In the literature on intercultural competence, such competence, or set of competencies, is desirable precisely because a globalized world needs world citizens who are at home everywhere and can deal effectively with alterity – presumably in order to be agents of positive change. To remain relevant, we as teachers in German Studies need theoretical and pragmatic justifications for what we do in and outside the classroom in order to prepare students for the reality of our 21st‐century world. At the same time, one needs to heed the call of the global turn carefully lest one replaces globalization with homogenization. After thorough research on this topic, some of which I will review in this article, one cannot avoid a surprising conclusion: Without selling out to it, we in the humanities have a lot to learn from the business model in the conceptualization of goals, the implementation of standards, and the identification of the proper assessment tool(s). The root of this problem, I assert, is the theoretical murkiness surrounding claims about value in the humanities (and the social sciences). Ultimately, this article uses comparison with the business model to advocate discernment about claims of value with solid foundations in the real world.

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141 1 However, see, for example, Bernhardt and Berman; Byrnes "Future;" Eigler; James "Re-Shaping;" Kraemer; Wurst. 2 The reactions to James's question were multitudinous and varied. See "Responses …" 3 George Peters, for example, argues for Kulturexkurse as one way of threading cultural learning throughout the language sequence. He provides interesting and doable literary examples in conjunction with a first-year textbook. In the process, he asserts, students will acquire the background knowledge as well as the vocabulary to participate eventually in upper-level courses in the target language. Rather than focusing on specific cultural elements, Katherine Arens

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