Amman- 13 March 2023
This year’s network meeting of GJU’s German Language Center (GLC) and the School of Applied Humanities and Languages (SAHL) with its departments (MA DaF, GEBC and Translation) took place at GJU, Madaba campus.
The meeting was hosted by GJU Vice President for International Affairs and acting dean of SAHL Prof. Dr. Reiner Finkeldey, as well as GLC's Director Jaqueline Rogler, the exchange coordinators for the Departments, Dr. Gerhard Jaiser (DaF), Dr. Susanne Karam (Translation) and Dr. Karin Leich (GEBC) .
The German guests were welcomed also by the network heads Prof. Dr. Zeynep Kalkavan-Aydin (PH Freiburg) and Dr. Astrid Reich (ZFA, Ruhr-University of Bochum). Network Coordinator Iris Wildfeuer from GJU`s International Affairs Department was also present, as well as various GJU colleagues.
The event took place from 4th to 5th of March 2023 and successfully marked the first academic network meeting of the year. The different German partner universities and institutes such as LMU Munich, University of Kassel, University of Leipzig, Ruhr-University of Bochum, PH Freiburg, HS Magdeburg- Stendal, University of Marburg, University of Göttingen and the Institute for International Communication (IIK) were represented in person to join the discussions.
Dr. Monica Heitz form GJU project Office Magdeburg joined the session online.
After some welcoming words by the hosts and network speakers Prof. Dr. Reiner Finkeldey started the meeting with some updates that GJU had undergone since 2022. He highlighted GJU`s focus on internationalization and the importance of the role of the networks in general. He also congratulated the Network and School once more for the establishment of GJU`s first PhD program.
This introduction to developments at GJU was followed by an insight into department updates from GLC and the MA DaF program, followed by an introduction to the activities, numbers and activities of the translation department. In continuation Dr. Monica Heitz (PO Magdeburg) gave ab update on TNE activities, funding and changes for the year 2023 and future.
Various discussions followed the introductions; in particular the future of the translation BA and the Master DaF program were discussed in detail, both in plenary session and split sessions between the different departments. Re-structuring and/or re-branding of the programs was part of the discussions. In the separate session for translation, Carsten Behrend from BDÜ (German Association of Translators) introduced the new BA program in translation at HS Magdeburg.
Sessions continued on the second day of the 2023 network meeting, which was opened by Prof. Dr. Haytham Thawabih, Vice Dean of SAHL. Returning into plenary session the network discussed some issues related to all departments such as updates on the PhD program, the practical training of MA DaF students, the topic interns and incoming students from partner universities to GJU and an in depth continuation of the topics of the prior day.
The network meeting concluded with setting the date for the meeting in 2024 and the overlaying conclusion to maintain and intensify the collaboration between the network partners further during the remainder of the year 2023. Most network partners expanded their stay at GJU for the DAF conference taking place at GJU on the 6th and 7th of March following the network meeting.