German

On Thursday, May 30, 2024, the Anne Frank Initiative (AFI), an International Programs affinity group directed by Prof. Kirsten Kumpf Baele, welcomed 250+ eighth graders from Clear Creek Amana (CCA) Middle School. A strong mission of the AFI is to create outreach opportunities to share Anne Frank’s story, spirit, and her humanitarian message with our youngest generation. Some CCA students have read portions of Anne Frank’s diary during the spring semester.

Der Tag ("The Day"), a radio show produced by Hessian Public Broadcasting for the German ARD network, interviewed Prof. Ehrstine on the morning of the Rupublican caucuses in Iowa to get some local perspective on Iowa's "first in the nation" role in selecting the most competitive candidates for the nation's presidential elections. The hour-long podcast also features commentary in German from reporters and political scientists with expertise in U.S. politics and culture. Click the title of this posting to download or stream the show.

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.