WVUA-FM , the University’s student-operated radio station, and several sections of the University’s 200-level German courses will be hosting a live radio broadcast in German on April 25, from 8-9 p.m.
The one-hour broadcast special will be split into three 20-minute sections, each featuring a different group of students taking a 200-level German course at the University.
Corinne Crane, associate professor and German language program director, said she got the idea for the event from an exhibit she saw at the Museum für Kommunikation Berlin in 2018, titled “Oh yeah! Popmusik in Deutschland.” The interactive exhibit took visitors through 90 years of German music, starting from the 1920s.
“In walking through this interactive exhibit, it became immediately clear to me how much rich cultural content about modern German history—especially from a youth cultural perspective—could be communicated through popular music,” Crane wrote. “Creating a live German-language radio program as the culminating project for the course seemed to be a no-brainer, and we were delighted that WVUA’s 90.7 was so open to and enthusiastic about this idea.”
This semester’s broadcast will be the third iteration of the radio project, and Crane said the broadcasts have been such a success that they are working with the radio station to create a regular German-language music program consisting of former German 202 students.
“We’re excited to share what we’ve learned about German music and play some great songs for our listeners,” Lauren Chumbley, a sophomore majoring in English, said.
Madeline Williams, a freshman majoring in psychology, said students in her German 201 class, led by Crane, are looking forward to broadcasting their final Radioprojekt.
“This class has been a great opportunity to really expand my spoken German abilities, and I’m excited to put my newly-gained speaking skills to the test,” Williams said. “I’m also excited because my group’s theme is international music, meaning we get an excuse to play the Beatles on a German radio station.”
Williams said that each group will play songs according to a chosen theme and will be able to practice speaking German by introducing themselves, the class and each song they play.
Listeners will be able to experience German music including hits from the iconic “Neue Deutsche Welle,” or “New German Wave,” era of the 1980s as well as “Schlager,” a pop genre often heard at the Eurovision Song Contest.
Crane said that following Thursday’s broadcast the German 202 classes will host an afterparty with a DJ from 9:30-11 p.m. The location of the afterparty will be announced later this week on Instagram.
“Music brings people together, which is what this radio program is designed to do,” Crane said. “We hope it engages listeners who know German, as well as those who want to learn more about the language and its rich popular music tradition.”
