Dear Friends of Germanics and Alums,
As winter quarter draws to a close, we are getting ready for spring break and for our last term in the spacious offices of the old Denny Hall. On June 17 we will have to move to a temporary location off Campus while Denny Hall is being restored. The good news is that we are scheduled to return to Denny in 2017—to a more modern building on the inside, albeit with smaller offices, and without our beloved Rey Library, which is to become part of a large experiential learning classroom. So, if you are eager to get a glimpse of the old Denny Hall with its rumpled charm befitting a humanist’s mind, the time to schedule that visit is NOW.
The other major news of the day is that this winter quarter we successfully completed a tenure-track faculty search, which we began earlier last fall. We had 117 applicants for the position we advertised, interviewed 12 of them, and invited 3 finalists to campus. The offer went to Jason Groves (PhD, Yale 2012) who will join the faculty as Assistant Professor in the fall. We are thrilled to have him on board and will feature him in one of our newsletters next year.
I myself am getting ready to direct our Spring in Vienna program next term while Eric Ames will serve as interim chair. The lovely group of this year’s participants is shown below on the steps of Denny Hall.
Looking ahead, Professor Walter Erhart from the University of Bielefeld will be joining us as Distinguished Max Kade Professor this spring to teach a course on World Literature and Global Experience between 1770 and 1860.
So long, Farewell, and a Happy Spring break,
Brigitte Prutti
Professor and Chair
Spring in Vienna 2015
