Feb 22, 2013
German minister's Ph.D. removed due to plagiarism
True / False
a) The minister finished her Ph.D, last year
b) The minister's Ph.D. was about the state of the European economy.
c) The head of the minister's faculty department suspected she was plagiarising.
d) The minister has always said she did not plagiarise.
e) There is no chance the minister can appeal against the accusations of plagiarism.
f) The minister has decided not to fight the accusations.
g) The accusations are a problem for German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
h) Two other German politicians were accused of plagiarism in 2011.
(For answers, see the transcript in the comments section)
Discussion – (Speaking ideas)
1. What exactly is plagiarism?
2. Have you ever copied someone's words without saying whose words they were?
3. How bad is plagiarism?
4. What do you think of a government minister plagiarizing he Ph.D.?
5. Should Ms Schavan resign?
6. If Ms Schavan did not plagiarise, what should happen to those who accused her?
7. Is the Dean also at fault for not following up on his suspicions?
8. How can we prevent plagiarism?
9. Teachers can easily Google search sentences they thing were copied. Is it foolish to copy?
10. Is plagiarism just innocent laziness?
11. Why do some countries think plagiarism is normal?
12. How would you feel if someone plagiarised your work?
13. Have you ever cheated in a test?
14. Has the Internet made plagiarism easy and undetectable?
15. Is plagiarism against your ethical values?
16. Is there any time when plagiarism might be OK (e.g. if you have tons of homework and no time to do it)?
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Germany's Education Minister has had her Ph.D. withdrawn after she was found to have plagiarised parts of her thesis 33 years ago.
ReplyDeleteAnnette Schavan faced accusations for months that large parts of her 1980 work on personality and conscience were not her own.The Dean of the philosophy faculty at the University of Dusseldorf, Bruno Bleckmann, told reporters that the overall impression is that throughout the dissertation, the doctoral candidate systematically and deliberately presented intellectual ideas which she had not actually thought of herself. The 57-year-old has always denied the claims and has a month to launch an appeal against the decision."At no time while working on my dissertation did I try to cheat." she has said. "I firmly reject this accusation. I am going to fight. I owe it to myself and I owe it to science." The news will come as a blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel. Schavan is a close ally and has held the post of Education Minister since Merkel's first administration in 2005.
Two similar cases shocked the political scene in Germany in 2011.