Marcel Rotter recently presented papers at two conferences, one on the future of German-American Studies at the annual meeting of the German Studies Association in Houston, Texas, the other on the influence of metropolitan traffic on the poster design of 1920s Berlin at the Institute for Polish Culture of the University of Warsaw, Poland.
Rotter Presents Papers at German Studies, Polish Culture Conferences (Sephari.de)
Three professors win Colleague-Chosen Awards (71bait.com; premiere.news; salsabil.online)
Rotter Joins National Shared Governance Meeting
Associate Professor of German Marcel Rotter, who serves as parliamentarian of UMW’s University Faculty Council, joined 21 other governance leaders in Houston to discuss national shared governance issues at the meeting of the National Council of Faculty Senates.
Rotter joined leaders from the Faculty Senates of Ferris State University, Illinois State University, Nicholls State University, Northwestern State University, Sam Houston State University, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Stockton University, SUNY Faculty Senate, SUNY Oswego, Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University at Kingsville, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, University of the District of Columbia, University of Houston, University of North Texas at Dallas, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Wisconsin Green Bay, and Virginia Tech.
The meeting was held at the University of Houston. This was the first face-to-face meeting of the National Council of Faculty Senates in three years.
Marcel Rotter Receives AATG Award for Outstanding Service
Marcel Rotter, associate professor of German, recently received the Ronald Horwege Award for Outstanding Service to the Profession from the Virginia chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German.
“Anyone paying attention for the last decade knows how much time and energy Marcel has put into making the AATG in Virginia a vibrant entity,” said ougoing AATG-VA president Brett Martz at the organization’s Oct. 5 business meeting in Williamsburg.
“The award’s namesake, Ron Horwege, served the state by organizing immersion weekends, and therefore it seems perfectly fitting that the winner of this award is the person directly responsible for keeping this valued tradition alive,” Martz continued. “[Marcel] also served as the president of the Virginia AATG from 2012-2016, and Brett is grateful that he patiently continues to answer his questions about the job. During his tenure as president, Marcel moved the infrastructure and responsibilities for the National German exam to the University of Mary Washington, where it still functions today.
“He is also a regular presence at national conferences, such as ACTFL, and local conferences, such as FLAVA. In short, he is very supportive colleague and continues to do yeoman’s work for the state’s chapter of the AATG. Marcel deserves the award and a hearty congratulations.”
Rotter received the award during the annual meeting of the Foreign Language Association of Virginia, of which AATG is a member.
Snyder Performs with Students in Germany
Assistant Professor of Music Mark Snyder performed 15 of his original songs with his band Nature Boy Explorer in Schwetzingen Germany, on June 11 and 12 as part of the delegation representing Fredericksburg and UMW in Fredericksburg’s German Sister City.
Senior music major Austin O’Rourke played drums and also sang and played guitar on his own song Almost but Not, which he wrote in his Technology for Musicians course in Spring 2016.
2015 music and computer science graduate Becky Brown played harp and performed two of her original songs — Formaldehyde, which was written in her MIDI Composition course, and Underwater, which was written in her Audio Recording course. John White ’13, UMW music major and German minor, played bass.
The performance on June 11 was on the main stage for the annual Spargelfest, which this year was combined with celebrating Schwetzingen’s 1250th year. The performance on June 12 was at Musikschule Bezirk Schwetzingen, which is the local music school.
Dr. Snyder and the students also participated in many of the activities that were planned for the delegation such as lunch and dinners, lectures by Schwetzingen’s archivist, city planner and mayor. The group visited the fire station and participated in the inauguration of the Square of Friendship. The delegation from Fredericksburg consisted of Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, Cathy Herndon, Jurgen Brat, UMW professor emeritus of German Sammy Merrill, Betty Merrill, UMW Women’s Rugby coach Bill Lucas and UMW Associate Professor of German Marcel Rotter.
In addition to performing in Schwetzingen, the group spent time in Cologne, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Mannheim and Hanover, Germany; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Malmö and Scania, Sweden.
UMW Re-creates Fall of the Berlin Wall for 25th Anniversary (The Free Lance-Star)
Marcel Rotter Receives Grant
Marcel Rotter, associate professor of modern foreign languages, will receive a grant by the Goethe Institut Munich to participate in the training workshop “Blended learning for teaching and in teacher training” in August 2012.