Life & Customs

Following the discussions on Origins & Migration, participants will spend a few weeks (Weeks 4-6: Monday, June 2010 through Friday June 25, 2010) devoted to discussions on life and customs of the Dakota Germans from Russia.  The discussion will start with reflections on the required text, Gordon L. Iseminger’s “The McIntosh County German-Russians:  The First Fifty Years.”  From this point, each participant will select three texts from the “suggested list” to review.  Each participant will post original and thoughtful reflections to the discussion board, as well as comment the reflections of others.

Required Text:

·         Overview

o        Iseminger, Gordon L. "The McIntosh County German-Russians: The First Fifty Years.”  Journal of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia 11, no. 2 (1988): 1-20.  (pdf; course reserves)

Suggested Texts (select 3 of the following 8 items):

 

1.      Agricultural Practices

o        Review Home Grown: German-Russian Farm Kids Remember (Audio CD)

§         To secure a copy, purchase it online at Home Grown or call Acacia (Jonas) Stuckle at 701.231.6596

2.      Education

o        Teeuwen, Randall C. "The Immigration and Early Education of Germans from Russia.”  Journal of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia 8, no. 2 (1985): 52-57.  (pdf; course reserves)

o        Clark, Dolly Holliday.  "Memoir of a Country Schoolteacher: Dolly Holiday Meets the Ethnic West, 1919-1920.”  North Dakota History Journal 59, no. 1 (Winter 1992): 30-45.  (pdf; course reserves)

3.      Foodways (Activity)

o        Try a German-Russian recipe

§         Using an approved German-Russian cookbook try preparing a German-Russian recipe, like Kuchen, Knoepfla, or Fleischkuechle

·         Cookbook approval can be obtain by e-mailing the instructor with the cookbook’s title (and publication information)

§         Document your experience with digital photographs upload them to Heimat’s Photo Album (Photos)

§         Don’t forget to reflect on your experience using the discussion thread

§         Cookbook Suggestions:

·         Food and Customs: Recipes of Black Sea Germans

·         Sei Unser Gast: Be Our Guest

o        To secure either cookbook, purchase online at Food and Customs or Sei Unser Gast, or call Acacia (Jonas) Stuckle at 701.231.6596

4.      Holidays and Traditions

o        Review A Holiday Special: German-Russian Childhood Memories and Red, White, and Blue: German Russians Remember Independence Day  (Audio CDs)

§         To secure copies, purchase them online at A Holiday Special and Red, White, and Blue or call Acacia (Jonas) Stuckle at 701.231.6596

5.      Healthcare

o        Kloberdanz, Timothy J. "The Tradition of Brauche: Facts and Fallacies.”  Germans from Russia Heritage Society Heritage Review 15, no. 3 (September 1985): 3-5.  (pdf; course reserves)

o        Wagner, Jonathan F. "In Pursuit of the Gesundheit: Changing Health Practices among North Dakota's German-Russians, 1890-1930.”  North Dakota History Journal 58, no. 3 (Summer 1991): 2-15.  (pdf; course reserves)

6.      Politics

o        Pedeliski, Theodore B. "The German-Russian Ethnic Factor in William Langer's Campaigns, 1914-1940.”  North Dakota History Journal 64, no. 1 (Winter 1997): 2-20.  (pdf; course reserves)

7.      Folk Humor

o        Vossler, Ronald.  "Prairie Spass: The Fold Humor of North Dakota's Germans from Russia.”  North Dakota History Journal 66, no. 3 and 4 (Summer/Fall 1999): 50-60.  (pdf; course reserves)

8.      German Newspapers

o        Rippley, LaVern J. "F.W. Sallet and the Dakota Freie Presse.”  North Dakota History Journal 59, no. 4 (Fall 1992): 2-21.  (pdf; course reserves)

Assessment Materials

Reflection Posts

1.       Read/review the material. 

2.       Submit reflection posts to the discussion board.

§         Reflect/review material

§         Stimulate discussion with colleagues

§         Effectively communicate (i.e. clean prose)

 

4 posts (1 required text + 3 selected texts) x 10 points = 40 pts

Discussion (Participation)

1.       Discussion Posts

§         Stay current in the course

§         Engage in discussions with colleagues

§         Enrich the seminar experience

·   Incorporate outside material

·   Integrate optional resources

 

4 threads (required text + selected texts) x 5 pts = 20 pts

 

Total Points: 60 pts