MACMILLAN Diversity and Decolonization in German Studies

This book presents an approach to transform German Studies by augmenting its core values with a social justice mission rooted in Cultural Studies. German Studies is approaching a pivotal moment. On the one hand, the discipline is shrinking as programs face budget cuts. This enrollment decline is immediately tied to the effects following a debilitating scrutiny the discipline has received as a result of its perceived worth in light of local, regional, and national pressures to articulate the value of the humanities in the language of student professionalization. On the other hand, German Studies struggles to articulate how the study of cultural, social, and political developments in the German-speaking world can serve increasingly heterogeneous student learners. This book addresses this tension through questions of access to German Studies as they relate to student outreach and program advocacy alongside pedagogical models.         Review ‘As Criser and Malakaj convincingly argue, in spite of frequent critical assessments of “the state of German Studies” over the last three decades, very little seems to change. This volume, on the other hand, has the potential to transform the field. Its contributors, by bringing discourses of diversity and decolonization into the center of German Studies, offer radically new ways to think about our curricula, our interactions with students, and our scholarly work.’ ―  Jennifer Redmann, Professor of German, Franklin & Marshall College, USA From the Back Cover ‘As Criser and Malakaj convincingly argue, in spite of frequent critical assessments of “the state of German Studies” over the last three decades, very little seems to change. This volume, on the other hand, has the potential to transform the field. Its contributors, by bringing discourses of diversity and decolonization into the center of German Studies, offer radically new ways to think about our curricula, our interactions with students, and our scholarly work.’ ― Jennifer Redmann, Professor of German, Franklin & Marshall College, USA This book offers a critical look at postsecondary German Studies curricular models by engaging with scholarship on diversity and decolonization. Next to theoretical considerations about how German Studies faculty can approach diversity and decolonization, individual contributions also provide practical models and guidelines that lead to curricula, which help attend to diversity and decolonization. Connecting German Studies with critical race, whiteness, gender, sexuality, migration, and disability studies, this volume brings together German Studies scholars from a range of institutions and at various levels of their career to map out a path towards decolonization and a more inclusive discipline. Regine Criser is Assistant Professor of German Studies at the University of North Carolina Asheville, USA, where she also serves as the coordinator of the First Year Seminars and the Director of the UNCA Prison Education Program. She is a co-founder of the Diversity, Decolonization, and the German Curriculum (DDGC) scholarly collective. Her research focuses on cultural representations of the GDR in contemporary Germany, inclusive pedagogy, and conceptualizations of belonging.  Ervin Malakaj is Assistant Professor of German Studies at the University of British Columbia, Canada. He is a co-founder of the Diversity, Decolonization, and the German Curriculum (DDGC) scholarly collective. He specializes in late-18th- to 21st-century German media and cultural history. His research focuses on 19th-century literary cultures, film history, narrative theory, queer theory, and critical pedagogy. About the Author Regine Criser is Assistant Professor of German Studies at the University of North Carolina Asheville, USA, where she also serves as the coordinator of the First Year Seminars and the Director of the UNCA Prison Education Program. She is a c