Using Utopia for German Language and History
Missouri History Museum’s exhibit Utopia-Revisiting a German State in America spent one year traveling across Germany after it opened November 1, 2013. Educational materials for German schools were created in Germany by Dr. Rita Rohrbach for grades K-12. The primary grade level uses Georg und Luise with a theme of family life, while the upper grade level material, Bleiben oder Gehen involves the process of decision making and emigration. The exhibit opened in St. Louis at MHM on November 22, 2014 and while the entire exhibit is in both German and English, the audio and video components provide a rare first hand opportunity for German students with language immersion. The entire theme of emigration/immigration is suitable for middle, and upper schools; and University and College level students as well. The German educational materials thus work for all levels of German language and history education.
We invite all German language educators, and German history teachers, to a small workshop where they will be provided a tour by one of the team of curators of the exhibit, Dorris Keeven-Franke. This will be followed by a discussion by Dr. Gary McKiddy, President of Missouri Conference of History Educators who will provide the educational materials from Germany. This Saturday morning workshop will help teachers become familiar with the exhibit and materials so that they may use the Utopia exhibit in their classroom. A PDF of all the educational materials will be provided. The class is limited to 30 reservations, on Saturday, January 31, 2015 from 9:00-11:00 am. The Utopia exhibit will be at the Missouri History Museum until April 19, 2015. The catalogue for the exhibit, by the same name and also in German and English, is available from the Missouri History Museum as well.
To register please contact the Reservations Office at 314.367.9017 or email reserv@mohistory.org. Please mention any special accommodations and include your school & your grade level in any correspondence.
Each participant should register individually.
Missouri Germans Consortium 