Teacher Training
Event Information
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Current Issues of American Culture in the EFL Classroom: Annual ASC Meeting 2014
Organized by Dr. Julia Nitz
Annual American Studies Committee Meeting 2014
November 27-29, 2014, Lutherstadt Wittenberg
The teacher training “Current Issues in the EFL-Classroom” is part of a long-established series of annual teacher trainings under the auspices of the American Studies Committee. The ASC was founded in the 1980s to bring teachers together who act as teacher trainers, program coordinators, and department heads in the field of English. Since its inauguration, the seminar series has been supported by the U.S. Consulate General Leipzig and the U.S. Embassy Berlin.
This year’s event brought together 35 teachers and student teachers from Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Thüringen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg, Niedersachsen, Rheinland Pfalz and Schleswig-Holstein. The demand for the training was very high so that we had to go through a selection process. Participants took part in lectures, talk sessions and workshops on American culture (German Immigrants in New York, Popular Culture and Religion, ecological issues, presenting and debating strategies, political cartoons and teaching 9/11).
The training did not only provide teachers with varied information on different aspects of American culture but allowed ample room for discussions and exchange with a mostly American faculty. Next to lectures, talk sessions, and workshops there was also a reading by Picador Professor Michael Lowenthal from his most recent novel The Paternity Test on Friday evening.
The program helped to provide teachers of a variety of different German states with new insights into American culture and materials for teaching American related issues at their home institutions. Participants greatly appreciated the session by Martina Kohl on the “Going Green Project” and expressed further interest in being informed of similar projects in the future. All in all, the program was a great success with participants and speakers alike.
Sponsored by:
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Program
| Thursday, November 27 | 15:00 | Arrival and Check-in |
| 16:30 |
Welcome and IntroductionProf. Dr. Erik Redling (MCAS) |
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| 17:00 |
“German Immigrants in New York City, 1840-1920”Dr. Christina A. Ziegler-McPherson (Fulbright Professor, University of Bremen) |
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| 19:00 | Dinner Buffet (Leucorea Library) | |
| 20:00 |
Special Event: “The Paternity Test”Picador Professor Michael Lowenthal (University of Leipzig) reads from his recent novel (Library) |
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| Friday, November 28 | 08:00 | Breakfast (Leucorea) |
| 09:00 |
“Using Economics to Understand Health and Welfare in America”Jun.-Prof. Dr. Jonathan Fox (Free University of Berlin) |
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| 10:00 |
“Ecological Issues and the Teaching of English”Jun.-Prof. Dr. Uwe Küchler (Bonn University) |
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| 11:00 | Coffee Break | |
| 11:30 |
Conversation Groups with Lecturers |
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| 13:00 | Off-Time | |
| 15:00 |
Workshop: “Presenting and Debating in the EFL-Classroom”Gary W. Lovan (University of Potsdam) |
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| 16:30 | Coffee Break | |
| 17:00 |
Workshop Continued |
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| 19:00 | Thanksgiving Dinner at Best Western Stadtpalais Wittenberg | |
| Saturday, November 29 | 08:00 | Breakfast (Leucorea) |
| 09:00 |
“Going Green Project”Dr. Martina Kohl (U.S. Embassy Berlin) |
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| 09:30 |
“Green Ink: German and American Political Cartoons on the Environment”Christianna Stavroudis (University of Greifswald) |
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| 10:30 | Coffee Break | |
| 11:00 |
Workshop: “Transcultural Strategies in Teaching Terrorism in the Post-9/11 Context”Pavan Kumar Malreddy (Goethe University Frankfurt) |
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| 12:30 |
ASC-Meeting |
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| 13:00 | Farewell |
Venue
Leucorea
The conference will be held at the Leucorea Foundation in the city of Wittenberg.
Situated in the heart of Wittenberg, the Leucorea Foundation represents an ideal conference venue providing ample space for conference sessions as well as for lodging and board for all participants.
For further information please visit the Leucorea Foundation’s website.
The address of the Leucorea Foundation is:
Stiftung Leucorea
Collegienstraße 62
06886 Lutherstadt Wittenberg
Accommodation
Leucorea
Situated in the heart of Wittenberg, the Leucorea Foundation represents an ideal conference venue providing ample space for conference sessions as well as for lodging and board for all participants.
With direct access to Wittenberg’s central pedestrian area, the Leucorea is located in close proximity to the Luther House, in which Martin Luther spent most of his active life, and St. Mary’s Church with the famous altar designed by Lucas Cranach the Elder.
You will be lodging at the Leucorea in single rooms (unless booked otherwise). The rooms at the Leucorea are fully equipped with en-suite bathrooms, television, telephone, and internet access. Catering service will supply us with breakfast and coffee/tea during breaks.
Rates for additional nights (single room) and double rooms are:
single room: 35,00 EUR/night
double room (for two persons): 45 EUR/night
*These rates do not include breakfast.
For further information please visit the Leucorea Foundation’s website.
Directions
By train
Take a train to Lutherstadt Wittenberg Hauptbahnhof (main station).
You can check timetables and book a ticket on the website of the Deutsche Bahn AG.
The walking distance from the train station to the Leucorea is approx. 10 minutes. Alternatively, you can take a taxi.
By car
The address of the Leucorea, Collegienstraße, is a pedestrian area only. Therefore, please enter ‘Wallstraße’ into your GPS. This street will lead you to the Leucorea’s (rather limited) parking area and also offers further public parking areas.
Contact
Prof. Dr. Erik RedlingManaging Director Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg |
Dr. Julia NitzOrganizer Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg |
Registration
Please register at julia.nitz@amerikanistik.uni-halle.de.
deadline: September 29, 2014
Payment details
fees:
teachers: 100€
teacher students (Referendare): 50€
students: 25€ (funded by ZLB Sachsen-Anhalt)
fees include:
2 nights at the Leucorea
2x breakfast
dinner buffet on Thursday night
Thanksgiving Dinner on Friday night
full program
Payment must be received by October 24, 2014.
Please transfer the sum total to the following account:
Universität Halle-Wittenberg
Deutsche Bundesbank, Filiale Magdeburg
Bank code (BLZ): 810 000 00
Account number: 800 015 24
Purpose of payment: D01011002 ASC-meeting 2015
For money transfers from outside Germany:
BIC: MARKDEF1810
IBAN: DE05 8100 0000 0080 0015 24