International Summer University (ISU) Kassel
Encyclopedia
International Summer University (ISU) Kassel is a short-term program that is held during the summer season by the University of Kassel
(Uni Kassel) every year. In addition to the 12 international master programs, Uni Kassel organizes ISU Kassel as one of its internationalization strategies.
The program of ISU Kassel is designed for university students as well as researchers and professionals who want to learn more about German
and European perspectives in Environmental Sciences and German Language & Culture. Environmental science has been one of the strengths of Uni Kassel since its foundation in 1971. ISU Kassel is now overseen by Uni Kassel’s International Study Center and shares the motto: “Sustainable Environment Cultural Heritage Student Potential – WE CARE” with its sister program, the International Winter University (IWU) Kassel
. The theme “sustainability” does not only cover the academic content of ISU, but also the program design which encourages continuous learning within and outside classrooms.
also bring additional benefit to ISU students by giving them opportunities to witness the application of academic knowledge in industrial settings.
Since its inception, ISU has brought some 50 international students to Kassel every year. Some of these students returned to Kassel for further studies and many of them have become the ambassadors of the University and the city of Kassel in their home countries. ISU celebrated its 10th anniversary with students from all five continents in 2010.
The uniqueness of ISU Kassel lies in the concern for the sustainability
of global environment and cultural heritage
. While ISU Kassel embraces globalization
and innovation
in the study program, the best practices of the program have been kept – arrangement of host families – to ensure that the visiting students are fully engaged in the local community
and culture during their short stay in Kassel
. Students are arranged to live with carefully selected host families and to practice their classroom knowledge with tandem partners and tutors. Workshops (e.g. German dancing, cooking, sports), field trips and excursions in Kassel and neighboring areas are also organized to introduce local culture and traditions to the students. Since the program is held during the term time, ISU Kassel students also have abundant opportunities to meet local students and participate in student activities on campus.
(European Language Portfolio) at the following levels: A1, B1 and C1. Students will study in small groups under the supervision of experienced teachers qualified in "'teaching German as a foreign language"'. Interactive and innovative teaching methods are characteristics of this German language course.
The seminars for the engineering module usually cover the following topics: adaptation strategies to climate change
, earthquake engineering
, environmental engineering
, and integrated environmental science environmental science
. Seminars for the German culture module usually covers topics such as history of germany
, German politics of the 20th century, intercultural communication
, and German fairy tales
. Students proficient in German language may choose the German-taught seminar of "Deutsche Geschichte und Politik im 20. Jahrhundert".
Students will be awarded 9 ECTS
upon completion of the German language course and two academic seminars in either the engineering module or culture module. The seminars are taught by experienced faculty members in English and optionally in German. Students of the engineering module are arranged to visit industrial partners. Students from the cultural module are arranged to visit the museums and cultural establishments in Kassel.
is a mid-sized city located in northern Hessen in the center of Germany. The city has around 198,500 inhabitants and a total area of 107 km2. Kassel is known as the "Capital of German Fairy Tale Route" for it is the place where Jacob Grimm
and Wilhelm Grimm
spent more than 30 years of their lives to collect and compile the Grimm's Fairy Tales
(German: Grimms Märchen) collection. Kassel is also the city of "documenta
" where the world’s largest exhibition of contemporary art takes place every five years.
In 1971, Uni Kassel was founded in the city of Kassel as a reform university. The University is one of the first universities to have developed an international and inter-disciplinary perspective in research and learning. Being the youngest public university in the state of Hessen, it has currently a student population of 18,113, which includes some 2,400 international students from over 120 countries.
University of Kassel
The University of Kassel, founded in 1970, is one of the newer universities in the state of Hesse. The university is in Kassel, and as of September 2010 has about 18,113 students...
(Uni Kassel) every year. In addition to the 12 international master programs, Uni Kassel organizes ISU Kassel as one of its internationalization strategies.
The program of ISU Kassel is designed for university students as well as researchers and professionals who want to learn more about German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
and European perspectives in Environmental Sciences and German Language & Culture. Environmental science has been one of the strengths of Uni Kassel since its foundation in 1971. ISU Kassel is now overseen by Uni Kassel’s International Study Center and shares the motto: “Sustainable Environment Cultural Heritage Student Potential – WE CARE” with its sister program, the International Winter University (IWU) Kassel
International Winter University (IWU) Kassel
International Winter University Kassel is a short-term program that is held during the winter season by the University of Kassel every year...
. The theme “sustainability” does not only cover the academic content of ISU, but also the program design which encourages continuous learning within and outside classrooms.
History and development of the programme
The International Summer University (ISU) Kassel started as one of the Hessen International Summer Universities that have been designed to attract international students to Hessen. Established in 2001, ISU offers short-term credit-bearing academic program featuring the strengths of Uni Kassel in the areas of Environmental Sciences and German Language & Culture studies. Apart from the academic components with specific foci, ISU is unique in its host-family program for students to experience first-hand German lifestyle. The University’s long-standing partnerships with industries in the region and experiences in university-industry knowledge transferKnowledge transfer
Knowledge transfer in the fields of organizational development and organizational learning is the practical problem of transferring knowledge from one part of the organization to another part of the organization. Like Knowledge Management, Knowledge transfer seeks to organize, create, capture or...
also bring additional benefit to ISU students by giving them opportunities to witness the application of academic knowledge in industrial settings.
Since its inception, ISU has brought some 50 international students to Kassel every year. Some of these students returned to Kassel for further studies and many of them have become the ambassadors of the University and the city of Kassel in their home countries. ISU celebrated its 10th anniversary with students from all five continents in 2010.
The uniqueness of ISU Kassel lies in the concern for the sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
of global environment and cultural heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
. While ISU Kassel embraces globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
and innovation
Innovation
Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
in the study program, the best practices of the program have been kept – arrangement of host families – to ensure that the visiting students are fully engaged in the local community
Local community
A local community is a group of interacting people sharing an environment. In human communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, risks, and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness.- Overview...
and culture during their short stay in Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
. Students are arranged to live with carefully selected host families and to practice their classroom knowledge with tandem partners and tutors. Workshops (e.g. German dancing, cooking, sports), field trips and excursions in Kassel and neighboring areas are also organized to introduce local culture and traditions to the students. Since the program is held during the term time, ISU Kassel students also have abundant opportunities to meet local students and participate in student activities on campus.
Program of study
The study program of ISU Kassel includes German language courses which are designed to meet the criteria of the Common European Framework of Reference for LanguagesCommon European Framework of Reference for Languages
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, abbreviated as CEFR, is a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and, increasingly, in other countries...
(European Language Portfolio) at the following levels: A1, B1 and C1. Students will study in small groups under the supervision of experienced teachers qualified in "'teaching German as a foreign language"'. Interactive and innovative teaching methods are characteristics of this German language course.
The seminars for the engineering module usually cover the following topics: adaptation strategies to climate change
Adaptation to global warming
Adaptation to global warming and climate change is a response to climate change that seeks to reduce the vulnerability of natural and human systems to climate change effects. Even if emissions are stabilized relatively soon, climate change and its effects will last many years, and adaptation will...
, earthquake engineering
Earthquake engineering
Earthquake engineering is the scientific field concerned with protecting society, the natural and the man-made environment from earthquakes by limiting the seismic risk to socio-economically acceptable levels...
, environmental engineering
Environmental engineering
Environmental engineering is the application of science and engineering principles to improve the natural environment , to provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation and for other organisms, and to remediate polluted sites...
, and integrated environmental science environmental science
Environmental science
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical and biological sciences, to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems...
. Seminars for the German culture module usually covers topics such as history of germany
History of Germany
The concept of Germany as a distinct region in central Europe can be traced to Roman commander Julius Caesar, who referred to the unconquered area east of the Rhine as Germania, thus distinguishing it from Gaul , which he had conquered. The victory of the Germanic tribes in the Battle of the...
, German politics of the 20th century, intercultural communication
Intercultural communication
Intercultural communication is a form of global communication. It is used to describe the wide range of communication problems that naturally appear within an organization made up of individuals from different religious, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. Intercultural communication is...
, and German fairy tales
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Children's and Household Tales is a collection of German origin fairy tales first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the Brothers Grimm. The collection is commonly known today as Grimms' Fairy Tales .-Composition:...
. Students proficient in German language may choose the German-taught seminar of "Deutsche Geschichte und Politik im 20. Jahrhundert".
Students will be awarded 9 ECTS
European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System
This page describes ECTS-credits. For information about the ECTS grading system go to ECTS grading scale.European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System is a standard for comparing the study attainment and performance of students of higher education across the European Union and other...
upon completion of the German language course and two academic seminars in either the engineering module or culture module. The seminars are taught by experienced faculty members in English and optionally in German. Students of the engineering module are arranged to visit industrial partners. Students from the cultural module are arranged to visit the museums and cultural establishments in Kassel.
About Kassel and Uni Kassel
KasselKassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
is a mid-sized city located in northern Hessen in the center of Germany. The city has around 198,500 inhabitants and a total area of 107 km2. Kassel is known as the "Capital of German Fairy Tale Route" for it is the place where Jacob Grimm
Jacob Grimm
Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was a German philologist, jurist and mythologist. He is best known as the discoverer of Grimm's Law, the author of the monumental Deutsches Wörterbuch, the author of Deutsche Mythologie and, more popularly, as one of the Brothers Grimm, as the editor of Grimm's Fairy...
and Wilhelm Grimm
Wilhelm Grimm
Wilhelm Carl Grimm was a German author, the younger of the Brothers Grimm.-Life and work:...
spent more than 30 years of their lives to collect and compile the Grimm's Fairy Tales
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Children's and Household Tales is a collection of German origin fairy tales first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the Brothers Grimm. The collection is commonly known today as Grimms' Fairy Tales .-Composition:...
(German: Grimms Märchen) collection. Kassel is also the city of "documenta
Documenta
documenta is an exhibition of modern and contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. It was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau which took place in Kassel at that time...
" where the world’s largest exhibition of contemporary art takes place every five years.
In 1971, Uni Kassel was founded in the city of Kassel as a reform university. The University is one of the first universities to have developed an international and inter-disciplinary perspective in research and learning. Being the youngest public university in the state of Hessen, it has currently a student population of 18,113, which includes some 2,400 international students from over 120 countries.
External links
- Hessen International Summer University, University of Kassel
- University of Kassel
- International Study Center, University of Kassel
- Student Service, University of Kassel