Grüße aus Bloomington!
This has been a year of emergence. Most of got out from in front of our computer screens and, blinking in the sunlight like bears in the spring, made our way back into the classroom. Thanks to the strict protocols and efficient testing and vaccination procedures established by the university, we were able to begin and continue the academic year almost normally. Masked indeed, but together.
Despite all the challenges of 2020, in this year's newsletter you will read about perseverance. Contributors write about accomplishments in and insights on the year just past. We hope you will share their delight in a couple of joyful gains, and we know you will be saddened by a another loss.
This year in an effort to attract more newsletter contributors and readers, we sent out a request for tidbits about what people do when they're not wearing their Germanic Studies hats. The response resulted in the first of an occasional "Pastimes" section. It will not surprise you to learn that many of these pastimes began last year as antidotes to pandemic restrictions, but the variety of interests just might. We hope you enjoy reading about them.
If you are among this year's newsletter contributors, thank you for writing. If you have not sent in an item, please consider doing so next year. You don't have to wait until asked (but rest assured, I will ask!) Let me encourage you to write whenever you have something to share. We especially want to hear from more alums. This is the alumni newsletter, after all. Drop a line or two anytime. See my contact information below. Everyone can also check in with us any time via the Department of Germanic Studies website (especially under News and Events), and on the Facebook page IU Bloomington Germanic Studies Department. There's always something going on.
As for me, I can tell you that I'm still teaching "German for Musicians", as a happy adjunct with one foot in Germanic Studies and one in the Jacobs School of Music, and all the time wondering where the time goes. This year I was also delighted to act once again as German Diction Coach and supertitle editor for the IU Jacobs School of Music production of "Die Zauberflöte."
For everyone else, please have a happy end of semester and a healthy New Year, do good work, and let us hear from you!
Mit herzlichen Grüßen,
Julie Lawson
M.A. 1968, PhD. 1980
juklawso@iu.edu
juliakarin.j8@gmail.com
The College of Arts