First German Studies Alumni day, March 2008 is a great success!

 

March 8, 2008 saw the first ever German Department Alumni Gathering take place. We were delighted to welcome back so many of you on this fabulous occasion, and find out what so many of you are doing. Together with many graduates from across the decades, previous and present day members of staff, students and postgraduate students as well as friends of the department we celebrated over 40 years of German Studies at the University of Warwick. Relive the experience or find out what it was like, by watching the podcasts (watch short version, 2 mins) (watch long version, 12 mins) (listen or download the audio podcast). The department wishes to thank e-Squad for their assitance in producing this material!

The day offered everyone the chance to catch up on the latest developments in the German Department as Professor Rob Burns gave an overview of events such as the opening of the state-of-the-art Learning Grid and the Transnational Resources Centre and the establishment of not one but two Languages Studies Prizes, namely the The Zoe Russell Prize and the Frankfurt Translation Prize (see podcast below). The latter was celebrated on the day with the presentation of a plaque to be situated in the department next to another plaque commemorating all previous winners of the Zoe Russell Prize. It was a pleasure to welcome back not only Jeremy Gaines and Paul Keast as the prize founders but also three of the previous winners of the prize.

There was the opportunity to go on tours around the campus to share memories of what the place had looked like in years gone by and marvel at all the latest innovations such as the newly refurbished library and study spaces. At the same time these tours, guided by present final year students, offered alumni the chance to chat informally to the students of today and compare the opportunities and challenges of student life then and now.

Eva Knopp from the DAAD London then gave a report on the developments and importance of language studies today, particularly German in Great Britain and sketched some of the projects by which the DAAD promotes leanring about German language and culture in the UK and beyond. James Hodkinson gave a presentation about the developments and teaching strategies in the Department of German at Warwick University. As well as outlining the positive developments such as the expansion of the postgraduate programme and staff base in recent years, some emphasis was placed on the changing financial context within which students and the department have to work. The department has established the Godfrey Carr Fund for Excellence in German, from which we help to fund postgraduate students to study in the department. If you are in a position to contribute to this fund, please visit the Giving to Warwick webpages.

Finally, after a traditional German Kaffee und Kuchen, where everyone once more had the chance to chat and catch up, the day was brought to an end with a wonderful performance by this year’s Writer in Residence, Jose Oliver (see right), a contemporary German poet of Spanish extraction who worked in the department for a week and gave his own inimitable performance, including readings and songs.

 

We hope to continue expanding this website as our alumni culture develops, as well as to put on future events of this nature. If you interested in finding out more or helping in any way, please contact Grit Brendecke who is responsible for Alumni relations in the department.

Long Version (12 minutes)

Short Version (2 minutes)

Podcast Audio Only (12 minutes)
Play:

Download as MP3

^{_{Above: Rob Burns and Paul Keast and the Frankfurt Translation Prize plaque}}

 

^{_{Above: Jeremy Gaines with prizewinners Sarah Moore (centre) and Sophie Houlston (right)}}

^{Above: Jeremy, Paul, Sophie, Sarah, Rob and (far left) recent prize-winner Gillian Lester}

 

^{Kaffee, Kuchen und Klatsch!}

^{Jose Oliver}

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