These past four years at Elon I have been widely interested in various socio-political, environmental, and ethical issues throughout the world. While researching where to study abroad, I realized that I wanted to go to a country in which I had a personal connection to the culture. My grandmother grew up in Erlangen, Germany, and always described it as an interesting yet polarizing place full of political identities and opinions. Ever since hearing about her childhood experiences during World War II, I have been fascinated with politics and how it shapes personal identities and beliefs. This is one of the reasons why I decided to major in Political Science at Elon.
After deciding where to study abroad I was quite nervous about taking a course centered on classical music. However, I realized that a majority of my undergraduate classes and core curriculum at Elon actually tie in perfectly with this course. In my Freshman year, I took German classes with Dr. Lange, and in my Junior year I ended up taking Political Theory with Dr. Liza Taylor, where we learned about the German philosopher Karl Marx. In my German courses with Dr. Lange, we spent a variety of time not only understanding the Deutsch language but also acknowledging the culture of Germany and Austria. In her class, we learned about the cultural staples of Germany and Austria, including the food, music, and socio-political culture. Growing up listening to the stories of my grandmother, I always thought that wiener schnitzel was the most popular food in Germany and Austria. However, I learned in Dr. Lange’s class that the döner kebab is actually the most popular dish. In past years, wiener schnitzel used to be more popular, but as Germany’s society and economy changed, people found it much less time-consuming to get a döner kebab from street vendors rather than wait in a restaurant for wiener schnitzel. I also learned in Dr. Lange’s class that wiener schnitzel is legally protected in both Austria and Germany. According to Austrian policies, the term ‘wiener schnitzel’ may only refer to a slice of veal that has been coated in flour, egg, and breadcrumb and then fried. If the dish is pork instead of veal, then legally it must be labeled as ‘wiener schnitzel vom schwein’ or just ‘schnitzel’ (Muckerman, 2019). Although my German courses were essential to fill my language requirements at Elon, I absolutely loved taking these classes because they not only taught me the language but more importantly the culture.
Even though I have thoroughly enjoyed my Political Science education at Elon, sometimes I wish that I had the chance to learn more about different cultures around the world. I enjoy learning about American politics, but I am also fascinated by international politics and culture. This semester I am enrolled in International Law with Dr. Swimelar which has provided me an opportunity to learn about different countries' laws and how they interact with one another. Although I enjoy studying international law, I would also like to learn about varying cultures around the world. Sometimes I am able to learn about a state’s culture through the certain law that they have placed, but most of the time I am not able to fully comprehend the culture just by reading the law. Hopefully, this Austria preparatory seminar will help me to become more informed regarding various cultures and experiences.
At the beginning of this semester, I became overwhelmed trying to understand how classical music and politics are connected on an interdisciplinary level. I knew that classical music and philosophy were closely correlated, but I was having trouble understanding how politics and classical music were related until I realized that a majority of political teachings are born from philosophy. Looking back on my Political Theory course I came to understand that the origin of laws, not only in America but in Germany as well, are from philosophical teachings such as Karl Marx, John Locke, Nietzsche, and many others. These teachings explain how the world is and how it ought to be, stating that laws are the center focus of politics because they shape the commonwealth. Realizing this made me very excited to learn more about classical music and how it's connected to real-world issues like suppression, bigotry, and overall natural human rights. Classical music has lived on for centuries not only because it's a beautiful form of art, but because it has the ability to describe the era it was from.
Works Cited
Muckerman, Anna. “Does This Schnitzel Define Vienna?” BBC Travel, BBC, 6 Aug. 2019, https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20190805-does-this-schnitzel-define vienna#:~:text=%E2%80%9COne%20cannot%20imagine%20a%20menu,and%20breadcrumbs% 0that%27s%20then%20fried.
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