University of Southern California
USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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About
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John W. Arensmeyer JrAssistant Professor (Teaching) of GermanContact Information E-mail: arensmey@usc.edu Phone: (213) 743-1881 Office: GEH 207 |
Biographical Sketch |
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I was born in Torrance, California and attended CSULB with a major in Geography. In addition, I attended the Uni. of Heidelberg,where I earned a certificate for German as a Foreign Language. I also attended the Uni. of Frankfurt, and the Uni. of Konstanz as an Adenauer fellow. I received my Ph.D. in German Literature and Linguistics from USC. I am a certified ACTFL Oral Proficiency Tester. |
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Description of Research |
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Summary Statement of Research Interests |
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| I have been teaching German at the university level since 1987, but I took my first German language course as a senior in college. As an American, who like my students first learned German at college, I believe I have a unique insight into the difficulties and questions of students beginning their language study. For this reason, I especially enjoy teaching our first year language courses, German 101 and German 102. During my studies I was able to attend four different German universities and saw first hand how valuable and fun learning a language can be. My teaching philosopy is simple; I try to make learning German fun. I hope you will come and learn German with me. | |
Advisement |
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Other Advisement or Time Devoted to Students |
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 I participated and helped plan both German Club and departments events, including the end of the semester BBQ and the Christmas party. In addition, I was involved in the breaking bread program and went with students from all my classes to local German restaurants., 2011-2012
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New Courses Developed |
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ARLT 100g Harsh Reality and The Written Word:Twenthy Century German Literature, General Education, The course looked at 20th century German Literature using the major historical events in Germany as a backdrop, including the economic crisis and period of inflation, the First and Second World Wars, the Weimar Republik, the rise of Fascism and the Nazi movement,the founding of the BRD and the DDR, the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall. We read and discussed works from both East and West Germany, Switzerland, and Austria including Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka,Eric Maria Remarque, Stefan Zweig, Bertolt Brecht, Heinrich Boell, Wolfgang Borchert, Christa Wolf, Friedrich Duerenmatt, and Max Frisch among others.,
Fall
2011
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Honors and Awards |
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2008 Teaching and Mentoring Awards Nominee, 2008-2009
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2007 Teaching and Mentoring Awards Nominee, 2007-2008
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Service to the Profession |
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Professional Memberships |
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American Association of Teachers of German (AATG), 1988-2012
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