MAB - Programs & Events

German Script Seminar
Our 35th Year!

The Dates for the 2005 German Script Seminar are June 6 to 17. The Seminar, which is led by Dr. Paul Peucker, Archivist, consists of intensive training in reading German Script as used in America and in Germany.

The cost is $390 for tuition and materials. Room and board are extra. Contact Paul Peucker if you need more information.

Housing
We recommend that students stay at residence facilities at Moravian College, located nearby. The College charges $85 per week ($170 for the course) for room; you may cook your own meals or eat at the College or at restaurants. Contact Dr. Robert Windolph at (610)861-1503. Deadline for housing registration: May 15.

Schedule
Mornings are devoted to instruction, afternoons and evenings to study and optional events. Bethlehem is a historic city, founded in 1741, with a strong German heritage. Participants in the Seminar will be able to visit historic and cultural places in the area.

Prerequisites
While it is not necessary to know anything about German Script before taking the Seminar, a reading knowledge of German is extremely important. Two years of college German or the equivalent is probably a minimum. The seminar goes too rapidly for individuals to look up German words and grammatical principles; they must have these things in their minds before starting. Conversational ability is not required; instruction is in English.

Method of Instruction
First we learn the German Script alphabet. Then, each morning, copies of an original document from the Archives are distributed. We begin work on the document in class, with individuals reading aloud in German. We do not translate. The students then spend the afternoon and/or evening working further, usually preparing a transcription of the document. The next morning students read their transcriptions aloud in class. Mistakes are corrected and questions are answered. The handwriting of the documents becomes more difficult from day to day. By the end of two weeks, most students will be able to read the majority of documents they are likely to run across,, usually with some further study on their own. Some documents will always be hard to read due to sloppy handwriting.

Some statistics
Over 300 people have studied German Script at the Moravian Archives. People of all ages and academic levels have participated, from undergraduate to post-doctorate. Over 135 colleges and universities have been represented.

Academic fields
History and German predominate, followed by American studies, musicology, religion, anthropology, art history, sociology, genealogy, technology, and other subjects. Curators, archivists, independent researchers, and retirees have also been included.

For more information, contact the Archives.