The 23rd Annual Conference of the German and Dutch Graduate Student Association at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Date: September 29–30, 2023

 

Keynote Address & Speaker

“Stoffwechsel mit der Natur: Before-and Afterimages of State Socialist Environments?”

Dr. Seth Howes
(University of Missouri)

 

Workshop Presentation & Speakers

“Narrating (natural) ‘environments’- Applying an eco linguistic lens to environmental texts”

Dr. Julia Goetze,
Dr. Diego Roman
(UW-Madison)

 

Nothing occurs in a vacuum, language perhaps least of all. Whether it be in the classroom or in a poem, the environment in which language occurs impacts it in myriad ways. Throughout German and Dutch studies, environments in every sense impact our areas of study, such as media studies, linguistics, literature, second language acquisition, etc.

This conference seeks to inform us on the many impacts these environments may have on us and the Germanic world. We welcome papers that explore how environments interact with language, how people interact with each other and within their current environment, and how environments shape and influence culture in historical contexts.

Our conference welcomes contributions from diverse fields that may, but are not required to, touch on the following questions and keywords:

Literature/Cultural Studies:

• How might the political environment affect a novel written in the German Democratic Republic?
• How do environments and scenes within a film influence interpretations of a film adaptation of another work?
• How does the surrounding environment (society, people, politics) impact discussions and understanding of ecocriticism?
• What impact does the environment have on social justice practices and goals?

Linguistics/Second Language Acquisition:

• How might neighboring phones influence realization of a phoneme in spoken dialect?
• How might the dynamicity of a surrounding culture change how a minoritized language or dialect is used?
• How might the classroom environment impact how students speak and write their target language with one another?
• How does encouraging critical thinking in the classroom affect students’ understanding of self and their environment?

Abstracts for single-or multi-authored 20-minute presentations should be no more than 300 words and are due by August 28th, 2023. Submissions in both English and German are welcome. Please limit submissions to only one per presenter. Abstracts should not include the presenter’s name. Please include the following as a separate attachment: name, title of paper, department and university affiliation, and email address. Please submit your abstracts to the GDGSA Conference Committee at gdgsaconferenceuw@gmail.com. Please note that this will be an in-person conference. For further details on the conference, keynote speaker, and/or accessibility needs, please see our website below.

https://win.wisc.edu/event/9227833

 

Detailed conference schedule:

 

Friday, September 29th 2:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m.- Set-up/Registration (Memorial Union: Room TBD)

 

3:00 p.m.-3:10 p.m.– Opening remarks from Committee Chairs Melanie Bernstein & Gemini Fox (University of Wisconsin- Madison)
Panel 1: “German Democratic Republic”

 

3:10 p.m.-4:15 p.m.

– “Language, Bureaucracy, and Lived Experience: the Context of Stasi File Creation” by Lauren Cassidy (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

– “The Blurred Line between Dreams and Reality” by Cassandra Winkelman (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

– “Waterways of the German Democratic Republic” by Meredith Hacking (University of Pennsylvania)

 

4:15 p.m.-4:30 p.m.– Refreshment break

Keynote Speaker

 

4:30pm-6:00pm-Talk: “Stoffwechsel mit der Natur: Before- and Afterimages of State Socialist Environments?” by Prof. Seth Howes (University of Missouri-Columbia)

 

6:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m.– Conference dinner @ Memorial Union, Room: Capitol View 4th Floor

 

Saturday, September 30th 8:30 a.m.-9:00 a.m. – Set-up/Breakfast (Memorial Union: Room TBD)

 

9:00 a.m.-9:10 a.m.– Opening remarks from Committee Chairs Melanie Bernstein & Gemini Fox (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Panel 2 “Heimat”

 

9:10 a.m.-10:10 a.m.

– “Space, Performativity, and Representations of the Family in Hermann Sudermann’s Heimat (1893) and Carl Froelich’s Heimat (1938)” by Kimberly Annas (Washington University in St. Louis)

– “Negotiations of Heimat in rural environments of the contemporary German ‘Dorfroman'” by Lisa Steiner (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

 

10:10 a.m.-11:55 a.m.– Refreshment break

Panel 3 “Society”

 

10:25 a.m.-11:55 a.m.

– “Endangered Environments in German Cli-Fi Novels” by Nicole Fischer (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

– “Defining German Music: Wagner’s Effect on Mahler’s Music and its Reception” by Gregory Sheets (University of Missouri)

– “Cite Duits: (Socio)linguistic Aspects of a German-Dutch-Limburgish Contact Variety” by Finn Shepherd (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

 

11:55 a.m.-12:45 p.m.– Lunch

Workshop

 

12:45 p.m.-1:45 p.m.

– “Narrating (natural) ‘environments’- Applying an ecolinguistic lens to environment texts” by Prof. Julia Goetz and Prof. Diego Roman (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

 

1:45 p.m.-2:00 p.m.– Refreshment break

Panel 4 “Pedagogy”

 

2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

– “The Impact of the Immersion Environment on L2 Learners’ Perceptions” by Nick Ott (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

– “Imagined Identification: Social Justice and Disability in the Classroom” by Morgan Cacic (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

3:00 p.m.– Closing remarks and invitation to reception @ Memorial Union, Rathskeller