News in German Studies
Carl Gelderloos, Biological Modernism
Prof. Gelderloos' new book—Biological Modernism: The New Human in Weimar Culture—has been published by Northwestern University Press.
Biological Modernism identifies an intellectual current in the Weimar Republic that
drew on biology, organicism, vitalism, and other discourses associated with living
nature in order to redefine the human being for a modern, technological age. Contrary
to the assumption that any turn toward the organic indicated a reactionary flight
from modernity or a longing for wholeness, Carl Gelderloos shows that biology and
other discourses of living nature offered a nuanced way of theorizing modernity rather
than fleeing from it.
Organic life, instead of representing a stabilizing sense of wholeness, by the 1920s had become a scientific, philosophical, and disciplinary problem. In their work, figures such as Alfred Döblin, Ernst Jünger, Helmuth Plessner, and August Sander interrogated the relationships between technology, nature, and the human, and thus also radically reconsidered the relationship between the disciplines as well as the epistemological and political consequences for defining the human being.
Remembering Professor Gisela Brinker-Gabler
November 1, 2019
2:00 p.m.
Chamber Hall, Anderson Center
An event to honor the memory of our colleague Professor Gisela Brinker-Gabler will take place
on November 1 in the Chamber Hall of the Anderson Center on the Binghamton University
Campus. Professor Sidonie Smith, Lorna G. Goodison Distinguished University Professor
of English and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan, will give a lecture
in honor of Professor Brinker-Gabler. For more information, see here.
Congratulations to graduating German Studies majors and minors!
Congratulations to all graduating students in German Studies! To German majors and double majors Charlotte Crinnin, Courtney Fitzgerald, and William Ungewitter, we thank you for your excellent work and wish you all the best for the future! Glückwunsch!
2019 Awards in German Studies
Congratulations to this year's winners of endowed awards in German Studies:
- Michael Krawec—Paul R. Ewald Scholarship in German Studies
- David Caspi and Liam Shanley—Ursula H. Africa Endowment Award
- Maximilian Gerozissis and Ivanka Juran—Keith Nintzel Award for Excellence and Commitment in German Studies
Congratulations to German Studies Students in ΦΒΚ!
Congratulations to Charlotte Crinnin and Bethany Maloney, who became members of the
Phi Beta Kappa honor society at the induction ceremony on May 12, 2019!
Congratulations to Anna Pfeifer!
Congratulations to DAAD Language Assistant Anna Pfeifer, who is leaving Binghamton to pursue a Ph.D. in the Department of German Studies at Cornell University beginning in fall, 2019. Congratulations Anna, and good luck!
Congratulations to Bethany Maloney!
Bethany Maloney has been selected to participate in AATG's "Mit Deutsch in die Zukunft!", an intensive, 3-week pedagogical training seminar that will take place in Leipzig this summer.
Bethany has also been chosen as the recipient of the 2019 Claudia L. Bernardo Award for Excellence in the Humanities, an award given annually by Harpur College. Congratulations, Bethany!
Congratulations, Bethany!
Congratulations to Alexandra Feingold!
Alexandra Feingold has been selected for the Fulbright Austria US Teaching Assistantship program. In the fall she'll be heading to Linz, Austria, to teach English. Congratulations, Alexandra!
BUGSC X (4/5–4/6)
The tenth annual Binghamton University German Studies Colloquium convened scholars from North America and Europe in early April. This year's topic was "Violence," and our keynote speaker and workshop leader was Prof. Jochen Hellbeck (Rutgers). For more information, including the full schedule and description of events, see here. For information on registering for BUGSC X, see here.
Frank Mischke receives SUNY Chancellor's Award
On October 9, 2018, Frank Mischke, his family, and members of the German Studies program
attended the annual Excellence Awards Dinner in the Mandela Room, where Frank was
officially awarded the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching.
As the laudatory text read at the award ceremony puts it, "Frank K. Mischke is an extraordinarily talented and inspired teacher who is an outstanding
pedagogue, dedicated mentor and generous colleague," who is "an invaluable and irreplaceable
part of the German language program." Mischke demonstrates "a finely-honed gut feeling
for what works in the classroom and a deep knowledge of current pedagogy in foreign
language acquisition. He knows his students as individuals and they respond with broad
participation in an atmosphere that is both relaxed and rigorous at the same time." Congratulations, Frank!
New faculty publication
Carl Gelderloos' essay, "Alien Evolution and Dialectical Materialism in Eastern European Science Fiction" has been published in Science Fiction Circuits of the South and East, edited by Anindita Banerjee and Sonja Fritzsche.
German Studies faculty at the GSA (9/27–9/30)
Carl Gelderloos traveled to Pittsburgh to participate in the annual conference of the German Studies Association.
2018 Awards in German Studies
Congratulations to this year's winners of endowed awards in German Studies:
- Charlotte Crinnin—Ewald Scholarship
- Giorgi Gogilashvili and Michael Krawec—Ursula H. Africa Endowment Award
- Matthew Dagele and Bethany Maloney—Keith Nintzel Award for Excellence and Commitment in German Studies
Tim Corbett talk on Jewish Austrian Culture (5/3)
As part of the symposium that accompanies the exhibition "The Binghamton Nuvolone: Restoring an Object in Six Parts" at the Binghamton University Art Museum, Tim Corbett (Museum of Jewish Heritage) gave a talk on "Once 'the Only True Austrians': Jewish Austrian Culture in the Early Twentieth Century." The exhibition is free and open to all. Other speakers at the symposium included Neil Christian Pages (German Studies); Karen Barzman (Art History); and Owen Pell ('80, Chairman of the Auschwitz Institute). For the full symposium schedule, see here. For more information on Dr. Corbett, see here.
"The Binghamton Nuvolone: Restoring an Object in Six Parts"
In an exhibition co-curated by Neil Christian Pages, Carlo Francesco Nuvolone's painting
of St. Benedict is on display in the Binghamton University Art Museum through May
19.
This unusual exhibition, which runs through May 19, focuses on a single work from the permanent collection: a 44" x 55" canvas painted by the Milanese Baroque painter Carlo Francesco Nuvolone (1609-1702), depicting Saint Benedict with two cherubs. Most remarkable for its condition, the painting had been cut into six pieces, then reassembled without any effort to disguise the damage. The painting had long belonged to Max Eisenstein (1884-1980), a successful Viennese businessman who fled Austria with his family in late 1938 and settled in Binghamton. His son, Norbert Eisenstein, gifted the painting to the gallery in 1982.
For more information about the painting, its restoration, and the exhibition, see here.
BUGSC IX: News from Nature (4/20–4/21)
On April 20–21, scholars from across North America and Europe participated in the ninth annual Binghamton University German Studies Colloquium, discussing the many forms taken by nature and ecology in German literature, film, philosophy, and culture. Caroline Schaumann (Emory University) was the keynote speaker and workshop leader. For more information on BUGSC IX, see here.
Carl Gelderloos at Emory
On March 23–24, Carl Gelderloos was in Atlanta, participating in a symposium on "Ecological Archives: Histories of Environment in German Studies" at Emory University. For more information on the symposium, see here.
Damion Searls at Binghamton (3/12)
Author and translator Damion Searls visited Binghamton University on Monday, 3/12
to talk about Inkblots, his biography of Hermann Rorschach (12:30 pm) and his forthcoming translation of
Uwe Johnson's Jahrestage (6 pm). For more information on Searls' work, see here.
The Inkblots (12:30 pm)
In this first-ever biography of Hermann Rorschach, Damion Searls tells the unlikely story of the test's creation, its controversial reinvention, and its remarkable endurance—and what it all reveals about the power of perception. Searls will talk about his book and the cultural legacy of this test, followed by Q&A.
Translating Johnson (6 pm)
Damion Searls will read from and discuss his forthcoming translation of Uwe Johnson's
Jahrestage (Anniversaries). The talk will address the challenges of literary translation,
followed by an open discussion that will allow the audience to pose theoretical and
practical questions about doing (and publishing) literary translation.
Carl Gelderloos at IASH (2/28)
Carl Gelderloos presented recent work on science fiction writer Paul Scheerbart at Binghamton's Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities.
Rosmarie Morewedge receives AATG's 2017 Friend of German Award
At the annual convention of the American Association of Teachers of German (11/18/17), Rosmarie Morewedge was honored with the Friend of German Award, recognizing her "exemplary leadership in the advocacy of German and German language education." Congratulations, Prof. Morewedge!
Spielabend/Game night (11/15/17)
On Thursday, 11/16, join other students and faculty in the German Studies program for an evening of German board and card games. Come discover and play a great selection of games that aren't widely known in the US, and meet other students taking courses in the German department. Speaking German may offer a tactical advantage, but is not required. Feel free to bring a friend along. We'll be there from 5–8 pm: feel free to come and go at any time!
Spielabend
Thursday, 11/16, 5–8 pm
CLASSROOM WING 206
GRS faculty at Döblin conference in Cambridge
Carl Gelderloos was at the University of Cambridge to participate in the biannual colloquium of the International Alfred Döblin Society (9/18–9/20).
BUGSC 2017 (4/28–4/29)
The 8th annual Binghamton University German Studies Colloquium brought scholars from across North America and Europe to campus for two days of intellectual exchange and lively colloquy on this year’s topic, “Quests for Meaning: Religion, Spirituality and the Transcendental in German Culture.” Albrecht Classen (U of Arizona) invited participants to consider the big questions about the kinds of meaning we seek—and teach—in the humanities. For more information, see here.
German Studies Faculty at the ASA Conference
Neil Christian Pages gave a paper at the Austrian Studies Association Conference in Chicago in March 2017 as part of a panel he organized, "The Shoah as Intertext." The paper, "Object as Intertext: The Binghamton Nuvolone," explored the way in which art objects and literary texts inform contemporary memories of the Holocaust.
2017 Awards in German Studies
Congratulations to this year's winners of endowed awards in German Studies:
Charlotte Crinnin and Allison Sulkowski—Ursula H. Africa Endowment Award
Student presentation on Bertolt Brecht's theater
Carl Gelderloos awarded Max Kade article prize
At the annual convention of the AATG (11/19/16), Carl Gelderloos received the 2015 Max Kade Prize for the Best Article in the German Quarterly for his article, “’Jetzt kommt das Leben’: The Technological Body in Alfred Döblin’s Berge Meere und Giganten,” (88.3).
German Studies Faculty at ACTFL
Rosmarie Morewedge, Harald Zils, and Maike Rocker participated in the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in Boston (11/18–11/20).
Faculty presentation at Penn State (11/16)
On Wednesday, November 16, Carl Gelderloos gave a lecture at Penn State on "Bodies, Boundaries, and Biological Modernism in Plessner, Döblin, and Jünger."
Congratulations to Hannah Sheridan!
Congratulations to Hannah Sheridan for being selected to participate in the DAAD Grad School Experience held at the University of Pennsylvania (10/27–10/29); this intensive weekend workshop introduces German majors to the possibilities of graduate study in the field of German Studies.
Harald Zils receives SUNY Chancellor's Award
We are proud to announce that Prof. Zils has been awarded the 2015–2016 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching. Congratulations, Prof. Zils!
Recently published
Carl Gelderloos' essay, "'Ersticken im Stofflichen' – Characters as Collectives in Alfred Döblin's Wallenstein" has been published in The German Historical Novel Since the Nineteenth Century (ed. Daniela Richter, Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016, pp 97–125); and his article on Das Ich über der Natur (The I Above Nature) has appeared in the Alfred Döblin Handbuch (J.B. Metzler, 2016).
BUGSC 2016 (4/15–4/16)
The Binghamton University German Studies Colloquium brought scholars from around the US and Europe to campus for two lively days of presentations,
discussions, and workshops on this year's topic, "Dis-placements, Refuges, and Other
Cultural Belongings." Yasemin Yildiz (University of Illinois) delivered the Larry
Wells Memorial Keynote Lecture and led Saturday's workshop discussion.
Info session on German Studies courses (Tu. 3/22)
At 7:45 on Tuesday evening (3/22) there was a short presentation on fall courses in German Studies. Prof's Zils & Gelderloos answered questions about courses, studying abroad, and the German major/minor.
Recently published
Harald Zils' article, "Orientierung im Gelände: Wie Sand beginnt," recently appeared in the collected volume, Wolfgang Herrndorf (ed. Annina Klappert. Weimar: VDG 2015, 255-258).