Personalia 2010

From the Editor:

Obituary

The profession of German in North America has lost or is in danger of losing six fellow institutions during the present and over the past academic year, all due to administrative decisions from their respective universities and colleges:

1. 1. German in Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Nevada at Reno

2. 2. German at University of Southern California

3. 3. German at the University of Idaho

4. 4. German at the University of Maine

5. 5. German at Louisiana State University

6. 6. German at Washington State University

We mourn their demise.

German, together with the other languages, literatures, and cultures, is an essential part of our educational institutions and an important part of the humanities. At present, we are witnessing a battle over the definition of our educational institutions. Any definition that excludes the humanities, that excludes languages, literatures, and cultures is wrong. Let's stay in touch. Keep Monatshefte informed. Let's not give in - let's never give up.

We herewith present Monatshefte's annual issue of Personalia. Personalia contains information concerning staff members and departmental structures for the academic year 2010-2011 and information concerning student enrollments and degrees granted for the academic year 2009-2010. Personalia listings are prepared from material submitted by departments. Monatshefte cannot be responsible for factual errors in the submitted materials. The deadline for returning this year's Personalia forms was June 30; reminders were sent out after that date by email, and we included information that came in as late as the beginning of September. Departments that did not submit new information before we went to press are still listed—with an asterisk preceding the listing—using last year's information, but deleting statistics, leave and visitor information, and italicized names. Departments that were asterisked last year and did not respond again this year were dropped.

Personalia made its debut 73 years ago in Monatshefte volume 29 (1937), where—spread out between the November and December issues—44 institutions were listed. In 1938 that number dropped to 29, but rose to 72 in 1939. These first few issues were rather descriptive, including not only a list of the faculty, but also a survey of the sorts of graduate seminars offered. Personalia has been a part of Monatshefte ever since—with the exception of 1943, when the Personalia section was not included.

The format and contents of Personalia have changed dramatically over the course of seven decades. Early sections listed full-time faculty, changes in faculty, the number of students (both at the undergraduate and graduate levels) in the department, as well as graduate students working toward Ph.D. degrees who would likely finish during the next year and hence be available for teaching positions. Only years later were completed dissertations listed. The 1942 issue, as well as several other Personalia listings of that period, listed faculty members on leave to the army or other government agencies. By the late 1940s Personalia had grown to cover over 100 institutions; in 1968 it listed over 200. The Personalia issue for 1957 introduced what became the standard format for listing programs (the two-column layout listing faculty by rank); but it wasn't until 1973 that the type of department (e.g. German or Foreign Language) and the highest degree offered were listed. Canadian programs were first listed in 1964, and for a few years in the 1960s other "overseas" schools (e.g. the University of Auckland, New Zealand; the University of Queensland, Australia; and the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa) were also a part of Personalia.

The 1970s saw a variety of special surveys: German Cultural Studies (1976), GDR Studies (1977), Women in German (1978), Graduate Programs (1979). Then, in 1980, Personalia assumed its current format, including the departmental statistics and the statistical summary, the necrology, the listing of new hires, etc.

The code following the departmental address designates departmental structure and the highest degree offered in German in that department: G = German (Germanic) only or with minor languages; G+ = German plus another language not considered minor, usually Russian; L = German section of a (foreign) language (literature) department; O = no degree obtainable in German; B = bachelor...