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Two weeks traveling in Munich, Vienna, and Berlin! Discover the world and earn up to six credit hours!!

-Summer 2011-

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ITINERARY1
This study abroad experience will visit three major German speaking cities, and spend a minimum of three days in each city, exploring its history and culture. The cities to be visited are Munich (Germany), Vienna (Austria), and Berlin (Germany)

May 11: Depart from Detroit, Michigan for Munich, Germany May 12 May 14: Four days will be spent in and around Munich, Germany. Students will spend one and a half days in the city itself, visiting some of its most important cultural centers. Day one will be spent acclimating ourselves to the time zone, and recovering from the flight. For those interested, a tour of the Olympic Stadium, the site of the 1972 Olympic massacre, to the BMW Plant may be offered in the afternoon (to be determined ahead of time). Day two will be spent on a bicycle tour of the city and its English Garden. The tour will include a detailed introduction to the history of Munich, as well as to its architecture and cultural significance in German. The rest of the day will be spent in the city itself, exploring, eating, and relaxing.

Subject to slight alterations according to students wishes and interests.

Prof. Charles Vannette

The German and Austrian Experience!

Day three will be spent at the Dachau Concentration camp, just north of Munich. Here, students will take a professional tour of the very first Nazi concentration camp, tour its grounds, and gain extensive knowledge about the Holocaust. The topic of the Holocaust will also be a focus of one day in Berlin, as well as the topic of one of the required readings. Day four will include a visit to the Neuschwanstein Castle in Hohenschwangau, Germany. Neuschwanstein is possibly Europes most famous castle, and is a classic example of German Romanticism, and will flow back into a discussion of German nationalism of the 19th Century, a critical topic in understanding the 1st, and more significantly, 2nd World War. We will leave Munich on the 16th of May by train and travel to Vienna, arriving sometime in the afternoon. The first afternoon/evening will be left to the students for exploration and relaxation. Depending on group size, we will look into the possibility of a van rental. If it is financially feasible, we may rent a van and stop off for a few hours in Salzburg, Austria on our way to Vienna.

May 16 - May 19: Four days will be spent in Vienna, Austria. While in Vienna, students will focus primarily on the citys nineteenth and early twentieth century history and culture, with an emphasis on fin-desicle Viennese art, architecture, and thought.

Prof. Charles Vannette

The German and Austrian Experience!

Day one will include a thorough tour of the Ring Street, one the most important late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century cultural artifact in Europe. The rest of the day will be spent in the city center, and will include a tour the Stefansdom in the city center, which is one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Europe. We will also relax in the Austrian Kaffeehuser (coffee houses), which in the late 19th Century, were the intellectual workshops for many of Europes most influential thinkers. Day two will be spent at the Schnbrunn Palace and Zoo, the summer retreat of the Hapsburg monarchy. This will shed light on the grandeur of the Hapsburg Empire, and also on its decadence. It will also serve to contrast the culture of the Ring Street, and the citys center. Pending ticket availability, we will also attend an opera at the State Opera House. Vienna was the center of the Classical music world for generations, and this opera house is one of its greatest treasures. Days three and four will include visits to the Art History Museum, the Freud Museum, the Hundertwasser Haus, and time allowing, the cathedral and Secession building on Karlsplatz. These venues will serve to reinforce much of what has been learned on the first two days. They will also exemplify the degree to which the Viennese of the late 19th Century pushed the boundaries of thought and aesthetics. We will strive to take a night train from Vienna to Berlin, so as to avoid the costs of a youth hostel.

Prof. Charles Vannette

The German and Austrian Experience!

May 20 May 24: Four days will be spent in Berlin, Germany. The Berlin trip will be organized thematically. Day one will be spent checking into the hostel, and exploring the city center and some of its more interesting neighborhoods (ie: Prenzlauerberg, Kreuzberg, and Mitte). Day two will be spent in the political district in the heart of the city. Here, students will climb to the top of the German parliamentary building and look down into parliament as session is being held. In this context, we will talk about contemporary Germanys emphasis on transparency in government. We will also spend time on the citys primary boulevard Unter den Linden, which stretches from the largest city park in Europe, through the Brandenburg Gate to the monolithic TV tower built by the East German government as a show of engineering prowess over their western competitors. This street alone tells the story of the numerous regimes and governments that have dominated this city over the past 100 years. Day two will be spent covering the Jewish population in Germany, and will include a trip to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the remains of Hitlers bunker, the memorial to the Nazi book burnings, the Topography of Terror exhibit, and will culminate with a trip to the Jewish Museum. This day will be linked back to our earlier visit to the Dachau concentration camp, and to one of the course readings.

Prof. Charles Vannette

The German and Austrian Experience!

Day three will be spent covering a divided Germany, and will include a visit to the Berlin Wall Museum at Checkpoint Charlie. This day will also include a visit to the only remaining sections of the wall that are still standing in Berlin, and end at the Soviet Memorial on the eastern edge of the city. The emphasis will be on the physical and emotional scars that the division left on the people of Berlin, which can still be seen in its architecture. Day four will be spent covering the extensive art collections in the city, and will include a visit to the Museum Island. Particular attention will be paid to the Pergamon Museum. Around the corner from this island is one of Europes healthiest art gallery districts, and we will spend time experiencing some of the contemporary art of the city. May 25: Return to the Munich airport in the morning and depart for Detroit.

Prof. Charles Vannette

The German and Austrian Experience!

GERMAN FOR BUSINESS AND TRAVEL


GERMAN 100 FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
Course Description:

The German economy is the largest in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. Economic ties between the United States and Germany have deepened over the past decades, and business and trade have become a vital part of this relationship. Currently, American companies have over $100 billion invested in Germany, and German businesses create well over half of a million jobs in the U.S.

In this course you will receive an introduction to the German language, such that you can travel and communicate with confidence in the German speaking world. The course will also cover topics like the German economy, Import-Export in the German context, the types and structures of German companies, and professional customs and etiquette. How German business culture compares with American business practices will be of central importance.

The goal of the course is to provide you with the skills and knowledge to establish successful relationships in Germany in a professional or business environment. The textbook and workbook that we will be using is Berliner Platz, which will provide us with a basic foundation in the German language. To communicate effectively, however, we will also need a broader understanding of German history and culture, and how it relates to business communication. This will be provided by selections from Understanding American and German Business Cultures, as well as regular videos from Deutsche Welles online business magazine Made In Germany.

Globalization has resulted in a growing need for those who in any capacity work in an international company to know and appreciate the culture of the country where the business is being conducted. In addition to knowing the language of the country, an employee needs to know how to behave, communicate, view and organize the world in the other language. (Van Valkenburg 273)

*above quote taken from: Van Valkenburg, J. Cultural Understanding for International Business Relations: A Unit for an Upper Level Business Class. Business, Language and Culture: Putting the Pieces together: Proceedings of the 2005 CIBER Conferece. Park City, UT: Brigham Young U, 2005. 273-87.

Prof. Charles Vannette

The German and Austrian Experience!

GERMAN CULTURE
GERMAN 331 FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
German 331 is an English language course that offers an overview of the importance of Germanic cultures in a 21st Century European and globalized context. Through a look at their culture, past, and politics, the course illustrates the degree to which the history of these nations has shaped their contemporary cultural and international identities. By traveling to Germany and Austria on Ferris State Universitys study abroad program, you will gain a first-hand experience into two of the most influential cultures that helped shape modern day Europe, and as such, the world in which we all now live.

The course will consist of two parts. While in Europe, you will tour historical sites, taking regular notes and asking critical questions. You will also steep yourself in the cultures of Munich, Vienna, and Berlin, enjoying art, music, architecture, and history. At the same time, you will be asked to focus seriously on the dark history that dominates the 20th Century landscape, particularly that of Germany.

Upon returning to the USA, you will complete the rest of the course online, supplementing and expanding on your experiences with readings that address crucial aspects of the Germanic experience. The knowledge that you gain from readings and online discussion forums on the course homepage, will allow you to return to your experiences in Germany and Austria, and to reevaluate what you had seen.

The goal of the course is to provide you with the background and knowledge to comment with confidence on the culture of Germany and Austria, and how it is either similar or different to that of The United States. Such an investigation will grant you a greater understanding of current world affairs, making you more conscientious and informed in an international environment, in which our future is closely intertwined with that of other cultures.

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