USS Bits and Bytes - Electronic Newsletter of the Miami University's Undergraduate Summer Scholars Program (USS)

Vol. 1, #1, August 22, 1997

Immigrant Literature in Germany
Summer 1997 project of Iaona A. Smultea under the mentorship of Audrone B. Willeke, Department of German, Russian, & East Asian Languages

Photo of Iaona Smultea In the early 1960's Germans cheered as American President John F. Kennedy announced, "Ich bin ein Berliner." Based on junior Ioana Smultea's trip recent trip to Germany, a foreigner making the same boast today might receive a very different welcome. For Ioana, growing up familiar with the German language in Europe did not prepare her for the reality of German attitudes toward immigrants and the state of the nation. Her project, designed with her mentor Dr. Audrone Willeke, is a timely response to the growing amount of literature written by German immigrants and turmoil in the country surrounding immigration issues.

Much of the unrest and nationalist attitudes in Germany are related to recent political events. Previous to unification, East Germany had no immigration problems because there simply were no immigrants. As Ioana discovered through her preliminary research, until recently the only means to obtain German citizenship was to be born of a German mother or father. While this criteria no longer holds true, obtaining citizenship is still difficult. Frustrations over these conditions set the stage for the literature that the immigrants began to write in the 1980's. The purpose of Iaona's project is to create a portfolio of writings and background materials to be used by the German department as a resource for other students.

While in Germany, Ioana gathered literature for her project and made firsthand observations of actions and attitudes against foreigners. Raised in Romania, she attended German school and visited some of her old schoolmates during her stay. This provided her with the unique opportunity to observe and interact with people without conducting formal interviews or surveys. On a more personal note, traveling to Germany gave her newfound confidence in her ability to communicate in German in addition to her knowledge of a previously unknown chapter in Germany's history.

This last point was the most surprising of her project; much of what she observed and researched was completely new to her. For this reason, she is excited to create a reference folder for other students studying German who are also unfamiliar with this topic. She has a new appreciation for the problems that resulted from German reunification such as the decline of the economy from the redistribution of resources and differing work ethics in the West and East. Ioana recognizes this final point as an enormous hindrance to the success of capitalism in all former communist block countries.

Focusing on Germany's modern day legal and cultural problems directly relates to Ioana's interest in becoming a diplomat or ambassador in the future. In the meantime, aided by her second major in Mathematics and knowledge of German, Romanian, French and English she plans to attend Law School so she can later serve as a lawyer in the Navy. In preparation for the future, this summer she developed her ability to see the many sides of a single issue and why compromise is never an easy solution.

Ioana Smultea is one of 120 Miami University undergraduates who participated in the 1997 Undergraduate Summer Scholars (USS) Program. This University program is an initiative aimed at heightening the intellectual challenge of the learning environment at Miami University. This program enables Miami undergraduates to do research or other creative activities in the summer under the supervision of faculty.

In 1997, some of the USS activities were supported by a National Science Foundation Grant to Miami University entitled "Creating a Research-Rich Curriculum: A Model for Lifelong and Continuous Learning" (DUE-9652063, Dr. J.A. Czaja, PI). This funding was provided under the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education's program on Institution-Wide Reform of Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology.

Summary and Photo by Cindy (Cynthia) Bubb, a Mass Communication major with a minor in Marketing, Miami University class of 1998.