This seminar will be taught by several professors in the Department of German Studies. Classes will focus on areas of each professor’s expertise and range from the Middle Ages to contemporary German literature, culture, and language. Key topics include medieval architecture, abolitionist literature about slavery, the modern Jewish experience, the culture of the Weimar Republic, the émigré experience, the influence of the Alps on culture, and East and West German rock music as a reflection of the Cold War era. This six-week tour will provide a deep dive into the diverse history and rich culture of Germany, led by expert guides ready to unpack the significance of each aspect. Students will leave with a new understanding of Germany’s intricate and varied cultural tapestry and deepen their appreciation of Germany’s influence on the world stage.
Germany Refracted: German Culture, Literature, History
Meet Your Instructor
BARBARA KOSTA is Professor and Head of the Department of German Studies. Her teaching and research interests focus on autobiographical writing in German and Austrian literature, German cinema, and the visual culture of the Weimar Republic. In addition to multiple articles, book chapters, and edited books, her publications include Recasting Autobiography: Women’s Counterfictions in Contemporary German Literature and Film and Willing Seduction: The Blue Angel, Marlene Dietrich, Mass Culture. Kosta received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
JOELA JACOBS is Assistant Professor of German Studies and the founder of the Literary and Cultural Plant Studies Network. Her research and publications focus on the intersection of 19th-21st century German literature and film with Plant and Animal Studies, Environmental Humanities, Jewish Studies, the History of Sexuality, and the History of Science. Her monograph Animal, Vegetal, Marginal about the literary grotesque from Panizza to Kafka is appearing with Indiana University Press in March 2025. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.
ALBRECHT CLASSEN received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 1986. He has a broad range of research interests focusing on pre-modern German and European literature and culture. He has published currently 132 books and well over 800 articles. Most recently, he published Criticism of the Court and the Evil King (with Lexington Books, 2024). In 2017, he received the rank of Grand Knight Commander of the Most Noble Order of the Three Lions.
OBENEWAA ODURO-OPUNI is an assistant professor of German studies. Her teaching and research center on Black German studies. She is particularly interested in the ideology underlying 18th- and 19th-century white German abolitionist rhetoric, which has led to the publication of several articles. Her most recent work, titled “Using Black Bodies in White German Abolitionist Theater,” is set to be published in the forthcoming issue of German Studies Review.
BARBARA CITERA is an Associate Professor of Practice in German Studies at the University of Arizona. She earned her PhD in History from Ludwig- Maximilian-University, Munich. Her professional experience includes serving as Associate Dean of the Sierra Vista branch campus of the U of A and as PI of student-centered Title V and NEH grants. Her research and teaching interest include the history of German immigration to the United States, German cultural history, education systems and Alpine Culture.
PETER ECKE (Ph.D., University of Arizona, 1996) is Professor of German and Second Language Acquisition in the Department of German Studies at the University of Arizona. He teaches courses on applied linguistics, second language acquisition and teaching, multilingualism, intercultural communication, and German language and culture. His research interests include second and third language acquisition, vocabulary acquisition, study abroad effects on language and culture learning, and the teaching of German in the United States.
Location
POETRY CENTER
Dorothy Rubel Room
1508 E Helen
Tucson, AZ 85721
United States
Located on the SE corner of Helen Street and Vine Avenue, one block north of Speedway and three blocks west of Campbell Ave.
