ABSTRACT

Outreach Strategies and Innovative Teaching Approaches for German Programs explores recruitment, curricular design and student retention in modern language instruction by sharing best practices and a wide variety of pragmatic initiatives from teacher-scholars who have been involved in the successful building of German programs.

With German programs facing dwindling grant monies as students across the country shift from the liberal arts into career-oriented fields, it is paramount to promote German programs vigorously, to offer courses that reflect and compel students’ interest, to keep students engaged in extracurricular activities and to establish a community of like-minded language learners.

The combination of curriculum-based strategies coupled with innovative projects, and extracurricular and outreach activities is intended to serve as a guideline for teachers and scholars alike who are in need of best practices they can use to boost enrollment and attract and retain more students.

chapter |10 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|22 pages

Bringing global and local together

Program building through ACTFL’s “Community C”

chapter 5|13 pages

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

One public university’s experience with international studies in the Midwest

chapter 7|16 pages

The courage to construct and experiment

Initiatives in updating the German minor program at Concordia University

chapter 9|21 pages

Technology-enhanced learning approaches to curriculum development

Architecture meets the humanities

chapter 10|16 pages

Freundschaft, Motivationstraining und Märchen

Learning by living life in the GDR

chapter 12|15 pages

The Deutsche Sommerschule am Pazifik

A model and asset to small German programs

chapter |7 pages

Conclusion

The future is now: Saving German studies in a brave new world