Students in the Department of German Studies benefit from belonging to a small, supportive learning community with ample opportunities to engage in research, critical thinking, and special projects.
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An Outstanding Student Experience
Student Success Stories
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 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 4, 2021
Environments in the 21st Century: Migration, Climate, Extinction, In/humanness, Non-Humans and Beyond
This year-long seminar was structured around the idea that the concept of the Anthropocene challenges us to rethink our basic humanistic values: the centrality of speech for human expression, rational thought, the ability to reason and communicate, the demand for freedom, democracy, justice and human rights, and the creation of cultural expressions based on enlightenment values.
In close... Read more
February 14, 2021
Enter this portal to a
GALLERY OF SUPERHEROES
poised to save the world from bigotry, hatred, and environmental catastrophe!
Creative teams in "Heroines & Heroes" (German 285/ C LIT 251) worked together to produce three exciting installments in their heroes' adventures: an Exploit; an Origin Story; and a "Going Dark" episode. While doing so... Read more
February 14, 2021
The Tyranny of Empathy:
Feeling, Sentiment, and Propriety after the 18th Century
University of Washington Graduate Student Conference
Sponsored by the Department of German Studies, with the Departments of Art History, English, Drama, and Spanish & Portuguese Studies
Wednesday, March 10, 1:30-5:30pm
In the 18th Century, Western thinkers took up the Enlightenment project of binding societies into a single narrative, which continues to define modern... Read more