Author Archives: Department of German

The View From Here: Newsletter 2023/24

Letter from the Chair In 2022-23, our Chair, Stefan Soldovieri, embarked on a well-deserved sabbatical after deftly shepherding the Department through nearly three years of pandemic uncertainty. To be an administrator under such unprecedented circumstances is no easy task, and we are grateful to Stefan for the extraordinary leadership he displayed throughout those years. We are equally thrilled at his return as we embark on this new academic year 2023-24.  The return to in-person operations on the St George campus last year offered no reprieve from the theme of ongoing transition and recalibration, also for our Department, as we struck a new executive team during my year as Acting Chair.  We sorely missed the invaluable wisdom and institutional memory associated with our Student Placement Coordinator and Assistant to the Chair, Helena Juenger who also happened to be on maternity leave, but we were incredibly fortunate to be able to hire a U of T graduate, Ryan Masters. His doctorate in German colonial history helped him to acculturate to our program while our newly forged executive team, which included Professors John Noyes, Hang-Sun Kim, and Stefana Gargova, was similarly learning the ropes. What a year it was, tasked as we were ... Read More »

Toronto German Graduate Conference, May 8-9, 2023

Location: Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, 1 Devonshire Place, Room 208N.Due to maintenance needs the conference will take place in the Combination Room at 6 Hoskin Ave on Monday only. We will be in room 208N as planned on Tuesday. Download poster here. Download schedule here. MONDAY, MAY 8 10am: Arrival and Coffee 10.15: Opening remarks 10.30am: Keynote: “Mein Name ist Ausländer.” Semra Ertan and the Poetics of BIPOC Past and Futurities in Post-War Germany. Prof. Azadeh Sharifi, German, UofT 12pm: Catered Lunch 1pm: Workshop: What’s next: Unlocking Academic Careers and Post-docs. Prof. Shami Ghosh, Medieval Studies, UofT 2.30pm: Coffee Break 2.45-3.45pm: Time and Intercultural Ties in Medieval Literature Mittelalterlicher Orientalismus? Somaia Mostafa, German, UofTThe Perception of Time in Middle High German and Classical Japanese “Tagelieder” Poems. Jing-Yi Yang, Medieval Studies, UofT Evening: Optional Presenters’ Dinner TUESDAY, MAY 9 10.15am: Arrival and Coffee 10.30am: Shaping temporalities Time as Narrative Structure—How the Conception of Love Shapes the Course of Time in Middle High German Romances.Julia Lorenz, German, OxfordHegel on Goethe’s Faust: Philosophy’s “Grey in Grey.” Dylan Shaul, Philosophy, UofTThe Ineffable “Now.” ChatGPT and the Messiah That Was Missed. Anne-Marie Fowler, Religion, UofT 12pm: Catered Lunch 1pm: Present Identities ... Read More »

International Conference: The Other Sister: New Research on Non-Cloistered Religious Women (1100-1800), May 18–20, 2023

In order to attend the conference via Zoom or in person, please email us at tos2023conference@gmail.com. The final schedule will be available later in April. Check our blog https://othersisters.hypotheses.org/ Throughout Christian history, there have been groups of women who lived recognizably religious lives but outside of traditional monastic structures. Despite leaving a substantial documentary and (in some cases) visual record, they are conspicuously absent from the dominant scholarly tradition. By defining and contextualizing the experiences of these women, we can begin to understand the ways they fit into the ecclesiastical and lay landscape of the worlds in which they lived. Read More »