International Meeting of the Kassel DaFZ Alumni

The event, which lasted several days, was sponsored by the DAAD with funds from the German Foreign Office and pursued two central goals: On the one hand, the contacts of the department with its alumni were to be intensified and the existing network was to be further expanded; on the other hand, the "alumni" were to be given the opportunity for professional development on current trends in teaching and learning German as a foreign and second language.

Intensive workshops on topics such as "Learning German in the Museum" by Karin Rottmann (Museum Service of the City of Cologne) and "Using Digital Media in Teaching German as a Foreign and Second Language" by Prof. Dr. Nicola Würffel (PH Heidelberg) offered a variety of food for thought as well as concrete tasks and materials for their own practical implementations. A visit to the "wortreich" museum as part of an excursion to Bad Hersfeld also offered countless ideas for the future design of foreign language German lessons. In the course of the week, the alumni were given several opportunities to report on their current focal points in teaching and research as well as to discover common interests and to exchange ideas about them. In the process, the diversity of the various requirements, activities and experiences that are characteristic of the international subject of German as a foreign and second language became clear.

In addition to professional input and intensive academic exchange, there was also plenty of time for leisure activities. On the first day, for example, an introductory lecture by Prof. Dr. Aguado on "Current Developments and Trends in German as a Foreign and Second Language" was followed by an excursion to the fountains in Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe and a convivial dinner, which was followed in the following days by other events attended by former members of the department and other DaFZ graduates who currently live and work in Kassel or in other regions of Germany. They all enjoyed the opportunity to look back on their time together in the DaFZ department in a relaxed atmosphere and to exchange information about their current activities and plans. And so the music at the joint concert visit of the band "Calexico" in the culture tent was emblematic for the meeting: many perspectives and styles met to create something new together. On the last day, no one found it difficult to develop ideas for future cooperation projects and to make concrete plans for further international networking, which will be easier than ever to implement with the help of digital media.