Language for Business and Technology: Germany

LBAT 2023: Description

The German LBAT (Language for Business and Technology) program is designed for students to experience the history and culture of Germany past and present through classroom instruction, by using the surroundings as a classroom, and through site visits; and participate in activities that showcase German everyday life, work, and business culture.

Participation in the German LBAT allows you to:

Immerse yourself in the local culture and history
interact with locals in everyday, academic, and workplace settings
Use program destinations as your classroom for language & intercultural learning
Improve your German skills through study in small classes, with German student tutors, and local hosts
Learn about current issues facing German businesses & society
Earn upper-level language credits: be on your way to a minor or (double) major

The German LBAT will take place from June 24 to July 29, 2023. The program offers six credits (Munich & Berlin). The German LBAT program can be combined with the Vienna Immersion Program for a total of 12 study abroad credits.

The program introduces students to two key locations in Germany. You will stay in Munich and Berlin, and visit many other places during day trips. The program explores regional perspectives in lifestyles, history, and traditions as well as from an industrial point of view.

Students who apply by December 2, 2022, will also be given preference. Application deadline is February 15, 2023.

Munich (Director: Dr. Britta Kallin)

In Munich, you will take the class GRMN 4693 Technology and Heimat: Societal Changes through High Tech and Media. What happens to a region when an entire industry that shaped local businesses and culture for centuries shuts down? How can knowledge about these structural changes in industries and societies assist us in confronting contemporary issues such as the loss of work due to automatization and climate change? Why does it matter that we understand culturally specific concepts such as the German "Heimat" to not only conduct business with/in Germany but also to build a democratic and just society and to make sense of our own relationships and place in today's digital, globalized world?

Are you interested in writing a CV and cover letter in German? Would you like to develop a start-up idea for a business in Germany and hone your skills in writing a business plan? Do you want to improve your business German but also read a graphic novel in German? Are you interested in networking with German companies?

Would you like to explore how all of these themes are connected? Would you like to trace and experience these connections outside the classroom? Are you interested in discovering these technological, economic, cultural, and social issues in the streets of German cities, museums, businesses, and families?

The first part of the LBAT program located in Munich offers you the chance to investigate these connections! Besides rigorously exploring these topics in the classroom and via assignments and projects, we will visit other German cities and explore many cultural sites and businesses (e.g. Bayer, Grenzebach, and BMW).

Berlin (Director: Dr. Jan Uelzmann)

The program's second course, GRMN 4691: Berlin: The Capital in the 20^th Century,” takes place in the vibrant capital Berlin. In Berlin, you will see how the city can serve as classroom: hear about the building of the Berlin Wall in the morning, and touch its remnants with your own hand in the afternoon. The class provides an overview of Berlin’s history and local culture during the 20^th century, arguably the most transformative period of German history. The course is meant to complement your personal experience of the German capital in productive fashion by providing historical background information and inviting you to think about how the German experience of the 20^th century has come to shape Berlin into the place it is today.

By engaging with contemporary topics as reflected in film, literature, photography, architecture, political speeches, and others, students will become familiar with topics that dominated the different periods of Berlin’s turbulent history between 1918 and today. Afternoon or day-long excursions to Berlin’s historic and contemporary sites will round off classroom discussion and will open opportunities for further, creative engagement with the material in the form of an ongoing group project: In teams, you will create a short documentary film on an aspect of Berlin’s local culture or history.

The class includes several excursions, which link up thematically with the classroom discussion: A tour of the inner city introduces the major locations, edifices, and historical reference points. A tour of Potsdam includes the Cecilienhof Palace, location of the Potsdam Conference of 1945. We will visit the Olympiastadion, the location of the 1936 Olympic Games organized by Nazi Germany. We will also tour the Reichstag, the seat of the German parliament today and during the Weimar Republic. Other planned tours include: East Side Gallery, Kreuzberg district, Stasi Prison Memorial Hohenschönhausen, Concentration Camp Memorial Sachsenhausen, Tempelhof Airfield, Street Art & Graffiti Tour, Berlin Wall Memorial, and others.

Berlin

Locations

Munich (June 24-July 11, 2023)

Berlin (July 11-July 29, 2023)

Dates LBAT

June 24-July 29, 2023

Host Institution

TU Berlin

Accommodations

hostels

Courses

GRMN 4693 Technology and Heimat: Societal Changes through High Tech and Media (3 credits)

GRMN 4691: Berlin: The Capital in the 20^th Century (3 credits)

Prerequisites

German at the 2000-level and good academic standing; at least GRMN 2001 but GRMN 2002 is preferred; a recommendation from current or past Georgia Tech German instructor is required; having completed a German class at Georgia Tech. If you have not yet taken a German class at Georgia Tech, please contact the program directors to meet with them personally before being eligible to apply for the program.

Program Charge:

$5,500

Program Charge includes: Housing with host families, ground transportation, excursions, health insurance, cultural events, materials and books

In addition to the program charge, you must pay an application fee of $250.00.

If you participate, the following payments have to be made:

February 15 - first half of program charge*
March 15 - second half of program charge*

(*fees are estimates and subject to change)

Program Charge does not include: Application fee, tuition, international transportation, visa, technology fee, independent ground transportation “Travel on your own,” days off, most meals. Lunch and dinner throughout the program have to be paid by the traveler - with only welcome and farewell meal exceptions. These meals are not part of of the program charge. Out-of-State students pay in-state tuition plus a small fee.

Informational Meetings

There will be two mandatory meetings organized by the German Section of the School of Modern Languages. All accepted applicants will have to attend both meetings. If you have a conflict with another class, you cannot attend the other class on those days. Note that other meetings may be required by OIE.

Cancellation Policy

Students who choose not to participate in the program after submitting an application will be subject to the following fee schedule:

Students canceling before February 15th, 2023, will lose their $250.00 deposit.
Students canceling after February 15th, 2023, must pay 30% of the entire program charge.
Students canceling after March 15th, 2023, must pay 100% of the entire program charge.

Program descriptions and fees are subject to final approval by educational units and the Office of International Education. Fees are subject to change without notice. Georgia Tech reserves the right to alter (including a change to program fees) or cancel this program due to low enrollment, unavailability of a professor to teach a planned course, or other unforeseen circumstances. If Georgia Tech cancels the entire program before departure for reasons within its control, all fees paid by participants will be refunded. If Georgia Tech cancels the program before departure or while the program is in progress for reasons beyond its control, such as political unrest or danger to participants’ safety, only those fees that Georgia Tech is able to have refunded by service providers will be returned to participants. Depending on international travel restrictions, the program may have to be cancelled, and fees that cannot be refunded may have to be paid. Due to COVID-19, the program may have to be cancelled, and fees that cannot be refunded may have to be paid.

If a student withdraws from the program, the student will be responsible for the payment of all fees.