The GSA Seminar Coordinators are:

CJ Jones | University of Notre Dame | cjones23@nd.edu (chair)

Nicole Coleman | Wayne State University | ncoleman@wayne.edu

Kristin Poling | University of Michigan-Dearborn | kpoling@umich.edu



List of 2025 GSA Seminars (in alphabetical order)

1. 100 Years of Neue Sachlichkeit in Visual Culture

Conveners:

• Sabine Kriebel, University College Cork, s.kriebel@ucc.ie
• Daniel Magilow, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, dmagilow@utk.edu

Abstract: The year 2025 marks the 100th anniversary of Mannheim Kunsthalle’s “Die neue Sachlichkeit” exhibition that gave the signature aesthetic movement of Weimar Germany its name. For its Centenary, this seminar revisits the New Objectivity, or “Magical Realism” as co-curator Franz Roh called it, seeking new directions of interpretation in its histories, leading figures, and legacies. What swiftly became a buzzword of Weimar cultural production, from painterly mimesis to architectural austerity, originated as a response to Expressionist pathos and Dadaist anarchism. Within this broad framework, curator Gustav Hartlaub detected a classicist, conservative wing and a leftist, tendentious one, while Marxist critics criticized the return to verisimilitude as a bourgeois augmentation of the capitalist apparatus. Scholars have characterized figuration’s return as proto-fascist. We invite papers to explore the Neue Sachlichkeit’s multifarious dimensions in the visual arts (e.g., painting, photography, film, etc.), challenging entrenched histories, deepening individual contributions, or broadening its reception.

Format: Seminar participants submit either a short (1,000–2,000 word) position paper or a longer work-in-progress (no more than 5,000 words). Papers are due by August 25 and will be precirculated. The seminar will consist of short (5–7 minute) summarizing presentations by each participant with time for response and discussion.

2. Adaptation Studies - Theory, Practice, and Pedagogy

Conveners:

• Gwyneth Cliver, University of Nebraska at Omaha, gcliver@unomaha.edu
• Sarah McGaughey, Dickinson College, mcgaughs@dickinson.edu

Abstract: Adaptation studies once assumed the uniqueness and supremacy of literature as source of film adaptations. Today it considers the process, product, and context of transforming works across media, most recently with attention to embodiment and the environment. Adaptations appear in our courses, but often not as object of study. This seminar will consider case studies or teaching units on topics such as adaptation and the uncanny, adaptation as resistance, adaptation for/by children and/or youth, ecology and adaptation, economies of adaptation, embodiment and character, feminist adaptation, the work of art in the public domain, the limits of adaptation, social media and crowdsourced adaptation, the source object after adaptation(s), transcultural adaptation, or transmedial adaptation. We will examine current research in adaptation studies, which will inform discussion of case studies and teaching materials led by participants. The seminar will emphasize lively conversation for mutual growth and cultivation of a research community.

Format: We will distribute readings—not to exceed 150 pages—to participants upon acceptance for first-day discussion. Participants will submit 1500-2000 words of a case study or teaching materials by August 15 to everyone. Each participant will be assigned one for careful reading and will lead discussion together with the writer.

3. Alternative Futures: Fictional Representations of Resistance and Change

Conveners:

• Muriel Cormican, Texas Christian University, muriel.cormican@tcu.edu
• Jennifer William, Purdue University, jwillia1@purdue.edu

Abstract: Organized by the coeditors of The German Quarterly, this Seminar will kickstart a special issue focused on theoretical, filmic, literary, and other engagements with characters forging an alternative future, challenging the status quo, and refusing participation in the reproduction–literal and/or figurative–of culture. It explores theoretical analyses of world-making or how we challenge and change what gets unquestioningly accepted and reproduced, be it economic systems, normative identities, or technological progress. Participants will read and discuss theorizations of transformational resistance and intentionally integrate these into their analyses. Theoretical readings must be completed in advance and include selections from Sara Ahmed (Queer Phenomenology, Willful Subjects, The Promise of Happiness), Lauren Berlant (Cruel Optimism, On the Inconvenience of Other People), Jack Halberstam (The Queer Art of Failure), Judith Butler (Gender Trouble) and Saidiya Hartman (Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments). Seminar participation is required for, but no guarantee of, inclusion in the special issue.

Format: Participants will submit article proposals (1500-1750 words) by August 1 to be circulated and read by all. Sessions consist of discussions of assigned theoretical readings (about 150 pages) and of the prepared article proposals. Each participant will lead one discussion of one other's contribution.

4. Apocalypse: Endings and Beginnings in German Culture

Conveners:

• Alexander Sorenson, Binghamton University, sorenson.alexander@gmail.com
• Daniel DiMassa, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, dimassadaniel0@gmail.com

Abstract: The concept of apocalypse is typically equated with "destruction” or “catastrophe,” calling to mind images of the Antichrist, fiery judgment, stars falling from the sky, etc. However, rooted in ancient texts such as the biblical books of Daniel and Revelation, apocalyptic literature does much more than articulate “the sense of an ending” (Kermode). Rather, as its etymology suggests (Grk. apokalypsis/Lat. revelatio: "unveiling"), apocalypse can also connote redefinition and renewal more than aporia or cessation. With an eye to the German tradition’s inheritance of this multivalent tradition–from the Holzschnitt to the Flugblatt, from Böhme to Erpenbeck, from medieval art to contemporary film–this seminar invites papers that investigate apocalypse, broadly construed, in German literary, cultural, philosophical, film/media/visual, or theological contexts. Possible topic areas include:

• Crisis/cataclysm (ecological, societal, pandemic, etc.)
• Post-apocalypse (ruins, memory, survival, etc.)
• Revelation (anagnorisis, epiphany, etc.)
• Connections between narrativity, eschatology, theodicy

Format: Participants will pre-circulate papers of 1500-2500 words to be read in advance of sessions. Each session will be devoted to discussion of an equal number of papers. Each participant will be assigned the paper of a co-participant to briefly introduce (5-10 mins) on the day it is to be discussed.

5. Building a Lexicon of Philosophical Concepts for Goethe and Beyond (sponsored by the Goethe Lexicon of Philosophical Concepts)

Conveners:

• Daniel Carranza, Harvard University, dcarranza@fas.harvard.edu
• Margaret Stair, Bryn Mawr College, mstrair@brynmawr.edu

Abstract: In 2025, The Goethe Lexicon of Philosophical Concepts, an online, open-access research tool for scholars across the disciplines, will have published its first fifty entries. The GLPC has established a framework to curate the large collection of philosophically invested lexemes Goethe utilizes and reinvents across his corpus. In order to deepen our understanding of Goethe as a heterodox philosopher, this seminar will explore key concepts not yet in the Lexicon featured prominently in his major works to address the question: how does Goethe’s resistance to philosophical systematization enable his unique conceptual lexicon to circulate among his contemporaries and gain impressive afterlives across a diverse range of fields and thinkers? We invite contributions from interdisciplinary participants across the humanities. Participants will workshop new entries and discuss further applications of the GLPC, including its role in promoting the teaching of the Age of Goethe and supporting interdisciplinary scholarship in German Studies.

Format: Participants will submit to conveners c.1000-word proposals for GLPC-entries and 5-7 pages of primary texts by August 1. For available concepts, visit: https://goethe-lexicon.pitt.edu/GL/about/submissions. Participants will discuss and respond to proposals in small groups on days one and two, and brainstorm teaching and research applications of the Lexicon on day three.

6. Contested Legacies: Competing Memory Narratives on the German Democratic Republic Today

Conveners:

• Annette Buehler-Dietrich, Universität Stuttgart, post@annettebuehler-dietrich.de
• Achim Schmid, UNC Chapel Hill / Duke University, achim.schmid2000@gmail.com

Abstract: Thirty-five years after the “Wende,” memory politics surrounding the GDR continue to be shaped by dominance and marginalization. Yet recent publications, performances, and exhibitions on GDR cultural memory offer alternative perspectives and innovative ways of doing history. This seminar critically reflects on competing memory narratives and explores current approaches to remembering the GDR, asking which approaches can be fruitful to research areas yet underexplored such as performing arts. Through the lens of potential texts such as Geipel and Walther’s Gesperrte Ablage, Bach’s What Remains, Martin’s Die verdrängte Zeit, Oschmann’s Der Osten, Gröschner et al, Drei ostdeutsche Frauen, participants will examine how GDR cultural history is written and how literary and cultural histories intersect with state histories and memory politics. Key questions include: How do memory politics shape the way the GDR is remembered? Which approaches can ensure a nuanced understanding of the GDR’s cultural and historical contributions?

Format: BEFORE: participants meet online in early June to explain the seminar’s relevance to their work and agree on shared readings, starting from but not limited to the texts mentioned above (approximately 100 pages). DURING: precirculated extracts guide three seminar sessions. Participants prepare discussion questions and moderate sections.

7. Crafted Narratives: Material Practices in Literature

Conveners:

• Christiane Arndt, Queen's University, arndtc@queensu.ca
• Michael Bies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, michael.bies@fu-berlin.de

Abstract: Material practices such as do-it-yourself, gardening, and textile work intersect with texts. The connection between material culture and textual/media forms of expression invokes a range of theoretical frameworks. Through situatedness, this discussion engages with (anti-)colonialist approaches, race and gender theory, feminist epistemologies and political practices, Marxist and New Marxist arguments as well as approaches to aesthetics and rhetoric. Questions this seminar will focus on are: How do literary texts and non-literary texts engage with material practices? What are the differences between a literary and specifically narrative framing of material practices and a scientific one? What social, political, personal or aesthetic functions or imaginaries are associated with these practices, currently and historically? Do we need new or adapted literary terms or categories to approach these narrative dynamics? Are historical parameters related to the engagement with material practices? What would a syllabus that includes an engagement with material practices look like?

Format: Each session will feature a discussion of pre-circulated “discussion statements” (1000 words), in which the participants present an example or approach to the topic, and theoretical texts (ca. 60 pages/session). The texts will be provided in July at the latest, and the statements are due on September 10th.

8. Leben & Lebensphilosophie: A New Look

Conveners:

• Derek Hillard, Kansas State University, dhillard@ksu.edu
• Andrea Meyertholen, University of Kansas, ameyerth@ku.edu

Abstract: What is life? Are we living it correctly? In what ways has it been culturally (mis)understood? The post-pandemic concern with self-care and renewed interest in back-to-life movements highlight the urgency of such questions. Life as a distinct question emerges with Naturphilosophie around 1800 and crescendos around 1900 in philosophical theories known collectively as Lebensphilosophie. In the first Western intellectual movement to develop a secular conception of life, Lebensphilosophen like Dilthey, Nietzsche, and Simmel reacted against pessimism to assert the value of existence and to articulate a pre-objectified, felt or ‘lived life’ as an immediate relation of human and world. Is the concept of life still useful – historically, aesthetically or culturally? This seminar invites novel and/or interdisciplinary histories, unfamiliar literary depictions of life, or under-researched writers and artists of life that have drawn on philosophies of life or have treated life in ways that resonate with the history of the term.

Format: The seminar will be based on discussions of pre-circulated papers, 1,250-1,500 words (5-6 double-spaced pages), due by September 1. Participants will give five-minute presentations to initiate discussions. We expect seminar discussion and subsequent collaboration to lead to an edited volume. Selected readings will be recommended for orientation but not required.

9. Literaturgeschichte intersektional weiterschreiben

Conveners:

• Felix Lempp, Post-doc, felix.lempp@unibe.ch
• Martina Wernli, Universität Frankfurt a.M., m.wernli@gmx.ch
• Dîlan Çakir, Freie Universität Berlin, dilan.cakir@fu-berlin.de

Abstract: Das Seminar untersucht, wie der literarische Kanon intersektional erweitert und die Praxis der Literaturgeschichtsschreibung kritisch weitergedacht werden kann. Es entwickelt Strategien einer Kanonpolitik, die Ordnungskonzepte nicht radikal verwirft, sondern um neue Perspektiven ergänzt. Unsere Überlegungen schließen an Diskurse an, wie sie  etwa im Rahmen des “Resonanzen”-Festivals oder auf Panels / in Seminaren der GSA in den letzten Jahren geführt werden. Ziel ist es, konkret umsetzbare Ansätze zu erarbeiten, die eine inklusivere Literaturgeschichtsschreibung zur gleichzeitigen Repräsentation unterschiedlicher Stimmen in einer Narration ermöglichen (El-Hissys Lesereihe “Vorzeichen”, Collective DDGC). Neben theoretischen Überlegungen werden konkrete Vorschläge diskutiert, um die Praxis von Kanon- und  Literaturgeschichtsschreibung im Sinne intersektionaler und transnationaler Ansätze (Mukherjee, El-Hissy, Lizarazu, Fallis, Mani) nachhaltig weiterzuentwickeln. Ein Fokus liegt auf der Umsetzung dieser Überlegungen in Forschung und Lehre, wo trotz alternativer didaktisch-methodischer Entwürfe oder Zugriffe auf nicht-kanonische Literatur (Ghanbari, Oholi, Pilsworth) oft aus pragmatischen oder institutionellen Gründen (Ahmed) ‘traditionelle’ Literaturgeschichten bevorzugt werden.

Format: Bewerber*innen reichen ein Fallbeispiel ein, das eine* Autor*in/einen Text literaturhistorisch einordnet und die Organisation einer Literaturgeschichte reflektiert, die das Beispiel nicht nur als Sonderfall einer normierten (nationalen, männlichen, …) Erzählung würdigt. Auf diesen precirculated papers, die vorgestellt und diskutiert werden, baut unsere Seminararbeit auf. Ein Reader folgt.

10. Queer Natures

Conveners:

• Ina Linge, University of Exeter, k.linge@exeter.ac.uk
• Yvonne Zivkovic, Karl Franzens University Graz, yvonne.zivkovic@gmail.com

Abstract: This seminar provides a welcoming space to explore the theme of “queer natures” across disciplines and periods, spanning literature, film, music, philosophy, history and critical theory. Drawing on queer theory, queer ecology, environmental humanities, animal studies, ecocriticism, and beyond, our seminar asks: conceptually, how are nature, gender and sexuality constructed alongside one another, or in opposition to one another? Theoretically, what can queer ecology, but also older theoretical frameworks such as feminist ecocriticism, contribute to our work in German studies? Historically, how has nature been queered, or queerness naturalised, in the German-speaking world? Pedagogically, what practice and curriculum can a focus on queer natures open up in the German Studies classroom? Intersectionally, how do we engage with important fields, from critical race studies to disability studies, to understand the relationship between queerness and nature? This is not an exhaustive list – we look forward to identifying further questions with participants.

Format: Participants submit in advance one article (own work or other people’s research) related to seminar themes. Convenors will select submissions (ca. 50 pages total) to circulate before the seminar. During the seminar, participants will kickstart discussion with a short presentation (10-15 mins) on how pre-circulated readings speak to their research.

11. Returning to the Scene of the Crime: Serial Crimes and Seriality (Law and Legal Cultures Network)

Conveners:

• Anita McChesney, Texas Tech University, anita_mcchesney@yahoo.com
• Richard Bodek, College of Charleston, bodekr@cofc.edu

Abstract: Serial criminality attracts attention across numerous disciplines. Experts in these fields investigate criminal cases, assessing their causes and effects to construct narratives that give crimes a semblance of meaning. The accounts, which are often serial, use narratological elements to render crime patterns comprehensible to a public that eagerly consumes them. Serial logic is evident in narratives from the courtroom (Pitaval), on screen (M, Tatort) and in history, journalism, and literature (stories of the S-Bahn Mörder). These popular German-language representations raise ethical and aesthetic questions. How does the serial narrative form render crime patterns comprehensible? What role do narrative elements play in real-life trials and other encounters between criminals and the law? What is the audience’s role? What ethical standards govern the representations’ production and consumption?

This seminar explores the dual notions of serial crimes and serial narratives. We welcome papers that treat true and fictional crime in various eras.

Format: Participants will submit 8-10-page papers (approx. 5000 words) one month before the seminar which will be organized by theme. The sessions will consist of a short introduction to the respective theme(s), a 10-minute oral presentation by the authors followed by a 5-minute commentary from another participant, and group discussion.

12. Science Fiction in the German Classroom (Environmental Studies Network)

Conveners:

• Rebecca Jordan, Bowdoin College, r.jordan@bowdoin.edu
• Christoph Schmitz, Appalachhian State University, schmitzc@appstate.edu
• Cynthia Shin, Indiana University Bloomington, cynshin@iu.edu

Abstract: Science fiction (SF) as a genre—with tropes like AI takeover, environmental apocalypse, or dystopian surveillance—is gaining new traction globally. Many German writers and artists such as Maria Schrader, Frank Schӓtzing, Raphaela Edelbauer, or Kevin Rittberger have taken on the genre to explore how technology and science affect human interactions. In 2023, TU Dresden hosted the SF Research Association, proving a growing academic interest in Germany. We are interested in the use of SF in the German classroom. How might SF foster discussions about, e.g., the environment, political utopias, or posthumanism? How can SF instigate critical reflections on science and technology? Can we employ SF to teach tech-oriented German classes? We define SF broadly so as to address a variety of topics, such as climate change and the application of technology in human’s everyday lives. Our aim is to establish a repository of relevant artworks and shared teaching frameworks.

Format: Each participant will pre-circulate an introduction to their material of choice and detail their teaching ideas in a short essay or lesson plan of 1000-2000 words. At the GSA, each participant will summarize a peer's contribution (matched by the conveners) and identify three points of discussion.

13. Swiss Literature in a Transnational Context: A Case Study in Entanglements

Conveners:

• Laurie Johnson, University of Illinois, lruthjoh@illinois.edu
• Robert Leucht, Université de Lausanne, robert.leucht@unil.ch
• Carl Niekerk, University of Illinois, niekerk@illinois.edu

Abstract: Conventional histories of Swiss literature emphasize a literary canon that is seen as the result of a linear national development. Our seminar argues that this national-historical paradigm does not do justice to the diversity that is inherent to all Swiss literature. It proposes instead to understand Swiss literature as the product of multiple entanglements: a variety of linguistic and cultural traditions, the impact of which can be described both synchronically and diachronically (as "entangled history" of "histoire croisée"). Multilingualism has always been an integral part of 'Swiss' writing. Migration and mobility are constitutive factors for Swiss literature, not merely accidental factors that affected some of its texts. Many 'Swiss' texts involve global settings and/or thematize the tension between the 'local' and the 'global.' It is precisely the transnational nature of Swiss writing that has made it relevant to international audiences and contributed to its lively reception abroad.

Format: The seminar's format will consist of the discussion of pre-circulated papers (3,000 words each) by the seminar participants. We'll assign a limited number of short methodological texts (approximately 20 pages) introducing key concepts. Papers are due on 15 August 2025 and will be circulated six weeks before the conference.

14. Teaching Uncomfortable Films

Conveners:

• Nichole Neuman, Indiana University Indianapolis, nmneuman@iu.edu
• Petra Watzke, Lawrence University, petra.watzke@lawrence.edu

Abstract: There are many German language films that elicit discomfort or unease because of explicit scenes, outdated values, offensive use of language, shock value, disgust, etc. Even though instructors may dread students’ reactions, especially in a period of cancel culture, or a communal “fremdschämen” moment, they may still want to include such films in their syllabi. In this seminar, participants will discuss how to teach uncomfortable films. Together we will develop strategies for both productively sitting with that discomfort and how to facilitate good discussions about these films in the classroom. Seminar participants also will collaborate on creating frameworks for difficult discussions while holding space for diverse viewpoints when working with challenging texts. Finally, we will examine the value of centering sometimes divisive texts in the classroom.

Format: Participants will watch films and clips before the seminar and will submit a 300-word text describing a difficult film they’ve taught, what went wrong or well, and pose one discussion question for film. Each participant will lead a discussion. Throughout the seminar, participants will create strategies for teaching uncomfortable topics.

15. The 2025 Bundestag Election and its Consequences

Conveners:

• Eric Langenbacher, Georgetown University, langenbe@georgetown.edu
• Barbara Donovan, Wesleyan College, bdonovan@wesleyancollege.edu

Abstract: This seminar will explore the current upheaval in German politics stemming from the collapse of the Traffic Light Coalition in November 2024, the elections held in February 2025, and the new coalition government in place in spring 2025. We invite papers that explore the multifaceted dimensions of this political shift. Potential topics include, but are not limited to: the factors contributing to the Traffic Light Coalition's inability to implement its agenda and respond to mounting crises; the role of internal party differences in ushering in early elections; electoral dynamics and voter motivations, including a rightward shift in the electorate; the policy implications of renewed CDU-led governance; the role of other parties and political figures in shaping policy and governance; and the implications of right- and left-wing populism for German politics and society. We encourage submissions from multiple disciplines that offer fresh perspectives on these critical developments in German politics.

Format: Seminar participants will give a brief presentation on papers submitted a month prior to the conference. To enrich discussion and enhance a common understanding of  current developments in German democracy, the presentations will be grouped around sub-themes, with participants invited to serve as discussants on papers written by other participants.

16. The Simultaneity of the Non-Simultaneous: A Historical Concept

Conveners:

• Jake Fraser, Reed College, frasermj@reed.edu
• Mikhail Lipkin, Hamilton College, mlipkin@hamilton.edu

Abstract: This seminar proposes a return to one of the foundational historical concepts of twentieth-century German thought, that of the “simultaneity of the non-simultaneous” [Gleichzeitigkeit des Ungleichzeitigen]. Initially deployed by Ernst Bloch in the 1930s, the concept has since been appropriated to theorize everything from the cultural logic of modernism in a post-modern era (Jameson) to post-colonial global chronopolitics (Bhabha) to historical time itself (Koselleck). We seek contributions engaging with the term as a "historical concept" in either of two senses: a) with the term’s conceptualization of history and its applications to new domains (e.g., Marxist and post-Marxist approaches, postcolonial studies, queer & gender theory, conceptual history, media studies, psychoanalysis); or b) papers spotlighting the history of the concept itself and its movement through 20th- and 21st-century theory and theorists.

Format: A portion of the first day will be devoted to discussion of 2 pre-circulated canonical essays on the topic. The major focus of the seminar will be discussion of participants’ pre-circulated papers (2-3,000 words, due August 1). Discussions will be facilitated by conveners and follow brief contextualizations from their authors.

17. Wandering Artefacts: Dispersion, Digitization and Multilingualism of German-Jewish Archives

Conveners:

• Na'ama Rokem, University of Chicago, nrokem@uchicago.edu
• Sebastian Schirrmeister, University of Hamburg, sebastian.schirrmeister@uni-hamburg.de

Abstract: Organized in conjunction with the DFG funded project “Understanding Written Artefacts” at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures at the University of Hamburg, this seminar convenes scholars who are working in and reflecting about German-Jewish archives located across the world. This is an opportunity to share recent archival findings, and to discuss research questions and methods pertaining to these archival materials. What role has the archive played in scholarship on German-Jewish literary and cultural history, and how is it shaping new directions in the field? We are particularly interested in the potentials and challenges represented by the digitization of archives and in the question of multilingualism in the archive. Participants will be invited to reflect on the institutional history of the archives themselves, and on their transnational distribution, a product of German-Jewish history in the twentieth century.

Format: Participants will submit a dossier (10 pages) of scanned archival sources, a transcription, a commentary (500 words) and five questions for discussion by 25 August. Seminar organizers will divide materials based on thematic, historical or methodological clusters derived from the submitted material, and will alternate in the role of moderators.

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