Overseas office adds Berlin program destination

Studying abroad in Germany is now more feasible for students who don’t speak German.

IU’s Office of Overseas Study will launch a new English-based program taught by IU faculty in Berlin beginning summer 2012.

“It’s a program that can allow IU students to spend four intellectually exciting weeks in Berlin, which is one of the most exciting, big cities in Europe and possibly the world right now,” said Michel Chaouli, the associate professor of Germanic Studies who will teach the course.

“It is a city where you can get by with an English-only program quite well.”

After Chaouli spent a year visiting a researcher in Berlin, he said he recognized what a significant city it is, leading to the idea for the program. 

“I thought that IU really needs to have a presence there,” he said.

Chaouli said IU has some exchange programs with institutions in Berlin, but they are geared more toward graduate students and German language learners.

This class differs in that undergraduate students of varying majors are allowed to apply.

The four-week program  is now set to begin in June.

Kathleen Sideli, associate vice president for overseas study, said in an email that the office typically receives 40 to 50 proposals for new study abroad programs.

The class is different from a typical course that might be offered abroad because it focuses on the city of Berlin in different contexts, Chaouli said.

“The course needs to tie in the experience of being in Berlin to the intellectual material of the course,” he said.

He said the class will explore the historical significance of Berlin, from the Nazis to the first noteworthy democracy in Germany. Students will study Berlin through novels, historical documents and their personal experiences in Berlin.

“We’ll also take the class into the city itself and study what we’re reading within the context of the city,” he said.

Sideli said the program will provide students with more options should they choose to travel to Berlin.

“Overseas Study felt that Berlin is an important city in Europe (that) has not been easily accessible to IU students,” she said. “Many students interested in Germany are not proficient enough in the language to take content courses in Germany.”