Brent Peterson

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German Professor Brent Peterson Awarded Third NEH Grant for Seminar in Berlin

For the third time since 2009, Lawrence University Professor of German Brent Peterson has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to co-direct a seminar in Berlin, Germany. The $169,950 grant will support a five-week long professional development seminar June 22-July 25, 2014 for K-12 teachers designed to enrich their knowledge of contemporary German culture and history.NEH Logo MASTER_082010

Peterson, in collaboration with Robert Shandley, professor of film studies and German at Texas A&M University, will lead the seminar “Migration and German Culture: Berlin’s Cultural Diversity Across Two Centuries.”  This will be one of 52 seminars and institutes the NEH will support next summer for school teachers and college professors.

Brent-Peterson_newsblog
Brent Peterson

The program targets educators in language, literature, social studies and modern history, but any K-12 teacher with intermediate-mid German skills is encouraged to apply. Up to 16 teachers will be selected from a national, competitive application process. Each participant receives a $3,900 stipend to help cover their expenses.

“Although Germany has long welcomed migrants from southern and eastern Europe, France, the Netherlands and more recently, from Turkey, many Americans still imagine it to be the quaint homogeneous land of Beethoven, bratwurst and beer,” said Peterson, a scholar on the construction of national and ethnic identities. “This seminar is designed to give teachers and ultimately their students, who are also very diverse, a more accurate and more appealing picture of a society shaped for centuries by migration. We use the tools of the humanities to see what it means to be German today in the midst of Berlin, Germany’s vibrant, complex and transnational capital.”

Peterson and Shandley first taught their Berlin seminar in 2010 and co-directed the program again last summer. It incorporates 19th- and 20th-century literature (children’s and adolescent), contemporary films and television programs. Two Turkish German authors will lead sessions on their own writing and the seminar also includes several walking tours of Berlin’s diverse neighborhoods.

Conducted in German, classes are held in the mornings with afternoons and weekends free for participants to explore the diverse city of Berlin on their own.

Teachers interesting in participating in the 2014 seminar can apply online after Oct. 28 at https://www2.lawrence.edu/fast/petersob/NEH/.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries. Follow Lawrence on Facebook.

Senior Mary Kate Smith Awarded Fulbright Fellowship to Germany

It seems at a young age Mary Kate Smith already was destined to be a teacher. Volunteering as a fourth grader on weekends to help her teacher with a class for pre-kindergarten students, it was clear what path her career would follow.

Sixteen years later, Smith’s passion for teaching burns as bright as ever. She soon will put her passion into practice in Germany as the recipient of a Fulbright U.S. Student Program Scholarship. Beginning in August, Smith will spend the 2013-14 academic year as a teaching assistant at either a German middle or high school in a city still to be determined.

Mary Kate Smith ’13

Smith is the second Lawrence student this spring to be awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and 16th since 2008.

“Teaching has been my main focus for as long as I can remember,” said Smith, a senior double degree candidate with majors in German, instrumental music education and violin performance from Charlottesville, Va.  “I’ve always thought about teaching math or German or music. I’ve just always wanted to teach.”

She completed her student-teaching certification last fall in the Whitefish Bay school district, teaching orchestra at both the high school and middle school level. She also spent four years teaching in the Lawrence Academy of Music’s String Project and gives private violin lessons.

“I’ve had lots of tutoring job as well,” said Smith, who first began learning German as a five-year old from an au pair from Germany who lived with her family for a year. Six years at a Waldorf School, where basic German was part of the curriculum, further exposed her to the language.

Her Fulbright Scholarship will take her to Germany for the fourth time. She first visited in 2007, spending a year in Berlin after graduating from high school as a participant in the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program. She returned in 2010 as part of Lawrence’s “Berlin: Experiencing a Great City” course and spent the fall of 2011 on the IES Berlin off-campus study program.

Quintessential Lawrence student

“As a German, violin performance and music education triple major, Mary Kate is the quintessential Lawrence student,” said Brent Peterson, professor of German and Smith’s academic advisor. “Her love of German culture, particularly those parts of it connected to Berlin, has made her an enthusiastic German student, aided by her spectacular language abilities and her exceptional skills as a reader of literary and other cultural texts. She is a great credit to Lawrence and will be a terrific representative of American culture in the tradition of the Fulbright awards.”

Smith says her current “rough plan” is to get a few years of classroom experience before going to graduate school with the ultimate goal of teaching at the university level.

“One of the challenges I’m facing is deciding if I want to set up life here or in Germany,” said Smith, a five-year member of the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra and a founding member of Lawrence’s student chapter of the American String Teachers Association.

“It’s an absolute honor and privilege to receive a Fulbright Scholarship,” Smith added. “I’m excited about this incredible opportunity to learn and grow and I’ll do my best to live up to the what the Fulbright represents.”

The flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government, the Fulbright Program is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those of other countries. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.

Since its establishment in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided approximately 300,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in government, science, the arts, business, philanthropy, education, and athletics. Forty Fulbright alumni from 11 countries have been awarded the Nobel Prize, and 75 alumni have received Pulitzer Prizes.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries. Follow Lawrence on Facebook.

German Professor Brent Peterson Awarded $149,000 NEH Grant for K-12 Teacher Seminar in Berlin

Lawrence University Professor of German Brent Peterson has been awarded a $149,000 grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities for a summer seminar in Berlin, Germany for K-12 school teachers designed to enrich their knowledge of contemporary German culture and history.

Professor of German Brent Peterson

Peterson, in collaboration with Robert Shandley, professor of film studies and German at Texas A&M University, will direct the seminar “Berlin’s Cultural Diversity Across Two Centuries” June 17 – July 20, 2012.

Aimed primarily at language, literature, social studies and modern history teachers, the grant will enable as many as 16 educators to participate in the five-week long seminar. Selected from a national, competitive application process, each participating teacher will receive a $3,900 stipend to help cover their expenses.

“Although Germany has long been at the crossroads of European culture, many Americans still imagine it to be the quaint land of Beethoven, bratwurst and beer,” said Peterson, whose scholarship includes the construction of national and ethnic identities. “The seminar is designed to give teachers and ultimately their students a more accurate and, at the same time, more appealing picture of a society shaped for centuries by migration. We use the tools of the humanities to see what it means to be German today in the midst of Berlin, Germany’s vibrant, complex and diverse capital.”

The NEH grant is the second Peterson and Shandley have received for this seminar, which they first directed in the summer of 2010. The program incorporates 19th- and 20th-century literature, including children’s and adolescent literature, with contemporary films and television programs. Conducted in German, classes are held in the mornings with afternoons and weekends free for participants to explore the diverse city of Berlin on their own.

Teachers interesting in participating in the seminar can apply online here.

Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. Ranked among America’s best colleges, it was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,520 students from 44 states and 56 countries.

Lawrence University German Professor Awarded NEH Grant for Summer Seminar in Berlin

APPLETON, WIS. — A Lawrence University German professor has been awarded a $141,000 grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities for summer seminar in Berlin, Germany for K-12 school teachers to enrich their knowledge of German history and contemporary German culture.

Brent%20Peterson_web.jpgBrent Peterson, in collaboration with Robert Shandley, associate professor of film studies and German at Texas A&M University, will direct the seminar “Germany’s Cosmopolitan Capital: Berlin and the Myth of German Monoculturalism” in June, 2010.

Aimed primarily at language, literature, social studies and modern history teachers, the grant will enable up to 16 educators to participate in the five-week long seminar. Participating teachers each will receive a stipend of $3,900 to help cover their expenses.

“The phrase ‘Cosmopolitan Capital’ in the seminar title refers both to the rich cultural life of this multi-national city and to the multi-faceted human capital that enabled the growth and development of the German economy,” said Peterson, a scholar of the construction of national and ethnic identities. “By using the tools of the humanities, we will explore how German culture has been challenged, defined and redefined by its encounters with migrants. The seminar is intended to provide participants the knowledge and skills necessary to fully engage contemporary Germany’s complex social and cultural reality in their classrooms.”

According to Peterson, the seminar will incorporate literature of the early 19th century, including children’s and adolescent literature, as well as contemporary films and television programs. Conducted in German, seminar sessions will be held in the mornings, with afternoons and weekends free for participants to explore Berlin on their own.

“This seminar is a wonderful opportunity for interested teachers to study a fascinating and important city,” said Lawrence Provost David Burrows. “Learning about major cosmopolitan areas is a very effective way to develop global knowledge and intercultural competence. We are very proud of Professor Peterson and his colleague. NEH grants are extremely competitive and this award is a testament to their skill, knowledge and creativity.”

Teachers interesting in participating in the seminar can apply online here.