Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures University of Toronto

PhD student Contact info astrid.klee@mail.utoronto.ca Office Hours Monday and Wednesday 3-4 pm, OH307 Classes 2022-23 GER100 (LEC0301), MW 1-3 pm Background I completed my undergraduate in German Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, where I also received my master’s degree. I have spent the last few years translating early German psychiatric texts and I have co-authored several journal articles about pioneers in the field of psychiatric genetics. I am particularly interested in exploring the ways in which late 19 to early 20th century psychiatric case studies and self-narratives transform during this time period against the backdrop of political changes and developments in the sciences. Additionally, I am investigating what it means to confess the deeds of others to a wider readership by means of first-person non-fiction autobiography and the historical novel. I focus on literature that began appearing in the early 21st century, whose narrators recount their memories of relatives who lived through the era of national socialism, and were either complicit with its policies and activities or were silent witnesses. Read More »

MA student Contact info rena.knox@mail.utoronto.ca Read More »

Ph.D. Candidate Contact elisabeth.lange@mail.utoronto.ca Office Hours By appointment (Zoom or Campus meeting possible) Courses 2022-2022 GER100 L5201 TR 6-8 (online synchronous), Fall Term GER300 L0101 MW 10-12, Full Year Background I received my Bachelor of Arts in German Literature and Language from the Leipzig University in summer of 2016. During my studies, I took a semester abroad at Carleton University in Ottawa and did an internship as a creative writer and editor at UFA in Berlin. I have an affinity for words, whales and the woods. Research My research focuses on the literary works of Marlen Haushofer and Sibylle Berg. In particular, I am investigating what it is precisely about the quality of their literature that inclines readers to frequently label it as “negative.” Thereby, I am offering new perspectives on the concept of pessimism and illustrate how we can think of the absence of salvation as something positive. Read More »

Ph.D. Candidate Contact rita.laszlo@mail.utoronto.ca Courses GER200Y1Y LEC5101 Office Hours Mon & Wed by appointment Background M.A. (2017) in Germanic Studies, University of British Columbia (Master’s thesis: “Understanding the Aesthetics and Materiality of Ver Sacrum, the Seminal Magazine of the Vienna Secession”) B.A. (2014) Hispanic Studies and Honours in Germanic Studies, University of British Columbia (Honours thesis: “Pseudoscience, Gullibility and Language”) OTHER: (2007–2010) Germanic and Hispanic Studies, International Relations, University of Manitoba (2009-2010) German Literature and Social Studies, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany Publications / Published Translations Laszlo, Rita K. “Introducing Ágnes Heller's “Reflections on Gullibility,”” Telos, Issue 179, 2017:33-35; doi:10.3817/0617179033 Heller, Ágnes. Trans. Laszlo, Rita K. “Reflections on Gullibility,” Telos, Issue 179 , 2017:36-47; doi:10.3817/0617179036 Research and Interests 19th and 20th century German Literature and Thought, Enlightenment, Critical Theory, The Frankfurt and The Budapest Schools gullibility and its relation to language, types of knowledge, reason, the will to believe and judgement PhD dissertation focus a genealogy of gullibility in German literature and thought Conferences / Presentations “Vortrag zum Thema Leichtgläubigkeit,” (guest lecture, GER 430: Stories of the Mind with Dr. Christine Lehleiter), University of Toronto, Toronto, Nov. 27, 2018. “Between Gullibility and Thoughtlessness: From Ágnes Heller to Hannah Arendt,” (guest lecture, PHIL ... Read More »

Ph.D. Candidate Contact vardit.lightstone@mail.utoronto.ca Background M.A. Folklore and Folk Culture, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2015 B.A. (Hons.) Celtic Studies and Jewish Studies, University of Toronto, 2010 Research My research focuses on the personal narratives, performed in Yiddish, of immigrants from Eastern Europe to Canada, most of whom immigrated in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. I am also interested in questions of genre, authority, heritage, and nostalgia as they arise in personal narratives. In addition to my work on verbal performances, I have worked with visual and folk art, as well as theatre, and the interface between all these different types of cultural expression; language(s) as a tool for creating, expressing, and contesting identity; and the politics of the folklore and heritage discourses. I am participating in a Joint Educational Placement PhD program with the Folklore and Folk Culture Program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as well as the Collaborative Program in Jewish Studies at UofT. I am completing my PhD under the guidance of Anna Shternshis (UofT) and Dani Schrire (HebrewU). Select Awards/Distinctions Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Doctoral Scholarship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), 2020-17 Peter Lougheed Graduate Fellowship ... Read More »

MA Student Contact info mark.morrisonreed@mail.utoronto.ca Read More »

M.A. Student Contact somaia.mostafa@mail.utoronto.ca Office Hours Tue & Thu 12:30-2, OH307 Read More »

MA Student Contact n.roethlisberger@mail.utoronto.ca Courses 2021-22 GER100 (L0201) Office Hours Mon 3-4, Wed 12-1 Background I was born and raised in Switzerland, where I received a B.A. in Pre-Primary and Primary School Teaching from the Pädagogische Hochschule. After obtaining my undergraduate degree, I worked as a kindergarten, primary school and German as a Foreign Language teacher in Switzerland. German is my mother tongue and I am excited for the opportunity to teach at UofT. Read More »

PhD student Contact info miriam.schwartz@mail.utoronto.ca Office Hours By appointment. Current Courses GER360HF Read More »

Ph.D Student Contact virginia.shewfelt@mail.utoronto.ca Office Hours Wed 10-12, Room 307 Courses 2018-2019 GER100Y L0301 FALL Introduction to German Monday - 11-1 Background I hold a Bachelor of Arts in German and Anthropology (2016) from Memorial University of Newfoundland as well as a Master of Arts in Germanic Languages and Literatures (2018) from University of Toronto. My research focuses on collective memory of the Holocaust in Germany. Read More »