Language, Culture and Global Education

For more than 40 summers I have been engaged in intensive language and cultural immersion programming as Dean of Waldsee German Language Village, where we offer übercool adventures in German for beginning through advanced learners, all in a fun, motivating setting with master teachers, talented counselors and participants from across the country and around the world. It is one of 15 different Language Villages sponsored by Concordia Language Villages and Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota. I have written and edited a variety of German language and global education materials and spoken widely on those themes. I was asked by the German Foreign Office to prepare an assessment of the future of German language in the United States; a number of the recommendations were subsequently implemented. In 2019, as part of the campaign, we are working to integrate STEM skills and environmental learning into our immersion curriculum.

The German Language Village has been cited as a model of innovative education by a wide variety of educators and organizations, and recognized as a National Center of Excellence by the American Association of Teachers of German. I am also pleased to have worked with the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt to build the Waldsee BioHaus, a Passivhaus that uses 80% less energy than comparable U.S. buildings. The Waldsee BioHaus won the Minnesota Environmental Prize in 2007.

• Das BioHaus models sustainable living where you might not expect it, The Optimist
• Die wohl coolste Sprachschule der Welt
• On the Safety and Well-being of Children
• A true national security threat – foreign language programs disappearing
• Welcome to Earth
• A Message to our Community: Inspiring Courageous Global Citizens
• Worldview: A Language Blog
• Oh, the weltschmerz of it all
• Strategiepapier DaF in den USA
• The Human Dimension of Partnership
• Die ganze Welt im Wald
• Gute Idee! A Handbook of Good Ideas for Teachers of German from Waldsee German Language Village
• Waldsee Lieder
• Natur! Bringing Nature & the Environment Into German Language Classrooms
• TPRS© Storytelling and the Songs of Waldsee
• GREEN STEM: Integrating STEM Skills and Environmental Learning in the German Language Classroom