das Sniglet

Many of these proposed loan words remind me of a more elevated form of Sniglets, obscure terms coined by comedian Rich Hall in the 1980's to describe unique situations or objects.

I will be posting the entire list outside my office.

TTU's German Klub Hosts Oktoberfest, (10/10)

Tennessee Tech's German Klub is happy to announce the details of its upcoming Oktoberfest celebration. Those who attend will be treated to a slice of Bavaria, complete with music, food, and other insights into German culture. 

Updated CV

I'm applying for a few more grants this Fall while I have the time, energy, and the projects to develop.

Sheehan CV Fall 2013 Truncated

Digital Humanities - First Foray

Thanks to my current Faculty Research Grant from Tennessee Tech U, I have more time to explore what interests me at the moment--the intersections of literary studies and technology. I am in contact with many colleagues at other institutions who received training in the Digital Humanities, and I am hoping to learn about the new discipline by collaborating with my colleagues. Over the summer, Katie Rawson (currently, a Clir fellow at UPenn Library) introduced me to a few of the research tools at a DH scholar's disposal, and during a stroke of creativity this morning, I came across Voyant Tools  and decided to take the first step in developing a new project (more on that when I have enough to share). Here is the result of my work this morning:

Click here to view the Cirrus Word Cloud on Voyant

A Word Cloud of the Woyzeck Corpus (at least, the corpus available on Project Gutenberg).
What surprises me most is that "ich" (the pronoun "I") appears nearly as frequently as "Woyzeck". The protagonist Woyzeck is in nearly every scene of the dramatic fragment, and other characters (der Hauptmann, der Doktor, especially) call him by his first name, mainly because they are constantly admonishing him. Still, the frequency of "ich" is surprising, and bears some deeper analysis with DH tools. Which character uses "ich" most often? Another interesting area to explore would be which characters do not use "ich"?

This is just a cursory Word Cloud. Given more time, I will refine how I use Voyant and explore how other scholars have used similar tools to analyze texts.

Do you have any conclusions to draw about "Woyzeck" from the word cloud? Any suggestions of what my next step should be?

Twenty things you didn't know about Germany

Photo: Getty Images

A former colleague posted this on Facebook this afternoon, and I'm already thinking of ways to integrate the list into my German Culture course this Fall.

I can't claim I knew the fact about the Trabant, though I will share this with Tennessee Tech's German students.

Also, I'll try my best to track down a copy of Rick Stein’s 'German Bite’ for a screening at this year's Filmabend. I already plan to share the BBC's "Das Auto: The Germans, Their Cars and Us", which should grab the attention of our engineering students, given that Volkswagen recently opened a plant in Chattanooga.


You can read the list here

First Review of Deutsch Interaktiv: Bausteine

I checked Deutsch Interaktiv's iTunes account today and found the following review. I am so glad to see our text is helping this learner.

Deutsch Interaktiv Thema 1 available on iTunes

It is with pleasure that I announce that Deutsch Interaktiv Thema 1 is now available for purchase in over 53 iTunes stores worldwide. The interactive book uses ACTFL best practices to guide learners through the rudiments of German. Our Einführung (Introduction) iBook was downloaded over 1500 times by people across the globe, and we hope Thema 1 will be as popular. 

Deutsch Interaktiv Thema 1 - Martin Sheehan & Raphaela Tkotzyk

Ask The Educator: iPads In The Classroom

Earlier today, I listened to and participated in an insightful discussion of iPads in the classroom on NPR's Here and Now. Given my own work with critical thinking skills and emerging technologies, I felt I had to pose a question during a live webchat with Patrick Larkin, assistant superintendent for Burlington, Mass.

Our exchange is below:

I'll be sharing this entire discussion with my fellow Technology Institute board members to see if it can help us here at Tennessee Tech University integrate iPads more effectively into our classrooms