DEPARTMENT OF GERMANIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES
NEWSLETTER SPRING 2020
lsa.umich.edu/german Department of GERMANIC LANGUAGES & LITERATURES
Congratulations Class of 2020
CLASS OF 2020: you’ve done it and we are so proud of you. To celebrate your achievement and mark this moment, we put together a graduation video for you and your family. We hope you enjoy it.
We would love to hear from you! Send your comments or thoughts on the video and general well wishes for others to [email protected] and we'll post them on our website. You may also share with us via Facebook or Twitter. You have our very best wishes in your future endeavors!
https://lsa.umich.edu/german/news- events/all-events/2020-graduation.html
2 Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
interaction. Our study-abroad students President Schlissel has recently declared were particularly hard hit since they had that the University of Michigan will likely return to on-campus operations in the Dear friends, to abort their academic year in Freiburg and abruptly return to the U.S., having fall, albeit it in a “public health-informed” More anxiously completed only one of their planned manner. To find out precisely what this than ever, I two semesters in Germany (German means for a language department like hope that this universities follow a different academic ours, you will need to wait until the next newsletter finds calendar, with the second semester newsletter. you and your running from mid-April to mid-July). families safe and healthy. I’m writing Sincerely, these lines from my home rather than my I’m proud to report that thanks to the university office, not because I prefer the heroic effort of our teachers and staff we quiet of the former over the bustle of the were able to bring the semester, despite latter, but because, like my colleagues, everything, to a satisfactory end. None Andreas Gailus I have been unable to enter my office of our classes were cancelled, and nearly [email protected] since the second week of March, when 100 of our majors and minors graduated the university shut down most of its on time. We even created a little gradua- This newsletter went into copy-editing before facilities. This is but one of the many tion video for them: have a look, it the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing ways in which the COVID-19 crisis has turned out quite nicely (you can find the protests in support of Black Lives Matter. upended life at the department. Shortly link to the video on our website). Since then, the department has met several after spring break, we had to switch times to discuss how we can support the practically overnight to remote teaching, Two of the articles in this newsletter work of anti-Black racism in the classroom which presented quite a few challenges. discuss in more detail the impact of and beyond. Among our actions for the fall It’s one thing to conduct a large lecture COVID-19 on our teaching (p. 7) and are: an additional undergraduate course class online; it’s quite another to do so study-abroad program (p. 4-5). But there on race and ethnicity; workshops on anti- with small seminars that depend heavily is much more to report. Domenic racist pedagogy; a bi-weekly colloquium on on student interaction and conversation. De Socio, who is currently completing questions of race and colonialism in German, That is of course nowhere more true his dissertation on queer and female Dutch, and Scandinavian culture; increased than in the foreign language classroom, visions of modernity, has also been efforts to bring German language instruction where students are expected to engage working on building an archive of texts to high schools serving underrepresented in small group activities to practice their and films by historically marginalized minorities in Southeast Michigan. This is only language skills. Under these circum- groups for use in our German classes the beginning. We can and will do more to stances, to switch to remote teaching (p. 8). Kristin Dickinson and Kira Thurman do our part to combat racism of all kinds meant thoroughly reorganizing syllabi both signed contracts for their first book inside and outside academia. (See also our and inventing entirely new exercises and monographs, which will be published in announcement in support of Black Lives activities, while also learning technolo- spring 2021 (you can read about Kira’s Matter at: https://lsa.umich.edu/german/ gies that most of us had rarely, if ever, work as a fellow at the famed Princeton news-events/all-news/search-news/black- lives-matter.html.) used before. Needless to say, this sudden Institute for Advanced Studies on p. 6). change also placed a great burden on Helmut Puff, who directed the Eisenberg our students, many of whom had to Institute for Historical Studies for the last return to their family homes where they two years, won a prestigious fellowship Highlights 4-5 were forced to conduct their German at the National Humanities Center (p. 6). Faculty Focus 6 lessons from the basement or kitchen, or, And our Swedish and Dutch programs In the Classroom 7 in some cases, even found themselves continue to grow and expand, bucking Graduate Student Focus 8-9 devoid of a workable internet connec- national trends (p.10, 11). Dutch Studies 10 tion, cut off from both friends and class Scandinavian Studies 11
lsa.umich.edu/german 3 HIGHLIGHTS
Flattening the Curve in Freiburg by Peter McIsacc, Associate Professor
In so many ways, the past outs. Ulli Struve’s impeccable thirteen months have been a organizing made the visa time of the unexpected for my bureaucracy and logistics of wife Ines, our two sons Lucas moving a snap, and, together and Oliver, and me. None with last year’s AD, Kerstin of us were thinking about Barndt and the many AYF heading to Freiburg in April partners around the city, he 2019 when the email arrived helped flatten a pretty steep announcing that Academic learning curve. Year in Freiburg’s (AYF) chosen Academic Director (AD) would As expected, AYF proved not be able to serve in 2019- to be an intense bonding 2020. But within a couple of experience with the students hours, the whole family had and the city. With a large decided to move to the “green cohort of 38 students—10 city.” Thanks to the quick from U-M—, the months action of everyone in the of September and October four-university consortium, were busy, yet the excursions the ink was drying on the AYF to France, Switzerland and contract less than two weeks the Black Forest, multiple later. Though not everything orientation sessions, and was going to be simple—due an hour of personalized to my wife’s fall 2019 teaching, academic advising per I would be mostly solo with student helped us get to my boys before winter know each other well. So break—the critical things students could get to know were in place by mid-May. Freiburg, I worked hard to recruit Freiburg “experts” Part of what made the for local case studies for my transition surprisingly smooth AYF course on current issues was that we had lived in in Germany and Freiburg. Germany before and my sons Freiburgers involved in speak German, but most of Holocaust commemoration, it came from what makes environmental politics, AYF special: the people from decolonization, lack of the AYF consortium and affordable housing, and the Marisa Rethman, helping place a "stumbling stone" in downtown Freiburg Program Director Ulli Struve refugee crisis responded to commemorating a member of the Veit family, all of whom were forced to in Freiburg. With help from my requests with stunning leave their homes and flee Germany or perish in concentration camps. former ADs, we quickly found generosity (some invited us spots at one of the city’s top to their homes, for personal Gymnasien and soccer try- tours of Freiburg, or for
4 Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures The Freiburg Study Abroad group, pictured in Schniederlihof at the foot of the Schauinsland mountain, Oberried, Baden-Württemberg.
AYFers to help with things like ended in February, and then same time, Ulli and I needed had some choice, but nothing placing “stumbling stones” to a whole another semester. to develop a set of courses we have been able to do has remember Holocaust victims) that would allow students been able to provide the that created special connec- Then, in a year of the to get a second semester immersive quality unique to tion to the city. When we unexpected everywhere, the of AYF credit. Working with study abroad. This loss has returned from our January time came to flatten the other consortium partners, we been heartbreaking, and yet study trip to Berlin, the curve (COVID-19). While U-M expanded our original two I feel fortunate to have had students exclaimed “it’s good leadership allowed my family AYF courses to nine courses the semester I did in residence to be home,” as if they had and me to stay in Freiburg, our taught across the consortium, with our AYFers and I hope to never lived anywhere else. program onsite was canceled in online formats available to see many of them in Freiburg We had settled in and were as of mid-March and the next all AYFers. In the end, many again one day. looking forward to the two weeks were spent helping University of Freiburg courses months of time to travel and students return to the U.S. have also been available relax when the semester as safely as possible. At the online, so that students have
lsa.umich.edu/german 5 FACULTY FOCUS
Andrei Markovits Helmut Puff Kira Thurman
Andrei Markovits, an Arthur F. Starting in September 2020 Kira Thurman spent the 2019- Thurnau Professor and the Karl through May 2021, Helmut 2020 academic year as a research W. Deutsch Collegiate Professor Puff will be a fellow at the fellow at the prestigious Institute of Comparative Politics and National Humanities Center in for Advanced Study in Princeton, German, grew up in the 1950s in North Carolina (Archie K. Davis New Jersey. While in residence, she Timisoara, a cosmopolitan city Fellowship; John E. Sawyer completed her first monograph, in the Banat region of western Fellowship). Puff is one of 33 Singing like Germans: Black Romania. Even though many fellows, out of 673 applications, Musicians in the Land of Bach, members of his extended family representing humanistic Beethoven, and Brahms, which had been killed in the Holocaust, scholarship. Each fellow will work will be published by Cornell his parents cherished German on individual research projects University Press in the 2021-2022 literature and music, which played and will have the opportunity to academic year. In the fall of 2019, an important role in Professor share ideas in seminars, lectures, her article, "Performing Schubert, Markovits’ upbringing. As a and conferences at the Center. Hearing Race: Debating Blackness, Hungarian-speaking Jewish boy These leading scholars will be at Whiteness, and German Identity in in a Romanian city who loved to the Center from universities and Interwar Central Europe" appeared play soccer and learned German colleges in 15 U.S. states and the in the flagship journal, the Journal from a private tutor with a Nazi District of Columbia, as well as of the American Musicological past, Professor Markovits’ youth from Canada, China, Germany, Society. Selected from over 40 was filled with contradictions and and Uganda. submissions, the article won a wondrous characters. Read about coveted spot in the journal's first- it in this fascinating personal ever special issue dedicated to race reflection he wrote for Tablet and ethnicity. Thurman also wrote Magazine. an obituary for the opera singer Jessye Norman, which appeared in You can find a link to his article on Frieze Magazine, and participated https://www.tabletmag.com/ in an invited roundtable for the sections/news/articles/timisoara. American Historical Review on black internationalism, which will appear in print in December 2020.
6 Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures IN THE CLASSROOM
Transition to Online Instruction during the Pandemic by Hartmut Rastalsky, Language Program Director
In the afternoon of and within a few days, the Wednesday, March 11, the university did so as well. university announced the LSA's Dean sent encouraging decision to move classes messages, helping to set online for the remainder realistic expectations for of the semester due to the what we could achieve, and COVID-19 pandemic. Classes describing a flexible and were cancelled for that compassionate grading policy Thursday and Friday, and for this semester. Technology online instruction began Services organized daily on the following Monday. workshops, still continuing Converting our courses to an now. As we began to teach online format in four days, in online, we collected successes, the middle of the semester, failures, resources, and ideas was a daunting task. All the in a shared Google doc, and more so since most of us were continued to meet in various novices in online instruction. configurations to discuss A whirlwind of activity how things were going ensued, with much better and to support each other. Photo by Chris Montgomery results than many of The extraordinary level of us had thought possible. support and collegiality within the department and the In the end, we were able instructor made corrections, Over this long weekend, university as a whole made to create online versions or working together in more we met virtually in varying these exhausting first days of our courses in which varied configurations in configurations to try and weeks extraordinarily students still learned the randomly assigned "breakout out tools such as Zoom, productive. important material, still had rooms." Students were BlueJeans, Google Meet, extensive opportunities to flexible, patient, and helpful and Canvas Conferences. All interact with each other as their instructors adjusted to of us, Professors, Lecturers, and with us, and still spoke the online format. They were Graduate Student Instructors, and heard lots of German. visibly grateful to be able to browsed and experimented This transition In countless video meetings continue to interact with their with long lists of resources was uniquely and emails, instructors did classmates and instructors, and tutorials for online their best to help students and to retain this portion of instruction, compiled by the challenging dealing with everything their college routine amid Language Resource Center, for us as from family tragedies, the chaos and uncertainty in LSA Technology Services, illness, and depression, to these difficult months. and other units, and shared teachers. connectivity issues and what we found with each It was also time zone differences. Over other. When it became time, we discovered some clear that most of us were uniquely particularly effective aspects planning to use Zoom, the rewarding. of the online format, such as department immediately students all writing at once in purchased a Zoom license, a class Google doc while the
lsa.umich.edu/german 7 GRADUATE STUDENT FOCUS
Developing a Springboard for Bringing Marginalized Identities into German Studies By Domenic DeSocio, Graduate Student
Over the last year, I have often hard-to-find) materials the next year, we will include activities, and assignments. worked with Assistant from diverse backgrounds. other categories, such as They are designed for Professor Kristin Dickinson As such, our database aims Jewish and working-class instructors to adapt and and my fellow graduate to be an encyclopedic cultures. Each of these master teach as they see fit. student, Özlem Karuc, to curated collection of primary lists will contain information create the Diversity, Equity, materials from historically about the source’s creator, The database has been and Inclusion (DEI) Research underrepresented groups origin, and brief summaries designed with an eye toward and Teaching Database. based on race, ethnicity, of its content as well as interactivity, ease of use, Generously funded by religion, gender, sexuality, searchable tags. and dynamism. We highly Rackham Graduate School’s class, and geography. Its encourage instructors to Faculty and Student Ally scope extends across time, A primary focus is to ready upload their own materials, Diversity Grants and housed genre, and medium, these materials for incorpora- lesson plans, tips, and in the Department of incorporating everything tion into preexisting and new suggestions. The goal is to Germanic Languages and from nineteenth-century courses, especially our fourth- develop this database over Literatures, my colleagues feminist novels to twenty-first semester language course, the next several years as and I founded this database century films about queer German 232. Accordingly, our faculty and students interact to address a key roadblock Middle Eastern refugees. project strives to equip each with its topics and materials, in our efforts to make our individual source with a basic cultivating it to suit our course offerings, research The database is currently lesson plan that instructors evolving needs and agendas, and departmental organized around five may customize for their own aspirations. environment more inclusive overarching themes: Women courses. Additionally, we of the historically disadvan- Authors, 1800 to Today; Queer include key words and themes A commitment to under- taged, namely, that many German Literature, 1800 to to frame the source and guide graduate education, this faculty, lecturers, and Today; Female and Queer the lesson as well as broad database will serve as a graduate students found it German Film; Female and questions to spark discussion. springboard to build our difficult and prohibitively Queer German Music & Visual curricula and programs time-consuming to seek out Art; and Race, Ethnicity, and To further our teaching more inclusively of and engage with new (and Migration in Germany. Over mission, we are compiling underrepresented identities thematic modules around and students in German major nodes of German Studies. For researchers, Studies, such as the it will serve as a seed farm The database is currently organized metropolis, media and of understudied materials, around five overarching themes: Women technology, modernism, fostering new lines of inquiry. language, and 20th-century Together, it aims to bring the Authors, 1800 to Today; Queer German history. Each of these poses marginalized into German Literature, 1800 to Today; Female and a series of questions to Studies not as diversity tokens Queer German Film; Female and Queer investigate anew these areas but as active partners in from the perspectives and recasting our field. German Music & Visual Art; and Race, voices of the underrepre- Ethnicity, and Migration in Germany. sented. Each module contains a syllabus and reading plan as well as sample lesson plans, discussion questions,
8 Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures Congratulations!
Numerous Awards for our Graduate Student Instructors
Katy Holihan has been selected by Rackham as Emily Gauld Emma Thomas a recipient of this year's Outstanding Graduate Congratulations to Emily Emma Thomas successfully Student Instructor Award. Gauld who will be Rackham defended her dissertation This well-deserved award Predoctoral Fellow for the in August 2019, Contested recognizes Katy's excel- 2020-21 academic year. Labors: New Guinean Women lent teaching, as well as The Rackham Predoctoral and the German Colonial her many contributions Fellowship is one of the Indenture, 1884-1914. Emma to teaching and to the most prestigious awards is in Australia at the moment department outside of granted by the Rackham but received a Post-Doc at the her own classroom. Only Graduate School. Awards Berlin Program for Advanced 20 awards were given to are based on the strength German and European GSIs throughout the and quality of dissertation Studies for the AY 2020-21. University of Michigan. abstracts, publications, Congratulations Emma! presentations, and faculty Apologies to Emma due to our Özlem Karuc is the recommendations. oversight in not including her winner of this year's in the winter newsletter. Frank Braun Prize for the outstanding Graduate Naomi Vaughan Student Instructor in the German department. This Naomi Vaughan successfully award is well deserved defended her well-researched for her wonderful work dissertation, The New Reich as a teacher, as an Chancellery in Representation. outstanding Graduate The Intermedial Architecture Student Mentor, and & Archive of Hitler's Space of on behalf of inclusive Power. Congratulations Naomi language teaching and for being a winter 2020 term more diversity, equity, PhD graduate! and inclusion.
lsa.umich.edu/german 9 DUTCH STUDIES
Deconstructing a Program by Annemarie Toebosch, Director of Dutch and Flemish Studies
The Uprising (a film added to Indonesians (https:// our curriculum), describes historibersama.com/ the difference as follows: liberation-for-who/). “Diversity initiatives give space to various perspectives, As we announce our 50th which means that a anniversary during this eurocentric perspective is pandemic, we postpone our maintained and other anniversary theme semester perspectives are added to Decolonizing the Netherlands exist side by side as equal. to winter 2021. Until then, It’s important to distinguish we wish everyone safety and diversity from decolonization, good health, and proudly which offers a critique of a look to 50 years of building eurocentric perspective and and rebuilding Dutch at offers an alternative.” Michigan with the following publication: https://www. Our question has then amazon.com/Dutch-Beautiful- become how to break down a Flemish-University-Michigan/ Eurocentric curriculum in a dp/1607855178 European-language program. Photo credit: Tim Dennell. Dutch and Flemish It’s a question that effects Detail from “March Against Studies (DFS) continued every programmatic choice. Racism 2018 – London.” its diversification this year, We answered it this year by starting with the addition of making changes to the Flemish-Dutch instruction human rights curriculum of and ending with a project the Anne Frank course, now with DFS alum Lucy Scott taught in a team-learning and sociologist Demi pedagogy with two teaching Gravenstijn to translate assistants in two groups of 50 the Dutch-language work students. We collaborated of writer Vamba Sherif, with race scholars around the which will be taught in our university on the Translating program next year (https:// Anti-Racism project (https:// shenandoahliterary.org/ sites.lsa.umich.edu/ thepeak/transcending- collaboratory/2020/02/03/ borders-to-global- translating-anti-racism/). And authorship/). In the process, we worked on a film-editing we have begun to carefully project with Marjolein van assess if our diversity Pagee, featuring a criticism of initiatives are also decolonial. colonial historiography by Pravini Baboeram, activist, Jeffry Pondaag, the force musician and filmmaker of behind restorative justice for
10 Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES
Scandinavian Program Updates by Johanna Eriksson, Director of Scandinavian Studies
In January, three third-year Nation, a student-run club. course meal, you find yourself Swedish language students New club members are and everyone else standing went to Uppsala University for introduced at the `Reccegask’, on chairs screaming songs in a study abroad experience, a formal academic dinner. Swedish.” excited to spend the According to Kari, “All the new semester in Sweden. Emily VG members gathered at the Right before the COVID-19 Wogaman, Kareen (Kari) nation and then marched pandemic, the second- Seres, and Daniel Frechette to the University building in year Swedish language experienced Swedish winter, single file fashion and met class was lucky to make it but after the coronavirus all the other nations who to Sweden for the annual outbreak, abruptly had to arrived in the same fashion. study trip. Fourteen students return to Michigan before After honoring the work of participated, and all of us spring arrived. They are now previous nation leaders and returned in good health. completing their Uppsala listening to speeches and Everyone in this group coursework remotely. I am choirs sing, we returned to enjoyed hiking, and were able thrilled to share with you our nations for a pre-drink, to go to the Kullaberg nature Second year Swedish in Lund. photo credit Cali Kinstner. that both Daniel and Kari are followed by a formal dinner, reserve, a beautiful rocky planning to return to Sweden and the after party! One could peninsula with steep cliffs for graduate school as soon easily assume that the after- and beech trees. The hikers In one way or other, our as they can. party is the wildest part, but went to pebble beaches collaboration will continue that is far from the truth. The and coves, through pastures for the 17th year! Kari Seres graduated from dinner portion is catalyzed by and woods, and accidentally the University of Michigan a starting toast and of course through marshes. Sonali Prasad and Thomas with a major in environmental a song to follow, and the Brooks, co-presidents of the studies and a minor in Scan- evening is sprinkled with choir Another special experience in Scandinavian Club 2019-20, dinavian studies this spring. performances and speeches, Helsingborg was winter kept the club active through- While at Uppsala University, and somehow just when you bathing in one of the three out the academic year with she was a member of Västgöta begin digesting your three- ocean bath houses with weekly fika, movie nights, ice traditions dating back to the skating at Yost, and parties. 1860s. After heating up in the Sonali is currently applying to sauna, everyone dared to medical school, and Thomas is jump into the very chilly water applying to teach English of Öresund, not just once, but in Korea. at least three times. Everyone agreed that winter bathing is Finally, many thanks to SWEA- a fantastic way to cure jet lag, Michigan and the Highfield as you feel simultaneously Foundation for generously very invigorated and calm supporting our students on after the bath. study abroad, SWEA MAME for the support of the Spring Because of COVID-19, Pro- break study trip, and to the Go blue by Rådhuset Helsingborg: front row: Erik Pedersen, Ezra Beehan, Civitas had to reschedule their Swedish Institute for the Jack Pennington, Eric Silver, Parker Clement, Audrey Lang, Sonali Prasad, Johanna Eriksson, Erin Andrews, Rachel Kushner, Malin Andersson, back annual visit to Ann Arbor for general support of our row: Cam Cain, Asa Huffaker, Cali Kinstner and Jonathan Lelo the following academic year. program. lsa.umich.edu/german 11 Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures 812 East Washington Street 3110 Modern Languages Building Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 -1275 (734) 764-8018 • www.lsa.umich.edu/german
Cover Images Top Left: Plassenburg Castle, Kulmbach, Germany (Rawpixel) Bottom Left: Man walking through the alps, Germany (Unsplash) Right: Freiberg, Germany photo by Sangga Rima Roman Selia (Unsplash)
Chair: Andreas Gailus Asst. Editor: Jennifer Lucas Layout: Laura Koroncey
The Regents of The University of Michigan Jordan B. Acker Michael J. Behm Mark J. Bernstein Paul W. Brown Shauna Ryder Diggs Denise Ilitch Ron Weiser Katherine E. White Mark S. Schissel (ex officio)
We stand together. The Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures unequivocally condemns the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, BLACK Tony McDade, and countless other Black victims at the hand of police and LIVES white supremacist violence. We unanimously avow that BLACK LIVES MATTER MATTER. For the full statement, please see our website, lsa.umich.edu/german.