German Program Research Articles

Freedom Without Walls: One Model for Interdisciplinarity on Campus

Interdisciplinary projects offer a strategy for German programs to become more visible and valued in the university context. Freedom Without Walls at Chapman University offers a case study of a project that situates the German program within an institution's larger goals. When building a project, the German program should look first to existing expertise, interests, and resources on campus. Connection with the institution's mission and vision is also essential. With funding from the German government to U.S. universities, Freedom Without Walls encompassed events in art, poetry, film, communications, and other disciplines as well as a gala and a team in the 5K run/walk.

Incomprehensible Jargon

I have collaborated on some current guidelines (the German Program for Disease Management Guidelines on diabetic foot, diabetic nephropathy, etc). I have often asked myself why guidelines that are well intended in principle have a problem with their practical implementation. I regard the above article as a good example for the fact that a communication problem exists between those in charge of setting out guidelines and the doctor for whom they are intended. Might the lacking implementation of clinical guidelines be explained by the incomprehensible “sociolect” used in health services research or health economics, which is used in the general sphere of guideline business? On reading the article I notice how far the jargon in use (“indicator-guided analysis of patient data to determine physicians’ adherence to guidelines”) is removed from clinical practice. I think readers’ time is too limited to engage fully with an article that is written in such a complicated way. In my opinion the same holds true for many guidelines that provide no reading pleasure because the language and style they are written in is too removed from clinical practice. Improvements could certainly be made in order to make guidelines more interesting for readers and to increase “the knowledge of guidelines as a valid surrogate parameter for the objective ’guideline-conform clinical practice’.”

Community Building: Study Abroad and the Small German Program

Study abroad is often treated in terms of individual student outcomes, and has recently been discussed as potentially detrimental to smaller language programs—in that student participation in semester‐ or year‐long programs subtracts from enrollments in upper‐level courses. In this article, the promotion of study abroad in a small German program is presented as community‐building that can help to enhance and sustain small college programs by strengthening the community of German‐speakers and others interested in German on campus and abroad.

Die Direktwahl als Zäsur grenzüberschreitender Parteienzusammenarbeit? Potenziale und Grenzen transnationaler Programm- und Wahlkampfkooperation am Beispiel von SPD und FDP im Vorfeld der ersten europäischen Direktwahlen 1979

The article deals with the potentials and limits of transnational party cooperation in the context of the first European Elections in 1979. It focuses on two German parties, the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD) and the Freie Demokratische Partei (FDP). It examines the role these parties played in the founding of the transnational party confederations and the creation of their first programs and campaigning elements. Then, it looks at the respective German campaigns, programs and realization. By consulting primary documents of the respective party archives, the author explores the degree to which the German parties participated on the European level, and the degree to which the transnational cooperation reflected upon the German campaign. Despite their strong involvement within the party confederations, the parties’ use of transnational elements in their national campaign is surprisingly low. It is argued that particularly the SPD only resorted to them if it was in line with their nationally focused agenda. The FDP can uphold the claim of a transnational campaign more credibly through the constant reference to their party confederation.

German Diabetes Management Programs Improve Quality Of Care And Curb Costs

This paper reports the results of a large-scale analysis of a nationwide disease management program in Germany for patients with diabetes mellitus. The German program differs markedly from "classic" disease management in the United States. Although it combines important hallmarks of vendor-based disease management and the Chronic Care Model, the German program is based in primary care practices and carried out by physicians, and it draws on their personal relationships with patients to promote adherence to treatment goals and self-management. After four years of follow-up, overall mortality for patients and drug and hospital costs were all significantly lower for patients who participated in the program compared to other insured patients with similar health profiles who were not in the program. These results suggest that the German disease management program is a successful strategy for improving chronic illness care.

Author Bios, Figures and Tables, Acronyms Used, References

This monograph presents in detail the genesis, design, and implementation of a full‐scale curricular innovation in a U.S. university German foreign language studies program, with a primary focus on writing development. Its goal is to demonstrate and articulate how college educators, from typically diverse scholarly persuasions, might conjointly craft a much‐needed response to calls for change in tertiary foreign language and cultural studies departments. After sketching the contemporary landscape of and challenges in collegiate foreign language studies, it theorizes an approach to educational design that is at once theoretically grounded in genre‐based literacy development, legitimately responsive to both literary‐cultural and language developmental values of faculty, and practically focused on student achievement of very advanced learning outcomes. Turning from ideation to application, the monograph then reports extensively on the actual curricular scope and sequence, genre‐based pedagogies, and associated assessment practices that were developed and implemented in a four‐year undergraduate German program. The emphasis throughout the monograph is on explaining why and how decisions were made while also demonstrating the outcomes of these decisions in the form of practicable educational efforts and products. It closes by arguing the need for additional inquiry‐driven program innovation of the sort reported here, if the value of college foreign language studies is to be enhanced, perpetuated, and, fundamentally, realized.

Table of Contents

This monograph presents in detail the genesis, design, and implementation of a full‐scale curricular innovation in a U.S. university German foreign language studies program, with a primary focus on writing development. Its goal is to demonstrate and articulate how college educators, from typically diverse scholarly persuasions, might conjointly craft a much‐needed response to calls for change in tertiary foreign language and cultural studies departments. After sketching the contemporary landscape of and challenges in collegiate foreign language studies, it theorizes an approach to educational design that is at once theoretically grounded in genre‐based literacy development, legitimately responsive to both literary‐cultural and language developmental values of faculty, and practically focused on student achievement of very advanced learning outcomes. Turning from ideation to application, the monograph then reports extensively on the actual curricular scope and sequence, genre‐based pedagogies, and associated assessment practices that were developed and implemented in a four‐year undergraduate German program. The emphasis throughout the monograph is on explaining why and how decisions were made while also demonstrating the outcomes of these decisions in the form of practicable educational efforts and products. It closes by arguing the need for additional inquiry‐driven program innovation of the sort reported here, if the value of college foreign language studies is to be enhanced, perpetuated, and, fundamentally, realized.

Kanada: Deutschstudien im Wandel — von neuen Gegebenheiten zu Ansätzen einer Selbsterneuerung

This contribution describes the situation of the German profession in Canada, by presenting the latest trends in trans‐institutional cooperation, curriculum development, the job market, and promotion of the discipline. The author suggests that the adaptation to new realities, such as changes in student interests and the continuing cutbacks of resources, has resulted in the modernization of German programs and more effective strategies of self‐marketing. Rather than succumbing to resignation, the article highlights the need to capitalize on traditional strengths as well as the demand to pursue interdisciplinary work and to embrace the concept of collaboration with other departments.

New perspectives on community-acquired pneumonia in 388 406 patients. Results from a nationwide mandatory performance measurement programme in healthcare quality

Background:The database of the German programme for quality in healthcare including data of every hospitalised patient with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) during a 2-year period (n = 388 406 patients in...

Online Extensive Reading for Advanced Foreign Language Learners: An Evaluation Study

Abstract: The following article reports the findings of a qualitative evaluation of an online extensive reading program in German as a foreign language. Designed for advanced learners, it differs from traditional extensive reading programs in two important aspects: students read online instead of printed materials, and there was no teacher preselection to ensure that learners were reading at the i minus 1 level. Data from reflections and questionnaires indicate that learners experienced a variety of affective and linguistic benefits. Interestingly, some learners purposely sought out more difficult texts to challenge themselves. While this violates a key principle of extensive reading, it is indicative of learners' growing motivation and self‐confidence. There is also evidence that they developed into skilled second language readers, making conscious decisions about reading strategy and dictionary use.

Interdisciplinary Decision Making

Interdisciplinary Decision Making

Fanning the Flames: Best Practices for Ensuring the Survival of Small German Programs

Small undergraduate German programs can take various forms but can generally be classified as new and emerging or older and well‐established programs. In today's academic climate it is necessary that instructors in both types work to enhance their curriculum and extra‐curricular offerings as well as strive to prevent burnout and the over involvement, which can actually harm the programs. This article, authored by writers from both types of programs and based on a decade of collaboration with colleagues in small German programs, offers suggestions to newer and established programs and instructors to aid them in staying or becoming vibrant.

Development of a Geographical Information System for the monitoring of the health infrastructure in rural areas in Tanzania

Background: Setting up Geographical Information Systems (GIS) on the existing health infrastructure and ongoing and planned interventions in public health in Tanzania is still in its infancy. While there are several activities on gathering information and attempts of documentation there does not exist an overall systematic approach of generally capturing all health related facts and bringing them together into a unique information system yet. In order to strengthen the information system in the health sector in general, and to assist Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW) in better receiving an overview of health related infrastructure and intervention data for management purpose, a first-pilot GIS was built up in the Mbeya Region in cooperation with Tanzanian German Programme to Support Health (TGPSH)/Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ). Methods: The Health-GIS contains information on all health facilities (HF) in the region and their infrastructure. Therefore, personal interviews were conducted in selected HF based on a comprehensive questionnaire. The spatial coordinates of the HF were taken with a Global Positioning System (GPS). In a relational database, the newly coded HF are linked to the gathered information pertaining to them and in a second step are analysed and visualised with help of GIS. Results: First results show newly collected geometry and attribute data for a considerable number of HFs in Mbeya Region, which are then supplemented by information on the street network lately surveyed during the fieldtrip. With the help of a database management system (DBMS) all information are stored and maintained within one health database. By their spatial relation, data may be analysed and mapped with a Health-GIS. Because of the targeted cooperation with people and institutions from the local health sector, the way for integrating the Health-GIS into the health planning infrastructure is open. Also, the funding of an IT group comprised of members from national and international institutions is another step to gaining local acceptance for the system. Conclusions: First steps have been taken to introduce the Health-GIS as a pilot project in the Mbeya Region. It has proved to be useful in order to collect the essential attributes of the HFs. Further development of the GIS will have to be taken into account simplicity of use. Hence this requires that the GIS needs to be integrated into the planning process.

Definition, Klassifikation und Diagnose des Fibromyalgiesyndroms

Interdisciplinary guidelines for the definition, classification and diagnosis of chronic widespread pain (CWP) and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) were developed by collaboration of 10 German medical and psychological associations and 2 patient self-help organizations. A systematic literature search was performed in the Cochrane Library (1993-12/2006). Medline (1980-2006), and Scopus (1980-12/2006). Levels of evidence were assigned according to the classification system of the Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine. Grading of the strength of recommendation was done according to the German program for disease management guidelines. Standardized procedures to reach a consensus on recommendations were used. CWP is defined by the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR-strong consensus). FMS can be diagnosed for clinical purposes by symptom-based criteria (without tender point examination) as well as by the ACR criteria (strong consensus).

Screening for depression in the older long-term unemployed

Misdiagnosis and undertreatment of depression in older, long-term unemployed people may not only pose a serious medical problem, but may also be an obstacle for their vocational reintegration. Screening for depression could be a first step to increasing treatment rates within this high-risk group. Therefore, the WHO-5 Well-Being Index was tested for its validity in unemployment offices. Three hundred and sixty-five participants in a German programme for the vocational reintegration of long-term unemployed people were screened with the WHO-5 Well-Being Index. In 104 of these subjects, ICD-10 diagnoses were made using DIA-X Structured Clinical Interview. Using the DIA-X data as a gold standard, the WHO-5 Well-Being Index obtained satisfactory results for sensitivity (82.5%) and specificity (70.3%) as a screening tool for affective disorders when used with an adjusted cut-off-point of < or = 12. While none of the 18.5% male participants diagnosed with major depression received treatment, half of the 24% of female participants with major depression received treatment. Screening with the WHO-5 within unemployment offices is useful to detect people with depressive disorders. Many of them do not receive optimal treatment and can be motivated to seek professional help. Reducing depression by better treatment will also increase the chances of reemployment.

MULTI‐CRITERIA OPTIMIZATION OF REGIONAL EMPLOYMENT POLICY: A SIMULATION ANALYSIS FOR GERMANY

The distribution of European and national aid among 271 German labor market regions is considered as an optimization problem with three targets: (i) interregional equalization of unemployment rates; (ii) minimization of total (national) unemployment; and (iii) maximization of GDP, subject to budget constraints and some administrative restrictions. The analysis of the German program in 2000–2002 shows that the results actually obtained for 6 billion euro required only 241 million euro under optimal planning (4% of the actual budget). Such an inappropriate implementation of active labor market policies can be the cause of low efficiency, often misinterpreted as uselessness. This paper suggests a decision aid for optimal planning and shows that tax returns from the additional GDP due to jobs subsidized can transform regional policy into a winning governmental strategy.

Back to the Drawing Board? Articulation and Outreach Revisited

It's a puzzle how the pieces fit together?articu lation, momentum, and outreach?though no mystery that they have strategic importance for German programs today. The modest enrollment gains reported by the MLA (MLA Survey; Welles) have not diminished our challenges, rang ing from financial exigencies to public perceptions that our field is marginal (Dasenbrock 63). Against the background of calls to action prompted by the No Child Left Behind Act (cf. Rosenbusch), my ob servations reflect on how German departments at postsecondary institutions envision K-16 articula tion, gauge momentum, and create outreach, es pecially through public websites. Under optimal conditions, these efforts should express the robust interconnection of teaching, research, and service. Often instead they foreground disjunctives in the architecture of our profession at large (Rosenbusch 258). Outreach in my own department has already undergone a rapid evolution that would have been difficult to imagine a decade ago, an upgrade that is by no means complete. Our work suggests that three approaches are helpful in improving the out reach profile: dialogues with our audiences, tar geted outreach events, and informational publica tions. When Mary Louise Pratt argued from her posi tion as MLA President that we need language pipe lines at every level, she focused on building con nections. Suggesting that With relatively little new infrastructure, American high schools can become the pipeline to advanced language study linked to cultural, scholarly, and professional expertise (Pratt 117), she convincingly recommended a powerful collaboration between colleges and uni versities and secondary school teachers. Ideally, this network would provide opportunities and ac cess in the form of scholarships, enrichment pro grams, summer intensive courses, study abroad, or work in the so-called Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs) (118). Because Pratt's optimism about the future of foreign languages in the U.S. seems to many col leagues to speak more to the growth of Spanish than to conditions for German, the pragmatic rela tionship between the language system and our field bears further scrutiny. Infrastructure questions have, of course, received extensive attention in German. Beyond the pride that we take in the indi vidual energy that builds and maintains our pro grams, significant effort has been devoted to identi fying articulation obstacles that have hamstrung college and university German programs. Analysis of curricular disconnects at the stage when high school students enter the postsecondary system has produced constructive recommenda tions from the AATG, Byrnes, Chavez, and others (Chavez; Andress et al.; Byrnes Future). Improved integration of students into collegiate studies has also been facilitated through the creation of stan dards for K-16 education, including the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, the Standards for Foreign Language Learning, and other disciplinary recom mendations (see Appendix). As aspirational docu ments, these standards commendably voice broad professional consensus about student achieve ment. Moreover, they have generated consultative expertise, dissemination activity, and professional renewal for teachers. This strategic activity has been especially con structive in shaping systems where large-scale edu cational ecologies prevail. To cite one example, German departments at large Midwestern univer sities have generally enjoyed solid enrollments that correlate with the debut of the Proficiency Guide lines and subsequent attention to promoting verti

How much German in German Studies?

MARGIT M. SINKA Clemson University In an effort to promote an exchange of ideas and more collaboration between the AATG and the German Studies Association, the AATG Executive Council requested and received a special time slot for an AATG session at the fall 2003 GSA convention in New Orleans. As Chair of the AATG Research and Scholarship Committee, I moderated the panel discussion on much German in German Studies? Sabine Gross (U.of Wisconsin), Robert DiDonato (Department Chair, Miami U.), Hal Rennert (U. of Florida, and William Donahue (in 2003 Department Chair at Rutgers U.; as of fall 2005 member of the German Department at Duke U.) presented prepared statements which were followed by a lively, forty-minute discussion between presenters and an audience numbering around fifty. By offering brief summaries of the comments given by the first three panelists, we wish to share with the readership of German Quarterly some of the issues discussed during the GSA panel. Donahue's position paper, included in its entirety after the summarizing statements, represents recent reflections on the GSA panel. Though all panelists were aware of enrollment dilemmas and attendant curriculum concerns, DiDonato emphasized these as he advocated the retention of a substantial array of English courses among the course offerings of German departments. German Studies, DiDonato stressed, should not be blamed for the erosion of the use of German in advanced German courses and, by implication, of German skills in general. Rather than looking for scapegoats for our dissatisfaction with the fact that many students' language abilities to do not enable them to read and discuss level-appropriate texts in German, we should consider wider adoption of content-based instruction, assuring that students acquire higher levels of language proficiency at the same time that they are acquiring more sophisticated knowledge/content and are moving to higher level thinking skills. Intentionally departing from a balanced view focused on how to assure the survival of departments of German, Gross urged us to view language knowledge not as an obstacle (a stance frequently underlying discussions about foreign language teaching) but as an opportunity to foster inherent student fascination with foreign languages. Regardless of the course level, Gross insisted, language is inseparable from knowledge-that is, language is not simply added on to knowledge; it, in fact, constitutes knowledge. In a similar vein, Rennert challenged those who argue that an insistence on German proficiency had the effect of isolating German Departments, and who advocated a shift of the discipline towards Cultural/German Studies as a way out of this isolation (cf. Peter Hohendahl, The Past, Present and Future of Germanistik, Stanford Humanities Review, vol. 6.1, 1998). How can German not be central to German cultural studies, Rennert wondered. And he went one step further: Since culture is transmitted via language, German Studies without German is simply meaningless. Donahue's recent thoughts on the GSA panel raise additional issues and may serve as an invitation to GQ readers to continue the discussion on much German in German Studies? WILLIAM COLLINS DONAHUE Duke University question posed to the GSA roundtable-How much German in German Studies?-seems to presuppose that German Studies is to blame for a perceived decline in German at US universities. Yet attributing the undeniable downturn in student enrollments in German programs to the rise of the German Studies model may be too hasty a conclusion. Obviously our colleagues working in history, political science, or other disciplines with an interest in things German are off the hook entirely. What people who make this charge-and they were certainly well represented at this session -really mean is that the move toward German Studies in what were once traditional German language and literature programs has gone hand in hand with greater use of English in the curriculum. …

Allgemeine Behandlungsgrundsätze, Versorgungskoordination und Patientenschulung beim Fibromyalgiesyndrom und chronischen Schmerzen in mehreren Körperregionen

A guideline for the treatment and diagnostic procedures for fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) was developed in cooperation with 10 German medical and psychological associations and 2 patient self-help groups. A systematic literature search including all controlled studies evaluating physiotherapy, exercise and strength training as well as physical therapies was performed in the Cochrane Collaboration Reviews (1993-12/2006), Medline (1980-12/2006), PsychInfo (1966-12/2006) and Scopus (1980-12/2006). Levels of evidence were assigned according to the classification system of the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. Grading of the strengths of recommendations was done according to the German program for disease management guidelines. Standardized procedures to reach a consensus on recommendations were used. Patient's information at first diagnosis of FMS is strongly recommended (grade A). Patient-centered communication is recommended (grade B). A stepwise treatment approach depending on the adapatation to restrictions in daily life and response to treatment options can be considered (grade C). The long-term treatment should be based on principles of basic psychosomatic care and shared decision making on treatment options.

Definition, Klassifikation und Diagnose des Fibromyalgiesyndroms

Interdisciplinary guidelines for the definition, classification and diagnosis of chronic widespread pain (CWP) and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) were developed by collaboration of 10 German medical and psychological associations and 2 patient self-help organizations. A systematic literature search was performed in the Cochrane Library (1993-12/2006), Medline (1980-2006), PsychInfo (1966-12/2006), and Scopus (1980-12/2006). Levels of evidence were assigned according to the classification system of the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. Grading of the strength of recommendation was done according to the German program for disease management guidelines. Standardized procedures to reach a consensus on recommendations were used. CWP is defined by the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR--strong consensus). FMS can be diagnosed for clinical purposes by symptom-based criteria (without tender point examination) as well as by the ACR criteria (strong consensus).