The first time Germany played Argentina in the World Cup Final I was an exchange student in Rosenheim, West Germany (1986)

My family has turned into a big soccer family the last couple of years with my two older children playing competive soccer and my five year old on his way...so, we have been watching as many World Cup games as possible.  With the final game set with Germany to face Argentina we see the continuation of a great World Cup rivarly.

When West Germany lost to Argentina in the 1986 World Cup I was an exchange student in Rosenheim, West Germany.  My host family bought me a Rudy Völler World Cup jersey and yesterday I dug it out of my soccer bag.  I have never worn the shirt and should probably have it framed....anyway, I thought I would share the photos of the shirt here as well as a link to the highlights of the 1986 final game from Azteca Stadium!

Always nice to see a past Fulbright recipient's picture on the U.S. Student Program website!

I'm entering my 11th year as the Fulbright Program Adviser at the University of Chicago.  I LOVE talking to students about their Fulbright application plans and helping them understand the program to put forward the strongest application possible.  I frequently visit the Fulbright U.S. Student website and I always get a smile on my face when I see the picture of a former student that I worked with on her Fulbright application, and went to Germany on an English Teaching Assistantship grant in 2003, cycle into the site.

Several years ago I was working on the Allabroad.us project for the Center for Global Education at Loyola Marymount University and knew that I had to add Priscilla to the group of mentors answering questions about race and ethnicity issues while studying abroad.  You can access Priscilla's profile here.

Germany as a Study Abroad Destination for American Students in the STEM Fields

A short time ago I found out that a manuscript I submitted to a journal had been accepted for publication in 2010. My article, “Germany as a Study Abroad Destination of American Students in the Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Fields: A Historical Examination,” was submitted some time ago and the only recommendations for revision that I received from the Editorial Board was that I should add a few more examples of current developments/programs for American STEM students to study and/or research in Germany. In addition to focusing on family during y brief winter break (over the Christmas holiday through the New Year’s Eve festivities) I plan to start work on a brief update to this manuscript.

This IHEC Blog post is more of a request for assistance to locate two or three new specific programs, developments, collaborations, etc. in Germany for American STEM students. I’ve been saving various pieces of information from listservs, e-newsletters and other resources over the past couple of months to sort through but I thought I would put out this call to see if any IHEC Blog readers have any recommendations. If you know of anything I would love to hear from you and you can e-mail me at international.ed.consulting@gmail.com. Please understand that I cannot incorporate every program/opportunity I learn about into my revision.

Many thanks in advance! David

The Influence of German Higher Education on U.S. Higher Education During the 1800’s

While I was reading chapter 10 “Science and Education: Towards a New Pedagogy” in A History of Western Education: Volume III: The Modern West (1981) by J. Bowen I came across an interesting part about Henry Tappan (1st President of the University of Michigan) and his visit to Prussia. Tappan’s argued that German universities served as the model for universities in the United States because they “were ‘purely universities’, complete with libraries…” (p. 355). I knew that Germany was top destination for students and scholars from the United States during 1800’s (and remains a top destination today) but I was unaware of some of the reasons why this occurred. This chapter has helped me to better understand the interest of U.S. scholars towards studying in Germany and in Europe in general during this time period. Bowen mentions a book that now is a must read for me and that is German Universities: A Narrative of Personal Experiences by James Hart from 1874. The idea by the trustees of making Johns Hopkins a wholly graduate institution based on the German model and, in the end, would make studies abroad unnecessary is fascinating to me. I would be interested in knowing how many others or which other institutions had a similar philosophy about modeling after the German system thus eliminating the need to study abroad. How about The University of Chicago where I work?

Some Notes on the International Education/Public Diplomacy Activities of the United States in the Immediate Years Following World War II

Recently I’ve been posting some of my old research notes to IHEC Blog that I think readers will find of interest. To continue that trend I’m posting today about the international education activities of the United States during the immediate years following World War II:

During World War II the Offices of the Secretary of State, Secretary of War and the Provost-Marshal General developed special intellectual diversion programs in the Allied prisoner-of-war camps to re-educate prisoners and provide English language training.[1] It is estimated that approximately 350,000 German prisoners-of-war participated in the re-education programs and they took what they learned in these programs and from their exposure to America back to Germany where many became teachers and some even returned to the United States while participating in future exchange programs. Upon Germany’s unconditional surrender in May of 1945, officials in the United States Office of Military Government began planning for the re-education of German citizens. In 1947 the United States Office of Military Government in collaboration with the United States Department of State initiated a new foreign policy program that would bring almost 10,000 German citizens to the United States to learn about democratic principles and the American way of life.[2]

One afternoon in late September, 1945 during a routine session of the U.S. Senate, the freshman Senator from Arkansas, J. William Fulbright, introduced legislation sponsoring exchange programs for students and faculty between the United States and foreign countries that was eventually signed into law by President Harry S. Truman on August 1, 1946. Senator Fulbright proposed to fund these exchanges through the sale of surplus United States property (primarily from the military) to allies and other countries at the conclusion of World War II. Senator Fulbright proposed a Bill to amend the Surplus Property Act of 1944 to designate the Department of State as the disposal agency for surplus property outside the United States, its territories and possessions, and for other purposes.[3] The first participants in the program from the United States received funding to study in the 38 countries that received money and/or equipment as a result of the Lend-Lease Act of 1941. Additionally, students from these 38 Lend-Lease countries received Fulbright Program funding to study in the United States. Fulbright stated that “it is…fair to say that the Exchange Program is an instrument of foreign policy, not just for the Untied States, [but] for all participating nations.”[4] The Fulbright Act of 1946 set in motion a great history of international education exchange between the United States and the rest of the world and a continuation of the United States use of soft power.

In 1948 the United States Congress passed The U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act.[5] In addition to bringing the Voice of America[6] and other operations under the Office of International Information of the U.S. Department of State, The U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act was established to promote better understanding of the United States among the peoples of the world and to strengthen cooperative international relations. The U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act also expanded the Fulbright program to include countries other than those Lend-Lease countries originally specified in the original Fulbright Act of 1946 and facilitated the establishment of bi-national centers around the world to coordinate the exchanges between countries. Ultimately, the impact of The U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act on U.S higher education was minimal; however, expanding the number of participating countries in the Fulbright Program beyond the Lend-Lease countries only two years later was an important development of the program.

This short historical piece is in many ways a continuation of a previous IHEC Blog post from last December entitled “First Public Diplomacy Effort of the United States?” You can read that blog post here.

[1] Cummins E. Speakman, Jr. International Exchange in Education, (New York: The Center for Applied Research in Education, Inc., 1966), 16-17.
[2] James F. Trent, A Brief History of the German-American Fulbright Program, 1952-2002 (German-American Fulbright Commission, date unknown), 1.
[3] Walter Johnson, and Francis J. Colligan, The Fulbright Program: A History. (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1967).
[4] J. William Fulbright, “The Most Significant and Important Activity I have been Privileged to Engage in During my Years in the Senate,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 424 (1976): 2
[5] Also known as The Smith-Mundt Act.
[6] The Voice of America is the official external radio and television broadcasting service of the United States.

Call for Papers on Study Abroad in Neues Curriculum: Journal for Best Practices in Higher Education German Studies

Neues Curriculum has put out a call for papers on study abroad for their third issue. This is an excellent and unique opportunity to get published and to reach a non-study abroad/international education audience (although an audience that is most likely highly informed and supportive of study abroad programs. I have copied and pasted information about this “Study Abroad” issue from the Neues Curriculum website below:

“The traditional German Study Abroad Experience: Junior Year, Vorlesungsverzeichnis, Auslandsamt, Gemeinschaftsküche, and don’t forget the Scheine! But in the 21st century, even more modern approaches face challenges: More students are interested in shorter term programs, have more expectations towards “service” and “comfort”, and perhaps even wish for courses auf Englisch! Preferably electronically.

Issue 3 of Neues Curriculum focuses on best practices and current trends in studying abroad: Innovative short-term programs, better recruiting, new initiatives to combine studying abroad with internships, ways to share resident directors or to do without one and still keep the benefits, solutions that make studying abroad more affordable for the students or more efficient for smaller programs. And, of course and like always, away from home we hope to find the unexpected.

NC solicits best practices from the past and present including traditional programs that have stood the test of time, integrated German Studies programs involving English language classes, and new approaches that seek to integrate into the new Bachelor programs at German Universities.

How did your institution (re)structure its deep immersion experience? Let us know. We plan to start publishing articles (3-20 pages) for this issue on September 1. Later contributions will be published as they arrive, all after peer review.”

You can learn more about this call for papers and submission guidelines here.

Germany a Top Destination for Chinese Students ~ The Chinese “Global Tribe” Revisited

The May 29, 2009 issue of News from DAAD New York provides some interesting data on the popularity of Germany as a study abroad destination for Chinese students with a link to a related article (in German) at the DAAD-magazin.de. I have copied and pasted the entire news bit from the DAAD here:

“Germany is the second most popular destination (after the United States) for Chinese students who have received national scholarships to study abroad. In 2008, 481 Chinese students awarded scholarships went to Germany, out of 4,892 award-winning students total. That's 9.8 percent of all scholarships. “

You can access the full article here.

I briefly touch on Chinese students in Germany in one of my first posts to IHEC Blog (9th post to be exact) entitled The Chinese “Global Tribe”. You can access that early post here.

TestAS (Test für Ausländische Studierende or Test for Academic Studies)

The March 6th News from DAAD New York announced that they commissioned the creation of an exam to assist German institutions of higher education in determining the “learning attitude” of a foreign applicant. TestAS was first issued in May 2007 but it is now a requirement of many German institutions of higher education. You can learn more about the TestAS here.

Early Connections between the DAAD and The University of Chicago

As the DAAD contact at The University of Chicago I have long been interested in the history of the DAAD and the early connections it has had to the University. During my recent efforts I learned that Arnold Bergstraesser who founded the DAAD and from 1937-1953 he taught in the United States with his last appointment as Professor of German Literature and History at the University of Chicago. You can learn more about Arnold Bergstraesser here: http://www.arnold-bergstraesser.de/arnoe.htm.

Similar to Senator Fulbright, German Chancellor Adenauer also had a vision to create a major international academic exchange program that Germany could call her own and in the years following the end of the Second World War he re-founded the DAAD, Deutcher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (German Academic Exchange Service). German Chancellor Adenauer was so engaged in this process that he actively took part in the signing of exchange agreements with a variety of partner institutions in the United States.[1]

[1] Chancellor Adenauer’s active participation in the signing of partner institution exchange agreements is evidenced at the University of Chicago where the original DAAD-University of Chicago exchange agreement from 1953 is housed at the Office of International Affairs. This exchange agreement between the University of Chicago and the DAAD contains Chancellor Adenauer’s original signature and on the agreement it is evident that he crossed out the word “eins” (meaning “one” in German) and wrote in the word “zwei” (meaning “two” in German) for the number of guaranteed exchange students from the University of Chicago.

A Plan for the Exchange of American and Prussian Teachers (1907)

For readers with an interest in the early years of international education exchange…

In 1907, Dr. Karl Reinhardt, representing the Department of Ecclesiastical Affairs, Instruction and Medical Affairs of Prussia, proposed to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching a plan for the exchange of teachers between Prussia and the United States which was to be modeled after similar programs that were already in effect between Prussia and England and France.[1] American teachers were to teach English in Prussia for a year and a half and were to receive modest stipends from the Prussian government. Interestingly, American female teachers were specifically barred from participating in this exchange program between Prussia and the United States.

[1] “A Plan for an Exchange of Teachers between Prussia and the United States” Science, New Series, 27 no. 697, (May 8, 1908), 733-737

First Nation to Enter Fulbright Cost-Sharing Agreement with the United States

The Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act required that participating countries in the various Fulbright scholarship programs commit to a cost-sharing agreement with the United States Department of State. Germany was the first nation to enter into a Fulbright cost-sharing agreement and has paid for half of the costs associated with this German-American program since 1962.[1]


[1] Trent, 3; Ulrich Littmann, “A Host Country’s View: The Federal Republic of Germany” Annals of the American Academy of Political Science, 491 The Fulbright Experience and Academic Exchanges, (May, 1987), 81.

The Federal Republic of Education

The Die Bundesregierung (The Press and Information Office of the Federal Government) website reported late in October, 2008 that the German federal and state governments plan to increase educational spending to 10% of the country’s gross domestic product by 2015. Chancellor Angela Merkel aims for Germany to become the Federal Republic of Education.

You can read more here: http://tinyurl.com/65lf4x

Increase in the number of German students studying abroad

The DAAD reported in its September 12th weekly newsletter that Germany is seeing an increase in the number of German students studying abroad at foreign universities. According to the German Federal Statistics Office (Destatis), the number of German students studying abroad increased 7.5% over last year and that the number has nearly doubled since 1996. Approximately 4.8% of German students study abroad each year with top destinations being the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Austria and Switzerland.

Wissenschaft Weltoffen 2008 Facts and Figures on the International Nature of Studies and Research in Germany

In July, the DAAD and the University Information System (HIS) in Germany released the most recent data on foreign students in Germany in their Wissenschaft weltoffen 2008. You can access Wissenschaft weltoffen 2008 here: www.wissenschaft-weltoffen.de

Internationalization of German Higher Education

I recently came across three very interesting reports on the internationalization of German Higher Education that I thought I'd share with readers. The publications with links follow:

Internationalization of Higher Education
-Foreign Students in Germany
-German Students Abroad
By the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (http://www.bmbf.de/pub/internationalization_of_higher_education_2008.pdf)

Analysing the Future Market – Target Countries for German HEIs
Working Paper No. 107
by CHE Centre for Higher Education Development
http://www.che.de/downloads/Analysing_the_Future_Market_Target_Countries_for_German_HEIs_AP107.pdf

How to Measure Internationality and Internationalisation of Higher Education Institutions! Indicators and Key Figures
by CHE Centre for Higher Education Development
http://www.che.de/downloads/How_to_measure_internationality_AP_92.pdf

German Population Decreasing, Foreign Students Increasing

In the May 30, 2008 News from DAAD New York, an interesting piece on the decline of the German population and the increase in the number of foreign students coming to Germany caught my attention. You can access the report on the declining German population here: www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3347799,00.html and the report on the increasing foreign student population here: www.bmbf.de/pub/internationalization_of_higher_education_2008.pdf .