Dr. Astrid Weigert receives 2024 Distinguished Service Award
This year Professor Astrid Weigert was recognized with the 2024 Distinguished Service Award, presented annually to a member of the FLCLS faculty who has made extraordinary contributions to the programs and mission of the FLCLS through his or her research, teaching, and service to the community.
Professor Weigert is an accomplished scholar, a beloved teacher, and a tireless advocate for the study of German language and literature. She received her PhD from the Department of German at Georgetown in 1999 with a dissertation on gender and genre in German Romanticism and Naturalism. In the 23 years since then, she has taught and developed a wide range of courses at all levels of the Georgetown German Department’s award-winning “Developing Multiple Literacies” curriculum. In addition to teaching beginner, intermediate, and advanced language courses, she has also developed multiple upper-level courses centering on topics such as Romantic literature, German Business Culture, and Austrian and Swiss literature and culture, to name just a few. In addition to her courses in German language, literature, and culture, she has also expanded the horizons of generations of students through her thought-provoking HALC course “Witches in History, Literature, and Film.” Her excellence in teaching has brought her acclaim both within the College and at the national level. In 2014, Professor Weigert was awarded the College Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2019 she received the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) Award for Excellence in Teaching Language and Cultures of Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
In addition to her outstanding teaching, Professor Weigert is a phenomenal presence in her field. Her publications range from handbook essays on gender and genre in the works of Romantic women writers to articles on business language teaching and interviews with contemporary German-language authors. She has been active in professional organizations, especially AATG and NeMLA, where she was chair of the German section for three years. Her significant editorial experience includes work as book review editor and assistant editor for The German Quarterly and, currently, as Assistant Editor of the Jahrbuch der Gegenwartsliteratur/Yearbook of Contemporary German Literature. However, teaching and research alone do not begin to describe the scope of Professor Weigert’s contributions to the German Department and the Georgetown community. She is deeply engaged with curricular development in the Department and is constantly working to develop the undergraduate and graduate programs in German through recruitment, mentoring, and outreach. She has also tirelessly mentored graduate teaching associates in the German department as they embark on their teaching careers. In short, Professor Weigert embodies the Georgetown values of cura personalis and “contemplation in action.” These values have been particularly exemplified in her work as an advocate for full-time non-tenure-line faculty (FTNTL). A longtime member of the Faculty Senate, she is currently chairing the Committee for FTNTL issues.
In acknowledgment of her many contributions to the department and the university, we are proud to congratulate Professor Astrid Weigert on receiving the 2024 FLCLS Service Award!