Department of German Studies Statement on Diversity
At the University of Washington, diversity is integral to excellence. As representatives of German language, culture, and society in the American context, we have a particularly robust commitment to diversity. Modern Germany itself has become a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic nation, and we seek to represent this diversity in our teaching and research. Our aim is to train responsible world citizens through an approach to language, literature and culture that is mindful of cultural differences and shows respect for perspectives, values, beliefs, traditions and world views that have been shaped by different experiences and backgrounds. Students work with faculty and TAs whose backgrounds and interests represent diversity of all kinds. We strive to create welcoming and inclusive learning environments, promoting access, opportunity, equity, and justice for all. Individuals from historically marginalized and underrepresented groups, international applicants, immigrants and permanent residents constitute a vital part of our departmental community. We strongly support the diversity goals that have been set forth in the 2017-2021 UW Diversity Blueprint, the College's Mission Statement, and the Graduate School's 2011 and 2013 Diversity Reports.
The Department of German Studies expresses its full support for the statement from the German Studies Association's Initiative for Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion and shares its message that we all must work "in whatever capacity we can to educate ourselves and those around us about explicit and implicit racial bias, the weaponization of whiteness, and the insidious concomitant of white privilege that is killing African Americans today, as it has been for centuries.”
In connection with this statement, we would like to share some materials for study, reflection, and conversation offered by UW’s Department of American Ethnic Studies, the Seattle Public Library’s Toolkit for Anti-racism Allies, and the online collaborative document "Black Lives Matter - Ressourcen auf Deutsch” for German-language resources, books, texts, people, and organizations in Germany.
Scholarly initiatives specific to the German-speaking world include Diversity, Decolonization and the German Curriculum, the Black German Heritage and Research Organization, H-Black-Europe, the Black Central Europe Network, and the New Fascism Syllabus.
Resources
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Resources
- Diversity Resources in the German Classroom
- Diversity (DIV) Courses in the Department of German Studies
- Transcultural Approaches to Europe Lecture Series
- Diversity News
Department Committee Members
- Kye Terrasi (chair), kterrasi@uw.edu
- Jason Groves (faculty member), jagroves@uw.edu
- Brigitte Prutti (faculty member), triest@uw.edu
- Anna Malin Gerke (graduate student representative), agerke@uw.edu
- Undergraduate representative: TBD