by Dr. Janine Ludwig
In response to the pandemic, Dickinson College developed the innovative format of the Globally Integrated Seminar (GIS) with many of our study-abroad sites. For Bremen, we are conducting a class on “Germany and the Cold War” this spring semester.
This seminar covers political and cultural developments in Germany throughout the 20th century. Through critical engagement with texts and films, we try to understand how people have felt about their times and the future, about modernity, about the block confrontation, their governments, and much more. We also occasionally examine the images of America that Germans produced at different times. The division of Germany, Europe and the world into East and West is discussed up to the revolution of 1989, which contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union and led to German reunification as well as the eastward expansion of the European Union.
In order to offer international experiences and discussions to our students, although they are currently unable to travel, we have invited several high-level German guests to the sessions to answer our students’ questions. In addition, the seminar is accompanied by intercultural workshops.