MAY 2006

We are extremely pleased to announce that Randall Halle will be joining the faculty of the department in September 2006 as the Klaus W. Jonas Professor of German and Film Studies. Dr. Halle earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1995 and has been on the faculty of the University of Rochester since 1996. In addition to German Film Studies, he has published extensively on German social thought, gender studies, and globalization. In 2004 his Queer Social Philosophy: Critical Readings from Kant to Adorno appeared with the University of Illinois Press, and a second monograph, Toward a Transnational Aesthetic: German Film after Germany, will appear shortly. Professor Halle's current projects include one book-length study that focuses on the work of film in the age of digital reproduction and a second that explores problematic moments in the development of European social philosophy through the debates around the European constitution, the question of human rights, and the status of new migrants.

PhD student Elliott Bergman (B.A., M.A., Germanic Languages and Literature) received a Leo Baeck/DAAD research grant in order to work on his planned thesis "Cities of Refuge in Yiddish and German-Jewish Literature" at the Leo Baeck Institute in Berlin and the Moses Mendelssohn Center for European-Jewish Studies (MMZ)/ University of Potsdam under the joint guidance of Prof. Julius Schoeps (Director of MMZ) and Prof. Amy Colin (MMZ Scientific Board Member). Mr. Bergman, who developed his research project at Pitt. under the guidance of Prof. Colin and with the assistance of Prof. Alexander Orbach (Director of the Pitt. Jewish Studies Program), was recently also awarded a grant from the United Sates Holocaust Memorial Museum and Indiana University in Bloomington. Congratulations, Elliott!

SEPTEMBER 2005

ENDOWED CHAIR ANNOUNCEMENT

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

DEPARTMENT OF GERMANIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES

ASSISTANT, ASSOCIATE, OR FULL PROFESSOR IN GERMAN AND FILM STUDIES POSSIBILITY OF CHAIRED APPOINTMENT

Last year the Department of Germanic Languages and Literature at the University of Pittsburgh announced the establishment of an endowed chair to honor a distinguished colleague whose dedicated service to the university and department extended from 1957 until 1988. Pending budgetary approval, our search for an outstanding scholar and teacher in the field of German Film and Cultural Studies is continuing, with the rank open. Applicants of exceptional merit and promise will be eligible to be appointed as the first holder of the Klaus W. Jonas Chair beginning in September, 2006. In the case of an appointment at the rank of assistant professor, the question of the endowed chair will be addressed at the time of the tenure review. Scholars and teachers who would be appointed as associate or full professors with tenure and who have begun to establish distinguished records of publication and teaching in German film would be eligible to hold the endowed chair with the initial appointment. The salary will be commensurate with the position. In addition to a promising and/or distinguished record of publication and teaching in German film, candidates must have demonstrated strengths within such related fields as German literature and culture or German intellectual history from the 18th century to the present. Crucial in the selection process will be the ability to sustain the kinds of significant links that our department has established over the years with interdisciplinary programs at the university (including Film Studies, Cultural Studies, West European Studies, and/or Jewish Studies) as well as with cognate departments (for example, French and Italian, History of Art and Architecture, Philosophy). In addition, the promise for high achievement in undergraduate and graduate teaching, as well as in supervising Honor’s, M.A., and Ph.D. research, and a willingness to participate in the intellectual life of the German Department are necessary. Review of applications will begin November 15, 2005 and will continue until the position is filled. Candidates who are interested in meeting representatives of the department at the 2005 MLA convention in Washington, D.C. should submit cover letters, CV’s, and dossiers to Professor Clark Muenzer, Department of Germanic Languages and Literature, 1409 CL, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 by November 15, 2005. The University of Pittsburgh is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity Employer. Women and members of minority groups under-represented in academia are especially encouraged to apply.

German Department Graduate Student Wins Teaching Award

Ph.D. candidate Zsuzsa Horvath was named as one of just six Arts & Sciences recipients of the Elizabeth Baranger Excellence in Teaching Award for 2005. This year was the first year the award has been offered. The student teachers who were honored were selected from nominations by the University of Pittsburgh community, primarily undergraduate students, and by a committee made up of graduate students and faculty.

November 2004

ENDOWED CHAIR ANNOUNCEMENT

THE KLAUS JONAS CHAIR IN GERMAN AND FILM STUDIES

The Department of Germanic Languages and Literature at the University of Pittsburgh is pleased to announce the establishment of a newly endowed chair to honor a distinguished colleague whose dedicated service to the university and department extended from 1957 until 1988. We are seeking a scholar and teacher of international reputation at the full professorial rank in the field of German Film and Cultural Studies to become the first holder of the Klaus W. Jonas Chair beginning in September, 2005, pending budgetary approval. The salary will be commensurate with the position. In addition to a distinguished record of publication and teaching in German film, candidates must have demonstrated strengths within such related fields as German literature and culture or German intellectual history from the 18th century to the present. Crucial in the selection process will be the ability to sustain the kinds of significant links that our department has established over the years with interdisciplinary programs at the university (including Film Studies, Cultural Studies, West European Studies, and/or Jewish Studies) as well as with cognate departments (for example, French and Italian, History of Art and Architecture, Philosophy). In addition, demonstrated successes in undergraduate and graduate teaching, as well as in supervising Honor’s, M.A., and Ph.D. research, and a willingness to participate in the intellectual life of the German Department are necessary. The search for the endowed chair will continue until the position is filled, but candidates who are interested in meeting representatives of the department at the 2004 MLA convention should submit cover letters and CV’s to Professor Clark Muenzer, Department of Germanic Languages and Literature, 1409 CL, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 by December 1st, 2004. The University of Pittsburgh is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity Employer. Women and members of minority groups under-represented in academia are especially encouraged to apply.

October 2004