The Nexus Between Undergraduate and Graduate Reforms

Abstract

Aimed at Ph.D. programs in German, this article offers a broad framework to discuss the urgent issues facing our programs to stem the tide of (possible or even likely) disinvestment in German in times of fiscal hardship. Many conversations on suitable reforms tend to be held separately by different stakeholders – teaching‐focused faculty or language directors and research‐focused faculty or graduate directors respectively. This article proposes to tackle reforms in undergraduate and graduate education in tandem, as we enhance undergraduate programs and socialize our graduate students in this student‐focused effort in the hope of stimulating more ideas and concrete individualized plans to strengthen programs within their specific institutional contexts. The focus for the readership of Die Unterrichtspraxis is on improving undergraduate education coupled with robust cocurricular activities and on educating graduate students by emphasizing graduate students' role as teachers within the institutional learning environment. The other dimension is to build strong competencies in (educational) technology and digital literacy for both undergraduate and graduate students. In their role as future faculty members, graduate students will be the stewards of ongoing holistic reform that dynamically and nimbly adjusts to changing geopolitical and market conditions facing German.

Bringing it all together online: Performance, Outreach, and Education

“…Finally, as Berman (2012) and Wurst (2021) emphasize in their work, the traditional divisions between secondary education, post-secondary education and post-secondary research have become less useful in the 21th century. Therefore, it is essential that projects such as the IUGTP continue to thrive in order to further the integration of education from high school to college and beyond.…”

“…In recent years, pedagogical journals focusing on the teaching of German have grappled with topics such as the German language's position in the global world (Bauerlein & Shertzer, 2019), German departments repositioning themselves into Global Studies (Hock and Peterson, 2019), challenges in developing effective undergraduate and graduate programs (Wurst, 2021), decolonializing German language pedagogy (Cooper, 2020), as well as the question of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the German language classroom (Schweiger, 2021). What all these projects have in common is that they highlight the question of how German programs and departments at the University level can retain their vibrant spirit in the face of institutional and political changes, all the while maintaining (or even increasing) enrolments.…”

“…Additionally, Wurst (2021) discusses ways in which graduate and undergraduate education can be reformed so that there is less of a strong divide between the two fields, in particular by emphasizing the role of graduate students as "active participants" in the process of making undergraduate education more interactive and engaging. IUGTP, as demonstrated below, extends this task to the level of high school education by building a bridge between the various high school German programs in Indiana and the Department of Germanic Studies at Indiana University (on the necessity of outreach in university programs, see also Wurst, 2021, p.177-178).…”