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Ali Baca

I've recently accepted a position at the Center for Slavic and Eastern European Studies in the Office of International Affairs at the Ohio State University.ÌýAs outreach coordinator, I will support CSEES' outreach mission by working with K-12 education institutions and teachers, community colleges and minority serving institutions, and community groups throughout Ohio. I will also help in the development of Ìýprograms and materials, coordinate presentations for students and faculty, organize and facilitate K-12 teacher training workshops, plan events, organize the Midwest Slavic Conference, and assist with the Polish Studies Initiative.

May 2023 update:Ìý Ali Baca wins the 2023 Mary Ann Williams Leadership Award.Ìý See article .

Marcus Hohe

I am working as a teacher in a bilingual preschool in Berlin and recently wrote a short article with my colleague about our International Week project. Every year each group learns about a different country for about a month and then we have a week long International Week/Internationale Woche, where each group presents songs, stories, etc to the other groups. Below is a link to the article (in German) to the voting process for my group (The Fish).Ìý

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Larry Moffett

I completed my MA in German in 1976 along with Sara Platzer Oser (Hi Sara. It was great to read about what you have been doing with your German degree!).Ìý I later completed another MA in Teaching English as a Second Language before starting my medical education. I completed my D.O. training in 1985 at Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine; completed a Family Practice residency and have been practicing as a Family Physician since 1987 in Portland, Oregon.Ìý I am happily married to Gabriele Backes from Essen Germany and we have 2 daughters the oldest of whom was just married in July 2015.My wife and I along with 4 other families founded the German International School of PortlandÌý (Ìý over 20 years ago: a German immersion Preschool through 5th grade school. Would love to hear from any of my fellow graduates of that era.Ìý Larry Moffett, moffettnw@msn.com

Canyon Boak

After graduating, I began working at an Austin based company that builds enterprise software for large retailers. This software uses statistical modeling to forecast and optimize product prices across a retailer’s entire catalog, enabling them to make better-informed decisions when aiming to improve profit, revenue and margins. I focus on the design of User Interfaces and their ease-of-use, in addition to their development. The company also happens to have a major Russian client, which has given me the opportunity to do preliminary translations of the interface I am working on into Russian. Working on setting up an internationalization framework, I have been doing basic translations as I work into Russian and Japanese, to be demoed to potential global clients down the road. It’s been quite fun actually, all of the week before last I spent translating things on my own accord, which was a great opportunity for me to get back into Russian which I have greatly missed. Made me realize how badly I need to be involved with language learning again. (spring 2014)

Frank Sitchler

Hi - - This is Frank Sitchler of Denver, M.A. in German 1973. I started teaching German to adults at Colorado Free University in September 2010. Students are happy with my methods and keep signing up. I started with "Guttural, Schmuttural: German Lite for Fun", moved on to second level "Wir Sprechen Deutsch" and will start "Wir Sprechen more Deutsch" in April 2012. I know this sounds slightly unclean to the denizens of McKenna Hall, but the students -- ages 20s thru 60s -- thrive on it.

I started off raggedly with my first few classes, but I have developed a partner-to-partner incremental dialog system in which I introduce useful short dialogs. The students then practice back and forth while I circulate around the horseshoe in my roller chair and offer bits of advice and answer questions. My mantra is: The students do 90% of the talking while I hover in the shadows keeping watch above my own. I add some language history (Frisian to English, Luther's influence), folk songs, a little geography (Deutschland liegt im Herzen Europas), and some simple reading full of cognates. Only In German III - Wir Sprechen more Deutsch - do I get into a little grammar from more advanced dialogs. I get great reviews from most students, I shyly admit. More recently we sang Christmas songs and sipped Glühwein. I also email them YouTube tidbits on German life and language.

Jim Robinson

Jim Robinson, graduate assistant in the ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä German Department from 1966-68 would like to hear from anyone who was around in the department during that time. Contact him at jkrmai@aol.com.

Dana Frazee

I graduated in December 1969 with a B.A. degree in German from ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä. My home email address isÌý​danajfrazee@comcast.net

Ìý

I taught high school German in Colorado and California for 8 years, and then after a 14 year hiatus from teaching, I returned and taught German at the middle school level for 6 years. Since my last teaching assignment, I’ve been working with schools all over the country on their school improvement initiatives. Currently, I work for Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning in Denver.

Jason Latimer

Gruss Gott GSLL,

I am a Regensburg alum (04-05) currently living in Frankfurt, Germany and saw your note about the celebration. Would you let me know if anything happens in Regensburg itself, as I would love to head down?

When I think of Regensburg, I think of sitting in the Unter den Linden biergarten on an island in the Donau. It's a warm spring day and I'm drinking a cold Mass of freshly tapped Maibock bier with friends from all over the world. The conversation is easy and no one has anywhere to be today, tomorrow, or next week. Life is unhurried and spontaneous - and the Maibock is devilishly good.

David Burrous

What great fun we all had studying Russian at ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä in the 60's and 70's.

And it was all because of a little metal sphere named Sputnik that went into orbit on October 4, 1957.Ìý The American government was afraid that the Russians would conquer space and get to the moon before us.Ìý Something had to be done.Ìý Voilà:Ìý NDEA – National Defense Education Act, (1958) part of which was teach kids to speak Russian.Ìý There were national centers set up at universities, money available for textbooks, technology, ie tape recorders (kind of like an iPod, but clunkier).Ìý Click for full text.

Ingrid Stahlbrand Kassler

Greetings to anyone left from the ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä German Department of the '60's!

ÌýNow that I am ready to retire from teaching at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, after nearly 30 years as a lecturer at this institution, I realize how unique our B.A. and M.A. programs in Boulder were those many years ago.Ìý I often talk with Rudi Weiss, who was at ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä about the same time as I. The Boulder / Bellingham connection is still alive,as Kurt Moerschner is also here in Bellingham. He retired from our department many years ago, but comes by now and again.Ìý Rudi and I remember the huge groups of T.A.'s and the vibrant summer school sessions that made the German Department dynamic. I am in touch with Ann Henderson Hogue; in fact, we traveled to South America together a few years ago.Ìý I wonder how many graduates remember our department parties and the demanding classes taught by our fine professors!

ÌýIngrid Stahlbrand Kassler M.A. 1965

Gretchen Bliss

I graduated with a MA in Russian Language in 1989, was hired by the DOD for my language skills and have worked there ever since. For the first 11 years I used my Russian exclusively (and expanded my vocabulary from Chechov and Dostoevskiy to Hyrdoscoustics and tank coatings) and had a great time! After about two years in this job I dreamed in Russian and have not stopped since. I have been back to Russia 4 times and have worked with Russian emigres almost daily since graduation. My job took me to assignments in New York City, Los Angeles and Seattle but allowed me travel all over the globe to take advantage of my language abilities. I finally made it back to Colorado and currently live in Monument and work for NORAD USNORTHCOM in Colorado Springs. I am married to another alumn of ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä (Business school) and have a 19 month old son Harrison, four dogs and a meadery (Spruce Mountain Meadery). I am an adjunct professor at UCCS teaching Two Undertsanding the Threat courses (classroom and on line) in the Homeland Defense Certification Program.

Having never lost track of Professor Lee (traveling the world) or Regina Avrashova (rest her soul), I maintain fond memories in my soul for them and my experiences when the program was going strong and there was a MA in Russian. Keep up the good work, you fill a very important place in academia.

Sara Platzer Oser

I graduated with an M.A. in German in 1976, Centennial Year Commencement. During the time I was a student at Boulder, we spent weekends hiking and getting together with students in the then Germanic Languages and Literature Dept. I studied in Goettingen as a graduate exchange student from 1974 to 1975,Ìý coincidentally Das JahrÌý der Frau in Germany.Ìý Part of my degree workÌý was in the Linguistics department with the courses now known as TESOL.Ìý Since 1999 I have been working at our local community college. IÌý coordinate and teach in the Intensive English Program at the CollegeÌý of Marin in Novato, California.Ìý We are a fee-based program thatÌý teaches academic English to students on F-1 visas, au pairs, andÌý others residing in the community. Our website isÌý . I'm married and have a son in college and a daughter in high school.Ìý This year we have a German exchange student living with us andÌý attending school with my daughter. It would be nice toÌý hear from someÌý alums from back then.

Brunhilde Künne

Hello Dept. of Germanic and Slavic Languages,
December 1970, one semester earlier than normally required, I graduated from ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä with a BA in German(with distinction). I was also a member of Delta Phi Alpha before I went aboard for my Junior Year at the University of Bonn. In the following years, I completed two Master degrees - one in Education at the University of Southern California and one in International Relations with Troy State University.

Presently, I am Associate Professor for German at the UMUC (University of Maryland University College) European Division and the Secretary for the European Chapter of AATG ( American Association of Teachers), and enjoy working with students and colleagues in the fields of German language, life and culture. Since I have been teaching German (at all levels) for UMUC in Germany for almost 30 years, I certainly have an interest in the German Dept at ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä and appreciate this opportunity to keep in touch. My Web Page, contains a synopsis of my professional development.

Jeramy Hughes

I was excited to receive the postcard about the online newsletter. My name is K. Jeramy Hughes. I studied Russian and Physics at ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä and I graduated in 2002. Alas, I am still a student. I am now studying to get my PhD in cold-atom physics at University of Virginia. I have about a year or so left until I finish up. I haven't been back to Russia for awhile, but there is several Russians in my department and I'm able to sustain at least a low-level of conversational fluency by talking with them. My wife, Meredith and I had a son about a year and a half ago. His name is Logan and he is the cutest thing (of course my opinion is not biased). Well, I hope everyone is doing well. If anyone remembers me, I'd love to hear back form you.