Österreich-Tage: Events for Undergraduate German Students and Professors

The Österreich–Tage event started off on Friday, March 31, with a two-hour presentation and discussion session led by Julia Ruck, Dr. Stefan Krammer and Gerti Zhao-Heissenberger with an audience of undergraduate students from Georgetown University, the Catholic University and George Washington University. There were two sections to this undergraduate portion, focusing first on advertising in Austria and then on the new film and literature movement in Austria. Following this discussion, professors from the DMV area came to Georgetown University for the start of a weekend focused on teaching about Austria. Dr. Krammer gave an overview of some of the more important works of literature and film produced in Austria in recent years before the participants headed to the Austrian Embassy to hear from a variety of Austrian government officials, who shared in-depth information about their country.

On Saturday, April 1, the participants reconvened at Georgetown University and started the day off with a discussion and workshop on how to teach Austrian literature to undergraduate students learning German. This was followed by a workshop on Austrian advertisements, their importance culturally, and how to interpret and make them relevant in teaching a German course. Finally, Gerti Zhao-Heissenberger spoke at length about the cultural and historical importance in Austria of the café culture and how to explain it and make it relatable to students. The evening concluded with a closing dinner at Kafe Leopold, an authentic Austrian restaurant in Washington, DC, which was a fitting end to a productive weekend.