Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures University of Toronto
The Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures at the University of Toronto is currently soliciting applications to our Graduate Program in German Literature, Culture, and Theory. Research areas pursued by our faculty span the Medieval era to the 21st-century, with several professors cross-appointed to such units as the Cinema Studies Institute, the Program in Comparative Literature, the Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies, the Centre for Medieval Studies, and the Philosophy Department. It is also possible to pursue a concentration in Yiddish studies or an interdisciplinary graduate degree in collaboration with the Book History and Print Culture Program, the Centre for Transnational and Diaspora Studies, the Center for Jewish Studies, or the Women & Gender Studies Institute.
Funding
We have available 4 fully funded PhD slots for Canadians and International students. Our funding package is guaranteed for five years. Students in their sixth year are eligible for a doctoral completion grant. In addition, all students are encouraged to apply for an array of competitive scholarships, including the Ontario Graduate Fellowship, the Doctoral Scholarship of the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, and research grants available through the DAAD-funded Joint Initiative in German and European Studies affiliated with the Munk School of Global Affairs. We are also able to provide funding to many students in our one-year M.A. program through a combination of teaching opportunities and internal fellowships.
Resources
The University of Toronto library system ranks among the top three across North America, next to Harvard and Yale. The Greater Toronto Area also boasts a wide array of world-class cultural institutions, film festivals such as TIFF, HotDocs, and Images, and an ongoing retinue of guest artists, writers, and scholars recruited for lectures and workshops on campus and throughout the city. Our program benefits from further support and collaboration with the German Consulate and the Goethe-Institut Toronto. T.A. training in foreign language pedagogy is provided by our faculty and through additional workshops regularly hosted with other language and literature departments on campus as well as in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut. Funds are also available for our graduate students to organize conferences in collaboration with graduate programs in German at other Ontario universities.
Core Faculty
In addition to the core faculty listed below, our associate faculty also hail from disciplines including Art, Drama, History, Music, Religion, and Slavic Languages & Literatures… Read more
Angelica Fenner: Film Theory and History, Feminist and Queer Theory, Autobiography, Critical Race Theory, Globalization, Migration, and Postcolonial Studies.
Willi Goetschel: Modern German Literature and Philosophy from the 18th century to the present. Theories of Enlightenment, German Jewish Culture and Thought, Critical Theory.
Michael Hager: Applied Linguistics, Language Acquisition and Pedagogy.
Christine Lehleiter: German literature and thought from the 18th to the 21st century, literature and the Life Sciences, Gender Studies, Aesthetic Theory, Weimar and Nazi Film, Cross-Cultural Relations (in particular German-Indian Connections).
John Noyes: Literary theory, including Postcolonial Theory, Critical Theory; Colonialism and German culture; the history of sexuality, globalization, mobility and German culture.
Anna Shternshis: Yiddish Literature; Soviet and post-Soviet Culture and Literature; popular culture; Diaspora studies.
Stefan Soldovieri: 20th century German literature and culture, German cinemas, cultural studies, censorship, remakes.
Markus Stock: Medieval German language, literature, and culture; early modern German literature and culture; theories of space and place; Minnesang.
John Zilcosky: Modern German literature and thought; European Modernisms; psychoanalytic, postcolonial, and critical theory; exoticism; travel writing; aesthetics and politics; Kafka; Sebald; Goethe.
Applications to the Graduate Program in German Literature, Culture and Theory must be submitted through the School of Graduate Studies online application website.
The complete application includes:
- the online form
- submission of transcripts
- two letters of recommendation
- a brief resume
- a sample of written work
- a statement of up to 700 words outlining your research interests and reasons for embarking on graduate study
Please consult the School of Graduate Studies Calendar as well as our department’s Graduate Handbook for details on eligibility criteria. Additional information may be obtained from the School of Graduate Studies Admissions Guide. The deadline for online application and payment of the application fee is 16 January 2016.
For further inquiries please contact
Prof. Angelica Fenner
Associate Chair, Germanic Languages & Literatures
german.grad@utoronto.ca