Alumni
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Welcome back to Germanic Studies. We like to keep in touch with our former students, colleagues and friends from the Department.
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You can keep in touch with Germanic Studies and the University by joining Sheffield Reunited, run by the Development & Alumni Relations Office. This will allow you to keep in touch with your friends from the Department and the rest of the University, and will allow us to send you occasional electronic newsletters. The University will also be able to invite you to special events.
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1948 - 2008: 60 years of Dutch at Sheffield
To mark the 60th anniversary of Dutch, the Department of Germanic Studies organised an alumni reunion in Firth Hall on 1 November. It was attended by over 90 people, including current students and graduates from as far back as 1973.
The Pro-Vice Chancellor for Teaching and Learning Prof. Paul White introduced the opening speaker: the Rt Hon. Nick Clegg, MP for Sheffield Hallam, who is a a fluent Dutch speaker. Other guests included the Dutch Ambassador Mr Pim Waldeck and the Representative of the Flemish Government in London, Mr Geert de Proost. The Dutch Ambassador brought a birthday present of £2,000 for library books and organising a conference. Both the Embassy and the Representative also sponsored the Anniversary Festivities.
During the day Professor Gerald Newton of Germanic Studies gave an entertaining and enlightening talk on the history of Dutch and German at Sheffield. Other speakers were Professor Hugo Brems from Leuven University, who sketched recent developments in Dutch literature, and Dr Ton Broos of the University of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ton was Dutch lector in Sheffield between 1978 and 1982. Stephen Hufton, a former student of Dutch in Sheffield (graduated in 1997), spoke about his career as spokesman for the Dutch telecommunications company KPN and for the Holland Heineken House, the Dutch media headquarters during the Olympic Games in Beijing. Dr Henriette Louwerse of Germanic Studies concluded the formal part of the celebrations with a presentation on the opportunities a small subject area like Dutch offers when it comes to innovative teaching and learning. The celebrations continued with a drinks reception, courtesy of the Vice-Chancellor, and a dinner and dance with over 50 guests.
The Department of Germanic Studies published an anniversary booklet containing a translation of a short story by Dutch author Kader Abdolah, who visited Sheffield as writer in residence in spring 2008. The translation was produced by students of Dutch at Sheffield, Cambridge and at UCL, as a undergraduate teaching project within Virtual Dutch, a collaboration between four UK universities.