Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures University of Toronto

Creativity in and Beyond the Yiddish Classroom It’s been another eventful year for undergraduate and graduate students in the Yiddish program. In GER260: Elementary Yiddish, taught by Miriam Schwartz (first term) and Jacob Hermant (second term), students began their Yiddish journeys with an introduction to grammar, vocabulary, and conversation skills. They also learned about some of the cultural, religious, and artistic traditions of Eastern European Jews. Both instructors commend their students on their outstanding work and enthusiasm for Yiddish over the course of the year.   In spring 2025, GER361: Yiddish Literature in Translation, taught by Miriam Borden, focused on nostalgia in Yiddish literature, but extended far beyond the literary—and far beyond the classroom. Students attended a film screening of the 1937 Yiddish masterpiece The Dybbuk. They sat in on Yiddish lectures outside of class. They took a memorable “field trip” to the stacks at Robarts—where they all crammed into a study room to discuss the material history of the literature they were reading. For her final project, one student created a beautiful 3D pop-up book based on a 1926 poem about the city of Vilna. Yiddish Pop-up Books Last year’s cohort of three Yiddish MA students was our largest yet, and the diverse skills and interests they ... Read More »

Becoming a Hopeful Pessimist by Elisabeth Lange Nearly nine years ago, I moved to Toronto from Germany to enroll direct admit doctoral studies in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures. Coming from what felt like a vast and anonymous undergraduate German Studies program at Leipzig University, I was pleasantly surprised by the collegial and intimate atmosphere that awaited me at U of T. Here, professors not only knew me by name—it was also normal to address them by their first names. This was new and refreshing to me, a stark contrast to my experience in Leipzig, where I often felt reduced to a mere “Immatrikulationsnummer” (enrollment number). The closeness I shared with fellow graduate students, along with the accessibility of staff and faculty, was immensely helpful in navigating early feelings of disorientation and loneliness. Only later did I realize that such negative feelings could also serve as a source of inspiration and strength. In my dissertation, I connected my admiration for the literature of Sibylle Berg and Marlen Haushofer with a longstanding fascination for themes such as deviance and despair. Titled “Hoping without Hope: Positive Pessimism in the Literary Works of Marlen Haushofer and Sibylle Berg” and defended in November 2024, my thesis ... Read More »

Intercultural Skills in Strong Demand Among Employers by Angelica Fenner, Associate Chair of Graduate Studies As the world catapults into an era of strained international relations, the need for intercultural sensitivity and respect has become all the greater. The Humanities have a vital role to play in upholding the enduring value of clear, concise language and lucid reasoning— key skill sets fostered through exploring facets of the human (and more-than-human) condition from disparate subject positions and historical vantage points. Language and Literature departments, in particular, remain an important locus for teaching communication across cultural difference, and for inspiring on openness to the world alongside heightened reflexivity about discourse, culture, and society. Side-by-Side Writing with Graduate Students This past year our graduate students travelled widely in pursuit of these skills. With funds from DAAD, the Joint initiative in German and European Studies, and our department several doctoral students travelled abroad for research and/or advanced language and culture immersion. Tamara Schaad enrolled the popular Canadian Summer School in Germany (CSSG), which included a two-month stay with a host family, while Hannah Robinson attended the 29th Internationale Sommerakademie at Martin-Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg. Doctoral candidate Astrid Klee secured JIGES funds for archival research in ... Read More »

Finding Community Through German Studies by Brian Finn It’s hard to believe that I’ve only been studying for two years in the German Department at the University of Toronto. I feel incredibly sad to be leaving this wonderful department in pursuit of further education. The connections I’ve made here have been so impactful, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunities afforded me here. I recall my first day at U of T as a transfer student, nervous about how I would be welcomed. It was my German classes that made me immediately feel welcomed into the campus German community, and enabled me continue growing within it, taking part in working-research groups under the supervision of Dr. Markus Stock, teaching at the Multilingual German Lab with German learners at every level, and helping with the organisation of a symposium on the subject of Medieval Undergrounds. I not only deepened my language skills, I also learned so much about the literature of the German-speaking world from medieval times to contemporary debates in literature and linguistic spheres. Viewing manuscripts from the early modern period in the Fischer Rare Books Library and analysing media biases from German-speaking news outlets have to be among ... Read More »

Reflections on the 2024–25 Academic Year by Hang-Sun Kim, Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies Looking back, there is much to highlight from our shared work and success over the past year. A number of students distinguished themselves in German and Yiddish Studies through their academic excellence and intellectual curiosity and were recognized with awards. I would like to congratulate recipients: Shantel Watson (Helmut Krueger Undergraduate Scholarship), Maxine Lee (Sara Frieda-Miransky Memorial Bursary & Fania and Aron Fainer Prize in Yiddish), Charna Perman (The Anne Glass Memorial Scholarship), Puriel Buzny (The Percy Matenko Scholarship), Maris Rice-Cameron (The Hermann Boeschenstein Memorial Scholarship), and Fiona Ji (The Prize of the Ambassador of Switzerland to Canada). Aditi Kolloru (Leadership & Community Engagement in German Studies Award), Brian Finn, Julien Levit and Rudy Yuan (Excellence in German Studies Award), Bijan Davis, Cary Kan, Changkun Jiang, Charlie Jiang, Hannah Burnett, Fatoumata Binetou Camara, Reza Homayounmehr, Robert Purcaru, Theodore Kneen, Thomas Galligan (German Language Prize for students of GER100Y). The department also continued its commitment to pedagogical innovation and professional development. I co-organized the 10th DAAD German Language Teaching Conference with Dr. Sun-Young Kim and Benjamin Sauvé from the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at McGill ... Read More »

Dear Friends of the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, It has been another eventful year, and I am just delighted to share with you this 15th edition of our newsletter, highlighting the inspiring work of our students, faculty, and staff. As mandated by the Faculty of Arts and Science, this year we will be collaborating on the development of a strategic plan to guide us through the next five years. The plan follows on the heels of our 2021-22 cyclical review and will build on the initiatives that emerged following a faculty retreat in spring 2023. The plan will also need to respond to a new faculty-wide budget scheme that puts heightened emphasis on expanding course enrolments. Going forward we remain committed to building and supporting our community of learners, teachers, and researchers in German and Yiddish Studies. We hold to the ideals that we articulated in our review, namely that different modes of knowledge – cultural and scientific – are required to truly grasp the world. We remain convinced of the importance of the humanities in confronting the manifold challenges that humans and the more-than-human world are facing. Literature and the arts help us know the world in ... Read More »

Welcome to the latest edition of The View From Here, the 2025 newsletter from the Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures at the University of Toronto. READ THE NEWSLETTER This issue celebrates the vibrant energy of our community – highlighting student achievements, faculty creativity, and our shared commitment to exploring language and culture. It brings together a diverse range of contributions from across the department, including work by Stefan Soldovieri, Angelica Fenner, Hang-Sun Kim, Brian Finn, Elisabeth Lange, Emily Glass, Enrica Piccardo, John Zilcosky, Stefana Gargova, and Walker Horsfall. We hope you enjoy reading about the inspiring work that continues to keep our department thriving. Read More »

What is the state of youth engagement in politics in Germany right now? What are some emerging trends in youth engagement across the Atlantic? What does this mean for Germany and what can we learn from it in Canada? The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is proud to present a round-table discussion with Prof. Thorsten Faas, Hannah Arendt Visiting Chair for German and European Studies at the Munk School. Prof. Faas is the Head of Research Unit at the Free University of Berlin’s Centre for Political Sociology of Germany and will discuss the state of German politics today and the shifting role of youth in society at a time of increased political polarization. This roundtable discussion will take place at 3 PM on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2025, in the Senior Common Room, Brennan Hall, 81 St. Mary Street. Students and faculty of all backgrounds are welcome to attend and engage in a thoughtful discussion on the state of youth in politics across the Atlantic. The event will be moderated by Rudy Yuan, DAAD Young Ambassador at the University of Toronto. Sign up for the event here. This event is sponsored by the DAAD and made possible through the generous support ... Read More »

Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies is pleased to host the 4th Seminar Book Forum on Monday, November 17th, 1–2 PM EST, via Zoom. The forum will feature Todd Kontje discussing his recent book, Global Germany Circa 1800: A Revisionist Literary History (Penn State University Press, 2025). During the event, Kontje will respond to reviews by John Noyes (University of Toronto)Tanvi Solanki (Yonsei University)Chunjie Zhang (UC Davis). Register Here Read More »

Filmabend: B-Movie – Lust & Sound in West-Berlin 1979–1989 Join the Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures for a special Filmabend screening of B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West-Berlin 1979–1989, a documentary that captures the spirit of West Berlin’s underground music and art scene in the 1980s. Date: Tuesday, November 4Time: 6:30 – 8:30 PM ESTLocation: John P. Robarts Research Library, Room RL 3-023, 130 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 0C2 About the FilmThe film is a compelling montage of archive material that captures West Berlin’s music scene in the 1980s. This time capsule is held together by British music lover Mark Reeder’s personal testimonials. In 1979, he left gloomy Manchester and moved to the “more fucked up” Berlin, home of his favorite music style the New German Wave. The movement includes underground bands such as Einstürzende Neubauten and Die Ärzte, as well as synthesizer pioneers Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze. Reeder becomes a squatter and spends a decade immersed in the cultural life of the city, which he describes as “not pretty, but sexy.” He manages female punk band Malaria! and works as a sound engineer for Die Toten Hosen. Reeder, who likes to dress up in uniform, ... Read More »