Was ist los in Deutschland? Hab’ ich heute in Nachrichten gehört: Ein Euro ist nur noch 1,07 Dollar wert. Meiner Meinung nach müsste ein Euro etwa zwei Dollar wert sein, wenn man sich mal anguckt, was man so für sein Geld bekommt hier, in den USA. Continue reading
Tag Archives: culture shock
Trans issues
Recently, I’ve been thinking about dissertation topics in a more concrete way. Right now I’m thinking about examining the effect of drama-based instruction techniques in undergraduate foreign language courses on students’ transcultural competence, that is, their abilities to function across cultures. Specifically, I’d like to focus on students’ abilities to recognize their perspective from within their own cultural membership and to open themselves to the perspectives of people from cultures different than their own. While this may never result in complete understanding, empathy is an important trait of social interaction.
But I’ve also been thinking of another trans lately: transgender.
First, let’s talk terminology. To be transgender means that a person’s gender identity is different than the identity assigned at birth. Sexuality and anatomy are different issues. Gender/transgender refers to culture: social behaviors, identity and perceptions.
There was a Time Magazine cover recently titled “The Transgender Tipping Point: America’s next civil rights frontier”. While the story by Katy Steinmetz was a balanced mix of background information, statistics, and stories about the experiences of a few diverse individuals, I found the most interesting quote to be a detail in parentheses: “(This article will use the names, nouns and pronouns preferred by individuals, in accordance with TIME’s style)”. That’s an important linguistic decision that shows respect and normalcy.
I too want to tell stories of three transgender women from my perspective as an outsider, a cis female. I offered to change their names to protect their privacy, but all three of these women gave me their explicit permission to use their real names. I like this, as I can write in greater detail without having to change their stories to protect their identities. Also, their willingness and relative nonchalance about being open indicates something good about the current state of US society.
studying cacti and culture
A friend of mine from Dresden, Germany just arrived in Austin with his wife and their two daughters (ages: 2 years, 8 weeks). He’s a mechanical engineer researching the structure of cacti for his dissertation. So obviously his path led him to Texas. But it also brings my path full circle. Continue reading
Herbstausflug in Texas
Letztes Wochenende waren wir in Port Aransas. Das ist der nächstegelegenste Ort am Meer von Austin aus. Da es nur 350 km sind, ist es für ein Wochenendausflug ideal. Und das schöne ist, ende Oktober ist das Wetter immer noch wie im Hochsommer in Deutschland.
letter of protest against the closure of the University of Texas graduate program in Foreign Language Education
It looks like the decision will not be reversed.
Doesn’t matter. We should still fight it. Continue reading
Draft statement of teaching philosophy
I really struggled to capture the essence of myself as an educator. This is probably my third rewrite in the past month with significant revisions. I’ll be emailing this out tonight – any comments, critiques, etc.? Continue reading
Using controversial subcultures to teach German grammar
I took a risk today. I taught verb conjugation using the verbs “to smoke pot” and “to drink heavily”. But I think it paid off. Continue reading
University of Texas compared to North Korea
The bureaucracy at the University of Texas has been facetiously compared with North Korea. As a public university, there are strict regulations with regards to many aspects of student life, health, record keeping, research, privacy, etc.
Out of curiosity, and because I was still on campus yesterday evening, I decided to attend the new student event, “Gone to Texas“. Um, the North Korea comparison wasn’t far off. Continue reading
Don’t get injured until Sept. 1: thoughts on health insurance
Today, I played roller derby, a full contact sport. That’s me on the left, playing the “jammer” position. Jammers are basically moving targets for the opposing team.
My main goal today was to avoid injury. This is because my University of Texas health insurance kicks in starting next week. Continue reading
Gentle Start at UT
I finished my last course at an American university 10 years ago in May, shortly before graduating from Boston University (BU). So it’s somehow fitting that last Friday, I submitted the final project for my first class at The University of Texas at Austin (UT). While it was an intense 3 weeks, I feel like it was a gentle start to my PhD program, all things considered. Continue reading