This past summer, I gave a presentation at the Scenario Conference in Dublin, Ireland (with Susanne Even on the organizing committee) and I recently published an article in the Brecht Jahrbuch on presence and change in Die Maßnahme (some of you may remember the now legendary staged reading of the Lehrstück that our graduate class did with Bill Rasch a little while back). Another article is coming out soon in Seminar on collective responsibility in Christoph Schlingensief’s Chance 2000 (here I am beyond grateful to Teresa Kovacs for introducing me to this performance and work).

I have seen both my teaching and research tremendously benefitting from my time in the IU Germanic Studies Department, from the training as well as the strong mentorship I received, for which I am truly grateful, having prepared me well for working in and directing a small German program while finding much joy in my various teaching and research projects.

Rachel Lulich

In the 2023-2024 academic year, I finished my MAT, presented a paper at GLAC ("Translation, Transmission and Theological Bias: A Text Critical Approach to the Gothic New Testament"), and released my first novel for young readers (The Red Door).

Over the summer, I went to Europe for two months, spending time in Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. While there, I got to visit the abbey library at St. Gallen for the second time. They had several manuscripts with various stages of German on display, including Nibelungenlied - and they now allow (non-flash) photos! At the end of the summer I had a piece of flash fiction published. 

Christine Rinne

I am still at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, dodging hurricanes. I direct our international studies program and coordinate the global engagement certificate. My family recently adopted a 2-year poodle named Tucker.

Claire Woodward

I had quite a triumphant year and am very happy to dawn my very own Dr. Woodward hat. I submitted my dissertation at the end of January 2024 and gave birth to my second son later the same week (eventful few days to be sure). I defended my dissertation in April and had two articles come into print in May ("Spontaneous side-taking drives memory, empathy, and author attribution in conflict narratives" and "Of Mice and Meaning: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on the Interconnectedness of Pain, Stress, and Suffering"). The former was a project I started during my very first year of graduate school in 2017 with Fritz Breithaupt and the latter was a bucket-list item co-authored with my brother. 

After wearing many hats this fall (Visiting Lecturer in IU's English Department and Adjunct Faculty in the Germanic Studies alongside some other part-time work), I am excited to start my dream position as Lab Director and Program Manager of the Observing Civic Engagement Project at the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs in January 2025. It is a perfect combination of research, student mentoring, management, and community involvement. My years in Fritz's Experimental Humanities Lab prepared me well to take on this role and I'm thrilled to get to stay in Bloomington as long as it suits my family.