Dickinson in Germany

Bremen Programs

Since 1984, Dickinson College has offered students the opportunity to learn about German history, politics, language and culture by participating in its study-abroad programs in Bremen.

• The Cold War ended with a bang of the unexpected kind in Germany, when protesters—including many students and young people—began to tear down the Berlin Wall. Since then, Germany has reunited and struggled to redefine itself, but it has remained a key player on the European stage.

• Bremen, a harbor town on the Weser River, is Germany’s smallest city-state. The old city center is still surrounded by earthen ramparts and a moat, although the latter now serves as a public park.

• The city plays host to a number of industries familiar to Americans, including Airbus, Mercedes-Benz and Beck’s beer. It also features one of the finest wine cellars in Germany.

By enrolling directly in the University of Bremen under the guidance of a Dickinson/Bremen faculty member, participants, who must be suitably proficient in German, get the best of both worlds: the experience of studying in the German university system, which requires students to be more self-motivated and self-directed and the type of faculty oversight that most American students are accustomed to receiving.

A great variety of course offerings are available at the university, which was founded in 1971 and has an enrollment of about 19,000. Although the school is obviously large, instruction is personalized, and students and professors interact both in and out of the classroom.

Some program participants participate on university teams or join one of the many sports clubs as a way to meet new friends. With its discos, movie houses and cafés, the city of Bremen also becomes a hub for social life beyond the campus. Field trips within Germany and to Austria and Switzerland give students opportunities to experience even more of Europe.

Programs and Courses
Four programs of study are available in Bremen. Students may spend a full academic year in Germany, attend during the spring semester only or take part in the language-intensive Summer Immersion Program. In addition, a special summer Plasma Physics Program is available to serious students of the sciences who are at the intermediate level in German.

Those who enroll for the academic year or semester first participate in a pre-semester orientation and complete a four-week, one-credit, intensive language course offered at the University of Bremen or another German university.

During the regular academic year, students are required to complete one semester of Comparative Cultures: USA-Germany. In addition, students take from four to seven courses at the University of Bremen.

A wide range of classes are available in German language and literature, fine arts, anthropology, sociology, music, political science and religion and courses in many other disciplines.
Those who study in Germany only during the spring semester usually enroll in classes in German language, literature, history or cultural studies. International Business & Management majors take economics and business courses as well.

Do an Internship in Germany!
During the spring semester, some academic year participants choose to complete internships. In the past, students have worked as art instructors, computer programmers, public-relations assistants and conservation educators. Many other opportunities are available. The on-site director will help to match students with appropriate internships.

The Summer Language Immersion Program
This five-week, language-intensive program is open to intermediate-level speakers who must pledge to speak only German for the duration of their stay.

During the morning, students attend class at the University of Bremen, advancing their language skills and covering topics such as contemporary German society and German history. Field trips to points of interest in and around Bremen, such as the artists’ colony of Worpswede, the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen and the city of Hamburg, are scheduled as well. Each summer students take one extended trip. Destinations may include Berlin, Munich, sites in Schleswig-Holstein or the Rhine River. The Summer Immersion Program is designated as German 220: The Bremen Practicum.

Click here for more informaton about the 2007 Bremen Immersion program.

The Bremen Summer Plasma Physics Program
Students who have completed the Dickinson College Workshop Physics sequence (PHYS 131 and PHYS 132), or two semesters of introductory college physics and German-language courses German 101 and German 104, or higher-level courses in these areas, are invited to apply for this summer program.

Participants attend one class—The Fourth State of Matter: An Introduction to Plasma Physics—with physics majors at the University of Bremen, discovering the fundamental concepts of plasma physics. The five-week course is conducted in an interactive seminar style. Those who successfully complete the program earn credit for PHYS 204.

Because the program coincides with the Summer Immersion language program, students may also enroll in that practicum, earning credit for German 220.

Click here for more information about the Bremen Plasma Physics program.

Academic Credit
Students who successfully complete the academic year in Bremen earn between eight and nine credits, depending upon their selected courses. The Summer Immersion Program and Physics Program are each worth one credit.

On-Site Administrator
Dr. Rainer Stollmann, jointly employed by Dickinson and the University of Bremen, advises students in the academic year and semester programs. He is familiar with the policies of Dickinson College and guides students when they are selecting courses at the university or with any other challenges they may face while abroad. Prof. Stollmann also leads field trips and teaches the comparative cultures course that is mandatory for all academic-year participants. Dickinson faculty members serve as on-site directors for the summer programs.

Housing
Both dormitory living and private-room rentals in Bremen are available for academic year and spring semester students. Some participants choose to live in student cooperatives, which combine the benefits of private living with ready contact with other students.

Students who attend the Summer Immersion Program and the Plasma Physics Program are housed with carefully selected German families and share their evening meals with their hosts.

* This is the program fee for 2008-09; the program fee for 2009-10 will correspond to on-campus tuition and fees and will be determined during spring 2009.

Program Fee Includes
• tuition and fees
• room and board
• pre-departure and on-site orientations
• academic excursions

Program fee does not include primary health insurance, airfare, passport, visa, immunizations, optional travel, personal expenses, meals and housing during vacations, books and supplies.

Special Requirements
2.8 GPA
Students must complete the equivalent of two years of college German and at least two additional courses taught in German (preferably in literature and culture) before studying abroad

Links

For more information, contact
The Academic Year and Spring Semester Program:
Prof. Wolfgang Muller, On-Campus Coordinator
Dickinson College
P.O. Box 1773
Carlisle, PA 17013-2896
Phone: (717) 245-1284
E-mail: muller@dickinson.edu

The Summer Immersion or the Plasma Physics Program:
Office of Global Education
P.O. Box 1773
Carlisle, PA 17013-2896
Phone: (717) 245-1341
E-mail: global@dickinson.edu