Faculty

Dr. Kathleen Condray (B.A., University of Arkansas, 1994, summa cum laude; M.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1996; Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2001) is a former Sturgis Fellow who returned to her alma mater in 1999. Her research and teaching interests include twentieth century literature, minority literature and culture, immigrant literature, and technology.  Her current projects include organizing an international symposium on the writer Friedrich Gerstäcker (University of Arkansas, October 11th-12th) and research involving German-speaking immigrants to Arkansas.  Her book Women Writers of the Journal “Jugend” from 1919-1940 was published in 2003, and her articles have been published in Monatshefte and Seminar. She has presented her research at numerous national and international conferences. She was selected for the Fulbright German Studies Seminar on the topic “International Migration and National Identities,” the NEH Summer Institute “German and European Studies in the U.S.—Changing World, Shifting Narratives,” and the AATG Berlin Summer Seminar “Neuer Blick, Neue Stimmen: Interkulturelles Leben und Wirken” (New Vision, New Voices: Intercultural Life and Impact).  Dr. Condray is the recipient of the 2007 Fulbright College Master Teacher Award and  was named one of the “Thirteen Most Creative Professors in the South” by the Oxford American magazine in August 2011.  In the fall of 2011, she was named one of the eight inaugural Honors College Fellows.   She enjoys working with honors students on thesis topics about German literature and culture and also serves as an on-campus liaison for paid summer internships in Germany.

Selected publications:

• “Unorthodox Immigrant Autobiography in the Oeuvre of Wladimir Kaminer: A 21st Century Model?”  Colloquia Germanica 41.3 (2008): 227-246.
• “Landscapes of Suffering: The Depiction of Rural Austria in Anna Mitgutsch’s Die Züchtigung (1985).” In: Beyond Vienna: Contemporary Literature from the Austrian Provinces.  Riverside, CA: Ariadne Press, 2008. 84-111.
• “Using RISE to Promote German: Making the Case for Practical Work Experience Abroad to Engineering Students and Faculty.”  Die Unterrichtspraxis: 40.1 (2007): 61-66.
• “The Colonization of Germany: Migrant and German Identity in Wladimir Kaminer’s Mein deutsches Dschungelbuch.”  Seminar 42.3 (2006): 322-336.
• “Language and Power, Homoeroticism and Illness: A Reading of Jan Peter Bremer’s Der Fürst spricht.”  Monatshefte 96.4 (2004): 521-534.
• ” ‘Heute ist eine Frau überall überflüssig’: Working Women in the Texts of Women Writers of the Journal Jugend during the Weimar Republic and Third Reich.” In: The Marketing of Eros: Performance, Sexuality and Consumer Culture.  Essen: Die Blaue Eule, 2003.  123-37.
• Women writers of the Journal Jugend from 1919-1940: “Das Gehirn unsrer lieben Schwestern.” Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 2003.

Dr. Jennifer Hoyer (B.A., English and German, Tulsa University, 1997; M.A. Modern German Lit, University of Minnesota, 1999; Ph.D. Modern German Lit, University of Minnesota, 2007) joined the faculty of the UA German program in fall 2007. Research interests include German-Jewish history and literature, poetry, 20th-century perceptions of Medieval and Early Modern literature,literary relationships between Germany and Sweden, and the works of Silke Hassler. She is currently working on a book on the early and post-World War II work of poet Nelly Sachs, on whom she has presented and published nationally and internationally. Hoyer has taught courses in German Cinema, German History and Civilization, Comparative Literature, Modern German literature, Poetry, Poetry and Auschwitz, and German language courses from First Semester to Advanced Stylistics for Graduate Students. She is on the planning committee for the annual Northwest Arkansas Holocaust Education conference, the Comparative Literature Steering Committee, the Women’s Studies Steering Committee, the Netzwerklehrer (Teaching Network member) of the Goethe Institute’s Midwest Region, and as the U of A’s Testing Chair for the Goethe Exams.  Hoyer has been and continues to be involved in the German Summer School in Taos Ski Valley, NM.

Selected publications:

• “Eine Disputierkunst? Identität und Integration.” Rose Ausländer als Dichterin zwischen den Welten. Martin Hainz and Clemens Stepina, eds.  edition art + science, Summer 2010.
• “Painting Sand: Nelly Sachs and the Grabschrift.” The German Quarterly 82.1 (Winter 2009) 20-37.
• “Nightingalewords.” “Lichtersprache aus den Rissen.” Nelly Sachs – Werk und Wirkung. Ariane Huml, ed. Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen. 2008.
• “Sternverdunkelung by Nelly Sachs.” Encyclopedia entry. Literary Encyclopedia online: http://www.litencyc.com/. 2008.
• “Bookmarks of a Journey.” GSD magazine. Fall 2006
• “In den Wohnungen des Todes by Nelly Sachs.” Encyclopedia entry. Literary Encyclopedia online: http://www.litencyc.com/. 2006.
• “Eli by Nelly Sachs.” Encyclopedia entry. Literary Encyclopedia online: http://www.litencyc.com/. 2006.
• “Und Niemand Weiss Weiter by Nelly Sachs.” Encyclopedia entry.Literary Encyclopedia online: http://www.litencyc.com/. 2006.
• “Teaching ‘Process Editing’ Skills with Computers: From Theory to Practice on a Larger Scale.” Unterrichtspraxis 35 (2003), with Jeffrey L. High and Ray Wakefield.
• “Eine Disputierkunst? Identität und Integration ? Rose Ausländer als Dichterin zwischen den Welten. Martin Hainz and Clemens Stepina, eds.  edition art + science, summer 2010.

Dr. Michael André (B.A., History and German, Loyola University Chicago, 2002; Ph.D., Germanic Languages and Literatures, University of Michigan, 2010) joins the German faculty at Arkansas in Fall, 2011 as a Visiting Assistant Professor.  His current research concerns Weimar Classicism, the visual arts, drama, and philosophy of history.  He also completed the University of Michigan Museum Studies Program, for which he interned at the Goethe Nationalmuseum in Weimar, Germany.  He has presented papers on Goethe and Schiller at the GSA and ACLA, and has co-organized two panels on corporeality in the works of Schiller for the 2011 German Studies Association conference.  In addition to German language, Dr. André has taught courses in German and English on German film, the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany, history of the arts in Germany, and Expressionism, and he served as coordinator of the interdisciplinary Avant Garde Interest Group.  At Arkansas Dr. André will teach German language and German drama, work with the Arkansas chapter of the National German Honorary Society, and continue research on two articles on Schiller’s Wallenstein trilogy and Goethe’s writings on the arts and on collecting.

Instructor

Ms. Claudia Devich (B.A., University of Arkansas, 2007; M. A., University of Arkansas, 2009) was born in Trier, Germany, and lived in Germany and Italy until 1993. Frau Devich is very fascinated by all languages. She speaks German, Italian, and English fluently. She is excited to be teaching Intermediate German I and Intermediate German II this fall.  Besides teaching German, Frau Devich enjoys relaxing with a cup of coffee or tea and a great book or listening to music. She also likes to spend time with her family, travelling, cooking, playing games, fishing, and so much more.

Graduate Teaching Assistants

Bart Belaire was born and raised in south Louisiana and received his Bachelor’s degree from LSU. (Don’t hate.) He has also spent a year studying abroad in Bielefeld, Germany. Besides German, he has also studied Latin, French, and Italian.  He is a huge nerd, enjoys cooking, and would like to study other languages… when he has the time…

Rieke Brodé was brought up in the beautiful town of Oldenburg, Germany. There she received her B.A. and M. Ed. in English and History. As a DAAD-fellow, she spent 8 months at a secondary school in Dudley, UK as a foreign language assistant for German. This experience amplified her immanent interest in German as a Foreign Language. Frau Brodé is very keen on languages and their history as well as teaching them. She needs a cup of Ostfriesen-Tee every morning and enjoys cheesy soap-operas.

Chris Harvey has a BA in History and a BA in German Studies.  He studied medieval history in Germany at the University of Tübingen while on a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship.  Chris went on to study medieval history in Southern Methodist University’s graduate program.  He left SMU to pursue a teaching opportunity at Henderson State University teaching German.  This experience was the catalyst for pursuing a career as a German professor.  Chris’ interests include theology/philosophy and the development of the Church as well as the history of the English/German languages.  His favorite TV show ever was LOST.  Some of his favorite movies include The Shawshank Redemption, Casablanca, Star Wars and The Lion in Winter.

Yvette Ortiz grew up in West Texas. She grew up speaking Spanish and English and has recently also taken up Yiddish. She is a graduate of the University of Arkansas with a dual B.A. in International Relations and German. Over the last few years she has participated in two intensive German language summer programs:  Die Deutsche Sommerschule von New Mexico in Taos as well as the Institut für deutsche Sprache und Kultur e.V. an der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle in Wittenberg. Her interest in the German language has led her to discover other fascinating languages and cultures to study and research. She has already chosen her next target language (more on that to come). Other than academic interests, when time allows, she also spends an exorbitant amount of time playing video games and listening to music.

Jennifer Rivers began learning German in the 8^th grade and decided that it was really cool. She has been to Germany 3 times. The first time, she was part of a student exchange in Berlin. The second time, she went with her family on a whirlwind vacation through Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy. The third time, she participated in the study abroad program in Holzkirchen. She graduated last year from the U of A with a B.A. in German and a minor in English. She is currently working on a 2,000 piece jigsaw puzzle of Neuschwanstein (progress is kind of slow…, but it is almost done!). She also enjoys baking, hiking, kayaking on calm water, and board/card games when she can find someone to play with her.