While many students of German at Montclair are aim to study abroad and open the door to international career opportunities, trips to Europe in the middle of the semester are not always in the cards, so faculty and students go for the next best thing: hitting the road together to discover German-language culture in the Montlair area.

In spring 火狐体育, this included an evening at a NJ Devils professional hockey game to try to see some of the Swiss and German players on the ice, a day at the Neue Galerie Austrian art museum to view Gustav Klimt masterpieces, a lunch at the German Döner Kebab shop celebrating Turkish-German cuisine, and a full day at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty to trace over 100 years of European immigration history and meet up with a friend of the German department currently writing a book about the history of the Ellis Island hospital.

Some of these outings were funded by the German Club, a Registered Student Organization of the Student Government Association, and others were funded by generous  friends or alums of of the German program eager to give the next generation of students access to international cultural explorations. In general, these funds covered tickets, train, ferry rides, and meals, with the only costs to students being subway tickets.

Students and faculty benefit not only from the historical and cultural perspective that these trips provide, but also from the camaraderie and travel confidence that one finds in a day on the road. Professor Pascale LaFountain was recently awarded Montclair’s first Presidential Excellence Award for teaching in part for her hands-on teaching style.

I am so proud of the students who have begun German from scratch in our program and used that new passion to win Middlebury summer school full-ride scholarships, Fulbright teaching grants to Germany, Fulbright Austria teaching fellowships, and more. Each of those pathways started in German courses and on joining exploratory trips like these.
– Professor LaFountain

Professor LaFountain and Professor Thomas Herold look forward to meeting up with the 15 students participating in this summer’s August in Munich program and Dr. Herold is anxiously planning his spring 2026 faculty-led trip to Berlin and Munich as part of a historical course on Nazi Cinema and Propaganda, which examines the intersection of art and political manipulation, including visits to film studios, concentration camp memorials, and more. In 2024, Dr. Herold took 17 students on a similar faculty-led course, including a visit to his hometown in Nürnberg, home of the historic post-WWII Nürnberg trials. Gute Reise!