. In my Master’s thesis I examined the genre of travel writing and its waning importance in a world of tourist guides, colorful brochures, illustrated books or videos, which supposedly render the consultation of travel narratives superfluous. Thus, globalization and its implications on our everyday lives have been my main focus for the last five years, and I intend to broaden and expand my knowledge in the course of my dissertation project.

I strongly believe that developing a course about Germany in the age of globalization is of great importance because globalization is still underestimated in terms of its significance for literary studies in the Humanities. My research shows that not one single class has been taught on Germany and globalization either in the United States or abroad. I intend to change this, if awarded the Huckabay Fellowship. Moreover, as stated previously, I wholeheartedly enjoy teaching and am planning on applying to institutions with a strong focus on teaching, such as small liberal arts colleges, when going on the job market at the end of this year. The Huckabay Fellowship would provide me with yet another opportunity to strengthen my teaching portfolio and to develop a vital course for the field of Germanics. I am also looking forward to working together with my mentor Richard Gray. Since I previously assisted him twice in teaching a course on Freud and the literary imagination, I know how extremely helpful and supportive he has been in my development as a teacher. Thus, Prof. Gray will be a great resource for me in terms of planning and conducting my proposed class project.

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