Author Archives: Department of German

The View From Here: Newsletter 2024/25

Posted on October 25, 2024

Letter from the Chair We’re changing! Halfway into a two-year process of Departmental Renewal, which follows on the heels of our recent, comprehensive cyclical review, I am excited to be able to point to a number of initiatives designed to help us pursue our educational mission. We have inaugurated improved mentorship strategies for program majors, created two internal awards to recognize student achievement, introduced exciting new courses and formed a Departmental Committee to support undergraduate activities. Going forward, graduate students will benefit from a streamlined PhD examination process designed to better prepare students for the thesis-writing phase. There is still work to be done but we have taken significant steps to address the areas where the investment of our collective energies will have the most impact. Personalia As always it is gratifying to reflect on the successes of faculty and students and the tremendous work of our colleagues in administrative and financial offices. There were many highlights, as you will see in the following pages of this latest edition of our newsletter. On the faculty side, Angelica Fenner was awarded a prestigious Jackman Humanities Institute fellowship, and Stefana Gargova passed her continuing appointment review at the rank of Assistant Professor, ... Read More »

The View From Here: Newsletter 2023/24

Posted on December 18, 2023

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 »