PhD University of Pennsylvania, 2011
MA University of Pennsylvania, 2005
BA Wesleyan University, 2002
Academic Focus
German-Jewish Literature, History, and Culture; Gender & Sexuality; Visual Culture; Antisemitism & the Holocaust
In Professor Wallach's courses, students learn about Germans, Jews, gender, sexuality, literature, history, film, art, and visual culture. Several of her courses deal with antisemitism and the Holocaust. At Gettysburg, she is an Affiliate of the Jewish Studies Program and also contributes to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Cinema and Media Studies.
Cultural approach to studying the 1920s and early 1930s before the Nazi Party’s rise to power, with a focus on Weimar film, photography, and art. Different texts and media forms offer insight into urbanization, post-war trauma, political unrest, revolution, inflation, new sexual freedoms, and other aspects of the encounter with modernity. Topics include cafés, cabarets, hotels, fashion, journalism, jazz, avant-garde movements, as well as the experiences of women, LGBTQ individuals, Jews, and other minority groups. Conducted in English. GER 231 and CIMS 231 are cross-listed.
Study of representations of the Holocaust across film genres and in other media. Both the events of the 1930s-1940s (Nazi persecution, ghettos, camps, killing centers) and the field of Holocaust memory and representation are a central focus. Topics include: documentary films, propaganda, resistance/protest, humor/comedy, commodification, trials, revenge fantasies, and stories told and untold. Films are in a number of languages (English, German, Polish, Hebrew, Hungarian, French, Italian, etc.). Course conducted in English. CIMS 235 and GER 235 are cross-listed.
Exploration of what names and naming traditions suggest about many aspects of identity, from gender and age to national, ethnic, or religious background. Topics include names in songs, celebrity names, name changing, pseudonyms, code names, character names in literature and film, social/career advancement, and name-based prejudice and discrimination. Much of the course focuses on cultural texts from the U.S. and Europe (literature, film, TV, podcasts, popular music, historical examples).
Women and men from different cultures are confronted with complex hair-related questions on a daily basis: Short or long? Straightened or natural? Traditional or on trend? Covered or uncovered? Wig or cloth head covering? Head scarf or burqa? Weave or extensions? This interdisciplinary course investigates the often politically charged power of hairstyles and hair coverings in the United States and Europe, with a focus on specific minority groups such as Jews, Muslims, and African Americans. By examining visual texts ranging from literature, film, TV, and music videos, to written texts by literary authors, cultural studies scholars, historians, and anthropologists, this course explores how style enables self-expression and cultural identity. It also considers the different contexts in which hair coverings render minority groups publicly visible, with a focus on historical and current issues such as debates surrounding veiling in Germany and France. Topics relating to politics, religion, ethnicity, fashion, taste, gender and sexuality provide a point of departure for interpreting cultural texts. Several field trips to Baltimore and Lancaster County, in addition to several guest lectures, further inform class discussions.
Essentials of grammar, composition, pronunciation. Course includes oral and written work, readings, and use of cultural materials. Intended for students with no previous knowledge of German. Students may not receive credit for 101 and 103.
Essentials of grammar, composition, pronunciation. Course includes oral and written work, readings, and use of cultural materials. Prerequisite: German 101 or permission of instructor. Prepares for German 201. Students may not receive credit for 102 and 104.
Critical analysis and appreciation of form and content of selected German literary texts, films, and other works, together with an examination of the cultural, socio-historical, and political circumstances that produced them. Theme varies each year; contact the German Studies Department for more details. Conducted in English; no knowledge of German required. Fulfills Multiple Inquiries, Humanities curricular requirement.
Review of grammar from either the 101/102 or 103/104 sequence with added complexities of structure and syntax. Progressively more challenging texts introduce German culture. Intended for students who have completed either 102 or 104, or who place into 201 through achievement on the language placement exam.
Continuation of German 201. Progressively more complex texts introduce different aspects of German culture. Prerequisite: German 201 or permission of the instructor. Prepares for German 301.
Introduction to Yiddish literature in modern European and American contexts. Texts examined include short stories, dramas, novels, and poetry by both classic and lesser-known authors, as well as supplementary films and artwork. Topics range from the Germanic origins of the Yiddish language to representations of the shtetl and Eastern Europe, Jewish immigrants in the United States, and marginal figures with respect to gender and sexual difference. Conducted in English. Counts toward minor in Judaic Studies. Fulfills Conceptualizing Diversity curricular requirement.
Cultural approach to studying the 1920s and early 1930s before the Nazi Party’s rise to power, with a focus on Weimar film, photography, and art. Different texts and media forms offer insight into urbanization, post-war trauma, political unrest, revolution, inflation, new sexual freedoms, and other aspects of the encounter with modernity. Topics include cafés, cabarets, hotels, fashion, journalism, jazz, avant-garde movements, as well as the experiences of women, LGBTQ individuals, Jews, and other minority groups. Conducted in English. GER 231 and CIMS 231 are cross-listed.
Study of representations of the Holocaust across film genres and in other media. Both the events of the 1930s-1940s (Nazi persecution, ghettos, camps, killing centers) and the field of Holocaust memory and representation are a central focus. Topics include: documentary films, propaganda, resistance/protest, humor/comedy, commodification, trials, revenge fantasies, and stories told and untold. Films are in a number of languages (English, German, Polish, Hebrew, Hungarian, French, Italian, etc.). Course conducted in English. CIMS 235 and GER 235 are cross-listed.
Examines the concept of German Studies as a branch of Cultural Studies. A critical theory seminar that trains students in the analysis of texts from different disciplines and helps to develop a critical vocabulary for scholarly reflection. Aims to develop an awareness and understanding of the manifold linguistic and cultural contexts that have contributed to the body of theory at our disposal in studying culture, and German culture in particular. Conducted in English. Open to all students, but required for all German majors. As a foundational course, it should be taken as early as possible along the major track. Offered every other fall semester (in odd years: 2019, 2021 etc)
Exploration of antisemitic representations of Jews in European and American literature and film, as well as responses to specific works and figures by Jewish writers and filmmakers. Topics include Shylock; Fagin; Nazi propaganda; how names and surgery work to render someone Jewish or non-Jewish; the Jewish American Princess and Jewish Mother stereotypes; twenty-first-century stories; and the difference between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Conducted in English. GER 265 and IDS 264 are cross-listed.
Introduction to modern European Jewish history (1780-present). Topics include medieval ghettos, emancipation, assimilation, antisemitism, racism, persecution, Zionism and Israel, refugees and displaced persons, and European Jewish communities after 1945. Four weeks of the course focus on the Holocaust: survivor testimony, Jewish responses to the Holocaust, and representations of the Holocaust in film and Jewish literature. The course also explores present and future options for twenty-first-century European Jewish communities. Conducted in English.
Counterpart to the German Studies capstone course. Designed for non-majors or majors who are not seniors. Intensive engagement with one approach to studying German culture. Topics vary by year. Conducted in German. Prerequisite: GER 302
Continuation of the work of German 201, 202. Designed for advanced work in language and intended for students who have successfully completed German 202 or its equivalent. 301 and 302 offers the opportunity to increase sophistication of written and spoken German in a variety of contexts. Students write professional letters, creative pieces, editorials, film reviews, etc. Media and popular culture provide insight into contemporary German life. Collaborative learning is encouraged; students read and edit each other's work.
Designed for advanced work in language and intended for students who have successfully completed German 301. 301 and 302 offer the opportunity to increase sophistication of written and spoken German in a variety of contexts. Students write professional letters, creative pieces, editorials, film reviews, etc. Media and popular culture provide insight into contemporary German life. Collaborative learning is encouraged; students read and edit each other's work.
This course introduces students to the history of German film from its origins in the late nineteenth century to the present. Study of basic film terminology and theory in order to create the vocabulary and conceptual frameworks necessary to discuss the films under consideration. This course explores the film cultures of the Weimar period, the Third Reich, the postwar era in East and West, and post-unification Germany in their respective social, political, and cultural contexts. Conducted in German, with additional language practice integrated into the course. Recommended as a bridge course between advanced German language and other 300-level courses.
Examines issues in German cultural history from the Enlightenment through World War II. An endeavor in interdisciplinary cultural studies, this course examines social, political, philosophical, and artistic traditions for the two centuries under consideration. It engages a variety of documents: manifestos, literary and journalistic texts, paintings, films, scholarly articles, etc. It explores broader social and cultural trends, conflicts, and debates, many of which continue to shape Germany today. Conducted in German.
Critical inquiry into changing notions of Germany, Germanness, and the German language. What does it mean to be German in the twenty-first century? Through close examination of literature, film, and other cultural texts, this course considers current topics such as citizenship, national pride, guest workers, religion, ethnicity, gender, and minority visibility. It addresses the pressing question of multiculturalism versus integration. Conducted in German. Counts toward major/minor in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Fulfills Conceptualizing Diversity and Interdisciplinary curricular requirements.
Investigation of cities such as Berlin, Vienna, and Prague as sites of early twentieth-century cultural development and contestation that have shaped contemporary notions of urban space in today’s globalizing world. Taking the modern city as a point of departure, this seminar examines various media forms popularized within German-speaking metropolitan centers. Topics covered include avant-garde literary and artistic movements; coffeehouse culture; theater and cinema; the role of mass transportation; and shifting paradigms of gender, work, and economic class. Conducted in German. Fulfills Conceptualizing Diversity curricular requirement.
Exploration of printed words and images from the late 19th century to the present, including literary illustrations, illustrated periodicals, art with written text, posters, photobooks, early comics, and graphic novels. Topics include images as forms of propaganda and resistance; images in and of divided Germany; and representations of events in German history. Recent graphic novels demonstrate how images can tell stories of the Nazi past, Afro-German history, Turkish-German experiences, and women’s lives. Conducted in German. Prerequisite: GER 302 or permission of instructor.
Exploration of the history, literature, and culture of Jews in German-speaking lands. With a focus on topics including emancipation, acculturation, religion, race, women and gender, identity, anti-Semitism, and Zionism, this course also considers the impact of East European Jews and Yiddish on German culture. Texts examined range from memoirs and fiction to film, music, and art. Conducted in English; additional German component available for German majors and minors. Counts toward major/minor in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and minor in Judaic Studies. Fulfills Conceptualizing Diversity and Interdisciplinary curricular requirements.
Capstone course for German majors. Intensive study of selected aspects of German culture. Students begin working with instructor at the end of their Junior year to choose individual senior thesis topics. The course culminates in a written thesis and public presentation of the thesis. Conducted in German.
Exploration of antisemitic representations of Jews in European and American literature and film, as well as responses to specific works and figures by Jewish writers and filmmakers. Topics include Shylock; Fagin; Nazi propaganda; how names and surgery work to render someone Jewish or non-Jewish; the Jewish American Princess and Jewish Mother stereotypes; twenty-first-century stories; and the difference between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Conducted in English. GER 265 and IDS 264 are cross-listed.