Melinda Thacker

Recipient of the 2008 Winthrop-King Undergraduate Scholarship and 2009 Bess Ward Honors Thesis Award

            In Spring 2008 I was the recipient of the Ada Belle Winthrop-King Scholarship for undergraduate students in German. The wonderful arrangement about this scholarship is that students can propose their own program of study. I also won a Bess Ward Honors Thesis Award. With the help of both awards, I decided to visit three different cities: Berlin, Salzburg, and Freiburg to improve my German language skills, engage in library and archival research, and experience a German speaking environment.
            First I traveled to Berlin and took German courses at the Goethe Institute near the Hackesche Markt. In addition to daily lessons, the Goethe Institute offered lectures and cultural excursions. At any day, I could visit a museum in the morning, go to class all afternoon, pick up food on the street for 5 Euro, see a show (like the Berlin Philharmonic!), and then go sightseeing on the way home.
            After four weeks in Berlin I headed to Salzburg, Austria and attended courses at the American Institute for Foreign Study at Salzburg university (AIFS) and had the opportunity to research in the Salzburg university library. This program included trips to Vienna and Munich, cultural tours, pastry and sausage tastings, and more.
            Four weeks later I took a train to Freiburg, attended more German courses at the Goethe Institute and enjoyed the medieval and quaint atmosphere of Freiburg. My favorite place was a daily farmer’s market by the Münster with amazing local fresh vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Freiburg is a college town with many young students, bookstores, nightlife, and a college town atmosphere that is both intellectual and relaxed.
            After Freiburg, I returned to Berlin to research in the Bundesarchiven and Zentralarchiven. I looked for primary sources for my honors thesis on the Degenerated Art Exhibit during the Third Reich. It was the most testing experience of my German trip yet. The librarians and historians were serious! I also traveled around Berlin on a Third Reich tour and went to Sachsenhausen.
            The trip was a life-changing experience made possible by the generous support of the Winthop-King scholarship. These three programs each tested my German skill and gave me unique instruction about the culture of German speakers. Each city is unique, and with the scholarship money it is possible to experience several locations. The international friends I made changed the way I view the lifestyles and cultures of the world.

Joseph Bowman

CDS Internship summer 2008

            Over the summer I had a really good time working in Germany.  The CDS Summer Internship Program turned out to be very good, and they generously offered scholarships to most of the members that covered more than half the expenses including a 1 month schooling period in Berlin with a host family almost free of cost minus eating and play.  The last two months I spent in Wuppertal where I worked for a textile firm.  I couldn't have been happier with the generosity of the German people. My landlord, coworkers, and boss really helped out. Overall I think it was the best experience I've had in College.

Tes (Tiffani Elan Skogmo) Howell

            Pubications and news (2009)

            Tes or Tiffani, as she was known for most of her time in Tallahassee, has been busy working on multicultural projects dealing with Germany, and you can read some of her work in: Germany in Transit: Nation and Migration. To get an idea of her approach to teaching, you may want to read: Framing Foreign Language Education In The United States: The Case Of German

Tes writes:
After I completed my Masters in German (1999), having written my Thesis on propaganda and children's literature in the GDR, I transferred to the Department of German at UC Berkeley.   I graduated in 2004 with a PhD in German Studies, with Applied Linguistics as my area of concentration.  My dissertation is titled "V/banished Identities: The case of Eastern German Humor."  I have (co-)authored several articles and am currently working on an article about putting language study back into the content area classroom.  In the Fall of 2008, I began teaching a graduate course in Applied Linguistics for the Simmons School of Education and Human Development at Southern Methodist University.
 
On a side note, I gained the nickname "Tes" while I was at FSU and now use that name professionally.

Colleen Chapmann

Ein Brief aus Deutschland (2009)

Upon completing my master’s degree in German at FSU, I decided to pursue a degree in translation.  My original plan was to study at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, where I was accepted but advised to spend the summer in Germany to improve my language skills.  Of course I agreed, and in the summer of 2008 I audited courses at the Fachbereich Angewandte Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaften (FASK) in Germersheim, Germany.  Over the course of the semester, I began to realize how much I enjoyed the academic program and friendly environment at FASK and how much I benefitted from being immersed in the German language and culture.  As difficult as it was for me to turn down my acceptance at Monterey, I ultimately decided to pursue my master’s degree in translation at FASK instead, with a focus on business translation.  I have recently completed my first official semester at FASK out of the four that are required for my degree.  After graduation, I plan to work in Germany as an in-house translator.