All posts by Henrike Kattoll

15 July 2020Creativity CornerAuthor, Bolivia, Canada, Canadian Writer, Fairytales, Influences, Interview, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Manitoba Colony, Mennonite Community, Mennonites, Women, Women Talking, Writer, WritingHenrike Kattoll

“Writing is how I process things”: An Interview with Miriam Toews

By Sabrina Völz and Maryann Henck

We met Miriam Toews at a reading in Hamburg on March 26, 2019. Toews was on a book tour to promote the German translation of her seventh novel, Women Talking. The novel is based on very disturbing events that took place between 2005 and 2008 in Bolivia. The German version, Die Aussprache, was published by Hoffmann und Campe in 2018. For her novel, A Complicated Kindness (2004), Miriam Toews won Canada’s most prestigious literary prize, the Governor General’s Award. Since Toews will not be physically present at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2020 to represent Canada, this year’s guest of honor, this interview will hopefully help tie us over until her next visit to Germany.

1 July 2020Teaching ToolsCanada, Celebrations, Fireworks, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, National Holiday, North America, Quiz, United StatesHenrike Kattoll

How well do you know the United States and Canada? A Quiz

By Maria Moss

“Canada Border-R12-074–35A” by melissambwilkins

Now that the national holidays of both Canada (July 1) and the United States (July 4) are upon us, it’s time to check how well you, our readers, know both countries. In my seminar, “Introducing North American Studies,” I’m always pleased with how much my students know about the States and, at the same time, shocked at how little they know about Canada. Let’s see if you fare better….

Download and enjoy the quiz – and don’t look at the answers yet!

24 June 2020Creativity CornerContest Winners, Haiku, Haiku Contest, High School Students, Jennifer Kronovet, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Poetry, U.S. Consulate General Leipzig, University Students, Winning EntriesHenrike Kattoll

2020 Haiku Contest

Compiled by the U.S. Consulate General Leipzig

Just last month, the U.S. Consulate General Leipzig organized a Haiku contest for both high school and university students. The motto for this creative writing challenge was “Looking outside – Looking inside,” that is, noticing the connections between the change in season and the change in one’s internal landscape. Students were asked to put their thoughts and feelings into a Haiku consisting of three lines and 17 syllables in total.

The consulate received about 100 submissions from eight German states and places as far away as Nigeria. American poet and now also haiku contest judge, Jennifer Kronovet, selected 10 of her favorite Haikus and commented on her top three.

The blog editors congratulate all winners. Keep up the good work!

17 June 2020Access AmericaAmerican Reserach Universities, Critical Reading, Critical Writing, Digital Age, Digital Age Ruminations, Digital Humanities, Digital Humanities Techniques, Digital Teaching, Employability Concerns, Humanities, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Liberal Arts College, Liberal Education, U.S. HumanitiesHenrike Kattoll

Digital Age Ruminations: The U.S. Humanities and Employability Concerns

By Andrew Urie

As anyone who has scanned recent U.S. education headlines knows, the humanities face a crisis of legitimation amidst a tech-driven economy in which the mantra of ‘job preparedness’ seems to have trumped the traditional academic notion of humanist scholarly inquiry. Faced with the task of defending the relevance of their field of study, academics have justifiably cited the critical thinking skills that are gained via a humanities education.

Saint Anselm College, a traditional New England liberal arts college.

More often than not, however, many of these very same academics proceed to undermine this eminently legitimate point by claiming that a university education should bear no relation to vocational concerns. Indeed, whenever anyone parrots out this shaky line of reasoning, I find myself pondering the following question: In what sense has the American university ever stood entirely apart from concerns about employability?

10 June 2020Teaching ToolsAfrican American Culture, African American History, Against Racism, Anti-Racism, Black Lives Matter, Educate Yourself, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Race, Racism, Talking About Race, White PrivilegeHenrike Kattoll

A Call for 60s-Style Teach-ins on Anti-Racism

By Sabrina Völz

Photo Credit: “DSC8902 – The Elephant in the Room” by damienconway30

Let’s start off with a few telling facts: The origin of the word “racism” stems from the French word racisme which appeared during the last decades of the 19^th century. In English, however, according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, “Racism appears to be a word of recent origin, with no citations currently known that would suggest the word was in use prior to the early 20^th century.” Now, let that sink in. The people at Webster are also quick to point out that just because the word is “fairly new” doesn’t mean that “the concept of racism did not exist in the distant past.” No wonder we – and with we, I mean all societies – have a problem with racism. So let’s get to the root of it and root it out.

3 June 2020Access AmericaBinge-Watching, Content Streaming, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Multi-Season Shows, Netflix, Netflix Subscriber, Playback Acceleration, Reed Hastings, Series Binge, Streaming, Streaming ServicesHenrike Kattoll

So much to stream, so little time? Netflix has a solution.

By Kai-Arne Zimny

Whether it’s the mo(u)rning routine of having to leave your beloved bed, or the deviously brilliant book that won’t let you stop turning pages while the digits relentlessly move towards 3 a.m. – there are quite a few occasions where having more time would come in handy.

I’ll spare you any more time-consuming passages of introduction and cut right to the chase:

Netflix is testing a feature that lets users accelerate playback speed up to 1.5 times the normal speed. Ever since the news went viral, Netflix was hit hard with backlashes from a number of moviemakers and actors. Netflix defended the choice by stating it’s been a “heavily requested feature from subscribers.”

It’s impossible for me to validate whether that’s true or not; what we do know is that as of now, Netflix is only testing the feature on a small fraction of their customers and only on Android devices. And even if this were to become a regular feature, as long as Netflix doesn’t force customers to indulge in streaming-quickies, it’s all fine, isn’t it?