Department of German

Faculty members in the German Department are productive scholars. Most research projects address cross-disciplinary issues, such as notions of belonging and Heimat, gender and performance, religion and literature, cultural negotiations of economic concepts, globalization, and multiple literacies. 

A special feature of that work is its high level of internal collaboration among faculty members and its involvement of undergraduate and graduate students. Numerous projects also feature national and international collaborations. Recent examples include a research group on the development of advanced forms of second language literacy, particularly within the paradigm of systemic functional linguistics (see Byrnes), on knowledge histories of hearing (see Dupree), on concepts of Heimat at the intersection of memory and spatial studies (see Eigler), on the role of narratives in foreign language learning (see Pankova) and on constructions of the "New Europe" at the Eurovision Song Contest (see Sieg).

The research profiles of the faculty members give the department particular scholarly strength in performance (see Dupree, Sieg), gender issues (see Dupree, Eigler, Sieg, Weigert, Pfeiffer), second language acquisition and literacy (Byrnes, Pankova), curriculum and assessment (Byrnes, Pankova, Pfeiffer, Weigert), and social change and literary form (Eigler, Murphy, Pfeiffer). Faculty members have received prestigious research awards (see Byrnes, Murphy, Sieg) for their outstanding contributions to the field. For detailed information, please peruse the faculty members’ web pages that can be accessed directly through the “Faculty” tab above. 

The Department also prides itself on significant common projects that involve most members of the Department in areas of shared interest and need. The three most significant over the years have been the Curriculum Project “Developing Multiple Literacies” (1997-2000 and on-going), the Program Evaluation Project (2006-2008), and the current Humanities Assessment Initiative in which we collaborate with other departments from Georgetown University as well as faculty members from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN, and Emory University from Atlanta, GA. 

Information on these initiatives is available at the tabs from the drop-down menu.