I
am a passionate teacher of German cultural studies. Recently,
however, I moved out of my disciplinary comfort zone
to teach the upper-division course “Holocaust and Genocide” in
the History Department, cross-listed with Jewish Studies,
at San Francisco State University. The texts I chose
included scholarly essays, historical documents,
eyewitness accounts, memoirs, and documentary films. I wanted to ensure
that students could study events of global trauma not only intellectually
but also empathetically. In partnership with Dr. Anne Grenn Saldinger
of the community-based Bay Area Holocaust Oral History Project (BAHOHP),
we assigned a videotaped testimony to every student
as a research project, thereby encouraging a “personal” connection
with a Holocaust survivor, liberator, or eyewitness.
I taught students
to analyze primary sources, and their research papers
reflected on individual and collective history, discussing Leitmotive in
their testimonies. Furthermore, students excerpted and submitted their
digital index material online, which became part of the BAHOHP collection,
making it more accessible to Holocaust scholars and the larger community.
As part of this course, I also invited genocide survivors to speak, including
a university-wide Holocaust Memorial lecture with Polish-Jewish author
Sabina Zimering, who moved students
with their first-hand accounts. In this course, students developed
a body of knowledge, ethical reflections, and emotional engagement,
which they expressed in lively small group and whole class discussions
and thoughtfully written papers.
In 2006, I worked as
adjunct faculty at San Joaquin Delta College and Diablo Valley College,
California. As the sole faculty in German, I taught beginning and
multi-level German classes at both community colleges. While I found
multi-level classes pedagogically challenging, as they require a
juggling act between different level groups, this teaching experience
with a diverse student population enriched my interpersonal, organizational,
and creative skills.
Between
1999-2002, I taught seven courses in German language,
literature, and culture to undergraduates as Graduate
Student Instructor at the University of Minnesota's
Department of German, Scandinavian, and Dutch. While some of my first and
second year students were German majors, most students took German as part
of the language requirement at the College of Liberal Arts. In my third
year German “Conversation and Composition” class I emphasized the diversity
in German culture, incorporating representations of Germans of African
descent, and developed a unit on Black German literature and film.
This inspired some students’ own research and writing on the Afro-German
poet May Ayim (1960-1996). I also introduced the Holocaust and its
central place in post–1945 German literature. In resulting discussions,
which I moderated, students reflected on ethnic and
cultural stereotypes and deepened their understanding
of German history.
As
a Teaching Assistant in a writing-intensive, introductory-level
Women’s
Studies course I led two discussion sections (one
with honor roll students) and graded student essays. Students came
from a spectrum of disciplines in the liberal arts.
In both sections I focused on interactive approaches
to support their knowledge production. Methods of instructional
delivery included lectures, large and small group
discussions, peer study groups, and use of multimedia. I believe that students
took away not only solid knowledge in the subject matter but also learned
much about interdisciplinary inquiry in general.
While
teaching at the university, in community colleges,
and at my own institute in Oakland, I enjoy working with students
from all walks of life. This broad experience has allowed me to develop
effective teaching methods, integrate cross-disciplinary knowledge,
create curricula and student assessment materials, and use technology
to enhance instruction. I look forward to stretching my comfort zone
even more with other exciting and challenging educational experiences.