German

Past and current members of the UI Department of German played leading roles in hosting “Education for All,” the theme of this year’s International Day Human Rights Conference on campus. More than 250 middle-school students attended the event, which was sponsored by International Programs and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.

Will Coghill-Behrends, director of the UI Baker Teacher Leader Center and a graduate of the M.A. program in German, organized the conference, which highlighted the interdisciplinarity of global education across campus and the state of Iowa. Kirsten Kumpf Baele, a faculty member in German as well as recent recipient of an Outstanding Outreach and Public Engagement Award from the UI College of Liberal Arts and Science, organized breakout sessions with the help of advisory committee members of the Anne Frank Initiative. Middle-school students had opportunities to take a virtual tour of the secret annex in which Anne Frank took refuge or to visit the newly planted Anne Frank chestnut sapling on the Pentacrest.

Please consider donating to the Department of German as part of this year’s One Day for Iowa campaign. Last year’s donations helped to support student and faculty initiatives.

Prof. Elke Heckner has received a Global Curriculum Development Award from UI International Programs (IP) to create a new course on recent developments in international criminal law as well as non-juridical approaches to conflict resolution, providing students with up-to-date tools of critical analysis regarding war crimes. As Prof. Heckner notes on the IP website for these awards, “since the UN Security Council (due to Russia's and China's veto power) can no longer prosecute, stop, or effectively intervene in ongoing massive human rights abuses or near-genocidal conflicts, it is important for undergraduate students who are interested in the areas of international and humanitarian law to be aware of other avenues in which international criminal law can be effectively mobilized to prosecute aggressor states and perpetrators. The example of the invasion of Ukraine is [a] case in point. It is important for our students to understand the limitations and possibilities of current human rights interventions in the international arena.”

The course is currently under development for Spring 2024. It will strengthen and expand the University of Iowa's existing engagement with international conflict zones such as Kosovo and serve as a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration with the School of Law and the UI Department of Political Science.