Category Archives: Travel

Im Freiburg

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That’s not a typo, just a tiny bit of German. I am in Freiburg Germany right now (at times it is easy to see that English is a Germanic langauge). I am very fortunate to be able to travel for Penn State this summer. I was recently named as chair of Freiburg “Faculty Implementation Committee,” or “FIT.” Last spring a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between PSU and the University of Freiburg. This is a university-wide agreement and we already have decades of collaboration between our two universities from philosophy to forestry and now energy and honors. In a few weeks over a dozen of my colleagues in the Penn State Institutes for Energy and the Environment will be arriving in Freiburg to meet with their counterparts here and we will reciprocate by hosting the Freuiburgers next year in Happy Valley. In addition to representing the university as a whole, I am also going to be working with their new University College Freiburg to establish an exchange program. I am very excited about that and more details are to come…

The trip here was fairly uneventful, although delayed by two hours. We pushed back from the gate at Dulles and they realized there was a brake problem. We returned, they fixed it, and an hour later we were on our way. Somehow we then lost another 50 minutes en route (with a tail wind, go figure). It was not a big deal for me since I simply took the train from Frankfurter Flughafen to Freiburg and walked two blocks to my hotel.

The Best Western “Hotel Victoria” bills itself as the greenest hotel in the world and I believe it. They have solar cells on the roof, wood pellet heaters for the water, and wind power from the city. (Freiburg is one of Germany’s foremost “Green Cities.”) After dinner at a local Italian café (and watching Spain-Italy tie in Euro 2012) I took a walk around town. Here a few pictures of my walk.

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A stumbling block…

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When I was being shown around Freiburg last week my guide actually stumbled and then stopped and pointed to be the “Stolperstein” upon which she had halted. This term literally translates as a “stumbling stone” and is a small concrete cube covered in brass that is etched with the name of a single Jew or other victim of the Nazi regime who was deported and killed. The dates of their deportation and death are also inscribed on the stone. It is placed on the sidewalk before the place that had been there home. These Stolpersteine are now found throughout Germany and in other countries as well.

I was struck by the word “stumbling block” particularly as it was just a few weeks ago that the Revised Common Lectionary, used by many Christian denominations, had as its reading 1 Cor. 1:18-31. The relevant passage is in the middle of that section.

For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

What the apostle Paul is saying here is that the notion of the Messiah being crucified made no sense to those Jews who were waiting and expecting God’s anointed one. Jesus’ death as a criminal on a cross was too big a hurdle for them to overcome to believe that he was actually the Messiah.

Given our English translation of the Greek σκάνδαλον (scandalon) you can understand why my ears were pricked to learn that this memorial to the victims of the Holocaust was called a Stolperstein. It seemed significant to me, as if to say that the death of so many by the Nazis and those who worked with them and failed to work against them is itself a scandalon to Christians. Or at least it ought to be. It ought to be a challenge to their fundamental faith.
Now, as it turns out, having had a chance to check a few German versions of this passage, it appears that completely different German words were used to translate scandalon. In the Hoffnung für Alle it is “eine Gotteslästerung,” “blasphemy,” and in the the 1545 Luther translation it is “ein Ärgernis,” “scandal.” The former certainly conveys the sense well and the latter is more literal, in both cases it is not Stolperstein. Still, it certainly made me pause and consider my faith.

Freiburg and home

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This morning I am on a train headed to Frankfurt to catch my flight home. I have thoroughly enjoyed the last two days, but I have been busy! The propose of this trip was to meet with our colleagues at the Albert-Luswigs-Universität Freiburg to discuss future joint programs and the development of an honors-type program. The schedule kept me moving from the moment I landed in Basel to late each night.

Wonderful Hindbeernkuchen I had for lunch when I arrived. O! So good!

The last time I was in Germany, other than in an airport flying through, was in 1988. I had taken a year off from college between my freshman and sophomore years and attended a Goethe Institut in Schwäbisch Hall, not terribly far from Freiburg. One of my great regrets is that I have never become fully fluent in German and it has been too long. I was surprised, however, at how much I did remember. Could understand most conversations and most that I read (reading the academic articles have helped in that regard) but when I came to formulate a responses, my vocabulary was lacking.

These two days have been, as I said, incredibly busy, but also very draining in an energetic way. In order to be useful in my consultation I had to learn as much as I could as quickly as possible about the current German system of higher education since the Bologna Process, particularly at Freiburg, and as much again about the system before Bologna. The structure is quite different. Like Oxford they have Faculties rather than colleges and students enroll directly into a program of study, there are no “general education” courses and little in the way of what we would call electives. Their course of study is three years long but all (if one is going to have anything like a management position) are expected to do a two year masters program following.

What is happening across Europe is now a desire to return to a liberal arts style of curriculum, something that we take for granted at Penn State. The Netherlands have led the way with a number of universities now having “Univeristy Colleges” that are four year programs designed to expose students to truly interdisciplinary approaches to thought and research. One aspect that I found surprising is that almost all of these programs are taught excessively in English.

One overwhelming feeling I have after my time is one of gratitude. We are very fortunate to have such a strong educational program at Penn State that places an emphasis upon literacy, numeracy, and global perspective. And we are able to do this, by and large, for all students, even those in fields that require very directed programs of study such as engineering. We are not perfect by any measure and I am encouraged to continue to develop our own programs at Penn State so that they are not just for the benefit of our PLA and SHC students.


The train that begins my journey home. Where’s Waldo?

Location:A train, somewhere in Germany

Support for study abroad – The Strategic and Global Security Scholars Program

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Don’t let the name fool you, this program is not just for those who want to go into intelligence work for the government (didn’t we all want to be James Bond or Alias at one point in our lives?). This program is a great opportunity for any student who is interested in a career that has a global and/or security component. I met earlier this week with John Hodgson, their project manager, and they would love to have applicants from Schreyer Scholars and their support for study abroad is significant.

More info is below, but if you are interested rather than fill out the application, drop Mr. Hodgson a note first. It is not too late to be considered for summer grants!

The Strategic and Global Security Scholars Program at Penn State sponsors and supports students who desire a career in government, the private sector, or in the Armed Forces, working on global, national, and homeland security issues. The program is open to undergraduate and graduate students of all academic majors, minors, and programs, with an emphasis on those with diverse ethnic, cultural, professional, and academic backgrounds, language proficiency, and geographical expertise. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and have a minimum GPA of 3.0.

The Program

The program will provide students with financial support and opportunities to:

  • Study abroad
  • Attend professional and academic conferences
  • Receive individualized professional development and career counseling
  • Attend recruiting events and meet hiring managers
  • Receive priority for internships and co-ops

The Application Process

To apply for the program, students must:

  • Meet the eligibility requirements
  • Complete the Undergraduate or Graduate Program Application
  • Submit academic transcripts (they may be unofficial transcripts)
  • Complete a two-page statement of purpose essay (Undergraduate)
  • Provide two references from faculty members and/or employers

An interview with the program director may also be required.

Eligibility Requirements

An applicant must:

  • Be a U.S. citizen, or capable of obtaining a valid U.S. passport
  • Be in good academic standing at the Pennsylvania State University Main (University Park) Campus or a branch, Commonwealth, or affiliated campus.
  • Hold a GPA of 3.0 or higher
  • Have an interest in a career in a government organization such as the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Energy, the intelligence community, local, state, or federal law enforcement, and the Armed Forces.

Questions

If you have any questions regarding the program or the application, please contact John Hodgson, Office of Military and Security Programs at 814-865-1513 or jgh161@psu.edu. Submit the application and all supporting materials to:

Office of Military and Security Programs
Strategic and Global Security Scholars Program
117 Transportation Research Building
University Park, PA 16802

Special Honors Course! IST 445H – Globalization Trends and World Issues

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IST 445H “Globalization Trends and World Issues” is a fantastic course and there are still several seats available. I helped to teach this course last fall and it is a tremendous opportunity for anyone who is interested in the issues that impact us today (politics, environment, technology, economy) and includes a FREE two day working trip to the most widely cited non-partisan think tank in DC, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Each summer we also have two students who intern at CSIS so this would be a great way to get to know the folks at CSIS before you submit your application.

The instructor this year is Andrea Tapia, one of best and most engaging and creative honors faculty members. This course is open to students in ANY major and there are a few seats left so sign up now!

Are you interested in international issues? Do you see yourself working for the United Nations, World Bank or other large, international organization? Do you see yourself working for a government helping to establish policy on such issues as telecommunications, environmental issues, security and commerce? Do you enjoy the complexity of critical, yet messy and delicate, international problems?

If so, I’d like to invite you to consider taking a class this fall.
The course is entitled “Globalization Trends and World Issues.”

It will meet on Mondays and Wednesdays between 11:15 and 12:30pm.

This course is designed around a 3 day (free!) trip to Washington D.C. in which students will participate in an intensive seminar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The CSIS is an international policy think tank, which provides strategic insights and policy solutions to decision makers in government, international institutions, the private sector, and civil society.

Leading up to the trip students will read several key books on global change and policy issues such as (1) The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman, (2) The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade, by Pietra Rivoli. (3) One World: The Ethics of Globalization, by Peter Singer  and (4) In Defense of Globalization, by Jagdish Bhagwati. Students will also ready policy briefs directly produced by the CSIS and other current sources.

In class, students will participate in lively class discussions then assume roles and responsibilities of U.S. government policy-makers responding to a foreign policy challenges. In groups and as individuals, students will conduct research, discuss trends, write, and conduct policy briefings.

The course is being taught by Dr. Andrea Tapia, from the College of Information Sciences and Technology. Dr. Tapia is a Sociologist who studies the public interconnection between technologies, public institutions and policies. Dr. Tapia has worked with and been funded by the United Nations, the US Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation. To read more about Dr. Tapia, please see her website at andreatapia.net.

The course number is IST 445 H. Although it is being taught via the college of IST, all students are welcome. The course is interdisciplinary in nature, integrating the knowledge and skills of communications, history, information science and technology, political science, psychology, sociology, and writing.