You are here
Recent News
May 24, 2021
I have such fond memories of my time at the University of Washington, where I majored in European Studies and minored in German. Those experiences, from German Film Noir, to a course (and performance) on Brecht's The Threepenny Opera, to my classes on German Politics have shaped much about how I think about European politics in my current career as a political scientist. Beyond studying the language, the ideas that percolated from Denny Hall helped me understand the... Read more
May 20, 2021
Convocation Program
Thursday, June 10, 2021
3:00 p.m.
Online Meeting Link
Welcome Professor Sabine WilkeDepartment Chair
Graduation Address Elena SimmsDeputy Consul of Germany, SF Consulate General
Graduation of Class of 2021 Professor Jason Groves
Graduation of MAs and PhDs Professor Ellwood... Read more
May 18, 2021
This academic year was one of milestones. In March, I successfully completed my Ph.D. exams and defended my prospectus. I am now starting the hard part of writing the first chapter of my dissertation, which examines how authors from former Yugoslavia use foreign words when writing in German about the traumatic experiences of their communities, to give a voice to those communities who had previously been ignored by those in power. I am excited to continue working with Prof. Jason Groves on this... Read more
May 18, 2021
In order to get my “Seattle fix” and visit old friends, I had planned a trip for spring break of 2020, which, of course, got derailed by the beginning pandemic. Now there’s hope to return to Seattle in the near future to take in cherry blossoms in the quad, marvel at the “magic mountain” Rainier in the distance, and eat lots of tasty PNW food. While life in Southern California is quite pleasant and the great outdoors always beckon, Seattle and UW continue to be my personal North Star.
In my... Read more
May 17, 2021
I miss Seattle!
As a graduate student who will be graduating this June, I only spend one year’s time at Seattle due to the pandemic, now I am having online classes in my home country and I really miss everything in Seattle now.
Studying at the University of Washington is something I did not expect to happen in my life. I feel grateful that the Germanics Department offers me the fellowship to support my dream and the teaching opportunity enriches my own career development, I have so many... Read more
May 17, 2021
This year I am excited to be able to present some of my recent research at the upcoming GSA conference, which will be held in a hybrid format in Indianapolis, Indiana. As part of a panel exploring modes of nonhuman subjectification, I look forward to giving a talk entitled “Infectious Identities: Mensch, Mücke, and the Sanguine Sisterhood of Carmen Stephan’s Mal Aria (2012).” Stephan’s novel (which I can wholeheartedly recommend!), is notable not least of all for... Read more
May 17, 2021
This year I was the recipient of the Antoinette Wills Endowed Fund for Graduate Students, a scholarship that has provided me the opportunity in an all too difficult year to make progress in my scholarly work. Most importantly, I have developed further the second chapter of my dissertation, which delves into one of Goethe’s most famous works, Faust. First and foremost, I define Goethe’s concept of catastrophe, characterizing it as, in the words of Fritz Breithaupt, an “event-that-should... Read more
May 17, 2021
After spending a year teaching English language and culture courses at the Westfällische-Wilhelms Universität Münster, Jeffrey returned to the University of Washington to continue his PhD. In the past year, he has taught courses at the WWU and UW, finished his prospectus, co-organized an interdisciplinary conference, advised the department’s German Club, and is currently participating in an ongoing graduate student workshop on Romanticism studies.
Jeffrey was able to continue remotely teaching... Read more
May 14, 2021
This March, I successfully defended my dissertation titled “Invisible Dangers: the Presentation of Modern Environmental Threats and the Anthropocene in Contemporary German Literature.” In my research I analyze how literary narratives depict modern ecological threats such as climate change or nuclear disasters that we as human individuals cannot see with our own eyes. Here, I identify three recurring strategies that these literary texts employ to refer to these hazards. First, these literary... Read more
May 5, 2021
What happens when you sell your soul to the devil?
Was Shakespeare actually German?
Just how relative is time and does that affect deadlines for this course?
Whether we know or not, many of the questions that we ask ourselves to makes sense of our lives have a rich history in German speaking lands. From the structure of the modern university to the birth of psychoanalysis, from the Protestant Reformation... Read more