Introduction: German Studies Go Global

Abstract

This introduction to the special issue of Die Unterrichtspraxis, “Teaching German Studies in a Global Context,” discusses the origins and concept of this issue, which came out of an AATG‐sponsored seminar at the 2018 Annual Convention of the German Studies Association. It outlines both the questions with which seminar participants engaged over the course of three days and the loose definition of Global German Studies that arose out of the seminar. From there, it breaks down the issue into its areas of focus: looking back at the past, intercultural competence, globalizing German Studies at the undergraduate and graduate levels, decoupling language instruction from its traditional pairing with high culture, the engagement of high school teachers and university program directors with global German Studies, challenges faced by small programs, and rethinking how we engage with graduate students.