GLOBAL LEARNING CAPSTONE
Certificate in German Language & Culture
For my capstone project, I decided to take on FIU's Certificate in German Language & Culture, offered by the Department of Modern Languages. The certificate instills foundation and knowledge necessary for understanding German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein), as you cannot really understand the culture without being exposed to the languages that shape it. This certificate is designed with an interdisciplinary focus, which has helped me find direct applications of my certificate to my International Relations degree (and vice versa).
Why German?
My parents are Puerto Rican, born and raised, and when they got divorced when I was 12, they both remarried to German partners. German language and culture has been interwoven throughout my formative teenage years, but I did not get much of a chance to engage with it in a deeper manner. So, I sought it out at FIU.
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The classes I took in the certificate covered Germany's economy and politics relating to business, language-speaking courses, deep dives into Germanic cultures, and analyzing the impact of German cinema on German culture. Here, I have linked one of my projects where I spoke about the histories, cultures, and fun facts of four different Germanophone regions. To the right, I included a photo that my German professor, Dr Maria Krol, took of me on the first day of classes.
Picking Up Details
Engaging with German both as a language and gaining cultural and historical context has opened my life to a new world. Now, I understand things such as how much of a role Germany plays in the European Union, why Good Bye Lenin! (2003) was such a poignant film, and what kinds of nuances exist between German, Austrian, and Swiss-German.
The Real Impact
This capstone has also pushed me to seek experiences outside of the certificate, such as organizing a solo trip in the summer to volunteer at an organic dairy farm in the north of Hamburg, Germany for two weeks to improve my speaking skills in an immersive environment (pictured above).
And thanks to one of my class projects where I learned about Austrian culture, I was inspired to visit Vienna this November 2023 (pictured right) and take my German engagement to a new level while travelling with fellow FIU 2022 graduate and GL Medallion student Elizabeth Gonzalez. I gained a stronger bond with German through my Global Learning capstone... and what better way to put my newfound knowledge to use than to travel to the regions I have studied for so long?
