Seminar Program

Prof. Dr. Cynthia Chalupa

Prerequisites:
Interest in German Culture and German language skills of at least level B2

Course Description:
You’ve been learning German and already know something about German culture, but what is Germany really? What importance do the last 130 years hold for German culture?  Why and how did certain events take place and how has Germany come to terms with them? In this course, we will address these questions in the context of years spanning 1871 to 2000. Using films, works of art, music, literature, and eyewitness reports from the past 130 years, we will try to establish a more clearly defined image of Germany.

Goals and Content:
The course will cover the following topics:

1. Germany in the 19th Century: Industrial Innovation and the Development of a Unified Nation
2. Germany in Turmoil: Art and History at the Turn of the Century
3. War and Rebuilding: 1914-1949 (WWI, Weimar Republic, Holocaust, Third Reich, WWII, Economic Wonder)
4. Two Countries, Two Worlds (GDR/FRG)
5. A Global Player: Germany in Europe and the EU

Instructor:
Dr. Cynthia Chalupa is associate professor of German at West Virginia University. She earned her doctorate in 2001 from the Ohio State University. Her dissertation addressed the mirror motif and crisis of language in the works of Rainer Maria Rilke, Georg Trakl and Ilse Aichinger. Her research areas include fin-de-siécle German-language literature, contemporary pop literature, the image of mountaineering in German culture and history, and foreign language pedagogy.

Prof. Dr. Fredi Giesler

Prerequisites:

Proficiency in English 

Course description:
Poverty, examines the cultural and structural aspects of poverty and
their impact on populations globally at risk.  Explores
the particularly damaging effects of poverty on women, children, and persons
of color.  Encourages exploration of societal and social welfare policies
and practices, which contribute to or reinforce impoverishment.  Also
encourages exploration of the need for practitioners to become more aware of
and sensitive to the effects of poverty on human behavior and to examine how
professionals in social welfare organizations relate to impoverished and
oppressed persons.

Instructor:
Prof. Dr. Fredi Giesler, Social Work professor since 2002 at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, USA, earned her BA in Social Welfare (Pacific Lutheran University), MSW (University of Washington), and Ph.D. in Social Welfare (University of Washington).  Before joining academia, she was the Program Manager of the Washington Council for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect in Seattle (Children's Trust Fund).  Dr. Giesler teaches Generalist Practice with Groups and SW Supervision and Management.  Her primary areas of interest are child welfare and in prevention science, especially as it relates to prevention of child maltreatment and promoting family well-being.  Dr. Giesler is currently working on child welfare outcomes research.

Dr. Wolfgang Meyberg:

Prerequisites: 

There are no prerequisites for enrollment in the music therapy seminar.

Course Description:

In the whole world music is known to be a method of health care and recovery. Hearing and producing sounds increases people's activity as well as their creativity. It helps them to get connected with others playfully and it's good for relaxation and regeneration.  Furthermore, this seminar will deal with the topic of the autism spectrum disorder. Significant signs of the autism spectrum disorder are treated. We will learn how children with autism can be helped to get in contact with others.

Course Objectives:

The objective of the seminar is to impart methods of music therapy that are especially suited for educational and therapeutic work with children and minors. Music fosters cognitive abilities, concentration, communication and cooperative capacity.

Instructor:

Dr. Wolfgang Meyberg is a professor for music at the University of Applied Sciences Fulda. He received his M.A. in expressive therapies at Lesley University (Cambridge/USA) and earned  his PhD from Oldenburg University (German). Dr. Meyberg has many years of experience as music therapist in psychatric hospitals for children and adolescents.

Dr. Ted Coleman

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites per sé for this course.  The only requirement is a desire to learn about health as a multi-dimensional concept (with emphasis on the causes and effects of stress) and to explore and practice ways to handle stress in the healthiest ways possible.

Course Description:

In this four-week course, we will explore basic concepts of “health” from various historical perspectives and focus on a modern, ecologic perspective as the framework for understanding stress.  We will identify sources of stress in various cultures and societies, discuss how stress can affect health and well being, and explore ways to deal with stress effectively.

This course is open to everyone, and based on previous reviews, will provide meaningful personal experiences as well as necessary and valuable professional insights. It will be especially helpful academically for students of health, humanities, medicine, nursing, psychology, social work, sociology, and other human services.

Course Objectives:

At the completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Define “health” from an ecologic standpoint;
• Distinguish among various theories of health and disease;
• Develop or adopt a functional definition of “stress;”
• Articulate phases of the General Adaptation Syndrome;
• Describe how stress affects health;
• Consider the benefits of mindful stress management;
• Demonstrate a range of stress management techniques;
• Assess personal responses to stress and stress management.

Instructor:
Dr. Ted Coleman was a faculty member at Cal State, San Bernardino (CSUSB) from 1983 to 1985. After pursuing a variety of other career opportunities, he returned in the fall of 2006 to Chair the Department of Health Science and Human Ecology. His background includes teaching at Purdue University, Utah State University, and Kennedy-Western University as well as national and international consulting and training, hospital administration, and corporate training. Research interests include the area of thanatology (the study of death, dying, grief, and mourning); the effects of effective patient training on glycemic monitoring and control (i.e., how people with diabetes keep track of and maintain proper blood glucose levels); health status and the influence of internalized homophobia in gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals; health issues of men; and various health concerns of individuals with autism and their families.

Prof. Dr. Volker Hinnenkamp

Prerequisites:

Proficiency in English and an interest in intercultural communication issues

Course Description:

Intercultural communication is said to be source of misunderstanding and breakdown – that’s one side; the other side is creative solutions and synergy. In times of globalization intercultural competence seems to have become more relevant than ever.

In this course we will do both, look at intercultural issues from various aspects, like communication and foreign language learning, the body, values and gender, and also do practical things in order to become aware of the richness and potentials of cultural diversity, in general as well as from the perspective of the participants. We will work with many examples, participants’ own experience and the outcomes of group activities.

Course Objectives

The aim of the course is that participants
- will gain greater awareness of aspects of other and one’s own culture and how that relates to communicating and identity;
- will see how understanding and mutuality in communication is a process of rapport and negotiation;
- will increase their confidence in dealing with other cultures and with foreign language situations in a creative way.

Instructor:
Volker Hinnenkamp is chair of Intercultural Communication and European Studies at Hochschule Fulda. He studied linguistics, English and education at Bielefeld University. His interest in socio and speech linguistics triggered his interest in sociology. He earned his PhD from Bielefeld University and his postdoctoral lecture qualfication from Augsburg University. Focus of his research are intercultural communication in socio linguistics, German as a second language, multilingualism and language contact.

Prof. Dr. Mechtild Nagel

Prerequesites: 
Proficiency in English 

Course description:
In this class, we will explore current issues and debates relating to the gendered effects of globalization and women’s political responses to it. We will begin with an historical overview of women’s suffrage and the meaning of women’s rights. We will focus on gender roles in the global political economy by analyzing growing feminized economies of maids, and nannies. In addition, the criminalization of migration and sex work will be discussed.

Literature:
Ehrenreich, Barbara and Arlie Hochschild, eds. 2002. Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Kempadoo, Kamala and Joe Doezema, eds. 1998. Global Sex Workers: Rights, Resistance, and Redefinition (Selected case studies)

Selections from Wagadu: A Transnational Journal of Women’s & Gender Studies

Instructor:
Dr Mechthild Nagel is professor of philosophy at SUNY Cortland. Having been born and raised in Germany, she pursued her graduate studies at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and earned her PhD there with a dissertation on Philosophical Perspectives on Play from Homer to Hegel in 1996. Her areas of specialty include Social, Political, and Feminist Philosophy, German and French philosophy, Africana Philosophy, Peace studies, Criminal justice ethics, and Human Rights.