Richard A. Zipser
Office Address:
Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
319 Jastak-Burgess Hall
University of Delaware
Newark, Delaware 19716
Telephone: (302) 831-6882
Facsimile: (302) 831-6459
E-mail: zipser@udel.edu
Home Address:
3 Covered Bridge Lane
Newark, Delaware 19711
Telephone: (302) 731-8644
Facsimile: (302) 731-2515
Personal:
Born January 23, 1943, in Baltimore, Maryland
United States citizen
Married since 1981 to Ulrike Diedenhofen
Formal Education:
Ph.D., German, The Johns Hopkins University, 1972
M.A., German, Middlebury College, 1965
(University of Mainz, Germany, 1964-1965)
B.A., German, Colby College, 1964
(University of Freiburg, Germany, 1962-1963)
Academic Appointments:
University of Delaware
Professor Emeritus of German, 2014-present
Professor of German, 1986-2014
Oberlin College
Professor of German, 1985-1986
Associate Professor of German, 1976-1985
Assistant Professor of German, 1972-1976
Instructor of German, 1969-1972
The Johns Hopkins University
Junior Instructor of German, 1966-1969
Areas of Special Interest:
Literature of the German Democratic Republic
Nineteenth-Century German Literature
Literary Censorship
Anglo-German Literary Relations
Administrative and Related Professional Experience:
Chair, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Delaware
1986-2013
Special Advisor for International Affairs, Office of the Dean, College of Arts and Sciences,
University of Delaware, 1999-2001
Acting Associate Provost for International Programs and Special Sessions,
University of Delaware, 1989-1990
Chair, East Asian Studies Program Committee, University of Delaware, 1987-1989
Chair, Department of German and Russian, Oberlin College, 1982-1986
Associate Chair, Department of German and Russian, Oberlin College, 1981-1982
Chair, Comparative Literature Program Committee, Oberlin College, 1979-1980,
1981-1982, and 1985-1986
Director, Oberlin College German Semester Abroad Program, 1973, 1979, and 1984
Director, Oberlin College German Summer Session in Vienna, 1975
Awards and Honors, Grants and Fellowships:
Member, International PEN Centre of German-Speaking Authors Abroad / PEN Zentrum deutschprachiger Autoren im Ausland, 2018
Lifetime Service Award, from the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Delaware,
in recognition of years of outstanding service, 2014
Choice 50th Anniversary Honor Roll, for 40 years of dedicated service as consultant and
book reviewer on literature of the German Democratic Republic, 2014
Excellence in Service Award, from the College of Arts and Sciences, University of
Delaware, for outstanding contributions in the areas of foreign language education
and study abroad, 2001
Order of Excellence Award, from the Delaware State Board of Education, for outstanding
service as Co-chair of the State Foreign Languages Curriculum Framework
Commission, 1997
Merit Award, from the State of Delaware Department of Public Instruction, for distinctive
contributions to the program of public education in Delaware, 1997
Foreign Language Advocate of the Year Award, selected by the Delaware Council on the
Teaching of Foreign Languages, 1995
Visiting Humanities Fellow, American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, The
Johns Hopkins University, 1992-1993
President, Association of Departments of Foreign Languages Executive Committee,
Modern Language Association, 1987
University of Delaware Supplemental Funds Grants in support of research on literary
censorship in the German Democratic Republic, summer 1987 and summer 1993
Presider, “America’s Best: Prizewinning Books 1983-1984” at the 1985 Leipzig Book Fair, an exhibit sponsored by the United States Information Agency and the American Embassy to the German Democratic Republic in East Berlin, March 10-16, 1985.
Representative to the Delegate Assembly for the Division on Twentieth-Century German
Literature, Modern Language Association, 1983-1985
National Fellowship, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, in support of research and
writing on literature of the German Democratic Republic, 1980-1981
International Research and Exchanges Board Scholar, exchange program with the
German Democratic Republic, 1977-1978
Oberlin College Grants-in-Aid in support of research and writing on contemporary East
German literature, fall 1975, spring 1976, spring 1978, and spring 1980
H. H. Powers Travel Grant for a 30-day study trip through the German Democratic Republic, 1973
Julius Hofmann Memorial Fund Award for scholarship in German, awarded annually to
the outstanding graduate student in German within the State of Maryland, 1968
National Defense Education Act Title IV Fellowship for graduate study at The Johns
Hopkins University, 1967-1969
Gilman Fellowship for graduate study at The Johns Hopkins University, 1965-1969
Gale Fellowship for graduate study at The Johns Hopkins University, 1965-1966
Bibliography:
Books, Editions and Edited Compilations:
Memories of Life in East Germany: Snapshots. Pennsauken: BookBaby, 2022. 268 pp. [Memoir comprised of 58 short prose texts focusing on experiences the author had while travelling and doing research behind the Iron Curtain during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. This book is a companion piece to his first memoir, Remembering East Germany. From Oberlin to East Berlin, 2021]
Remembering East Germany. From Oberlin to East Berlin. Pennsauken. BookBaby, 2021. 380 pp. [English edition of the documentary memoir cited below, 156 pp. longer in length than Von Oberlin nach Ostberlin with a substantial amount of new material; translation into English by the author]
Von Oberlin nach Ostberlin. Als Amerikaner unterwegs in der DDR-Literaturszene. Berlin: Ch. Links Verlag, 2013. 224 pp. [Documentary memoir based on experiences the author had while doing research and travelling in the former German Democratic Republic during the 1970s and 1980s; draws heavily on a 344-page file the East German secret police (Stasi) compiled on him with the help of ten informants, sections of which are incorporated into the book, along with appropriate commentary]
Editor, Literary Portrayals of Postunification Germany. Special issue of Colloquia Germanica (Vol. 30, No. 4, 1997), published for the University of Kentucky by Francke Verlag, Tübingen and Basel. 91 pp. [Collection of essays with a foreword]
Fragebogen: Zensur. Zur Literatur vor und nach dem Ende der DDR. Leipzig: Reclam Verlag, 1995. 341 pp. [Documentary with a foreword and critical introduction, interviews with 70 former GDR writers on the topic of literary censorship]
Guest editor, Literary Censorship in the German-Speaking Countries, a two-part series contained in successive special issues of The Germanic Review. Part One: Literary Censorship in Switzerland and Austria since 1945 (Spring 1990, Vol. 65, No. 2, 49-87). Part Two: Literary Censorship in the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic (Summer 1990, Vol. 65, No. 3, 97-131). [Essays and interviews with writers, preceded by a critical introduction]
DDR-Literatur im Tauwetter: Wandel – Wunsch – Wirklichkeit, with the collaboration of Karl-Heinz Schoeps. 3 vols. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 1985. 847 pp. [Documentary with a foreword and critical introduction, literary texts by 45 GDR writers, interviews with writers, statements on writing, and bio-bibliographical sketches]
Editor, with Reinhold Grimm and Peter Spycher, From Kafka and Dada to Brecht and Beyond. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1982. 83 pp. [Collection of essays by five distinguished scholars with a foreword by Spycher and Zipser]
Guest editor, Contemporary East German Poetry. Special issue of Field: Contemporary Poetry and Poetics. Oberlin: Oberlin College Press, 1980. 191 pp. [Bilingual anthology with a critical introduction]
Die neuen Leiden des jungen W., by Ulrich Plenzdorf. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1978. xiv + 302 pp. Revised printing, 1987. [Textbook edition with an introduction]
Edward Bulwer-Lytton and Germany. Vol. XVI of German Studies in America, ed. Heinrich Meyer. Bern: Herbert Lang and Co., 1974. 229 pp. [Monograph]
Articles and Book Chapters:
“Sarah Kirsch an Richard Zipser,” in europäische ideen, Vol. 156: In memoriam Sarah Kirsch (2013), 6-7.
“My Visit with Dissident East German Writer Reiner Kunze, Way Back Then,” in europäische ideen, Vol. 155: Reiner Kunze 80 (2013), 15-16.
“Reading My Stasi File, Part II: The Fries/Zipser File,” in Colloquia Germanica, Vol. 42, No. 4 (2009), 327-362).
“Brecht and Galileo in Delaware,” in Communications from the International Brecht Society, Vol. 36, (Fall 2007), 99-102.
“Reading My Stasi File,” in Colloquia Germanica, Vol. 39, No. 3 (2006), 367-382.
“Lieselotte E. Kurth,” in South Atlantic Review, Vol. 70, No. 3 (Summer 2005), 106-108.
“Harold Jantz,” in Internationales Germanistenlexikon 1800-1950, ed. Christoph König, 3 vols. (Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2003), 839-841.
Co-author, with Lisa P. Chieffo, “Integrating Study Abroad into the Foreign Language Curriculum,” in Chairing the Foreign Language and Literature Department, Part 2, a special issue of the ADFL Bulletin, Vol. 32, No. 3 (Spring 2001), 79-85.
“Dauer im Wechsel: Literaturzensur in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik,” in Fragebogen: Zensur. Zur Literatur vor und nach dem Ende der DDR (Leipzig: Reclam, 1995), 13-41.
“An Organizer’s View,” in The Future of Germanistik in the USA: Changing Our Prospects, ed. John A. McCarthy and Katrin Schneider (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1995), 157-161. Proceedings from the German Academic Exchange Service symposium held at Vanderbilt University, October 13-16, 1994.
“The Foreign Language Department and Study Abroad Programs,” in Managing the Foreign Language Department: A Chairperson’s Primer, ed. Sam L. Slick and Richard G. Klein (Valdosta: Southern Conference on Language Teaching, 1993), 195-202.
“Building a Full-Service Foreign Language Department: Some Strategies and Interdisciplinary Initiatives,” in ADFL Bulletin, Vol. 23, No. 3 (Spring 1992), 28-33. Revised version entitled “Building a Full-Service German Department” published in Post-Wall German Studies: A Challenge for North American Colleges and Universities in the 1990s, proceedings from the German Academic Exchange Service conference held in Scottsdale, Arizona, February 6-9, 1992.
“The Many Faces of Censorship in the German Democratic Republic, 1949-1989: A Survey,” in The Germanic Review,Vol. 65, No. 3 (Summer 1990), 111-117.
“Literary Censorship in the German Democratic Republic: The Authors Speak,” in The Germanic Review, Vol. 65, No. 3 (Summer 1990), 118-129.
“Ulrich Plenzdorf,” in Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature, 2nd ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), 624.
“Jurek Becker,” in Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature, 2nd ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), 59.
“Interview with Jurek Becker,” in Dimension, Vol. 11, No. 3 (1978), 407-416.
“Jurek Becker: A Writer with a Cause,” in Dimension, Vol. 11, No. 3 (1978), 402-406.
“Bulwer-Lytton and Goethe’s Mignon,” in Modern Language Notes, Vol. 89, No. 3 (April 1974), 465-468.
Translations:
Christoph Geiser, “Tourists,” in a special issue of Dimension, The Image of America in Contemporary German Writing, ed. A. Leslie Willson (1983), 220-233.
Co-translator (with Claudia Johnson), Jurek Becker, “My Way of Being a Jew,” in Dimension, Vol. 11, No. 3 (1978), 417-423.
Tankred Dorst, “The End of Playwriting,” in The Antioch Review, Vol. 31, No. 2 (1971), 255-266.
Reviews:
Barrie Baker, Theatre Censorship in Honecker’s Germany, in German Quarterly, Vol. 82, No. 3 (Summer 2009), 401-402.
H. G. Huettich, Theater in the Planned Society: Contemporary Drama in the German Democratic Republic in its Historical, Political, and Cultural Context, in Modern Language Notes, Vol. 95, No. 3 (April 1980), 761-763.
Stefan Heym, Die Schmähschrift oder die Königin gegen Defoe, in GDR Bulletin, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Fall 1980), 15-16.
Editorial Work:
General Editor of DDR-Studien/East German Studies (Peter Lang Publishing), a series of scholarly monographs on topics in the humanities and social sciences pertaining to the German Democratic Republic, 1986-2014. [18 titles published]
Member of the Board of Editors, University of Delaware Press, 1991-1997.
Member of the Editorial Advisory Board, Peter Lang Publishing (New York), 1986-2014.
Invited Lectures and Papers:
“Literary Censorship in the GDR: Its Forms and Function,” at Symposium on Beyond the Berlin Wall: Remembrance and Responsibility, Session on An Evening of GDR Art, University of Delaware, Newark, November 7, 2019.
“My East German Secret Police File: An Unusual Genealogical Tool,” Delaware Saengerbund and Library Association, Newark, April 8, 2018.
“Reading My Stasi-File,” Keynote Address at Central Pennsylvania Collegiate Symposium on Bringing Down the Wall(s), Franklin & Marshall College, November 7, 2009.
“Reading My Stasi-Akte,” at Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, German Luncheon Keynote Lecture, University of Kentucky, Lexington, April 17, 2004.
“Rethinking, Restructuring, and Repositioning the Foreign Languages/Literatures Department: Some Practical Ideas and Strategies,” at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, November 30, 2001.
“New Directions/New Dimensions: Expanding Horizons through Study Abroad,” at ADFL Summer Seminar West, Plenary Session on Study Abroad: Internships and Other Configurations, University of Victoria, British Columbia, June 27, 1998.
“Literary Censorship in the GDR: A Post-Wall Perspective,” at SAMLA Annual Convention, German III Section (1933-Present) on GDR Literature in Retrospect, Baltimore, November 11, 1994.
“Scissors in Hands, Scissors in Heads: Literary Censorship in East Germany,” Keynote Address at Symposium on Power and the Word: The Role of the Writer in Repressive Societies, Loyola College, Baltimore, April 14, 1994.
“New Models for Interdisciplinary Programs in Foreign Languages,” at MLA Annual Convention, Session on The Foreign Language Major: New Issues, New Options, New York, December 28, 1992.
“Literary Self-Censorship in East Germany: Creating and Coping With the Enemy Within,” at German Studies Association Annual Conference, Session on Cultural Censorship in Germany in Historical Perspective: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Minneapolis, October 3, 1992.
“Literary Censorship in East Germany,” at American Institute for Contemporary German Studies Workshop on Cultural Censorship in Post-War Germany, The Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C., June 11, 1992.
“Building a Full-Service German Department: Some Strategies and Interdisciplinary Initiatives,” at German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Conference on Post-Wall German Studies: A Challenge for North American Colleges and Universities in the 1990s, Session on German Studies, Linguistic Proficiency and Interdisciplinarity, Arizona State University, Scottsdale, February 8, 1992.
“Study Abroad Programs Designed for Intermediate-Level Language Learners and for Non-Majors,” at Conference on Bridging Theory and Practice in the Foreign Language Classroom, Session on Cross-Cultural Communication, Loyola College, Baltimore, October 19, 1991.
“Building a Full-Service Foreign Language Department: Some Strategies and Interdisciplinary Initiatives,” at ADFL Summer Seminar West, Plenary Session on Internationalizing the Curriculum: New Requirements, New Models, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, June 14, 1991.
“The Many Faces of Censorship in the German Democratic Republic,” at Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, Session on Literature of the GDR (II), University of Kentucky, Lexington, April 27, 1990.
“A Vote for the Collective Foreign Language Department,” at MLA Annual Convention, ADFL-Sponsored Session on Varieties of Foreign Language Programs: Program Structure and Its Implications, Washington, D.C., December 30, 1989.
“A Response to Patricia Herminghouse,” at MLA Annual Convention, Special Session on The GDR and Glasnost, Washington, D.C., December 28, 1989.
“Developing Study Abroad Programs: Institutional and Departmental Perspectives,” at First State Conference on Teaching in Higher Education, Delaware State College (now Delaware State University), Dover, November 5, 1988.
“Censorship in East Germany,” Delaware Saengerbund and Library Association, Newark, October 17, 1988.
“Literary Censorship in the German Democratic Republic,” at German Studies Association Annual Conference, Session on Literary Censorship in the German-Speaking Countries, Philadelphia, October 7, 1988.
“The Changing Role of the Writer in the GDR,” at the University of Delaware, Newark, February 27, 1986.
“East Germany in the 1980’s: The Dilemma of Détente,” at Cleveland Council on World Affairs, Women’s Forum, Cleveland, March 20, 1985.
“The Politics of Writing in the GDR,” at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, Monterey, January 31, 1985; at the University of Arizona, Tucson, February 13, 1985; at Texas A&M University, College Station, February 26, 1985.
“Censorship in East Germany,” at MLA Annual Convention, Forum on Censorship and Society, Los Angeles, December 29, 1982.
“Teaching East German Literature: A Sampler for American Students,” at AATG Annual Meeting, Section on East Germany in the Classroom, Chicago, November 25, 1978.
“DDR-Schriftsteller und ihre Gesellschaft in den siebziger Jahren,” at the Humboldt University, Berlin, November 28, 1977.
“Literatur der DDR heute,” as part of the Literarisches Quartier lecture series, Kunstverein Wien, Vienna, June 16, 1977.
“Contemporary GDR Prose Writers and Their Society: Perspectives from Within,” at MLA Annual Convention, Special Session on GDR Prose Fiction: Critical Approaches and Model Analyses, New York, December 27, 1976.
“Rosicrucian Elements in Two Novels by Bulwer-Lytton,” at Conference on Literature and the Occult, Session on English Romantics, University of Texas, Arlington, April 5, 1975.
“The ‘Bugs’ in Nietzsche’s Also sprach Zarathustra,” at NEMLA Annual Convention, Section on Nineteenth-Century German Literature, Montreal, April 3, 1975
Sessions Chaired and Panels:
Moderator, Symposium on Brecht’s The Life of Galileo, at University of Delaware, Newark, March 3, 2007.
Chair, Discussion Group Session for Department Chairs from BA/MA-Granting Institutions, at ADFL Summer Seminar East, University of Delaware, Wilmington and Newark, June 29, 2000.
Chair, Discussion Group Session for Department Chairs from BA/MA-Granting Institutions, at ADFL Summer Seminar East, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, June 24, 1999.
Panelist, Session on The Importance of Learning Foreign Languages, at Conference on International Education: A Key to Delaware’s Economic Success in the Global Economy, University of Delaware, Newark, May 13, 1998.
Chair, Session on Literature of the GDR, at Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, University of Kentucky, Lexington, April 18, 1997.
Chair and Organizer, German III Section (1933-Present) on Portrayals of Post-Unification Germany (Double Session), at SAMLA Annual Convention, Savannah, November 9, 1996.
Moderator, AATG Forum II: On the Future of German at the College and University Level, at AATG Annual Meeting, Stanford University, Stanford, August 6, 1995.
Panelist, AATG Forum I: On the Future of German in the Schools, at AATG Annual Meeting, Stanford University, Stanford, August 5, 1995.
Chair, Session on German Literature of the Nineteenth Century (II), at Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, University of Kentucky, Lexington, April 21, 1995.
Moderator, Symposium on Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children, at University of Delaware, Newark, February 25, 1995.
Panelist, Session on An Action Agenda for the 21st Century, at German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Symposium on Germanistik in the USA: Prospects for Change—Changing Our Prospects, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, October 16, 1994.
Commentator, Session on Visibility in the Academy: Positionings, at German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Symposium on Germanistik in the USA: Prospects for Change—Changing Our Prospects, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, October 14, 1994.
Moderator, Session on Defining the Problem–Setting the Parameters, at German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Symposium on Germanistik in the USA: Prospects for Change—Changing Our Prospects, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, October 14, 1994.
Moderator, Session on GDR Reflections (II), at German Studies Association Annual Conference, Dallas, September 30, 1994.
Chair, Section on GDR Literature: German and American Perspectives, at AATG Annual Meeting, Baden-Baden, July 20, 1992.
Co-chair, Discussion Group Sessions on Assessment and Evaluation of Faculty Members, at ADFL Summer Seminar West, University of California, Berkeley, June 4-6, 1992.
Moderator, Session on Brecht in Four Germanys, at International Bertolt Brecht Symposium: Brecht Unbound, University of Delaware, Newark, February 28, 1992.
Chair, Session on Multilingual and Multicultural Perspectives, at Conference on Bridging Theory and Practice in the Foreign Language Classroom, Loyola College, Baltimore, October 19, 1991.
Panelist, Section on Delaware’s Response to International Issues: The Walls Come Tumbling Down, at Delaware Teachers’ Conference, St. Mark’s High School, Wilmington, October 12, 1990.
Chair, Session on Literature of the GDR (I), at Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, University of Kentucky, Lexington, April 27, 1990.
Chair, Session on German Literature in East and West, at European Studies Conference, University of Nebraska, Omaha, October 13, 1989.
Chair, Session on German Literature of the Twentieth Century (II), at Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, University of Kentucky, Lexington, April 29, 1989.
Discussion leader, Special Session on Dislocation and Assimilation: The East German Experience of the West, at MLA Annual Convention, New Orleans, December 28, 1988.
Co-chair, Discussion Group Sessions on Salary, Promotion, and Tenure, at ADFL Summer Seminar East, Brandeis University, Newton, June 2-4, 1988.
Chair, Session on Literature of the GDR (II), at Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, University of Kentucky, Lexington, April 22, 1988.
Chair, ADFL-Sponsored Session on Nontraditional M.A. and Ph.D. Programs in Foreign Languages and Literatures, at MLA Annual Convention, San Francisco, December 29, 1987.
Chair, Plenary Session (I), at ADFL Summer Seminar East, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, June 4, 1987.
Chair, Session on German Literature of the Twentieth Century (II), at Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, University of Kentucky, Lexington, April 25, 1987.
Chair, Session on Literature of the GDR (II), at Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, University of Kentucky, Lexington, April 25, 1986.
Chair, ADFL-Sponsored Session on The Job Search in Foreign Languages: Information for Job Candidates and Department Chairpersons, at MLA Annual Convention, Chicago, December 27, 1985.
Chair, Discussion Group Sessions for Foreign Language Department Chairpersons from Liberal Arts Colleges, at ADFL Summer Seminar East, University of Louisville, Louisville, June 2-5, 1985.
Discussion Leader and Panelist, Special Session on GDR Literature in Exile, at MLA Annual Convention, Houston, December 27, 1980.
Chair, Section on East Germany in the Classroom, at AATG Annual Meeting, Chicago, November 25, 1978.
Discussion Leader, Special Session on Short Prose Fiction of the GDR, at MLA Annual Convention, Chicago, December 27, 1977.
Chair, Section on German Literature, East and West: Comparative Traditions, at NEMLA Annual Convention, Pittsburgh, April 21, 1977.
Conferences, Symposia, and Special Events Organized:
Project Director, Transnational Encounters: World-Renowned Authors Visit the University
of Delaware. This series brought to campus six internationally prominent authors
during the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 academic years. The high-profile writers are:
Rebecca Skloot (Fall 2011), J. M. G. Le Clézio (Spring 2012), Bharati Mukherjee (Fall
2001), Ha Jin (Spring 2013), Rita Dove (Spring 2013), and Mario Vargas Llosa (Fall 2013).
Co-organizer, Symposium on Brecht’s The Life of Galileo, University of Delaware,
Newark, March 3, 2007.
Co-organizer, ADFL Summer Seminar East, University of Delaware, Wilmington and
Newark, June 29-July 2, 2000
Co-organizer, Conference on International Education: A Key to Delaware’s Success in the
Global Economy, University of Delaware, Newark, May 13, 1998.
Co-organizer, Symposium on Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children, University of
Delaware, Newark, February 25, 1995.
Co-organizer, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Symposium on Germanistik
in the USA: Prospects for Change—Changing Our Prospects, Vanderbilt
University, Nashville, October 14-16, 1994.
Co-organizer, International Bertolt Brecht Symposium: Brecht Unbound, University of
Delaware, Newark, February 20-23, 1992.
Co-organizer, Comparative Literature Symposium on Reflections of the Classics in
Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Literature, Oberlin College, Oberlin, April 16-17, 1982.
Co-organizer, Comparative Literature Symposium on Plot in Fiction, Oberlin College,
Oberlin, May 2-3, 1980.
Other Professional Activities:
Contributor of a short commentary on Heinz-Uwe Haus’s staging of Goethe’s Faust I at the University of Delaware in March 2014, in “Aperçus,” Goethe’s Faust I: The Making and Impact of a Contemporary Performance, ed. Heinz-Uwe Haus and David W. Lovell (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016), 137-138.
External evaluator of the scholarly credentials of an assistant professor being considered for promotion to the rank of associate professor in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures, University of Kentucky, September 2007.
External evaluator of the scholarly credentials of an associate professor being considered for promotion to the rank of professor in the Department of Modern Languages, Elizabethtown College, December 2006.
External evaluator of the scholarly credentials of an associate professor being considered for promotion to the rank of professor in the Department of Foreign Languages, Southeast Missouri State University, October 2006.
External evaluator of the German, Italian, and Russian Divisions of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, Florida State University, Tallahassee, September 20-22, 2005.
External evaluator of the scholarly credentials of an associate professor being considered for tenure in the Department of Modern Languages, Elizabethtown College, December 2003.
Consultant-reader for Gegenwartsliteratur: Ein germanistisches Jahrbuch. A German Studies Yearbook on literature of the German Democratic Republic, 2003.
External evaluator of the scholarly credentials of a candidate for promotion to the rank of associate professor in the Department of Foreign Languages, Southeast Missouri State University, September 2002.
Consultant to the newly created Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, November 29-December 1, 2001.
External evaluator of the scholarly credentials of a candidate for promotion to the rank of (full) professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Classics, University of Alabama, November 1998.
External evaluator of the Departments of African and Asian Languages and Literatures, Classical Studies, Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, Romance Languages and Literatures, and the Linguistics Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, October 9-10, 1997.
Member of the Nominating Committee, German III Section (1933-Present), SAMLA Annual Convention, 1997-1999.
Member of the Academic Affairs Committee, International Council of Delaware, 1996-2000.
Consultant-reader for Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies on literature of the German Democratic Republic, 1995.
External evaluator of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, March 1995.
External evaluator of the Division of Modern Languages and Linguistics, University of South Florida, Tampa, February 1995.
Co-chair of the Delaware Department of Public Instruction’s Foreign Languages Curriculum Framework Commission (as part of the State’s New Directions for Education in Delaware reform agenda), 1994-1997.
Member of the Delaware Department of Public Instruction’s Foreign Languages Steering Committee (as part of the State’s New Directions for Education in Delaware reform agenda), 1993-1994.
Member of the Delaware Department of Public Instruction’s Foreign Languages Steering Committee (as part of the State’s New Directions for Education in Delaware reform agenda), 1993-1994.
External evaluator of the Department of Foreign Languages, Beaver College (now Arcadia University), April 9-10, 1991.
External evaluator of the scholarly credentials of a candidate for promotion to the rank of (full) professor in the Department of Germanic, Slavic and East European Languages, Queens College, City University of New York, February 1990.
Consultant-reader for The German Quarterly on literature of the German Democratic Republic, 1989-2014.
External evaluator of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Glassboro State College (now Rowan University), January 30-31, 1989.
External evaluator of the scholarly credentials of five candidates for promotion to the rank of (full) professor in the Department of Languages, University of Rhode Island, January 1988.
Consultant-translator for the law firms of Richards, Layton & Finger (Wilmington) and Morgan & Finnegan (New York), 1987-1989.
Member of the Delaware Foreign Language Advisory Council, State of Delaware Department of Public Instruction, 1986-2014.
Consultant-reader for ADFL Bulletin, published by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages, a subsidiary of the Modern Language Association, 1986-2014.
Consultant-reader for Colloquia Germanica on literature of the German Democratic Republic, 1985-2014.
Member of the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages Executive Committee, 1985-1987.
Consultant-reader for PMLA on literature of the German Democratic Republic, 1984-2014.
Referee, National Endowment for the Humanities, Summer Stipend Proposal entitled “Lexicon of Drama in the German Democratic Republic,” September 1984.
External evaluator of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, Carleton College, March 10-12, 1983.
Consultant-reviewer for the publishing house of John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1980-2014.
Reviewer, National Endowment for the Humanities, Summer Seminar Proposal on “The German Democratic Republic and its Literature,” July 1978.
Consultant and book reviewer for Choice on literature of the German Democratic Republic, 1974-2014.
Updated: July 17, 2022
Remembering East Germany 