Jeffrey Werth ’25 (Systems Engineering and German Studies) interns with BMW in Spartanburg

While a group of our German Studies majors intern in Germany this summer, others are gaining valuable experience and using their German right here in South Carolina! Systems Engineering and German Studies double major Jeffrey Werth ’25 has been entering with the Purchasing Department of BMW in Spartanburg, SC, the largest BMW plant in the world!

“I have been working as a vehicle launch engineering intern helping to digitalize and automate data management processes involved with BMW’s vehicle launch process. This involves utilizing software development skills, supply chain management, and value stream mapping design. I have also made use of my German conversation skills with my many German coworkers.”

The “M” symbol, Jeffrey tells us, is the performance vehicle logo at BMW.

Andreas Dilling ’24 (Computer Science and German Studies) interns at Robert Bosch Gmbh in Plochingen

This summer, Computer Science and German Studies double major Andreas Dilling is interning at Bosch in Plochingen, Germany (near Stuttgart). Andreas has been working with the vehicle diagnostics software team, or “diax team,” where he has been pursuing a project to help the team specialize their vehicle diagnostics. He’s been having a wonderful experience and is learning a lot!

Claire Beck ’23 (Urban Studies and German Studies) interns at the non-profit “Nachbarschaft” in Kreuzberg, Berlin

Urban Studies major and German Studies minor Claire Beck ’23 is interning this summer at the Nachbarschaft Community Center in Kreuzberg, Berlin. As part of her work for Nachbarschaft, Claire has been running the Kiez Cafe in a local park that offers, among other things, a clothing pantry for the homeless.

Her biggest project this summer has involved organizing meetings with the construction firm that is renovating public housing in the neighborhood. Claire has been working as an intermediary between the residents and the construction company to make sure that the residents have a voice in the process and to ensure it meets community needs. She is loving the internship and having a wonderful experience, as internship program director Stephen Della Lana learned on his site visit last week!


Alex Jennings ’23 (International Business and German) interns in video production in Berlin

International Business and German Studies double major Alex Jennings is currently interning for a start up called “Happy Nation” in Berlin, doing all of their video work to promote their App “Wellness U.” Alex has been doing every aspect of the filming, including scripting, filming, and editing for the company.

Alex tells us that his German has been improving dramatically after four weeks of language training, living with a German host family in May, and now his daily meetings and conversations with his team at Happy Nation. Stay tuned: he is also planning to edit a video about his experience on the internship and share it with us all this fall!

Alex at a team meeting with his boss in the Staatsbibliothek Berlin.

Supply Chain and German Studies major Shane Love ’25 interns at Kronos Packaging in Berlin

Shane Love, a Supply Chain and German Studies double major at CofC, is having a tremendous experience at Kronos packaging in Berlin this summer. He has been working in materials resourcing, competitor pricing and merchandising and alsolearning product sales, all in all-German workplace that is bringing his language proficiency to new heights!

Shane is learning a great deal at his internship but also loving the camaraderie of his cohort of fellow CofC students on the program this summer, who all took a four-week language course at the Carl Duisburg institute in Berlin in May and are now on different internship placements thought Berlin and the country: “I’ve been very lucky to share this experience with such a fantastic group of people. Each of us brings something unique to the table, and each of us has been super supportive of each other throughout.”

Summer Internship to Germany program director Stephen Della Lana aka Herr DL stopped by Kronos Packaging to see Shane and visit with his manager as part of his annual tour of site visits.

Julia Rhyne ’25 (Music and German Studies) interns at Berliner Philharmonie Media

CofC Music major and German Studies Minor Julia Rhyne is enjoying her fabulous internship at Berlin Phil Media, the social media arm of the world-renowned Berliner Philharmoniet. Julia is part of a team managing the Philharmonie’s social media presence and digital content and has been helping with English language localization of German content.

Julia is loving the internship and also enjoying the amazing view from her office, which is nothing short of magnificent: at the top floor overlooking Leipziger Platz 1. To put it in US-American terms: she has the equivalent of a view of time square while working at the media arm of a cultural institution as revered as the New York Metropolitan Opera!

Chloe Goff, International Studies and German Studies double major, interns in international development aid in Munich

Chloe Goff ’25, German and International Studies double major, is interning this summer in international developmental aid in Munich. She is working for Menschen für Menschen in München, a Munich-based NGO that provides developmental assistance in Ethiopia. There are about 25 people in the Munich office and 600 on the ground in Ethiopia. Chloe has been working on social media marketing for the organization.

Chloe received her placement via CofC’s longstanding Cultural Vistas Summer Internship Program in Germany program, now in its 20th year! As part of the program, students take a 4-week intensive German language course in Berlin and are then placed in a two-month internship in their field, regardless of major or area. The Program’s director Stephen Della Lana conducts site visits of the interns in June and just visited with Chloe today.

German Studies and International Studies major Chloe Goff ’25 (right) and Cultural Vistas CofC Summer Internship Program Director Stephen Della Lana (left) catch up and check in about her internship over dinner in Munich.

Mankiewicz Coatings provides Study Abroad Award to support CofC German Studies Majors interning in Germany

Many thanks to CofC’s friends at Mankiewicz Coatings LLC, who donated a 2023 Study Abroad Award to support a German Studies major interning in Germany this summer. This year’s award recipient, Supply Chain Management and German Studies double major Shane Love ’25, will be headed to Berlin CofC’s Cultural Vistas Summer Internship Program to Germany this coming weekend, where he will be spending the month of May in an intensive language course at the Carl Duisberg Centrum Berlin and then interning in Supply Chain at Kronos Packaging Berlin in June and July. Today, Shane and German and Russian Studies Chair Dr. Koerner visited the Mankiewicz Coatings Plant on Daniel Island to thank them for their support and catch up with CofC German Studies major and Mankiewicz intern Julia Hancock ’25, who is loving her internship at the company!

Thank you Mankiewicz Coatings Team for supporting study abroad in Germany and mentoring our students and providing them with practical work experience at a fabulous German company here in Charleston!

From left to right: Mankiewicz Coatings LLC Managing Director Fabian Grimm, German Studies major and Mankiewicz intern Julia Hancock, Mankiewicz Coatings Study Abroad Award recipient Shane Love, HR director Amber Paugh, and Dr. Morgan Koerner

Dr. Nancy Nenno and Dr. Sarah Koellner present at the annual German Studies Association Conference

This weekend CofC’s German Studies Program is well represented at the annual conference of the German Studies Association  in Houston, Texas!

Assistant Professor of German Studies Dr. Sarah Koellner is presenting on a panel today on “Zeh in the Age of the Pandemic,” with a paper entitled: “Retrotopia and the (Lost) Future of Privacy in Juli Zeh’s Corpus Delicti

Professor of German Studies Dr. Nancy Nenno is presenting this afternoon on the topic ““Can the Subaltern Speak?” Speech, Representation, and Embodiment in Marcus Schleizner’s film Angelo (2018)” at panel on “The Austrian Literary and Cinematic Present beyond the Canon.”