B.A. in German
Max Kade Distinguished Visiting Professorship
The German Section of the University of Rhode Island Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department is enormously grateful for the long-term support it has received from the Max Kade Foundation in New York. Since 2013, our Max Kade Distinguished Visitors have enriched our curricular offerings through a broad range of innovative courses and university-wide lectures.
2024 Applications
The Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures at the University of Rhode Island invites applications for the Max Kade Distinguished Visiting Professorship for Fall 2024.
We will be accepting applications until the position is filled, with the first round of applications being reviewed at the end of April, 2024. Please send applications (current CV/resume and list of possible topic(s) for B2/C1 language through literature and culture course) to Dr. Sigrid Berka, sigrid_berka@uri.edu
Requirements
Candidates must be fluent in German and have a Ph.D. with specialization in any area of Germanic studies, with preference given to those with a background in teaching German language through topics drawn from literary studies, cultural studies, film or other media. Candidates may not be based in the U.S. and must have relevant publications in German-speaking culture, literature or linguistics; teaching experience at the undergraduate level, and strong English language skills. The successful applicant will be teaching two courses (in German) during the Fall 2024 semester, including one upper-intermediate/advanced language course (B2/C1) with a literary and/or cultural focus (language through literature and culture). Distinguished Max Kade Professors also give at least one public lecture of interest to the wider URI community.
The Fall 2024 semester at URI starts on September 4, 2024 and classes end on December 10, 2024. Final examinations end by December 20 with grades due on December 27th. The Max Kade Visiting Professor will be asked to attend orientation meetings about one week before the semester begins.
The Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures is committed to building an inclusive intellectual community and curriculum, and strongly encourages applications from members of underrepresented groups as well as scholars whose research and/or teaching interests focus on inclusive classroom practices or aspects of diversity within German-speaking communities.
Past Visitors
Below is a history of visitors URI has hosted so far:
| Semester | Name | Course | Lecture(s) |
| F 2023 | Dr. Arata Takeda (Berlin) | German Studies: Feuds, Feudalism and Faith
The 2015 Refugee Crisis in German/Austrian Literature and Public Discourse |
Does Tragedy Have To End Badly? |
| F 2021 | Dr. Natasha Kelly (Berlin) | Introduction to Black German Studies and Literature
Racism in Germany |
1) Film Screening and Discussion: Milli’s Awakening
2) Black Political Representation in Germany – What does the future of Black people look like in Germany? |
| S 2021 | Dr. Megan Ewing (virtual Max Kade visitor from U Michigan) | Deutscher Ecocriticism
An Introduction to German Cinema |
Challenges of Integration and Identity: What can the U.S. learn from German approaches to racial and social justice today? |
| F 2020 | Dr. Katherine Anderson (virtual Max Kade visitor) | Beginning/Intensive Beginning German | |
| F 2019 | Prof. Dr. Erwin Tschirner (Uni Leipzig) | Second Language Acquisition and the German Lexicon
Advanced German Conversation |
Learning Languages for Professional Proficiency |
| S 2018 | Prof. Ulrike Reeg (Università degli Studi di Bari) | Landeskunde Deutschland: Civilization & History
Intercultural Literature |
Mehrsprachigkeit und Interkulturelle Literatur |
| S 2017 | Prof. Sandro Moraldo (Università di Bologna) | Literature and History of
the Federal Republic of Germany from Zero Hour to the Present Advanced German Conversation |
Die deutsche Sprache und die neuen Medien |
| F 2015 | Prof. Hannes Krauss (Uni Duisburg) | From Zero Hour to Unification
Advanced German Conversation |
German Novels – Russian Women Writers |
| S 2013 | Consul Friedrich Loehr (Boston) | European Crisis and Integration (Honors Program) | The Father, the Son and the Sacred System: Making Sense of North Korea |