Looking Ahead to Spring 2026
The German Department is looking forward to hosting Max Kade Writer-in-Residence Alexander Schimmelbusch for the Spring 2026 semester. Mr. Schimmelbusch has written five novels, the latest being “Karma”, published by Rowohlt Verlag in Hamburg in 2024. His second novel “Blut im Wasser”, published in 2009 and just reissued by Rowohlt, is partly set on the Georgetown Campus. He will teach the graduate course GERM 5590 The Birth of Alternative Facts: Peter Handke’s Nonfiction during the spring semester.
The German Department is pleased to announce two Second Language Acquisition–related courses offered in Spring 2026. Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) offers a socioculturally oriented approach to analyzing language, focusing on the relationship between grammar, discourse, and social context. Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) introduces students to the pedagogical use of digital technologies in language teaching, including theoretical foundations, practical applications, and ethical considerations. Both courses are taught in English and are open to advanced undergraduates and graduate students.
On March 18, the German Department will co-host a reading by the Austrian author Arad Dabiri, whose play Pressure (Druck) will be staged by the ExPats Theater in DC. The event will be held at the Georgetown Humanities Center and will be co-sponsored by the Austrian Embassy and the Persian Studies Program.
On March 23, Prof. Nicola Gess of the University of Basel, Switzerland, will give a talk in the department on “Der Hochstapler in der Literatur der Weimarer Republik.” Details of upcoming events and registration information will be available on our Events Calendar.
Prof. Friederike Eigler will co-moderate a panel on translation and autobiography, featuring Kurt Beals and Bruna Dantas Lobato, on Thursday, April 16. The event is part of the 2025-26 “Between Differences, Across Divides: A Translation Seminar Series” organized by the Georgetown Humanities Initiative in collaboration with Literatures, Cultures, and Language Studies departments and with the support of a Global Humanities Faculty Seminar Grant awarded by Georgetown University’s Office of the Vice President for Global Engagement. This sequence of workshops and panels for faculty, students, and the wider public focuses on theories and practices of translation both as forms of cross-cultural communication and as tools to address power imbalances and promote social justice across national, social, and disciplinary boundaries. Additional information and registration for this event is available on the Georgetown Humanities website.