In the German 102 course I took during the spring 2020 semester, my class was assigned to compose a presentation related to a notable German-speaking figure, including their cultural significance and modern relevance. My partner and I centered our presentation on Anselm Kiefer, a prominent and controversial German artist who was born shortly after World War II. He grew up in an era where many German citizens experienced shame and guilt regarding the Holocaust. Much of Kiefer’s early work was an attempt to critique Germany’s history with Nazism. This is incredibly significant because speaking about these events was generally considered taboo, and Kiefer went against these social norms. He was also known for utilizing irony and contradictions in his paintings, which some critics either disliked or didn’t notice. My partner and I tried to focus on the intent of his artwork and how it was perceived by the public. 

 

This project was the only major research opportunity I had during the spring semester, and I believe I could have taken advantage of it in a more proper manner. My instructor didn’t require the class to use scholarly articles or academic journals as source materials and although it could have been an excellent chance to become more familiar with effectively accessing information, I opted to work with “.com” and “.org” sources. I regret not selecting more reliable sources, but I made an effort to use information from respected and well-known art museum websites. This at least gave me additional practice in identifying biased articles. There were some websites that appeared to have key facts or interpretations of Kiefer’s artwork, but were just too opinionated to be considered credible. The most common problem I ran into was excessive praise of the artist, usually in the form of loaded language. I expected this as Kiefer is considered by many to be an important part of German history, but it made it somewhat challenging to separate the “bad” articles from the “good” ones. In retrospect, I could have anticipated this better considering how controversial Kiefer is. In the end, I tried to include varying viewpoints of him. 

 

Although I feel that my overall information literacy skills have improved, this project doesn’t fully reflect this. I should have taken this opportunity to look at information more critically and effectively, but it ended up being another activity where I practiced organizing and evaluating information from multiple sources. I have confidence that I can compose a project in the future that showcases better research methods, and I anticipate that the courses I’m taking in Fall 2020 will allow for more occasions to progress my researching skills, particularly information literacy and synthesis.  I believe this experience can be described as fitting the development level of the Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity competency. As I continue to take German courses throughout college, I look forward to conducting more effective and critical research, both in English and in German.

 

Below, you can view a video of my presentation on Anselm Kiefer, which my partner has given me permission to share.