Department of Germanic Studies

Catherine Van Halsema received her B.A. in German from Calvin College (now Calvin University) in 2011 and her M.A. from Indiana University in 2015. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Indiana University. Her main research areas include contemporary culture, identity politics, social reproduction. Catherine’s dissertation focuses on ‘deviant’ maternal emotions (ambivalence, rage, regret, guilt) and their role in the 21st-century German-speaking world, particularly on German mommy blogs and in the novels of esteemed Austrian author Gertraud Klemm (Muttergehäuse and Aberland).