Table Of ContentDiversity and
Decolonization
in German Studies
Edited by
Regine Criser · Ervin Malakaj
Diversity and Decolonization in German Studies
Regine Criser · Ervin Malakaj
Editors
Diversity
and Decolonization
in German Studies
Editors
Regine Criser Ervin Malakaj
Department of Languages Department of Central, Eastern
and Literatures and Northern European Studies
University of North Carolina Asheville University of British Columbia
Asheville, NC, USA Vancouver, BC, Canada
ISBN 978-3-030-34341-5 ISBN 978-3-030-34342-2 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34342-2
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To Gary
Ervin Malakaj
To My Parents
Regine Criser
A
cknowledgements
This volume was conceived in the summer of 2016 in Berlin, when we
first began to conceptualize a way to bring German Studies scholars and
practitioners together to think of ways to create more equitable and just
learning experiences for our students. A conversation led to the for-
mation of the scholarly collective, “Diversity, Decolonization, and the
German Curriculum” (DDGC). Shortly thereafter, we organized the
first conference, which took place on March 2–5, 2017 at the University
of North Carolina, Asheville. The conference is now a biennial event,
the most recent conference taking place on March 1–3, 2019 at
St. Olaf College, which was organized by Kathryn Sederberg and
Amanda Ziemba Randall. Along the way, we met dozens of dedicated,
critical, and concerned professionals, who have helped promote our
work, support us in various ways, and who, most importantly, helped us
to think critically about our field.
DDGC has, from its earliest moments, been less about individuals
and more about the collective. In the spirit of this collectivity, the col-
legiality and the fierce productive criticality that it has shaped, we would
like to thank all of our friends, colleagues, and interlocutors, who are
part of this broader community. We write this at a point of transition
for DDGC: it is growing in ways we never quite anticipated. This vol-
ume, along with a number of other initiatives that have sprung from the
group, is part of an ongoing dedication of scholars and professionals
seeking out ways to continue to develop more equitable and just postsec-
ondary learning and working environments.
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We have worked many hours on the volume. Our interlocutors in the
field have been an invaluable source of inspiration and motivation. They
were, however, not the only or the primary source of support. We are
fortunate to have supportive and loving family environments, which sus-
tained us through this work. Regine would like to thank Jason, whose
support makes this work possible as well as Lea and Finn, who give this
work meaning and purpose. Ervin would like to thank Gary, whose sup-
port made this and all other projects possible, as well as Darlene, who
has helped in her own way.
Regine Criser
Ervin Malakaj
c
ontents
1 Introduction: Diversity and Decolonization in German
Studies 1
Regine Criser and Ervin Malakaj
2 Accounting for Our Settler Colonialism: Toward an
Unsettled German Studies in the United States 23
Ashwin Manthripragada and Emina Mušanović
3 Habits of Mind, Habits of Heart: Cultivating Humanity
Through a Decolonized German Studies Curriculum 41
Amanda Randall
4 Social Justice in the Language Curriculum:
Interrogating the Goals and Outcomes of Language
Education in College 63
Magda Tarnawska Senel
5 Decolonizing German Studies While Dissecting Race
in the American Classroom 83
Priscilla Layne
ix
x CONTENTS
6 Documents of Colonialism and Racial Theorizing
in the German Classroom 101
Evan Torner
7 Decolonizing the Mental Lexicon: Critical Whiteness
Studies Perspectives in the Language Classroom 119
Maureen Gallagher and Christin Zenker
8 A Developmental Model of Intercultural Competence:
Scaffolding the Shift from Culture-Specific
to Culture-General 139
Beate Brunow and Britton Newman
9 Study Abroad Otherwise 157
Janice McGregor
10 A Question of Inclusion: Intercultural Competence,
Systematic Racism, and the North American German
Classroom 177
Adrienne Merritt
11 Supporting Graduate Students of Color in German
Studies: A Syllabus 197
Brenna Reinhart Byrd
12 Digital Media Network Projects: Classroom Inclusivity
Through a Symphilosophical Approach 215
Renata Fuchs
13 Disrupting the Norm: Disability, Access, and Inclusion
in the German Language Classroom 233
Petra Watzke
14 Multidirectional Memory as Decolonial Pedagogical
Practice in German Studies 251
Lauren Hansen
CONTENTS xi
15 “Please Don’t Gender Me!” Strategies for Inclusive
Language Instruction in a Gender-Diverse Campus
Community 269
Angineh Djavadghazaryans
16 Intersectionality and Notions of Diversity in the
Internationalized German Studies Program at the
University of Melbourne 289
Daniela Müller
17 Dear Incoming Graduate Student Colleague 309
David Gramling
Appendix A: Developmental Model of Intercultural
Competence 327
Appendix B 333
Appendix C: Meine Identität 335
Appendix D: Word Painting 339
Appendix E: Maureen Gallagher and Christin Zenker 343
Appendix F: Priscilla Layne 351
Index 363
