WCGS

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Research Groups

In 2009/2010, we have set up five research groups. The research groups should be(come) a venue where like-minded people meet, work together, discuss interesting aspects of their respective research fields.


Germany 25
This group will consider selected aspects and facets of contemporary German society and culture, Germany's recent history, and its immediate future. The group will be thinking of a medium-term project in the context of the upcoming 25th anniversary of united Germany. Possible topics are: Stasi in East Germany, literature of the Berlin Republic, modern German film, ...
Diane Bielicki (German, Brock), Gary Bruce (History, Waterloo), Iris Bruce (German, McMaster), Myriam Fleischer (PhD German, Waterloo), Tanja Scherer (PhD German, Waterloo), Sebastian Siebel-Achenbach (History, Waterloo), James Skidmore (German, Waterloo)

German-Canadian Studies
This group investigates historical, cultural, and linguistic phenomena and processes in German-Canadian communities. A particular focus is given to research about the German-Canadian community in Waterloo Region and to work with materials in the German archive in the Dana Porter Library. An indicative set of topics and foci could be: English German bilingualism, German-Canadian bibliography of materials in Ontario, Russian Mennonites, history of the local German community
Helena Calogeridis (Library, Waterloo), Jane Forgay (Library, Waterloo), Grit Liebscher (German, Waterloo), Nikolai Penner (German, McMaster), Mat Schulze (German, Waterloo), Sebastian Siebel-Achenbach (History, Waterloo)

Environment
With the growing awareness of climate change and the leading role that Germany is taking in implementing new green technologies, the question arises as to how German Studies can contribute to current ecological debates.  Topics for a working group on the environment can include but are not limited to:  German writers and ecology from Goethe to the present, Romantic organicist notions of "Lebenskraft," the history and philosophy of the natural sciences and alternative medicine from 1800 to today, the history and permeations of the concept of "Umwelt," critiques of modernity, industrialization, and technology, the "Lebensreformbewegung" and "Wandervogelbewegung," the relation between nature and nation, ecofeminism, trash aesthetics, the Greens in German politics from the 1980s to today.
Karin Barton (German, Laurier) Iris Bruce (German, McMaster), Belinda Kleinhans (PhD German, Waterloo), Alice Kuzniar (German, Waterloo), Jean Wilson (McMaster)

Austrian Studies
This group will conduct research on the culture, history, and civilization of Austria. A medium-term project is the organization of the annual conference of the Modern Austrian Literature and Culture Association in Waterloo in 2013.
Michael Boehringer (German, Waterloo), Belinda Kleinhans (PhD German, Waterloo), Paul Malone (German, Waterloo), Paola Mayer (German, Guelph), Jean Wilson (McMaster)

Applied Linguistics
This group will conduct research on language learning and teaching. It will focus on areas such as second language acquisition, language pedagogy and didactics, Deutsch als Fremdsprache. A short-term project is the organization and running of the upcoming conference 'Transitions and Traditions: German Curricula' in Waterloo in August 2010.
Allison Cattell (PhD German, Waterloo), Alicia Christie (MA German, Waterloo), Christine Kampen-Robinson (MA German, Waterloo), Grit Liebscher (German, Waterloo), Nikolai Penner (German, McMaster), Jillian Randall (MA German, Waterloo), Barbara Schmenk (German, Waterloo), Kyle Scholz (MA German, Waterloo), Mat Schulze (German, Waterloo), Alexandra Zimmermann (German, Laurier)

 

 

Waterloo Centre for German Studies
University of Waterloo

200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, ON
N2L 3G1
Canada

wcgs (ä) uwaterloo.ca

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Upcoming Events

Diefenbaker Lecture Series

Tuesday, 2 March 2010, 1pm – Hagey Hall 73
Mark Rectanus, Iowa State University
Moving Out: Contemporary Discourses in Literature, Museums, and Visual Culture

Tuesday, 16 March 2010, 1pm – Tatham Centre 2218
John Smith, University of California at Irvine
Is God Dead? Modern German Thought for a Postsecular World

Friday, 19 March 2010, 1pm – Tatham Centre 2218
Richard Langston, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Literary Realism in the Age of Digital Networks

Tuesday, 30 March 2010, 1pm – Hagey Hall 373
Susanne Kord, University College London
The Kempner Effect: Germany’s Worst Poet and her Laughter Communities

 

 


Monday, 22 March 2010, 7.30pm – Arts Lecture Hall 113
Alfred de Zayas, Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations
Ethnic Cleansing 1945-1948

 

Tuesday, 23 March 2010, 1.30pm – Modern Languages 245
Alfred de Zayas, Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations
Rainer Maria Rilke als Heimatdichter

 

 

Further information ...

 

Ethnic Cleansing 1945-1948

Alfred de Zayas

Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations

Discussants: Dieter Buse (Laurentian University) and Sebastian Siebel-Achenbach (University of Waterloo)

Time: Monday, 22 March 2010 7:30pm

Venue: Arts Lecture Hall 113

 

Read more...
 

Weitere Informationen ...

 

Rainer Maria Rilke als Heimadichter

Alfred de Zayas

Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations

Zeit: Dienstag, den 23. März 2010 13.30 Uhr

Ort: Modern Languages Building 354

Read more...