FOR DECADES, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT has been integral to the mission of the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG), to support the teaching of the language and culture of German-speaking countries. When asked why she made professional development such a high priority during her tenure as executive director of the organization, Helene Zimmer-Loew replied: “I believe that you can never know everything and that working together with other colleagues will enhance your own learning as well as giving others the benefit of what you know and are able to do.” This philosophy is readily apparent in one of the AATG's twentyfirst- century professional development initiatives, known as EIKK—Die Entwicklung von interkultureller Kompetenz im Kontext DaF: Lernziele, didaktische Ansatze und Evaluierung (The Development of Intercultural Competency in the Context of German as a Second Language: Learning Goals, Didactic Approaches and Evaluation). From its conception and implementation, to its impact on participants’ classroom practices and its multiplying effect documented by conference presentations, workshops, and publications, Zimmer-Loew's commitment to empowerment and growth through learning from and sharing knowledge with colleagues was an everpresent theme that ensured that EIKK was a success from its beginning in 2008 to its end in 2009.

The idea for EIKK emerged from discussions within the AATG Culture Taskforce, an initiative spearheaded by Dr. Pennylyn Dykstra-Pruim in 2003. As the concept for the project began to take shape, Zimmer- Loew suggested applying to the European Recovery Program (ERP) to request funding. With input from Dr. Renate Schulz and Dykstra-Pruim, Dr. Erwin Tschirner wrote and submitted the ERP proposal in 2006. The original project description outlined three seminars and one publication: an Expertenseminar (seminar for experts) in summer 2007, two profes sional development seminars in summer 2008 and summer 2009, and the anthology Communicating across Borders: Developing Intercultural Competence in German as a Foreign Language (2008).

In their foundational document “Projektbezeichnung” (Project Title), Tschirner and Zimmer-Loew articulate three major areas that the AATG Culture Taskforce identified as lacking consensus among scholars and teachers:

• A common understanding of intercultural understanding in the context of foreign language instruction,

• agreement on achievable pedagogical goals, and

• methods for assessing achievement of cultural understanding.