Running a successful Dickinson program in Bremen for more than 35 years now, is a team effort. That team includes: members and leaders of the CGSE, Dickinson’s German Department, and two on-site representatives on the ground, located at the University of Bremen: the Academic Director and the Program Coordinator.
With our new series, we want to show you the faces behind our program. Stay tuned!
Janine Ludwig is a literary scholar, co-editor of Dickinson’s literary journal Glossen (with Prof. McGaughey), Vice Head of the Institute for Cultural German Studies at the University of Bremen (ifkud), and Chairwoman of the International Heiner Müller Society. She studied Contemporary German Literature, Philosophy, and Theater Studies/Cultural Communication in Göttingen, San Diego, and Berlin. She is an expert on East German and post-war literature, but also an all-rounder with interests in medieval history, politics, and film.
Aside from numerous articles on a range of topics, she has published two books on the playwright Heiner Müller (“Ikone West” and “Macht und Ohnmacht des Schreibens”) and, together with Mirjam Meuser, two edited volumes on post-GDR literature: “Literatur ohne Land?”. Another edited volume with a colleague, Carsten Gansel, on the 68 movement is in print.
Dr. Ludwig teaches regularly at the Departments of Cultural and German Studies at Uni Bremen: seminars on German-American cultural history and relations, including German immigration, but also on literature, intercultural studies, German as a foreign language, and recently on Wende or post-reunification novels (publication underway).
She is a fan of the city’s soccer club “Werder Bremen” and a news freak; she enjoys trivia nights as well as a good German intensive debate on pretty much anything. Having been the Academic Director in Bremen since 2009, she was disheartened about the Covid break that the program had to take and misses students being around. She is looking forward to re-opening soon!
“Servus!” Prof. Haque has been teaching at Dickinson since 2008. He teaches all levels of the curriculum. Some courses he regularly teaches include Mountains in German Culture, German Literature and Film of the First World War and German Intellectual History. His research focuses on the Alps in German-language film and literature. When he is in Europe, you can find him in Munich or the mountains of Germany, Austria and Northern Italy. If he has to be somewhere flat, Bremen is a great place to be!
Prof. Pfannkuchen arrived at Dickinson in 2009. After living in Berlin, NYC and London, Carlisle was a bit of a change, but by now (and especially during the pandemic) small-town living has grown on her. At the moment, though, she is on leave as a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University, finishing her manuscript “Printing the Invisible.” This book studies the beginnings of photography in the early 19th century and how they were connected to research in electricity and to romantic poetry.
Prof. Pfannkuchen came to German Studies indirectly after a first degree in “Kulturwissenschaften” (Cultural History) with a focus on media theories and a second master’s from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) exploring technological innovations. Her current work is informed by her continued interest in the media-technological state of our world. That’s why students in her courses with topics as diverse as “German-Jewish Culture,” “Goethe Forever!” or “The German Political Landscape” are taught to produce podcasts and videos, instead of merely consuming them.
Normally she is back in Germany at least twice every year with regular stays in Bremen, Berlin, and her hometown Dresden.
Prof. McGaughey joined the German Department in 2007 and continues to appreciate being a part of creativity and interdisciplinarity of Dickinson’s liberal arts and sciences community. She enjoys teaching language, culture, and literary studies at all levels of the curriculum. Most recently, she has developed and taught courses such as German Environments, German in Performance, German Pop! and Architecture of the German-Speaking World. In her Intermediate German course, she created content on refugee history and Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) and changed the format of exams to focus on the skills of communication: reading, writing, and speaking. Students in her courses have created podcasts and presentations on topics such as Eurogames, Berliner club history, and 19th century nation building in German-speaking Europe. Creative student projects include a ghostly radio drama and a literary talk show modelled on Das literarische Quartett.
Most of her publications, including two books, focus on the early work of the Austrian Jewish author Hermann Broch (1886-1951), in particular the role of architecture and the environment in his pre-exile literary projects. Her current research focuses on homes and gardens in the interwar period in Central Europe. An additional area of interest is now contemporary young adult literature and environmental crisis. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, walking and hiking, cooking, and listening to lots and lots of German radio. She is also an avid fan of the longest running German crime series, Tatort.
Her interest is bringing the German and French speaking worlds to the elementary levels of the Dickinson classroom. Her specialty in second language acquisition is teaching not only how to communicate in both languages, but to also make connections and comparisons between our culture and the various communities of those worlds, so that the students will one day be able to use their target language(s) globally.
Todd Bryant is an adjunct faculty member in the German department and the liaison to the foreign language departments for the department of instructional media services. He focuses on bringing authentic materials into the language class room, collaborative activities in new media, and exchanges with native speakers via Skype.
Leandra Thiele holds a bachelor’s degree in English-Speaking Cultures and Linguistics from the University of Bremen and will soon complete her master’s degree in English-Speaking Cultures. She was an OSA (Overseas Student Assistant) in 2016-17 in the German Department at Dickinson College. For the Spring Semester 2021, she has returned to her old role as teaching assistant and is remotely teaching German 101 and 102 classes.
Leandra is also currently replacing the Dickinson-in-Bremen program coordinator Verena Mertz and is very happy to be back on the program.
She is looking much forward to be hopefully welcoming new Dickinsonians to the Uni Bremen campus in the fall!