Environment and Engagement in German Studies: Projects and Resources for Critical Environmental Thinking

Abstract

Environmental issues have received significant attention in German Studies for a number of years, leading to innovations in both research and pedagogy. More recently, attention has focused on applied pedagogical practices such as service-learning projects and bilateral exchanges related to environmental sustainability. While these initiatives offer numerous potential benefits, as shown in research on high-impact practices, and while the topic may attract students to learn German, these forms of teaching entail a range of challenges and questions for educators that are distinct from the work traditionally carried out in German language pedagogy. This co-authored article offers resources for working through these challenges and introduces a collection of free online materials currently in development. We suggest a model of critical environmental thinking in the classroom that asks students to use the target language to reexamine familiar concepts and daily practices connected to the environment and apply their knowledge of other cultures to multimodal projects.