UIC
Issue 4
ster 2003
Spring Seme
European Connections :
Chicago,
Germany,
the World...
4
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New
A Message from the Provost
While going through the mail this spring, I came upon a new brochure for the University of Illinois. On
the front was a globe composed of colorful international images; the slogan printed across the top of the globe said
“At Home in the World.” UIC is, indeed, at home in the world.
Nearly 300 UIC students studied abroad last year, with 20 of them studying in German-speaking
countries, in cities including Berlin, Munich and Vienna. We also welcomed many students from overseas: Last fall,
UIC educated over 2000 foreign students, and the number grows every year. UIC has active international agree-
ments laying the framework for research and educational programs with 48 institutions in 34 countries. The
resulting partnerships enrich our students’ education and support groundbreaking research that might not be
possible without international cooperation.
Germanic Studies is, of course, integral to the international identity of UIC. The department’s award-winning faculty and programs awaken
students to the cultural riches of the world: by hosting foreign scholars and students; exploring German language, history, and culture; and promoting
research and inquiry. I hope that reading “German in a Global Context” will give you a glimpse of the fascinating world Germanic Studies brings to our
doorstep.
R. Michael Tanner
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
University of Illinois at Chicago
Strengthening US Ties to German-Speaking
Countries: UIC’s Contribution
Cover photos
The Chicago-Munich
Connection “The United States and Germany have built a solid foundation of bilateral
cooperation in a relationship that has changed significantly over five decades. The
Top Right: historic unification of Germany and the role the United States played in that
process have served to strengthen ties between the two countries. … As two of the
Dean Stanley Fish (UIC), world’s leading trading nations, the United States and Germany share a common,
Vice President Hannemor deep-seated commitment to an open and expanding world economy. The United
Keidel and Dr. Beate States is Germany’s second largest trading partner. At $29.1 billion, the United
Foerstl-Rattay (Technische States’ fifth largest trade deficit is with Germany. U.S. firms employ about 800,000
people in Germany; German firms likewise employ about 800,000 people in the
Universität München) United States.”
sign the exchange
agreement between UIC The above quotation from an official Background Note on Germany was prepared
and TUM. last year by the U.S. Department of State. It reflects the emphasis the University of Illinois
at Chicago is placing on the areas of research, teaching, and outreach in an effort to share
Bottom Left: knowledge and skills with professionals worldwide and to prepare future leaders in business,
science, the health professions, the humanities, and politics. Students and faculty have the
Towers of the
opportunity to develop the language skills and cultural literacy necessary to act in leadership
Frauenkirche in Munich, roles. Through exchange programs and internships abroad, the U.S. is developing connections
Germany for close interactions with other countries. The Department of Germanic Studies has focused
special attention on Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. UIC is sending students and faculty
German in a Global members from all disciplines to these countries. We have official exchange agreements with
Context the Humboldt University, Berlin, the Technische Universität München, Munich, and the
Wirtschaftsuniversität, Vienna. We have welcomed students and visiting faculty members on
is an annual publication
our campus from all three countries. Conducting global conferences, seminars, and symposia
of the Department of on both sides of the ocean contribute to mutual understanding, sharing, and achieving better
Germanic Studies at the results for local interests as well.
University of Illinois at
The theme of this year’s issue of German in a Global Context is the dynamic
Chicago.
collaboration of UIC with German-speaking countries that is alive in all of our Colleges and
Editors are disciplines. While Germanic Studies emphasizes culture, literature, film, and business, other
Helga W. Kraft, campus units interact globally in the areas of medicine, engineering, architecture and the arts,
Dagmar C.G. Lorenz and industry, migration and minority issues. German in a Global Context presents a small sample
of rich and vibrant transatlantic activities, such as enrichments through symposia and
Tracy Bartholomew
conferences; visiting professors, students and faculty traveling abroad to study and conduct
Design by research; interns learning international business; and professionals developing related ideas
Thomas Feltner and and working together on various projects. We are featuring some outstanding success stories in
Clare Knipper this issue.
2
2 Helga Kraft (Head) and Dagmar Lorenz (Interim Head 2003)
Germanic Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago
Upcoming Events Wednesday, March 3
“German Women in Chicago”
Stamm
FALL 2003 Co-sponsored by the Center for Research on Women
and Gender Studies
Friday, September 5, 4 pm, 1501 UH Symposium
Undergraduate Social for new and continuing Germanic Studies
students Wednesday, March 15, 1501 UH
Kerstin Behnke, Visiting Assistant Professor,
Wednesday, Sept. 10, 5 pm, 1501 UH UIC Department of Germanic Studies
New Series: Focus on Central Europe Lecture: Title to be announced
The Department of Germanic Studies, in collaboration with the Pelinka
Department of Slavic and Baltic Languages and the Jewish Studies Friday, April 2, 2:00-4:30 pm, 1501 UH
Program, has scheduled a series of events devoted to aspects of Graduate Student Symposium
Central European culture, past and present (see also Nov. 12, Jan. 14 & 28).
Dagmar C. G. Lorenz, Professor, UIC Dept. of Germanic Studies Wednesday, April 14, 2:00-5:00 pm
Film screening and discussion: Colonel Redl. Dir. István Szabó Department of Germanic Studies Awards Day
Wednesday, Oct. 1, noon, 1501 UH
Elke Liebs, Max Kade Distinguished Visiting Professor,
UIC Department of Germanic Studies Past Events
“Bertha von Suttner, the Early Peace Movement, and the First Steps Silberman
Toward the United Nations”
Lecture FALL 2002
Schmid
El-Tayeb
Monday, October 27, noon, 1501 UH
September 2002
Thomas Diekwisch, Professor, UIC College of Dentistry
Gabrielle Alioth, Swiss Writer
“Oral Biology and the Chicago Connection – From Vienna’s Nathenson
“The Enchanted Man, or How Woman Mastered Writing”
Coffeehouses to the Basement of UIC’s Wood Street Building and Into
Reading from her works
the Minds of American Dentists”
Lecture
October 2002
Wednesday, November 12, 5 pm, 1501 UH Daniel Eisenberg, Filmmaker
Focus on Central Europe “Persistence,” film screening and discussion
Alfred Thomas, Professor, UIC Department of Slavic and Baltic
Languages and Literatures November 2002
“Golems, Robots, and Femmes Fatales: Karel Capek’s ‘R.U.R’ Kathrin Roeggla, Austrian Writer Roeggla
(Rossum’s Universal Robots) in its Modernist Context” “Wild Weather,” readings and discussion
Lecture
Thomas Brussig, Film Director and Writer
Monday, November 24, noon, 1501 UH Deutsch
“Heimat: Chronicle of a Generation,” lecture
Elke Liebs, Max Kade Distinguished Visiting Professor,
UIC Department of Germanic Studies
“Das Verfahren der Verführung: Jean Paul’s novel Titan” SPRING 2003
Lecture
Friday, December 5, 3 pm, 1501 UH February 2002
Winterfest for Germanic Studies students and faculty Monika Schausten, UIC Scholar-in-Residence,
University of Cologne, Germany
SPRING 2004 “His-Stories: Autobiography and the Construction of
Identity in Gottfried von Strassburg’s Tristan,” lecture
Wednesday, January 14, 5 pm, 1501 UH
Focus on Central Europe March 2003
Sander Gilman, Professor, UIC Department of Germanic Studies and Marc Silberman, Professor of German, University
Director, Jewish Studies Program of Wisconsin, Madison
Film screening and discussion: Jacob the Liar. Dir. Frank Beyer “Popular Cinema, National Cinema and European
Integration: The German Case,” lecture
Tuesday, January 20, 2 pm, Institute for the Humanities Alioth
Sara Hall, Professor, UIC Department of Germanic Studies Heide Fehrenbach, Associate Professor of History,
“Watching the Detectives: Early German Detective Film and the Northern Illinois University
Urban Audience” “Toxi and the Postwar Nation: Black Occupation Children
Lecture in German Film after 1945,” film screening and lecture
Wednesday, January 28, 1501 UH
April 2003
Focus on Central Europe
Peter Stamm, Swiss Writer Suhr
“The New Central Europe at UIC”
Reading from his works Agnes and Blitzeis
Panel Discussion with Sander Gilman, Dagmar Lorenz and
Alfred Thomas Brussig
Hiltrud Häntzschel, University of Munich; DAAD
Early February, 1501 UH Visiting Assistant Professor in Germanic Studies, UIC
Peter Rosei, Austrian Writer “Die Judaistin Selma Stern und ihr erzwungener Para-
Ruthless and Other Writings digmenwechsel angesichts der Schoa 1945/46”
Reading and Discussion Lecture
Wednesday, February 25
Chicago Circle Center, UIC Campus
German High School Day
Wellbery 3
NEW: Our Ph.D. Students and their
Research Interests
Ph.D. in
The New Program
Thomas Achternkamp. Completed
There has been a major change in our graduate program: the his PhD at UIC in 2002. His disserta-
much-desired and hoped for Ph.D. in Germanic Studies at tion, Das Schattenjahr 1932, the
UIC has become reality.
Subject Between Crisis and Catastro-
In recent years Germanic Studies at UIC was able to in- phe in the Late Weimar Republic, has
crease the size of its graduate program substantially. Par- already been published by iudicium
ticularly on the Ph.D. level there was an increasing number Publishers, Munich, 2002.
of applicants from within the United States and overseas
who stated a specific interest in modern German and Aus-
Lilian Friedberg (ABD). Dissertation
trian Studies and focal areas the department had developed,
including Central European Jewish cultural studies, applied topic: A critical reception of Ingeborg
linguistics, and gender and women’s studies. Bachmann in English translation, with new thickly descriptive
translations of major works in prose and poetry.
Through its international visitors, distinguished Max Kade
and DAAD professors, writers, and filmmakers, and the hiring Andrea Reimann (ABD). Dissertation topic: From repre-
of experts in modern Germanic Studies, literature, culture, film, sentation to performance: Ethnic identity in Turkish-German
and language acquisition, our department had developed a films since the mid-1990’s.
national and international reputation which made it increasingly
attractive to highly qualified students. Claudia Fritsch. Imaging otherness from within: Visions of
In the academic year 2002/2003 our Ph.D. program indepen-
the serial killer in German film culture after 1945.
dent of UIUC was approved and implemented. The program
reflects the focal areas, activities, and scholarship of the Rebecca Mink. Rahel Varnhagen and Hannah Arendt,
UIC Germanic Studies faculty and affiliate faculty as well as Jewish studies, gender and women’s studies, Austrian litera-
the character of our department, located at the center of a ture, Yiddish, and questions of identity.
major metropolitan area, and the interests and specializa-
tions of our Ph.D. students. The future for Ph.D. studies in Bryce Shields. GDR studies, focusing on the early formative
German at UIC looks bright. One Ph.D. candidate, Lilian years 1945-53, philosophy and theory.
Friedberg, who also serves as Assistant Editor of The Ger-
man Quarterly and received Lincoln Fellowships for the Mary Joan Brilla. Applied linguistics and second language
academic years 2002/4, has already passed her preliminary
acquisition.
examination in the new program, and four more Ph.D. stu-
dents are preparing to take their exams in Fall 2003.
Rie Sumitani. Women in 18th and 19th century literature.
The new program offers our students the flexibility to de-
velop focal areas in studies in Germanic cultures, gender Alexandra Dimitrova. Travel literature with a focus on
and women’s studies, Jewish cultural studies, film studies, theory and early 20th century German women authors.
literature and literary theory, minority studies, intellectual
and philosophical studies, second language acquisition and Stacy Jeffries. Film, gender and modernity in German
language pedagogy, and contemporary social issues. The speaking countries.
program includes as an option an interdepartmental con-
centration in Gender and Women’s Studies and expects the Maria Rafalson. Spinoza, Jewish and Yiddish studies.
approval of a concentration in Jewish Studies by Fall 2003.
Habiba Hadziavdic. The “other” in circus and circus film.
Duosi Meng. Gender and women in early 20th century
4 German culture and literature.
Germanic Studies at UIC
UIC Joins Nationally
Ranked Departments
Sumitani Friedberg Rafalson
Reimann
Mink Fritsch
Hadziavdic
Brilla Dimitrova
Jeffries Meng
5
Shields
Four Exchange Students from Germany:
Their UIC Experience
Patricia Ebel, Berlin, Germany
Patricial Ebel first came to UIC in Fall 2000. She took part in UIC’s exchange program with the
Humboldt University, Berlin, organized by the Department of Germanic Studies. During her year at
UIC she studied German literature and culture and held a stipend as Research Assistant to the Head of
Germanic Studies and event coordinator. After a year back in Berlin, Patricia returned to UIC in Fall
2002 with a Max Kade Fellowship in order to complete a master’s degree. She received her M.A. in
Summer 2003. Her thesis focused on the German Jewish author Gertrud Kolmar and the representations
of space in this writer’s prose work. She was also selected to present a paper at the 10th Annual German
Studies Conference at the University of Virginia in February 2003. The topic of her presentation was the
construction of male identities in Arthur Schnitzler’s Traumnovelle and Stanley Kubrick’s film Eyes
Wide Shut. She also presented at the Graduate Student Symposium of the Department of Germanic
Studies at UIC and received the first prize for best paper and a cash award from the Robert Kauf
Memorial Fund.
Merlin Weber, Munich, Germany
Merlin Weber studied at UIC from August 2002 to May 2003 as an exchange student from the Technical University of Munich. This exchange
was initiated by the Department of Germanic Studies at UIC. Merlin was a graduate student in the College of Business at UIC, working
towards a master’s degree in business. Her specific research interests included real estate and international business. Merlin also played an
active role in promoting international exchange on our campus. Her comment: “I enjoyed my stay in the U.S./Chicago, it was the best
experience I ever had.”
Björn Wieders, Berlin, Germany
Björn Wieders studied at UIC from Fall 2002 through Summer 2003 as a participant in our Humboldt-
UIC exchange program. He held a Teaching Assistantship in the Department of Germanic Studies and
he took courses and seminars in Germanic and American Studies. In Spring 2003 he participated in a
course taught by LAS Dean Stanley Fish and Professor Walter Benn Michaels, Head of the Depart-
ment of English. When he returns to Germany, he will complete his M.A. in American Studies and
History. His specific research interests focus on film studies, particularly on theoretical explorations
of the documentary film tradition. He is also very interested in theory pertaining to “Realism” within
various academic disciplines.
Nora von Hagen, Berlin, Germany
Nora von Hagen studied at UIC from August 2002 to May 2003 in our exchange program with the Humboldt University, Berlin. She attended
courses offered by the Department of Sociology in their graduate program on the master’s and Ph.D. level. Her special research interests lie
in the area of migration, and she was excited to discover that the Sociology Department offered great courses in this field. During the spring
semester she became a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Sociology and taught three SOC 100 classes. She commented: “It was a great
challenge and a fantastic experience not only to study but also to teach sociology.” About her experience in general Nora noted: “I am very
thankful to the Humboldt University and UIC for this fantastic experience. I would not have wished to be anywhere else.”
6
Study Abroad: Five UIC Students
Describe Their
European Connections
Habiba Hadziavdic, Berlin 2001-02
“Culturally, I benefited considerably from my year in Berlin. I met many Germans and made
How did you new friends from Germany and Bosnia. I liked that mix, because at times when I would get
homesick I had my Bosnian friends. However, most of the time I was able to integrate myself
in German culture and speak German. Meeting people and talking to them was extremely useful.
benefit culturally It helped me put in perspective the texts I was reading and to better understand German
literature and film. From my professors in Berlin, I gained a different and new perspective on
from your studies
my studies.”
Nadia Juriga, Cologne 2002-03
in Europe? “I have learned much about German culture during my studies at the University. Because
Germany is a melting pot where many foreigners have found new homes, I was able to see how
other cultures are integrated there.”
Denis Halilovic, Munich 2002
“Working as an intern in Munich, Germany, had a great impact on my life. Sometimes we do not
even notice how fast we get used to a new situation or even a new country. We still believe that
we have the same point of view, and that our point of view is the right one. It is a wonderful and
sometimes an astonishing experience to look from outside at the country you live in. I found out
that we might not be what we believe we are, and that no country, nation or society is perfect.”
(See page 10)
Andrea Reimann, Berlin 2002-03
“After five years of studying German in the U.S. it has been wonderful to actually see some of
the places and people that I knew from books and films and think about them in terms of their
historical and cultural significance: Rosa Luxemburg Platz, Potsdamer Platz, Brandenburger Tor,
Alexanderplatz, Fassbinder-actress Irm Hermann, experimental filmmaker Birgit Hein, Rosa
von Praunheim, one of the “Gastarbeiterinnen” in Kutlug Ataman’s film Lola and Bilidikid
performing the role of Turkish writer Emine Sevgi Özdamar in a multi-media play and, to top the
fab list, Nina Hagen, whose hilarious “She wants to be a fish in the water” song has made so
many of my students at UIC laugh about these “crazy Germans.” I totally appreciate the great
variety of alternative culture and venues that Berlin has to offer and especially the programming
at art house theaters like the “Arsenal” on Potsdamer Platz, which shows films that can rarely
These graduate be seen anywhere else and often have Q&A sessions or lectures after the screenings. As my
dissertation is about Turkish-German films, living in the midst of the Turkish community in
students received Berlin-Kreuzberg has provided daily “field experience” at my doorstep. Talking to neighbors, a
local filmmaker, students, and stereo, furniture and Kebab dealers has given me a better idea of
stipends from DAAD just how diverse that community is--for instance in terms of social status, professional aspira-
and the Humboldt tions and linguistic competence. Recently, I experienced a kind of flashback to my work as a
German TA at UIC when I read the receipt I got for the used fridge I bought--the woman wrote
University or were ‘Kuk SRonk’ (for German Kühlschrank).”
placed in an
internship at BMW. Rebecca Mink, Berlin 2001-02
Since I spent some time in Vienna before, and since there are a lot of similarities between Vienna’s
and Berlin’s cultures, I didn’t really experience anything new culturally. Where I did grow was
in academic areas. Spending time at Humboldt University helped me to overcome my lack of
confidence in speaking German in a seminar. Before Berlin, I was afraid to speak much in
discussions simply because I was afraid of speaking German. Now however, I can speak a little
easier and assert my own thought and contribute more to our classes here. I am glad I
studied in Berlin for that reason alone.
7
Faculty Interconnects
Assistant Profes-
SARA HALL
Assistant Professor of Edu-
JOHN LONG cation, one of our Associate
Faculty and an Assistant Pro-
fessor in Policy Studies, has Chicago Austria-Germany tinued herwith
sor of Germanic
Studies has con-
in-
Chicago Berlin been busy lecturing on and re- volvement
searching members of the Af- an international network of scholars from the University of Washington,
rican Diaspora in Germany over the past the University of California at Berkeley, Harvard University, the Univer-
two years. He spent the 2001-2002 sity of Tübingen, and Vienna University. The members of the group share
academic year at the Humboldt Uni- a common research interest in discourses of modernity in Germany and
versity in Berlin as a Fulbright Profes- Austria. This collaboration began as a working group among graduate
sor, where he taught courses on the Af- students and faculty from Berkeley, Vienna and Tübingen and has grown
rican Diaspora in the United States and as the young scholars’ careers have taken them across the United States
Germany. and the globe. In its current formation, this working group is generously
supported by the Internationales Zentrum Kulturwissenschaften in Vienna,
He just completed a seven-day lecture where Professor Hall recently took part in a conference on “The Primitive
tour that took him to Munich, and the Metropolis.” The conference has generated a book which is under
Tübingen, Stuttgart, Nürnberg, and Ber- contract with Metzler Verlag, a German publisher. Professor Hall’s contri-
lin, Germany during the month of Feb- bution to the anthology of scholarly articles is entitled “Across the
ruary. Professor Long was invited by Threshhold of Modernity: Early Cinema and the Primitive in The Cabinet
the American Embassy in Germany and of Dr. Caligari.”
the Berlin Academy of Germany to give
a series of lectures throughout Germany
on the experiences of the African Diaspora in Germany in celebration of
Black History Month. Professor Long lectured at the German-American
ASTRID BOEGER The Fulbirght
Scholar from
Institute-Amerikanisches Zentrum, Munich; German-American Institute, Düsseldorf Chicago Düsseldorf
Tübingen; German-American Institute, Stuttgart; German-American In- University re-
stitute, Nürnberg, and the Amerika Haus, Berlin. ports: “When I came to UIC last fall,
my hopes were as high as those of any
In addition to speaking to a general German population, he spoke to Visiting Scholar embarking on a new re-
German students and teachers on this topic. At the Amerika Haus, Pro- search project which, in my case, is an
fessor Long addressed over 40 German high school teachers. At the investigation into the early American
Hohenstaufen-Gymnasium in Göppingen, a suburb near Stuttgart, Pro- world’s fairs, their architecture, art, and
fessor Long spoke to high school students and teachers on the subject of literature. Apart from the many tech-
the impact of Black History Month in the United States. nological innovations popularized at
these fairs, I believe that they were semi-
In addition to lecturing, Professor Long presented a photo exhibit on the nal in propagating a unified image of
African Diaspora in the United States and Germany, which he created and American culture and its growing inter-
first exhibited at the Humboldt University in Berlin during the summer of national import. Especially Chicago’s
2002. This exhibit, which was part of his lecture series, entitled “The famed “Columbian Exposition” of 1893
African Diaspora: One Soul -- Many People,” is a celebration of the offers seemingly endless materials, and much of my time these past months
Diaspora. It portrays the two faces of the Diaspora: freedom and pros- has been spent in the numerous excellent archives in the area. Not surpris-
perity today, and the discrimination and racism of the past. ingly, the more time I spend, the more surprises come up. For instance,
few people know that there was a serious attempt in the 1980s to put on
Because of the general interest in the African Diaspora and positive feed- a universal-class world’s fair in Chicago in 1992 intended to celebrate the
back from the viewers of the initial exhibit at Humboldt, Professor Long events of 100 as well as those of 500 years earlier. The fact that these
has produced a booklet, The African Diaspora: One Soul -- Many People, efforts failed rather dramatically, and the political reasons for their failure,
which includes photos from the exhibit and the history of the Diaspora. taught me a lot about the changing ideological concepts, effects, as well as
The American Embassy in Germany is distributing it to schools and cul- the inherent tensions of mega-spectacles such as world’s fairs are.
tural agencies throughout Germany. At the risk of stating the obvious, I should point out that my
research would not be nearly as satisfying if it were not for the supportive
academic community I found at UIC this year. While I profited greatly
from the exchanges with my friends and colleagues in the English Depart-
ment, which officially sponsored my stay as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar,
I also benefited very much from the contacts I have made in the Depart-
ment of Germanic Studies. In fact, from an outsider’s perspective, I found
the lived interdisciplinarity of University Hall (where many exciting
projects must have been conceived during those long elevator rides!) very
encouraging. I will return to Germany, where I am currently an Assistant
Professor of American Studies at Düsseldorf University, with bags full of
books and much more.
8
UIC Office of Germanic Studies Welcomes
International Affairs Our New Majors and Minors
Reaches Out
Majors
Sarah Ando
Major in Teaching
Nicole Apel Education in German
OIA Launches New Website Robert Beran Azra Hubjer
In April, the Office of International Affairs (OIA) went live with Christine Falk Carrie Keucker
a new website (www.uic.edu/dets/oia). The new site includes information Lisa Fortin
on OIA programs, other campus international programs, a campus calendar Krisha Germscheid
of international activities, institutional agreements, resources for faculty Amanda Giffort Minors
and students, as well as funding information for international activities. Dan Alverth
Iliana Perea
Benjamin Raatjes Jamey Cagney
OIA New Faculty Second Language Immersion Program Eric Clements
As part of the long-term effort to enhance international activities Jason Deptner
at UIC, a pilot begins in the 2003 summer term titled the UIC Faculty Majors with Business Clare Knipper
Language Immersion Program (Faculty LIP). Faculty LIP is funded and
organized by the Office of International Affairs.
Minor Christos Lampropoulos
Bogdan Budusan Samir Patel
The intent of Faculty LIP is to enhance international capacity at
UIC by developing faculty competence in foreign languages. The goal is to Mariana Eternod
have participants of the program improve their ability to conduct profes- Daniel Hauff
sional activity in the foreign language studied. Allen Schild
This non-credit workshop is open to faculty, senior administra-
tors, and senior academic professionals.
The initial Faculty LIP program is offered in Spanish in the
summer term 2003, from May 19- June 27. The two-term pilot effort will
Scott Fecho,
be assessed in the fall of 2004.
A faculty immersion program in German is scheduled for the
a German
summer term of 2004.
- Tim Winkler
Major, was
UIC
Homecoming
King in 2003
Congratulations to Our Recent
Graduates!
Majors Minors
We are Proud to Announce Gretchen Schulfer Stephanie Schoepfer-
Grosskurth
Neal Hansen
Darrel Ferguson Antonija Haskovic
Bogdan Markiewicz Nitika Pant
Agnes Szabo Nectarios Pittos
Winner of Meredith Anderson
Jonathon Tillotson
the UIC Scott Fecho
Teacher Friends of Germanic
Studies: Now More Than Ever
Recogni-
We Need Your Support
tion Award Please send your check of $20-$1,000
2003 made out to “Department of Germanic
Susanne Rott Studies UIC” to the address on the back of
the newsletter. We thank you for your
Director of Language Studies
Asst. Professor of Germanic Studies
support.
9
Internship Helps Create European
Connections
When I graduated as a double major in German and Computer made it possible for me to go there and enjoy myself, and I also really
Science at UIC in Spring 2002, the Department of Germanic Studies found for appreciate everything my colleagues at BMW did for me. It is so much
me the opportunity to receive an internship with the BMW company in easier for me to go to Munich and stay there now. I will never forget those
Munich, Germany. It was an experience of a lifetime. After graduation I 6 months in Munich, but I will not have a chance to forget it - my next trip
decided to see what it looks like in the real business world. To tell the truth, I to Munich is already planned...
knew that my undertaking was somewhat adventurous. But my “adventure”
was constantly being supported by one fact: I knew German! -Denis Halilovic
Even though you could also get an internship in Germany if you do
not speak German, your options are very limited. Without knowing German,
I would never have gotten this particular internship. My daily tasks included
dealing with vendors and presenting the progress of my project in a very
formal environment. Knowing German was a great help in every-day life, too.
Finding an apartment, discussing details with the phone company, opening a
bank account could be very challenging without a good knowledge of German.
To find an internship position is not very hard. There are many organizations
and web sites that offer you various help. The best way is to go directly to the
company’s web site and apply directly. But to find an interesting one that you
like and especially to convince your employer that you are really the one they
need is not necessarily easy.
The first request from BMW management was to call them and
SPEAK with them. If you think about that for a second - how could you
impress somebody if they do not understand what you are saying!? And
this is also my question for all those who always wondered and asked me
why I was double majoring. All I can say is that I am very glad I did it. I met
so many wonderful people. My employer and my colleagues became my
friends. It was really worth it. I would like to thank all of those people who Denis Halilovic (right) and colleague at BMW, Munich
An Undergraduate Success Story in
Global Education
David Boren, one of our dedicated students of German “The films addressed an important issue that every society faces––
language and culture, has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright violence––except with the German point of view. But even more
Award for 2003-2004. For this graduating senior learning German fascinating was that there were at least two German points of view,
was not enough, though. He is now taking on the challenge of living as there is apparently quite a divide between the East and the West.”
in Iceland for a year as a Fulbright Scholar, where he will learn mod- We asked David how his work in the Department of Ger-
ern Icelandic and conduct an original research project on the ethics manic Studies will inform his trip to Iceland. After noting the rel-
of the human gene bank project at the University of Akureyri. evance of the topics of our courses to all societies, David articu-
While he was not able to learn Icelandic from us (although lated the following thoughts on learning about Germany, Austria
it is a Germanic language), there is no doubt that our program has and Switzerland from our instructors and faculty: “Any time you put
influenced his attitude toward the study of language and culture in your feet in others’ shoes, you are more prepared to go to another
general. David says he was drawn to courses in the Germanic Stud- culture. Having examined these deep issues from different points of
ies Department because he had studied abroad in Germany before view, I will walk into Iceland with a broader perspective.” While at
coming to UIC, and he wanted to maintain his language skills. He UIC, David has focused the rest of his coursework on economics
was also inspired to take a course on Politics, Class and Gender and biology. He is interested in pursuing a medical degree when his
(GER 120, cross-listed with Gender and Women’s Studies as GWS fellowship period is over.
120) and to become a regular audience member at the Spring 2002 Wherever his studies and career take him, David will stand
film series “Faces of Terror.” He says of this series, as one of the best examples of what a UIC education offers: truly
global citizenship.
10 - Sara Hall
The Czech - German Connection
Interview with Dr. Alfred Thomas, Head of UIC Department of Slavic and Baltic
Languages and Literatures
Dr. Thomas, you are Head of the Department of SLAVIC AND BALTIC In addition to your admirable command of German, which other languages
LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES as of August 2003 and are working in do you speak? Would you comment on the importance of language learning
the field of Czech literature. As we have discussed earlier, you are interested in especially with regard to understanding European history and culture? What
Prague, a city that was home to important German-speaking writers,such as about Prague?
Kafka, Rilke, Meyerink, and Perutz. Given the common interest in Central I speak Czech, French, German, and Russian. But I also have a reading
Europe, do you envision ways that the Department of Germanic Studies and knowledge of Slovak, which is very close to Czech. A knowledge of these
your department could form links to co-operate with other units in the College languages is crucial if one wants to understand the phenomenon of Prague
of Liberal Arts and Sciences? since so many people from different cultures have written about it at one
I think that the way forward both at UIC and in the Slavic field generally is to time or another.
forge stronger links with other departments in an interdisciplinary fashion. In
the past Slavic Studies has had the unfortunate reputation in the Humanities It cannot be overstated in the present climate of cultural and economic
of being suspicious of and even hostile to outside ideas and methodologies. globalization that foreign language study is vital if the United States is to
Fortunately this separatist mentality has decreased in recent years as younger play a positive and beneficial role in the world. Studying languages (whether
scholars have entered the field. I believe that our University should be in the German, Polish or Arabic) will allow Americans to understand the cultural
vanguard of this kind of innovation. and political differences of other societies and to transcend the unfortunate
stereotypes about those societies that our TV media perpetuate in such an
Given my interest in Central Europe both as a geographic-cultural entity irresponsible way. In this sense the foreign language departments of our
and as a discipline with enormous potential, I envisage collaborating with colleges and universities are crucial to America’s participation in a civilized
those units in LAS such as Catholic Studies, Germanic Studies, Jewish world.
Studies, and History whose faculty could contribute in a pedagogical and
scholarly capacity to this growth field. I am very pleased that a start has How can, in your opinion, the connections between Chicago and Central
already been made and that you and Professor Sander Gilman are keen to Europe be made productive in academic programs and initiatives at UIC?
collaborate with my department in the future. I think that our proposed Apart from the ethnic links I discussed earlier, the major cities of Central
Colloquium on Central Europe, to begin in the fall, will be of considerable Europe— Berlin, Krakow, Prague, Vienna, and Warsaw— are undergoing
interest not only to the students and faculty at UIC but also to our col- major cultural and economic changes even as we speak. One only has to
leagues at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. think of the vibrant new architecture on and around the Potsdamer Platz in
Berlin to realize how exciting the region is from an artistic point of view.
UIC has a special position in a major urban area. How does the character of Chicago is also a wonderful city with extraordinary modern architecture.
this campus contribute to your academic interests and aspirations in Slavic So I think that the Great Cities Program is a marvelous resource for allow-
studies? ing our students to understand the affinities (as well as differences) be-
The obvious advantage of our campus is that it lies at the heart of a city with tween Chicago and the cities of Central Europe.
an enormous population of ethnic Slavs and Balts, in fact the largest Eastern
European city outside of that region! My Department was founded in 1968 Are there currently developments in your field of expertise that indicate
with the support of the local communities and continues to be supported by increasingly close ties between American and European researchers?
them. This year we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Serbian Studies at
UIC. My colleagues and I are looking forward to marking this event with the Since the fall of Communism scholars in the former Soviet sphere of influ-
local Serbian population in early May. ence have been increasingly exposed to new methodologies from the United
One of the things I want to do as head of the department is to continue and States and Western Europe. Feminism is one obvious example. My own
increase the liaison with the ethnic populations of Chicago in the form of research is geared toward reexamining Czech culture through a feminist
film series, public lectures, and so forth. lens. My forthcoming book Embodying Bohemia: Questions of Gender
and Sexuality in Modern Czech Culture is an attempt to revise the wide-
On the academic level, I am excited about the Great Cities Program here at spread perception that nationalism is the sole key to understanding the
UIC. Like Chicago, Prague is a great city. In the spring of next year I shall be cultures of Central and Eastern Europe and to restore Czech culture—
offering a new course entitled “Imagining Prague: the City in Literature, with its own rich tradition of modernism— to its rightful place in the
Art, and Film.” The idea of the course is to explore how writers and artists European experience.
have imagined Prague as a mental space rather than examine the city as a
topographical or geographical entity. Obviously the well-known writers to Interview conducted by Dagmar Lorenz
be discussed in this course are going to be Kafka, Meyrink, Perutz, and
Rilke. But Czech writers and filmmakers have also been fascinated by the
city (Nezval and Seifert in poetry, Hrabal and Kundera in prose) as have
writers from other cultures like France (Apollinaire and Camus) and Russia
(Tsvetaeva). In this sense Prague is more than the sum of its parts. Like
Venice and Paris, it has played a profound role in the modern European
imagination. And since the fall of Communism, Americans (especially young
Americans) have also been attracted by the city both as a site of tourism
and as a place to live.
11
Chicago.Vienna.
Reflections on a
Workshop and Symposium
October 10 and 11, 2002 at UIC
In conjunction with a larger Vienna-Berlin-Chicago project initiated 1918-1938 (1984) and Unzugehörig: Österreicher und Juden nach 1945
by Helga Kraft and Dagmar Lorenz, the symposium served the dual purpose (1989). Beckermann’s documentary films Wien Retour (1983), Die papierene
of showcasing the work of the Viennese avantgarde documentary filmmaker Brücke (1987), and Homemad(e) (2000) examine the Jewish past of Austria’s
Ruth Beckermann, Max Kade Artist-in-Residence in the Department of capital in the larger Central European context and highlight existential choices
Germanic Studies in Fall 2002, and launching the Vienna/Chicago phase of the faced by German-speaking Jews born after the Shoah. Beckermann subtly
project by bringing together experts in film studies, urban cultural studies, and
Jewish Studies to discuss the modalities for collaboration on the book and film
project Vienna-Chicago. The organizers of this project at UIC, Sara Hall,
“Chicago and Vienna ... have been centers of
Elizabeth Loentz, and Dagmar Lorenz, represent the disciplines crucial to the Jewish immigration from Central and Eastern
success of the project: film studies, Central European Jewish and Yiddish
culture, and Austrian- and German-Jewish cultural and literary studies. The Europe”
workshop/symposium was held at the UIC Institute for the Humanities.
The expertise of resident faculty in Austrian-Jewish and film studies juxtaposes the remnants of
was critical to the project. So was the input of Ruth Beckermann, who did and Jewish life in Vienna and
continues to do pioneering work in exploring and documenting pre- and post- Eastern Europe with the
Shoah Viennese society. For the symposium, scholars and critics were invited legacy of Nazi ideology
to explore with us the longe-range goals of our project and present scholarly and Nazi crimes. In one of
papers as a first step toward a collection of images and texts illuminating her most controversial
parallels between the Chicago and Vienna interwar immigrant culture and the films Jenseits des Krieges
differences and new interconnectivity resulting from the Shoah and the Jewish- (1996) she documents re-
Austrian exile experience. actions and attitudes of
Chicago and Vienna, major urban centers in the hearts of their visitors at the much-de-
respective continents, traditionally have been centers of Jewish immigration bated exhibition
from Central and Eastern Europe. The project compares and contrasts the fate Ve r n i c h t u n g s k r i e g .
of two historical immigrant neighborhoods in these two cities, Vienna’s Second Verbrechen der Wehrmacht
District and Chicago’s Maxwell Street neighborhood, that were for countless 1941 bis 1944 (War of Ex-
Jewish immigrants important way stations or final destinations. As is termination. Crimes of the
documented in images, personal statements, and scholarly articles, these German Wehrmacht),
neighborhoods attracted Jewish newcomers of similar backgrounds in the which took place at the
early 20th century. Despite severe social and economic difficulties, a diverse Vienna Alpenmilch-
and vibrant Jewish culture sprang up in both neighborhoods. In the 1930s and zentrale in fall of 1995.
1940s National Socialism put an end to Vienna’s Jewish culture. Tragically Beckermann has contrib-
and ironically Jewish life in Chicago and elsewhere in the United States uted to the Austrian web
received new impulses as a result of the Holocaust. Jews from all over Europe page “SOS-Mitmensch,”
brought with them their heritage, and Chicago became a haven of Jewish supporting human rights.
education and cultural activities. Success prompted families to move from the
Near West Side to more affluent parts of the city and the suburbs. The face of
the old immigrant neighborhood was changed forever as a result of the - Dagmar Lorenz
construction of the University of Illinois at Chicago and the closing of the
Maxwell Street Market. Vienna’s Leopoldstadt, on the other hand, continued
to be a magnet for immigrants despite efforts of gentrification. It became home
most notably to Turkish immigrants, and since the collapse of the Eastern
Bloc, to Jewish immigrants in Russia. Something like a post-Shoah Jewish
revival is taking place in Vienna’s traditional Jewish quarter with its new
kosher hotels and restaurants, Jewish bookstores, schools, and prayer houses.
A central topos of the works of our visitor Ruth
Maxwell Street,
Beckermann, who was born and raised in the Jewish community
of post-Shoah Vienna, is Jewish Vienna, past and present. She is Chicago
frankmcmahon.com/maxwellstreet/
12 the author of Die Mazzesinsel: Juden in der Wiener Leopoldstadt
images
Two Cities in Dialogue
Filmmaker Ruth Beckermann’s Homemad(e)
at the Gene Siskel Film Center
As part of Ruth Beckermann’s visit to UIC and a featured event be something we’re not getting. Her interviews explore her subjects’ sec-
during the Flashbacks Symposium, the Department of the Germanic Stud- ond and third phase of reflection, thought, and self-presentation.
ies organized a public screening of Beckerman’s latest documentary film Beckermann’s camera shows what comes to mind for people when they
Homemad(e). The film was shown on Thursday, October 10, 2002 at the have gotten their usual rants and dances off their chests (even when it is
Gene Siskel Film Center on State Street to a large audience that almost filled clear that it is nothing that comes to mind.) These interviews exist in a
the Siskel Center’s main theater. This event marked the North American plane apart from the usual poles of home movie versus TV interview. And
premiere of this thought-provoking work on identity and community. Pro- as political history would have it, her view into the private world of these
fessor Sara Hall introduced the film and its filmmaker; Ruth Beckermann Viennese residents would come to include impressions of recent events of
participated in a lively discussion with the audience, who would have gladly enormous magnitude in the public sphere. National elections were taking
stayed on for more questions and answers if there had not been a crowd place during the beautiful fall season in which Beckermann was making her
waiting at the theater doors for the next movie on the program. film, and one in three Austrians voted for Jörg Haider of the extreme right-
Homemad(e) uncovers the past and present of Vienna’s Second wing Freedom Party. These elections brought about not only a change in
District, an historic Jewish neighborhood that now displays all the diver- political leadership, but also a spate of opposing demonstrations and inter-
sity of a global migration station. From the summer of 1999 through spring national debates over sanctions and reprimands against the reactionary
2000, Beckermann traversed the territory outside her own front door, cam- xenophobic policies of the Freedom Party. Political change created ripples
era in hand. Her film takes us through Marc-Aurel-Strasse where we meet in the lives of the residents of Marc-Aurel-Strasse, ripples which become
the last Jewish merchant in the old, before the pogrom of 1938 predomi- folds in the fabric of Beckermann’s narrative.
nantly Jewish textile district, an Iranian hotel owner, a representative of The audience on October 10 found this documentary both
Vienna’s new multicultural, largely Muslim population, and the regulars at enjoyable and challenging. In it they discovered an intimate urban ethnog-
Café Salzgries. The result is an engaged commentary on the reality of multi- raphy that reminds us that the places where we feel the most at home are
cultural urban life in the face of xenophobic tendencies expressed in national also the places where we experience most profoundly the things that drive
political debate. us mad.
As the film’s title, and in particular its unusual presentation on - Sara Hall
the page indicate, this film is characterized on one level by a sense of
comfort and familiarity. The film is itself something homemade, it is a work
that Ruth Beckermann made in her own neighborhood with the accessible
and portable technology of digital video. The people it introduces are at
home together on one street, where they enjoy a sense of belonging and European Filmmaker Ruth Beckermann
rootedness. But everyone who plays a role in Homemad(e) eventually
comes around to touching on the fact that this belonging exists in spite of
various factors. Taken as a whole, one might say that the comfort and
belonging are there in spite of history, that is, historical events as they have
shaped the times before ours and the events of today that will soon become
tomorrow’s reminiscences. But, as Beckermann has shown in her other rich
and provocative films, history is not an academic matter regarding the pub-
lic past alone. History defines even our most quotidian present moments,
and it is the friction and the collusion between past and present that give rise
to the parentheses in the title.
Beckermann committed to a full year of recording the footage
that made its way into this film. She carried her DV camera with her day-in
and day-out. She talked to the people whose paths she crossed again and
again and she leaves her interviews with them uncut. We are allowed to hear
them say all the things that people think and say after another filmmaker
might have turned the camera off. Beckermann answers the documentary
viewer’s perpetual burning insistence that there must be more, there must
13
Interview: Dr. Tom Diekwisch
Brodie Professor, College of Dentistry
Dr. Diekwisch, you hold the Allan G. Brodie Endowed Chair for Orthodon-
tic Research at UIC and are Director of the Brodie Laboratory for Cranio-
facial Genetics. Coming from Germany and having studied there and in the
USA, how do you assess the interaction between experts in your field on both
sides of the Atlantic?
Virtually non-existent between Germany and the U.S. Interestingly, the
entire area that includes Craniofacial Genetics, Craniofacial Molecular Biol-
ogy, Embryology, and Biology of Dental Tissues is effectively not repre-
sented in German-speaking countries. There are isolated spots of limited
activity, and recently there have been a few good genetic studies coming out
of Germany, but it’s quite astonishing that the area as a whole has vanished
from German-speaking countries.
Would you briefly explain to our readers what is involved in your work here
and how it differs from the theoretical framework in your field in Germany,
Austria, and Switzerland?
We are working on the genes and molecules that are involved in the making “In the recent decade, collaborations
of the face, the head, and especially the teeth. It’s the biological side of
dental research. Dental research in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland al- between the US and Europe have
most exclusively focuses on materials research and fine-mechanical engi- certainly increased.”
neering. On a broader level it’s kind of interesting that pretty much every
American dental school (and there are more than 50) has a Periodontal ever. Europe by in large is still using removable appliances (activators,
Department while in Germany (about 30 dental schools) they have only plates) in Orthodontics, a technique that has turned out to be very gentle
two or three, and there are even tendencies to close those three departments and healthy for the teeth involved in orthodontic treatment. The U.S. on the
and to incorporate them into restorative departments. In a nutshell, America other hand is strong in fixed appliances (multiband) which in some cases
is looking at the biology of the oral cavity while the German-speaking can be damaging to the tooth roots. Europe has a fantastic school in
countries have become sophisticated mechanics. functional orthodontic strategies and Americans regularly come to Europe
to learn about them.
When we met at our departmental symposium “Flashbacks: Chicago and
Vienna. Two Cities in Dialogue” in October 2002 you told me that you are Are there currently developments in your field of expertise and the medical
a member of a school of professionals that is a part of Austrian Jewish exile profession in general that indicate to you increasingly close ties between
history, namely that after the Nazi takeover in 1938 the members of your American and European researchers?
entire discipline left Europe and prospered in the United States. Would you In the recent decade, collaborations between the U.S. and Europe have
say a few words about this unusual situation? certainly increased. There is some good collaboration between America,
It’s kind of what I mentioned earlier already. In Austria, especially in pre- France, and England especially. Typical scenarios are that young research-
war Vienna, there was a strong group of physician-scientists who special- ers from one country visit the other or that researchers collaborate in areas
ized in dentistry. They were mostly Jewish and they flourished in this of different expertise. But interactions between both continents are defi-
particular setting of being a part of a unique urban intellectual culture. They nitely improving.
laid the basis for the biological side of dental research (oral biology). Being
Jewish, most of them were forced to emigrate during the war and settled in
America. Especially Chicago became a new center for their activities. With
their textbooks, teachings, and research, they helped to establish this new Interview conducted by Dagmar Lorenz
discipline in the United States. At the same time, the entire discipline
disappeared from central Europe. I always say, they took the entire disci-
pline with them in their suitcases.
Professionals working in an international context often stress that to be
most effective a certain degree of cultural as well as linguistic literacy is
required. What role does German dentistry play in the global professional
arena? Would researchers and professionals in your field benefit from a For more information on Dr. Diekwisch and the Brodie Laboratory,
knowledge of German language and Central European culture?
go to dentistry.uic.edu/CraniofacialGenetics
Interesting question. I admit that I am biased. I am not sure how much there
is to learn from German dentistry, at least from my perspective. They are
doing fine prosthetic reconstructions here in the U.S., but I guess if you
want the ultimate in terms of mechanical perfection, you’d con-
nect with some of the German or Swiss leaders in prosthodontics.
14 There is one sub-discipline which is worthwhile mentioning how-
Kinder Lernen Deutsch
Early Start in Global Education in Chicago Public
Schools: A New UIC Program
The University of Illinois at Chicago is the forerunner
in outreach efforts in the Chicago school system by training
qualified teachers, creating curriculum materials, and providing
support in developing and maintaining German programs at all
levels.
Our new program Kinder lernen Deutsch is a program
sponsored by the Department of Germanic Studies in coopera-
tion with the American Association of Teachers of German. It
introduces children in local elementary schools to the German
language and culture through fun, communicative activities taught
by UIC-trained instructors. Kinder lernen Deutsch provides an
excellent opportunity to introduce children to German and help
them establish a solid foundation for middle and high school
instruction in German. Kinder lernen Deutsch is an innovative
way to spark interest in German early on. The mini-courses
offered are designed to reinforce higher interest later on for high
school German programs. As a goal we envision German to
remain a strong part of the curriculum in Midwest schools.
Our first effort to organize a strong outreach program
in Fall of 2002 was very successful due to our dedicated and
hard-working UIC Teaching Assistants. Last fall, after going to
special training workshops, Katja Amboldt and Naoko Hironaka
enjoyed teaching 5-week introductory courses at the elementary On-going activities
school level at two different Chicago Public Schools in Lincoln
Park. Katja taught third-graders at Agassiz School, a school that In May 2003 the Kinder lernen Deutsch program
focuses on the arts and humanities. Both she and the third- · organized teacher training and materials development workshops
graders didn’t know what to expect from each other at first, but · initiated additional five-week mini-courses in local elementary
after the first lesson, both Katja and the students were looking schools.
forward to her next visit. The second school, Alcott Elementary In Summer 2003
School, was delighted by Katja and Naoko’s dynamic team- · German summer school immersion programs will take place at
teaching approach in the fourth-grade classrooms. The fourth two local Chicago public high schools, north and south. They are
graders made steady and quick progress throughout the course, designed for beginning learners entering high school. This sum-
which left both the learners and the instructors wishing for more mer program will offer learners a head start before beginning a
time together. Both principals expressed support and gratitude regular German classes in their high schools this Fall.
for the wonderful opportunity. · A teacher workshop will be held.
We are looking forward to continuing and expand-
ing our work with a new grant we just received from the
TAT (Project Teaching All Teachers) program of the Col-
lege of Education at UIC. Additional funding has also been
provided by the Goethe-Institut of Chicago.
-Mary Joan Brilla
Please contact Mary Joan Brilla
(mary-joan-brennan@yahoo.com) or Tracy
Bartholomew (tracyb@uic.edu) if you are
interested in the program or wish to volunteer
in any capacity for Kinder lernen Deutsch.
15
Boundaries Crossing Boundaries. Jewish Identity
and Jewish Writing in German after 1980
DAAD Summer Seminar at the Einstein Forum, Potsdam. June 25-July 20, 2002
In 1998 Sander Gilman, Professor in the
UIC Department of Germanic Studies, Director of
the UIC Jewish Studies Program and Director of the
UIC Humanities Lab, initiated the first DAAD Sum-
mer Seminar at the Einstein Forum. The 2002 semi-
nar was the second such event, which came about
due to the collaboration of the Department of Ger-
manic Studies, the Humanities Lab, the Einstein
Forum, and the DAAD (German Academic Exchange
Service).
The Seminar was designed and taught by
Professor Dagmar C. G. Lorenz, Germanic Studies,
UIC. The course offered English-speaking academ-
ics of different rank and experience the opportunity
to explore new topics and issues. The twelve semi-
nar participants, experts in Central European Jewish cultural studies, came from
universities and colleges in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. The Faculty during a visit to the Simon
participants were invited on the basis of their research record and the quality of Dubnow Institute, Leipzig
their applications, notably their proposals for projects to be undertaken in con-
junction with the seminar.
The diversity of points of
A special opportunity for studying views within the seminar
DAAD Seminar Participants
reflected the partici-
and networking for US faculty was pants’ particular disci- Rita Bashaw (German Studies), University of
Minnesota-Twin Cities
occasioned by an invitation to the plines and approaches.
Richard Bodek (History), College of Charleston
The site of the seminar,
Simon Dubnow Institute in Leipzig. the Einstein Forum in Iris Bruce (Comparative Literature, German
Potsdam, was an ideal Studies), McMaster University
venue for the DAAD Summer Seminar. Professor Susan Neiman, Director of the Roland Dollinger (German), Sarah Lawrence
Einstein Forum, and her staff had been in charge of the overall arrangements such College
as inviting guest lecturers upon the request of the seminar coordinator. The guest Petra Fachinger (German Literature), Queen’s
speakers included the Viennese prose writer, historian, journalist and political ac- University, Kingston, Ontario
tivist Doron Rabinovici, the Berlin-based novelist Jeannette Lander, born in the Cathy Gelbin (German and Jewish Studies),
USA to Polish-Jewish immigrants, the German-Jewish poet, prose writer and jour- University of Manchester
nalist Esther Dischereit, and the Viennese filmmaker and journalist Ruth Beckermann. Sonja Hedgepeth (German and Jewish Studies),
The seminar consisted of formal class sessions in which the participants Middle Tennessee State University
discussed literary, critical and historical texts and films and introduced their indi- Hillary Herzog (Germanic Studies), University
vidual projects. Once a week a public lecture or a film screening took place. A of Kentucky
special opportunity for studying and networking was occasioned by an invitation Todd Herzog (German Literature), University of
to the Simon Dubnow Institute in Leipzig. The excursion to Leipzig and Weimar Cincinnati
extended from July 10 to July 14 and included the regularly scheduled seminar Eva Kuttenberg (German Studies), Albion
sessions and additional special events organized by the Dubnow Institute. A College
group of seminar participants took the opportunity to visit Buchenwald, site of the Benjamin Lapp (History), Montclair College
Nazi concentration camp, which after the war became a Soviet internment camp for William Tannenbaum (Jewish History), Mis-
German political prisoners. souri Southern University
A collection of articles based on the research conducted in the
framework of the seminar is planned, and it is the seminar participants’ goal to
edit and publish the articles on the individual research projects
16 within the next academic year. - Dagmar Lorenz
Fall 2003: Visiting Distinguished
Max Kade Professor Potsdam •inDie pädagogische Insel. Studien zur Rezeption des “Robinson Crusoe”
deutschen Jugendbearbeitungen. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1977.
Through the support of the Max Kade Foundation, we were • Das Ich als Schrift. Über privates und öffentliches Schreiben heute.
able to invite the distinguished scholar Dr. Elke Liebs to our campus. She Baltmannsweiler: Pädagogischer Verlag Burgbücherei Schneider, 1984.
will add a European perspective of scholarship and teaching for faculty (Co-editors J. Hein, H. H. Koch)
and students alike.
Professor Liebs received her Ph.D. in German Literature with Professor Elke Liebs will be teaching two courses and hold one
a Minor in English and Psychology at the University of Stuttgart, Ger- seminar in the Department of Germanic Studies in Fall 2003. Professor
many. She completed her Habilitation in German Studies in 1985 at the Liebs will also present two public lectures on campus (University Hall
University of Münster, Germany. In 1989 she came to the U.S. as a Max 1501, The Max Kade Media Center). For details see page 3.
Kade Professor at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. Subse- Students will have the opportunity to enroll in the following
quently she took a position of Professor and Chair of the Department of courses for Fall 2003:
German at the University of Oregon, Eugene, where she stayed until Ger 100, Representing Conflicts in German Literature and Film.
1994. She returned to Gemany and is now Professor at the Institut für A general education course.
Germanistik at the Universität Potsdam, Germany. Ger 219, German Fairy Tales. The course addresses the socio-
Professor Liebs’ work is influenced by her wide interests which logical and cultural implications of the fairy tale collection of the Grimm
evolved in conjunction with additional training as a Speech Psychothera- brothers, as well as the
pist, her acquisition of a MS in Library Science, and her study of English
and Theology at the Universities of Heidelberg and Tübingen.
diaspora and re-writings of the
stories in modern times.
Ger 422, Consider-
Elke Liebs
Publications: ing War. This seminar for
• Theodor Fontane. Ein deutscher Dichter im 19. Jahrhundert. Potsdam: graduate students and ad-
Medien Pädagogisches Zentrum, 2001. (Co-writer: Klaus-Peter Möller) vanced undergraduates focuses
on documents and representa-
• Mütter-Töchter-Frauen. Weiblichkeitsbilder in der Literatur. Stuttgart: tions of war.
Metzler, 1993. (Co-editor Helga Kraft)
• Das Köstlichste von allem. Von der Lust am Essen und dem Hunger
nach Liebe. Zürich: Kreuz-Verlag, 1988.
• Kindheit und Tod. Der Rattenfänger-Mythos als Beitrag zu einer
Kulturgeschichte der Kindheit. München: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1986.
Fall 2002: DAAD Visiting Asst. Prof. Spring 2003: DAAD Visiting Asst. Prof.
Barbara von Bechtolsheim Berlin Hiltrud Häntzschel Munich
Dr. von Bechtolsheim studied Dr. Häntzschel received her
Biology (Bonn and Kansas) and German Ph.D. in Germanic Studies at the Univer-
Studies (Munich and California). She re- sity of Göttingen, Germany. She taught
ceived her Ph.D. in 1987 from Stanford Uni- at the University of Munich and lectured
versity. in India, the United States, and Korea. She
Her research interests include the also works as a literary critic for the
international adaptation of the fairy tale and Süddeutsche Zeitung and Bayrischer
American women writers, and she has pub- Rundfunk.
lished several articles on these topics. She is Her research interests are in the
also very active as a translator of literary area of the Weimar Republic, biography,
works. She has translated and published, for exile literature, and the Holocaust and Jew-
instance, texts by Stephen Gilligan, Robert ish culture, with an emphasis on gender and women’s studies. Presently
Dilts, Erich Maria Remarque, Francis Ebejer, she is working on a biography on Marieluise Fleisser and her book, Brechts
and Adrienne Rich, and she is co-translator of works by Toni Morrison and Frauen, was published this year by Rowohlt publishers.
Joyce Carol Oates. During her term as Visiting Professor in our department, Dr.
Dr. von Bechtolsheim has worked at the University of Düsseldorf, Häntzschel taught an introduction to Germanic literature course and a gradu-
with the Goethe-Institut, and as a freelance journalist for the Süddeutsche ate seminar on Marieluise Fleisser, and she gave a public lecture on Selma
Zeitung and Deutschlandfunk, WDR. Stern, a Jewish women writer (for details see page 3). Other publications
As a Visiting Assistant Professor at UIC she taught a general by Dr. Häntzschel include:
education course on the German fairy tale and a seminar on 19th century • “Diese Frau ist ein Besitz”: Marieluise Fleisser aus Ingolstadt: zum 100.
German literature. Geburtstag. Marbach am Neckar: Deutsche Schillergesellschaft, 2001.
• Irmgard Keun. Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt Taschenbuch, 2001
• Bedrohlich gescheit: ein Jahrhundert Frauen und Wissenschaft in
Bayern with Hadumod Bussmann. München: Beck, 1997.
17
Recent International Publications
from Germanic Studies, UIC
Sander Gilman, Distinguished Professor
Jurek Becker: Die Biographie (Berlin: Ullstein, 2002)
Dagmar Lorenz, Professor
A Companion Guide to the Works of Arthur Schnitzler
(Rochester: Camden House, 2003)
Astrida Orle Tantillo, Associate Professor
The Will to Create: Goethe’s Philosophy of Nature
(Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2002)
Goethe’s Elective Affinities and the Critics
(Rochester: Camden House, 2003)
Hiltrud Häntzschel, Visiting Asst. Professor
Brechts Frauen (Reinbek: Rowohlt, 2002)
Duosi Meng, Doctoral Student
Partner, Passenger (Episodes 1 and 2), Botho Strauss. Chinese Translation.
(Hebei Education Publishing House, 1995)
Thank you for your generous support of our
Max Kade Foundation
Helga Kauf-Berman
program We also are grateful to a
DER, Destination Europe number of anonymous
donors who have made
Columbia Club of Chicago
large contributions
Murphy/Jahn Architects
Bosch Corporation
Insurance Corporation of Hannover
West Suburban Imports
Laurel Motors Dealer Group
Marianne & Milton B. Carus
Terri Rowenhurst
Elizabeth M. Cozzi
Ingeborg W. Smith
Lieselotte Gengler
Robert J. Wirtschafter
Lee B. Jennings
Leroy R. Shaw
Naoko Hironaka
Gabriele Doyle Columbia Club President Hedda Hess and German
Goethe-Institut/Internationes Consul General Dr. Alexander Petri in conversation
Austrian Consulate General Chicago during the 110th celebration of the Columbia Club,
May 4, 2003.
German Consulate General Chicago
Swiss Consulate General Chicago
18
Cutting Edge Technology for Learning:
Kade
The New Max Kade Media Center
In 2001 the Department of Germanic Studies received a The room also serves faculty as a meeting place for de-
grant of $12,000 from the Max Kade Foundation to create a media partment and committee meetings and provides the entire depart-
center, and since then, the Max Kade Media Center, located in ment with an ideal location to hold small symposia, lectures, and
University Hall 1501, has become a center for numerous depart- other scholarly events.
mental activities. An additional donation of $1,000 from the Max Kade Foun-
The room is a media and resource center for graduate and dation in 2002 will help the department maintain and expand this
undergraduate students in Germanic Studies and replaces a more important center of research and activity.
conventional library setting. Modern workstations equipped with -Tracy Bartholomew
computers and flat-screen monitors provide Germanic Studies stu-
dents access to electronic resources on and off campus and on
CD Rom. A modern projector allows the viewing of videotapes
and DVDs in American and continental formats on the large pro-
jection screen. A scanner and printers enable students to produce
first-rate research, seminar, and teaching materials on site in the
department. Scholarly resources available to students and faculty
include books on reserve for seminars, publications by visiting
scholars, general reference works in printed and electronic for-
mats, selected journals, and a growing film library.
19
New Awards will send UIC Students
to Germany
Three Max Kade travel grants in the amount of $1,000 each were awarded to
three students traveling to Munich on UIC’s 4-week German Summer Program
2003, organized in collaboration with the Technische Universität Munich.
On April 15, 2003, Germanic Studies held its annual Awards Ceremony. Key-
note speaker was the new Director of the Chicago Goethe-Institut, Dr. Rüdiger
van den Boom. UIC students studying German language, culture, and litera-
ture received cash and book awards for excellence in scholarship. Various
sponsoring agencies and individuals have contributed generously to our
awards fund. We are especially thankful to the Kauf family and their endow-
ment allowing us to award $1,000 to a graduate student for excellence in
scholarship and $500 to two teaching assistants. This year the Kauf Memorial
Awards went to Patricia Ebel, winner of the Graduate Student Symposium, and
to Alexandra Dimitrova and Stacy Jeffries for their excellence in teaching. In
addition, we thank the Max Kade Foundation for three Max Kade Fellowships in
the amount of $13,000 each for distinguished graduate students. The Max
Kade Fellows selected for next year are Rebecca Mink, Bryce Shields, and
Marc James Mueller. The Chicago Columbia Club has continued their long
tradition of funding an award of $300 for a superior German major. Additional
awards to outstanding undergraduates in the amount of $100 - $300 were
presented to nine deserving undergraduate students (from the Flaherty/
Friedrichs Endowment Fund and other departmental funds).
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