|
Project Factsheet
|
|
Dates
|
07/29/2010-08/10/2010
|
|
Target Group
|
Students
and youth leaders, aged 18 to 30
|
|
Participating Countries
|
Germany,
U.S.
|
|
Locations
|
Lambrecht,
Berlin
|
|
Sponsors
|
Federal
Agency for Civic Education, Federal Ministry for Youth and Family
Affairs
|
|
Coordinating Team
|
Martin
Kaiser (academy director), Dr. George Harding (Francis Marion
University, South Carolina)
|
|
|
Summary
|
 Upon
his visit to Berlin
in the summer of 2008, Barack
Obama
attracted a huge crowd of followers in front of the capital’s
victory column. “This is the time to build new
bridges,” he declared. For many Germans and young people
around the world, these words marked the beginning of a new era.
“This city, of all cities, knows the dream of freedom,“ he continued,
referring to the history of Berlin
and its peaceful liberation. Taking action, building bridges, realizing
the vision of freedom – these key words in Obama’s speech also
mark the core pillars of the seminar project.
|
|
Project Details
|
PfalzAkademie
takes pride in its long seminar tradition in the field of transatlantic
youth exchange. “The Time to Build New Bridges”
continues this path by focussing
on the history and future development of German-American relations. As
with all other youth leader trainings at the PfalzAkademie,
the seminar draws on a wide range of methods and tools to make
intercultural encounter a unique experience inside and outside the
seminar room. Young leaders from both sides of the Atlantic come together in order
to practice cultural diplomacy and to live cross-cultural friendship.
Supported by an experienced team of seminar trainers, participants
share their personal past in order to build new bridges toward
international cooperation and freedom in the future.
|
|
Topics
|
 Which
“bridges” do young people from Germany and the U.S.
have in
mind when they look at history? Are there different notions of freedom
and democracy? What lessons from the past and what kind of visions do
they share for the future? Students from Germany and the U.S.
come together with different experiences, histories and biographies,
yet, their home countries are connected through the tie of common
history. The Berlin
airlift, the partition of Germany,
the end of the Cold War and the fall of the wall in 1989 –
all these events form milestones in the history of German-American
relations. Seminar participants exchange their knowledge and views on
these major historical incidents and discuss their significance for
current civic engagement. Further topics included in the seminar
schedule are:
- Images
in Our Minds:
a personal approach toward politics
- Stories
Become History:
a look at grandparents' biographies
- What
Textbooks Teach Us:
a look at each other’s history books
- Divided
and United:
the German Question
- Tearing
Down Walls:
Intercultural projects in Berlin
- Impressions
on Dialogue and Integration:
documenting the life of a city
- Interference
Required:
ideas on democratic citizenship, talks with political activists
- Building
Bridges: the message of history and future project development
|
|
Methods
|
 As
with all international youth trainings at PfalzAkademie,
the seminar is based on an experiential learning approach. Besides
exploring and exchanging factual knowledge on history and international
relations, the project largely rests on a mixed-method approach toward
intercultural dialogue. Presentations by acknowledged experts and
small-group discussions open up the ground for active engagement with
the seminar topics. Interactive activities, role plays and a variety of
creative tasks allow every participant to get involved. Furthermore,
outdoor excursions, visits to historical sites and talks with
politicians complement the seminar schedule and provide unique
first-hand impressions.
|
|
Cooperations
|
The
program is run in cooperation with the seminar “How you Make
a Difference” which takes place simultaneously at the PfalzAkademie and in Berlin. Due to joint activities
and excursions, students get the chance to closely work together with
participants from Poland,
Lithuania
and the United Kingdom.
This provides a unique opportunity to transcend the borders of
bilateral cooperation and gain further insights into American-European
relations at large.
|
|
Program
|
>>
Download program outline
|
|
Partners
|
www2.atlantische-akademie.de
www.fmarion.edu/
www.villanova.edu
|
|
|
|
|