General

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 »

Undergraduate Student Cynthia Lin spoke with us about her experience with the Canadian Summer School in Germany in the Summer of 2024. Cynthia is a Psychology specialist with a major in Sociology and a minor in Education and Society. She reflects on her experience with the program and shares some noteworthy advice for prospective students.  Good afternoon, Cynthia. Please introduce yourself to the community with your name, programs of study, and the year you participated in CSSG.  My name is Cynthia Lin, and I am currently enrolled in the psychology specialist program, the sociology major and education and society minor.  Please let us know what motivated you to apply to CSSG. I first learned about this program through a UofT newsletter, and Professor John Plews, the CSSG Program Director, came to speak with us about it. I was motivated by my desire to immerse myself in the language experience and environment. I cannot gain the same fluent German language skills and cultural understanding in Canada.  What previous experiences did you have learning German before joining the program? I previously studied GER 100Y1 (Introduction to German) online. Although the course was very interactive, it was not the same as taking a ... Read More »

Emma Rebmann is a third-year Pharmacology and Psychology student at UofT, who is also minoring in German Studies. After participating in CSSG this year, Emma encourages all students who wish to improve their German to apply to the program.  Please introduce yourself to the University of Toronto community  My name is Emma Rebmann. I’m a third-year student at UofT, double majoring in Pharmacology and Physiology, with a minor in German Studies. I participated in CSSG in the summer of 2024 and took GRMN 3446 (third-year German)! What motivated you to apply to CSSG? The program director, Dr. John Plews, presented to my German class about CSSG. The combination of language learning, engaging with a host family, and going on cultural excursions sounded like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to immerse myself fully in the language and culture. What previous experiences did you have learning German before joining the program?  Before attending CSSG, I took Introduction to German (GER100) and Intermediate German (GER 200) at UofT. Please tell us about the learning environment in Kassel. What were your classes and field trips like?  The learning environment in Kassel was more hands-on than I had previously experienced. Instead of only focusing on grammar, we ... Read More »

Elizabeth Frynta is a recent graduate of the University of Toronto’s Peace, Conflict and Justice Studies Program who also minored in German Studies and Political Science. Elizabeth is a two-time CSSG participant who took some time to share her German language journey with us while preparing for graduate school. This year, Elizabeth was awarded the Kim Misfeldt Prize from the Canadian Summer School in Germany. Elizabeth earned this award through her exceptional graded coursework, active engagement in the cultural program, and meaningful interactions in German with CSSG peers, instructors, and host family members during her time abroad.  Please introduce yourself to the University of Toronto community. My name is Elizabeth Milena Frynta. I graduated in June 2024 with a major in Peace, Conflict, and Justice Studies and minors in German and political science. I participated in the CSSG program in 2023 and 2024. What motivated you to apply to CSSG? I was motivated to apply to the CSSG because I realized that although I was pleased with my writing, reading, and comprehension skills, my vocabulary outside the classroom was quite limited. I wanted to become fully immersed in German culture. What previous experiences did you have learning German before joining ... Read More »

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 »

Letter from the ChairStefan Soldovieri 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 enrolments. READ MORE Undergraduate ReportReflections on the 2024-25 Academic YearHang-Sun Kim, Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies From award-winning students to groundbreaking teaching initiatives and collaborative events, 2024–25 was a year of shared success and growth. READ HERE Undergraduate Student ProfileFinding Community Through German StudiesBrian Finn Finn reflects on how the German Department fostered his growth as he built community, explored literature, taught in the Multilingual German Lab, and presented research internationally. READ HERE Graduate Report Intercultural Skills in Strong ... Read More »

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 »