Graduate Alumni

We asked some of our graduate student alumni a few questions regarding their professional career path, preparation for it in the Georgetown University German Department, the transition from graduate school to their current profession, and their early career experiences. Please read about their experiences here: 

PhD RECIPIENTS

Shoshannah Lane
Developing L2 German literacy in the written mode at the introductory level through task-and genre-based instruction: A Systemic Functional Linguistics Approach
Dr. Marianna Ryshina-Pankova (Cunningham, Bryfonski)
Defended on April 11, 2024

Samantha Grayck
The Ineluctable Space Between: Dialogical Subjectivity and Genre in German-Jewish Women’s Life Writing
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Ryshina-Pankova, Dupree)
Defended with distinction on May 4, 2023

Kerstin Kuhn
Evaluative Choice in Intermediate L2 German Digital Narratives: A Systemic Functional Linguistics Approach
Dr. Marianna Ryshina-Pankova (Cunningham, Ortega, Gordon)
Defended with distinction on March 14, 2023

Meghan Paige Tisserand
Children in Transit: Literary Representations of Flight and Expulsion within East and West German Kinder- und Jugendliteratur from 1945-1989
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Pfeiffer, Sieg)
Defended on January 9, 2023

Andrea Bryant
Decolonizing by design: Black feminist scholarship, critical applied linguistics, and a pedagogy of multiliteracies in the beginning and intermediate German-language instruction
Dr. Joe Cunningham (Eigler, Sieg, Subtirelu, Gramling)
Defended on July 21, 2021
After defending the dissertation, Dr. Bryant accepted a German lecturer position at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. She currently instructs undergraduate courses and plans to continue expanding her dissertation for publication in both traditional and public-facing venues and formats. 

Aleksandra Starcevic
Turning “Wounds” Into Words: Literary Representations of Loss in the Wake of the Yugoslav Wars and Their Aftermath
Dr. Peter C. Pfeiffer (Eigler, Dupree)
Defended on June 15, 2021

Forrest Finch
The Tableau Effect in German Narrative Prose around 1800
Dr. Mary Helen Dupree (Pfeiffer, Eigler)
Defended on June 10, 2021
Dr. Finch is currently an assistant teaching professor of German at Penn State University. He teaches both upper-level German courses at Penn State University – University Park, as well as online courses through Penn State University – World Campus. Forrest is also the faculty representative for Penn State’s German club.

Douglas McKnight
Persecution and Resistance: The Carinthian Slovenes and Memories of the Second World War
Dr. Katrin Sieg (Eigler, Leben)
Defended with distinction on November 17, 2020
Doug is currently working in Austria as a copywriter for a PR and marketing company.

Joshua Seale
Between Austria and Germany, Heimat and Zuhause: German-Speaking Refugees and the Politics of Memory in Austria
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Pfeiffer, Dupree)
Defended on August 14, 2020
During the last year of his thesis research, Josh began working at the German Historical Institute. After defending his dissertation, Dr. Seale will continue to work at the GHI while looking for other opportunities. 

Justin Quam
Helping Language Learners Align with Readers Through Narrative: Insights into the Breadth, Targets, and Explicitness of Evaluation from Appraisal Studies of Second Language German Writers
Dr. Marianna Ryshina-Pankova (Cunningham, Ortega)
Defended on August 13, 2020
Dr. Quam completed his degree while working at St. Paul’s Schools in Brooklandville, Maryland. In addition to teaching classes in German and global politics at St. Paul’s, he supervises high-school-level courses at Waldsee, the German immersion program offered by Concordia Language Villages in Bemidji, Minnesota.

Willi Barthold
Zeitschrift, Text und Bild. Der bürgerliche Realismus im Kontext der visuellen Massenmedien des 19. Jahrhunderts
Dr. Peter C. Pfeiffer (Eigler, Dupree)
Defended with distinction on February 14, 2020
Dr. Barthold is currently a research associate (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter) at the Department of German Literature at Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Germany. In addition to teaching courses on German literature and culture from the nineteenth century to the present, he is developing a large-scale research project on villages and rural areas in contemporary German literature and media.

Noelle Rettig
From Aesthetic to Pathology: Reading Literary Case Studies of Melancholy, 1775-1830
Dr. Mary Helen Dupree (Eigler, Pfeiffer)
Defended on August 20, 2019

Doria Killian
And You Shall Tell Your Children: The Intersection of Memory, Identity, and Narrative in Contemporary German Jewish Autofiction
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Sieg, Dupree)
Defended on August 7, 2019
Dr. Killian is currently an assistant professor of German and the director of the Center for Jewish Studies at UNC Asheville.

Sandra Digruber
The Co-Construction of Knowledge in FL Teacher–Student Classroom Interactions
Dr. Marianna Ryshina-Pankova (Cunningham, Gordon)
Defended on August 2, 2019
Dr. Digruber has accepted a lecturer position in German Studies at Smith College in Northampton, MA. Apart from teaching pre-designed undergraduate courses, she also developed her own advanced course (5th semester and above) on the topic of ‘Heimat‘ and continues her research on the analysis of classroom discourse.

Emily Sieg Barthold
The Thirty Years’ War as Unifying Heritage: Historical Fiction, Ecumenism, and German Nation-Building (1871-1920)
Dr. Mary Helen Dupree (Eigler, Pfeiffer)
Defended with distinction on April 15, 2019
For the academic year 2019/2020, Dr. Barthold has been awarded a Max Kade Postdoctoral Fellowship administered by the Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies. She will spend a year in Berlin doing postdoctoral research, including reworking her dissertation for publication and developing a new project on “The Imagery of Germany at War.” 

Julia Goetze
Linking cognition and emotion: An appraisal study of foreign language teacher anxiety
Dr. Marianna Ryshina-Pankova (Mackey, Smith)
Defended on May 15, 2018
After graduation, Dr. Goetze was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Currently, she is Assistant Teaching Professor and Language Coordinator at Penn State University. Dr. Goetze is involved in curriculum development, teacher training, and undergraduate and graduate teaching, and is continuing her research agenda, which involves further investigating the interdependencies of language teachers’ beliefs, cognitive processes, emotions, and behaviors.

Meghan O’Dea
Geopolitical Transformation and Nostalgic Returns: Literary Return Visits to Former East Prussian Homes
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Sieg, Dupree)
Defended on December 9, 2016
First employment after graduation: German Instructor at Georgetown University, Washington, DC.

Anna Zimmer
The Past, Politics, and Prose: Memories of War in Early 21st Century German-language Novels
Dr. Katrin Sieg (Eigler, Pfeiffer)
Defended with distinction on December 19, 2012
After teaching for a semester in the German Department, Dr. Zimmer and her husband moved to northern Michigan where she is now a tenure-track Assistant Professor at Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI.

Jason Ager
Heimat’s Sentry: Images of the Golem in 20th-Century Austrian Literature
Dr. Peter C. Pfeiffer (Eigler, Murphy)
Defended on December 18, 2012
After receiving his degree, Dr. Ager taught German at his undergraduate alma mater, LaSalle University, in Philadelphia, PA. He also continues his musical pursuits.

Tessa Wegener
Women Re-defining the ‘Orientreise’: Memory, Nostalgia and the Problem of Multiculturalism in Contemporary Austrian Travel Texts and Film
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Dupree, Sieg)
Defended with distinction on November 12, 2012
After teaching at Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, and at Swarthmore College, PA, and continuing her engagement as Associate Director of Middlebury College German Language School, Dr. Wegener and her diplomat husband left for an international posting in Brazil.

Brooke Kreitinger
The Spatial Imagination of Accelerated Globalization in Contemporary German-language Novels
Dr. Katrin Sieg (Eigler, Pfeiffer)
Defended on August 23, 2012
Since her graduation, Dr. Kreitinger is a Visiting Assistant Professor at University of North Carolina, Greensboro.

Deva Kemmis
On the Verge of Hearing: Epistemology and the Poetics of Listening in the Human-Nixie Encounter in German Literature
Dr. G. Ronald Murphy, S.J. (Dupree, Pfeiffer)
Defended with distinction on April 18, 2012
Following her degree completion, Dr. Kemmis taught German at George Washington University, DC. After a stint as Director of the Global Women’s Project at the Center of Concern, she is now teaching for the DC Public School District.

Jens Kugele
Kafkas Heimat-Topographien
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Pfeiffer, Sieg)
Defended with distinction on May 9, 2011
First employment after graduation: Assistant Professor, Interdisciplinary Program for the Study of Religion & Culture, LMU Munich.
Dr. Kugele moved to Germany after he received his degree and is now Head of Research Coordination at Universität Giessen, Germany.

Wendy S. Wilson
Heimat and Memory in the City: Representations of New York City and Vienna in Autobiographical Works of Exiled Viennese Authors
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Pfeiffer, Murphy)
Defended May 18, 2009
After teaching as Adjunct Assistant Professor at Gettysburg College for a year, Dr. Wilson moved to a private company, Yorktown Systems Group where she works as a German Language Instructor II for the Foreign Service Institute.

Corinne (Cori) Crane
Evaluative Choice in Advanced Second Language Writing of German: A Genre Perspective
Dr. Heidi Byrnes (Hamilton, Maxim)
Defended December 18, 2007
Dr. Crane completed her degree while already working at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She moved to the University of Texas at Austin and then began a new position as professor of the practice at Duke University in 2017. She is currently Associate Professor of German at the University of Alabama.

Mark Lauer
DDR-Kulturpolitik und autobiographisches Schreiben vor und nach der Wende: Christa Wolf und Günter de Bruyn
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Pfeiffer, Sieg)
Defended May 1, 2007
Dr. Lauer moved into a lecturer and then senior lecturer position at Mt. Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA. He continues to be involved in Georgetown’s Trier Summer Program.

Jennifer Short
The Gracious Heroine in Schiller’s Maria Stuart: Christian Aspects of the Depiction of the Beautiful Soul
Defended February 12, 2007
Dr. G. Ronald Murphy, S.J. (Eigler, Sieg)
After teaching as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Georgetown University, Dr. Short accepted the offer to become the Director of Institutional Relations and Policy Analysis at the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in New Jersey.

Lanlan Xu
Masquerade, Mimicry and Performativity: The Staging of Female Identity in German Literature around 1800
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Murphy, Sieg)
Defended November 20, 2006
Dr. Xu continued her studies at Indiana University with a degree in public policy and is now Senior Research Associate at IMPAQ International.

Marianna Ryshina-Pankova
Constructing Coherent and Cohesive Textual Worlds in Advanced Foreign Language Learner Writing
Dr. Heidi Byrnes (Maxim, Schiffrin [Linguistics])
Defended with Distinction April 6, 2006
Dr. Ryshina-Pankova started out as Assistant Professor at George Mason University and was later tapped for the position of Director of Curriculum and Assistant Professor at Georgetown University, Washington, DC, where she received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2016.

Shu-Ping Lee
Der Hermaphrodismus in der Deutschen Literatur um 1800
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Kord, Murphy)
Defended February 6, 2006
Dr. Lee returned to her native Taiwan where she is a professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Nanhua University.

Olga Liamkina
The Role of Explicit Meaning-Based Instruction in Foreign Language Pedagogy: Applications of Cognitive Linguistics to Teaching the German Dative Case to Advanced Learners
Dr. Heidi Byrnes (Maxim, Tyler [Linguistics])
Defended August 10, 2006
Dr. Liamkina joined her family in the New York area and is the first non-native speaker to be the Coordinator of Mentor Network USA, Goethe-Institut, New York.

Peter Weise
Schalom Genosse Schriftsteller – German-Jewish Literature in the German Democratic Republic
Dr. Peter C. Pfeiffer (Eigler, Sieg)
Defended November 22, 2004
Dr. Weise moved with his family to New England and taught German at Boston University. He is currently a Lecturer in German at MIT, Cambridge, MA.

James P. Martin
The Crisis of Cultural Knowledge in Michael Köhlmeier’s Telemach, Christoph Ransmayr’s Morbus Kitahara and W. G. Sebald’s Die Ringe des Saturn
Dr. Peter C. Pfeiffer (Eigler, Sieg)
Defended November 13, 2003
Dr. Martin accepted a tenure-line appointment in German at Washington College, MD.

Karen Mei Eng
German Colonialism in China: A Literary and Cultural Study
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Sieg, Peck)
Defended August 18, 2003
PhD awarded August 2003
Dr. Eng began her post-degree career as a Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO. She moved to a more technologically oriented career and is currently Senior Product Manager, HealthSuite Digital Platform (hsdp) at Philips.

Susanne Rinner
Erinnern und Erzählen: Die Darstellung der Studentenbewegung und des Nationalsozialismus in der deutschsprachigen Literatur nach 1989
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Kord, Pfeiffer)
Defended May 12, 2003
PhD awarded July 2003
After a year as Visiting Assistant Professor, Allegheny College, Meadville, PA., Dr. Rinner accepted a tenure-line appointment in German Studies at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC, where she is also and regular program faculty in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program. She is the president of the American Association of Teachers of German in 2018/19.

Joanna K. Stimmel
Entangled by the Past: Mutual Representations and Self-Images in German and Polish Discourses on the Holocaust
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Pfeiffer, Peck)
Defended April 17, 2003
PhD awarded May 2003
Dr. Stimmel first taught as Visiting Assistant Professor, Columbia University, and at Hunter College, New York, NY. She and her documentary film maker-husband moved to Southern California where she is currently a visiting Professor at Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA.

Katherine Sprang
Vocabulary Acquisition and Advanced Learners: The Role of Grammaticization and Conceptual Organization in the Acquisition of German Verbs with Inseparable Prefixes
Dr. Heidi Byrnes (Fink, Mackey [Linguistics,] Tyler, [Linguistics])
Defended March 3, 2003
PhD awarded May 2003
Dr. Sprang became the Director, Multimedia & Library Services, Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State after graduation and moved through various positions in government. Until her untimely death in 2019, she was Curriculum and Evaluation Coordinator at Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State.

John Taylor
Constructing Right-Wing Extremism in the Media: The Role of Evaluation in Three News Genres
Dr. Heidi Byrnes (Eigler, Scollon [Linguistics])
Defended February 10, 2003
PhD awarded February 2003
Dr. Taylor went back to his undergraduate alma mater, Drury College (now Drury University) in Springfield, MO, as Assistant Professor of German. He quickly rose through the ranks, also taking on administrative positions, including community outreach. This brought him into contact with Askinosie Chocolate LLC where he is now Chief Operating Officer.

Andreas Hoppe
Alter und Dialekt: Eine Untersuchung zur Dialektkompetenz des Kölschen der jüngeren, mittleren und älteren Generation
Dr. Kurt R. Jankowsky (Murphy, Obernberger)
Defended December 18, 2002
PhD awarded February 2003
Dr. Hoppe returned to his native South Carolina to teach at Carolina Forest High School, Horry County Public Schools, Myrtle Beach, SC. In 2009, he joined his family’s company, W.H. Company, Inc., an importer of Maisel’s Weisse Beer.

Barbara Serfozo
Warring Narratives: the Diaries of Ursula von Kardorff, Margret Boveri and Lore Walb
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Peck, Cubilie [English])
Defended December 6, 2002
PhD awarded December 2002
After receiving her degree, Dr. Serfozo moved to Berlin, Germany, where she continues to work as a consultant and translator.

Anna Helm Kurz
The Intersections of the Material and Poetic Economy: Stifter’s Nachsommer and Freytag’s Soll und Haben
Dr. Peter C. Pfeiffer (Eigler, Kord)
Defended August 15, 2002
PhD awarded December 2002
Right after receiving her degree, Dr. Helm Kurz became the Director of the Business, Cultures, and Languages Program at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. She has since moved across the city to be an Assistant Teaching Professor of International Business and GW-CIBER Business Languages Coordinator at George Washington University, DC.

Jason Owens
Changing Constructions of Germanness in Namibia: The “GDR Kids”
Dr. Jeffrey Peck (Eigler, McKittrick [History, African Studies Program])
Defended June 8, 2001
PhD awarded September 30, 2001
After teaching at Montgomery College, Dr. Owens taught as Visiting Assistant Professor, at Whitman College, WA, then moved on to South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD, where he earned tenure and promotion to associate professor. For personal reasons, he decided to leave his position and move to Columbus, OH, where he is a Visiting Scholar at the Ohio State University.

Anne Thiel
Verhinderte Traditionen: Maerchen deutscher Autorinnen vor den Bruedern Grimm
Dr. Susanne Kord (Eigler, Pfeiffer)
Defended with Distinction April 2, 2001
PhD awarded May 25, 2001
This dissertation was awarded the Glassman Distinguished Dissertation Award, May 2002.
Dr. Thiel decided that she wanted to pursue a career in non-profit organizations and started out as Executive Assistant to Senior Vice President, World Resources Institute in Washington, DC. She is currently a Communications Professional with Forest Trends Association in DC.

Mark Dreisonstok
The Pagan-Christian Concept of Wealth and Its Relationship to Light in the Heliand and in Beowulf, with Consideration of Additional Anglo-Saxon Works
Rev. G. Ronald Murphy, S.J., PhD (Jankowsky, Pfeiffer)
Defended December 19, 2000
PhD awarded December 31, 2000
Dr. Dreisonstok has taught English and German at Georgetown University, George Washington University,  and Marymount University, among others. He serves as Managing Editor of The Scottish Rite Journal.

Hiroyuki Eto
Philologie vs. Sprachwissenschaft: Historiographie einer Begriffsbestimmung im Rahmen der Wissenschaftsgeschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts
Dr. Kurt R. Jankowsky (Fink, Obernberger)
Defended with Distinction December 20, 1999
PhD awarded May 26, 2000
Dr. Eto returned to his native Japan as Assistant Professor of English, Nagano College, Komagane, Nagano, Japan. More recently, he moved on to be a professor at the Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.

Elise Brayton (Elise Mueller)
Almost German: The Representation of Racial Difference and Belonging in Contemporary Germany
Dr. Jeffrey M. Peck (Eigler, Pfeiffer)
Defended November 22, 1999
PhD awarded May 26, 2000
Dr. Brayton started out as a Lecturer at San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, and later moved to Duke University where she is now the technology consultant for all language departments.

Nawal Al-Jubeir
Deutsche Wörter arabischen Ursprungs: Eine kulturhistorisch-lingustische Studie des Einflusses von Arabisch auf Deutsch zwischen 700 – 1200
Dr. Kurt R. Jankowsky (Murphy, Obernberger, Stowasser [Arab Studies])
Defended December 16, 1999
PhD awarded May 26, 2000
Dr. Al-Jubeir became the Director of Academic Affairs for Diplomats and Dependents, Saudi Arabia Cultural Mission, Washington, DC.

Astrid Weigert
Schriftstellerinnen als Aesthetikerinnen: Genre und Geschlecht in Romantik und Naturalismus am Beispiel von Dorothea Schlegel und Elsa Berstein
Dr. Susanne T. Kord (Eigler, Pfeiffer)
Defended with Distinction August 24, 1999
PhD awarded August 31, 1999
Dr. Weigert is a Teaching Professor at Georgetown University, Washington, DC.

Heidrun Franz
Uwe Johnson und Christa Wolf: Vergangenheits- und  Gegenwartsaufarbeitung in ihren literarischen Werken
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Murphy, Pfeiffer)
Defended May 10, 1999
PhD awarded August 31, 1999
Dr. Franz taught as Assistant Professor, George Washington University, Washington, DC. She is remembered as an energetic, dedicated, and engaging teacher.

Edward Reif
Goethe as a Visual Artist: The Painful Process of Personal Realization
Rev. G. Ronald Murphy, S.J., PhD (Jankowsky, Pfeiffer, Prelinger [Art, Music and Theater Department])
Defended October 7, 1998
PhD awarded August 31, 1999
Dr. Reif moved to Germany and continues to work as an akademischer Mitarbeiter at the Sprachenzentrum of the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.

Gianfranca M. Schöfer
Südtirol: Die deutsche Minderheit in Italien; Eine historische, sprachsoziologische Darstellung
Dr. Alfred Obernberger (Jankowsky, Murphy)
Defended with distinction October 26, 1998
PhD awarded December 31, 1998
Dr. Schöfer did not pursue an academic or professional career.

Eva Ludwiga Szalay
Negotiating Constructions of Femininity, Subjective Agency and Resistance in Select Fiction by Kaschnitz, Bachmann and Wolf
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Kord, Pfeiffer)
Defended with Distinction May 21, 1998
PhD awarded August 31, 1998
Dr. Szalay started her academic career at Weber State University, Ogden, UT, where she is now a Full Professor.

Kenneth W. Reed
Bestimmung und Beschreibung des sprachlichen Feldes: Ein Beitrag zur Anwendung des Wortfeldprinzips
Dr. Alfred Obernberger (Jankowsky, Murphy)
Defended December 19, 1997
PhD awarded January 31, 1998
Dr. Reed was the Director of Technology Services and Resources, Alexandria City Public Schools, Alexandria, VA, and moved on to become Associate Professor of German and Chair of the Modern Languages Committee at Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA.

Walter Rankin
The Literate Citizen and the Pedagogical State: Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, Campe’s Robinson Der Jüngere, and Lessing’s Nathan der Weise
Dr. Peter C. Pfeiffer (Eigler, Peck)
Defended with distinction December 8, 1997
PhD awarded January 31, 1998
Dr. Rankin became an assistant dean at George Mason University where he moved up in the ranks very quickly. In the early 2000s, he returned to Georgetown as an associate dean and then interim dean of the School of Continuing Studies. He then served as the Director of Faculty Affairs in the Provost’s office at Georgetown University. Currently he is the Vice Provost for Continuing and Professional Studies at Fairfield University, Connecticut. 

Ann Perseus Penningroth
Making Meaning in Second Language Reading: The Case of an Advanced Learner of German in the Foreign Language Classroom
Dr. Heidi Byrnes (Peck, Moyer)
Defended May 30, 1997
PhD awarded September 30, 1997
Dr. Penningroth moved north for her first position as Assistant Professor of German at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. She returned south and is now Research Assistant for Miepkatter Books.

Neal Guthrie
Rainer Maria Rilke and Sprachskepsis. The Role of Metaphor in Saying the Unsayable
Rev. G. Ronald Murphy, S.J., PhD (Shukla [Linguistics], Jankowsky)
Defended May 9, 1997
PhD awarded July 31, 1997
Dr. Guthrie had a number of internships with the Holocaust Museum while completing his degree. He was offered a permanent position as Research Historian in the Department of Exhibitions of the Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC. He is now the Director of the Holocaust Survivor and Victims Resource Center.

Kerstin Gaddy
The Novelization of Drama in Naturalism: Henrik Ibsen’s Gengangere and Gerhart Hauptmann’s Vor Sonnenaufgang
Dr. Friederike Eigler (Kord, Murphy)
Defended with distinction April 10, 1997
PhD awarded May 23, 1997
Dr. Gaddy went to work for the German Department at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where she is now Associate Dean of Arts & Sciences.

Teresa Dederichs
“Weltansicht”: Ein semantisch-konnotativer Vergleich zwischen westdeutschen und russlanddeutschen Jugendlichen
Dr. Kurt R. Jankowsky (Obernberger, Fink)
Defended October 10, 1996
PhD awarded March 31, 1997
Dr. Dederichs returned to Germany where she taught as a Lecturer at Universität Hamburg.

Margaret Ruth Gonglewski
A Discourse-analytic Investigation of Deixis in Anna Seghers Der Ausflug der Toten Mädchen: Oscillating Place, Time, and Person
Dr. Heidi Byrnes (Eigler, Hamilton [Linguistics])
Defended August 23, 1995
PhD awarded January 31, 1996
Dr. Gonglewski started her career as an assistant professor of German at George Washington University in Washington, DC, where she is now Associate Professor of German and International Affairs, and Director of German Language at Elliott School of International Affairs.

Monika Fingas
Die Struktur von Hermann Brochs Roman Der Tod des Vergil: Erörtert im Hinblick auf seine philosophischen, linguistischen und literarischen Komponenten
Dr. Kurt R. Jankowsky (Fink, Obernberger)
Defended October 11, 1994
PhD awarded December 31, 1994
Dr. Fingas first taught German as a Lecturer for the Continuing Education Division, Georgetown University, and moved on to become the HR Manager and Foreign Trade Specialist for Firma Tecklenborg.

Cara Horwich
The Theme of Survival in Grimmelshausen’s Simplizissismus and Brecht’s Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder
Rev. G. Ronald Murphy, S.J., PhD (Kord, Obernberger)
Defended September 20, 1994
PhD awarded October 31, 1994
Dr. Horwich followed her husband to the United Kingdom where she taught in the school system.

MA Recipients

Daniel Baughman, May 2023
First employment after graduation: German instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point

Maja Salibašić, August 2021

Aliza M. Atkin Kroek, August 2018

Lenna Knoerr, May 2018

Lauren Thomas, May 2016
First employment after graduation: Visiting Professor in the Department of Modern Languages at the Tecnológico de Monterrey (Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education) in Monterrey, Mexico

Christina Butler, December 2015

Simone Willnath, December 2014
First employment after graduation: Language and Culture Instructor (Contractor), U.S. Department of State, at the Foreign Service Institute

Alanna Nilsson, May 2014

Claudia Winkler, August 2013
First employment after graduation: Special Assistant for Global Engagement at Georgetown University

Suzanne Erickson, August 2013
First employment after graduation: Lecturer at George Washington University

Ashleigh Stall, May 2011
First employment after graduation: German teacher at the John Carroll School in Bel Air, MD

Carolyn Osinski, May 2011

Gergely Kovacs, May 2009

Yumiko Blackwell, May 2008
Current employment: Research Analyst at Morrison and Foerster, LLP

Brenda Casteen, May 2007
First employment after graduation: Georgetown University, DEFL
Current employment: Perdue University, Rosetta Stone, West Lafayette, IN

Jared Wilson, May 2007
First employment after graduation: Berlitz School

Christopher Grodecki, May 2006
First employment after graduation: Institute for Justice

Patrick McGovern, August 2005
Continuing studies of Chinese in Taiwan.

Matthew Adams, May 2005
First employment after graduation: U.S. government agency.
Current employment: Technology and Computer Science Editor at Shmoop

Richard March, May 2005
First employment after graduation: U.S. government agency.
Current employment: CACI International, Inc.

Timothy Frawley, June 2003
First employment after graduation: Teacher of English and German, Berlitz School, and political organizer for California Peace Action, Los Angeles, CA

Kimberly Jaeger, May 2003
First employment after graduation: Visiting Instructor, German Department, Georgetown University
Current employment: Assistant Professor and Department Chair at Harper College, Palatine, IL

Janel Galvanek, November 26, 2002
First employment after graduation: Assistant Editor, German Historical Institute, Washington, DC
Current employment: Project Manager at the Berghof Foundation

Melissa Brennan, May 17, 2002
First employment after graduation: Teacher in Melk, Austria

Ivan Parkinson, July 31, 2001
First employment after graduation: Liaison between the US State Dept. and the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), Vienna, Austria

Maria Teresa Mascaro Llabres, July 31, 2001
First employment after graduation: Visiting Instructor and Assistant Director, Intensive Spanish Program, Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese, Georgetown University

Sibila Karamehmedovic, September 30, 2001
First employment after graduation: Foreign Language Teacher and Interpreter, Monterey, CA

Kei Hoshino, August 31, 2001
First employment after graduation: Editor of In-House Newsletter, Deutsche Bank, New York City

Colin Bezener, August 31, 2001

Sonja Ruffner, May 2000

Monika Biller Harris, May 28, 1999
Current employment: Lecturer at GW Department of Romance, German, and Slavic Languages and Literature

Susanne Wunner, May 22, 1998
First employment after graduation: Program Coordinator, U.S. Liaison Office of Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Washington, DC

Christopher T. Swanson, May 22, 1998
First employment after graduation: Software trainer/consultant at Perfect Access

Tanja Martina Mayer, May 22, 1998
First employment after graduation: Technology training for PriceWaterhouseCoopers

D. Jeffrey Bale, May 23, 1997
First employment after graduation: Teacher in a public high school in Chicago

Kari Lynn Fangel, December 31, 1996
First employment after graduation: Assistant Professor and Director of Off-Campus Programs, Hamline University

Andrea Deborah Marreck, May 24, 1996
First employment after graduation: Working for Deutsche Bank, New York City

Noah Lang, October 31, 1995
First employment after graduation: Printmaker at Trillium Graphics, a traditional and digital printmaking studio in the San Francisco area

Shawn M. Bryce, July 31, 1995
Current employment: Cartus Intercultural and Language Solutions

Felix Haibach, May 27, 1994
First employment after graduation: Working at World Bank (Deputy Director Representative, Brussels)

Danica Shaw, February 28, 1994
First employment after graduation: Coordinator at WorldTeach Namibia, Windhoek