Unleashing the Unique: University of Oldenburg's Low German Teacher Training Course
Standing out in Lower Saxony, the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg has pioneered an innovative degree program—Low German, tailored for secondary school educators. Doreen Brandt, a Junior Professor of Low German Literature from a Historical and Cultural Perspective, sheds light on this new venture: "Establishing Low German as a secondary school subject could boost the language's survival chances." Currently, nine students have enrolled in this program, with capacity for 20, and prior knowledge of Low German isn't a requirement—it can be gratuitously learned within the course. Registration for the winter semester 2024/25 is upcoming.
Furthermore, this course at Oldenburg University delves into the scientific explorations of Low German. The inclusion of this niche language within academic curriculum blazes a trail for other European universities to follow suit in educating their native languages.
In the broader European context, while no concrete number of universities providing degree programs in their local dialects is available, several institutions demonstrate a dedication to regional language education:
- The University of Oldenburg offers a summer immersion course on German language and culture, notably focusing on Northern Germany and its dialects such as Low German (Plattdeutsch) [2].
- Trinity College Dublin offers a degree program in Middle Eastern and European Languages and Cultures, embracing European dialects like Polish, Russian, French, Spanish, German, and Italian. This comprehensive program nurtures a profound understanding of both European and Middle Eastern cultures [4].
- Lithuanian universities curate English-led courses, potentially including the study of regional dialects like Lithuanian; however, specifics on these language-focused programs are not disclosed in the cited sources [3].
These instances serve as a testament to the commitment of European universities to language and cultural studies, even though the exact figure of universities providing degree courses in their native dialects is not explicitly outlined.
