Alexandra C. Sterling-Hellenbrand
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures                           

                                                    
    
EDUCATION    

1991-1995    Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA: Ph.D. 1995 (German)
        Dissertation:  “The Topography of Gender in Middle High German Arthurian Romance”
            Directed by Dr. Francis G. Gentry        
1992-1993    Universität Köln (DAAD)
1988-1991    University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI: MA 1989 (German)
1987-1988    Universität Köln (Fulbright)
1983-1987    University of Rochester, Rochester NY: BA 1987  (magna cum laude)
             Major: English (with highest distinction)
                Thesis: “Georg Büchner’s Shakespeare”
             Minor: Biology
 
RESEARCH  AND TEACHING INTERESTS

Arthurian Romance
Old Norse Language and Literature
Medievalism(s): Reception of the Middle Ages in the visual arts, literature and film
Creative Mythology: Myths and their creative re-interpretations
Women's Literature in German-speaking Areas from the Middle Ages to the Present
Feminist Theory and the Practice of Women’s Studies
18th Century German Literature, particularly Sturm und Drang
Survey Courses in German Literature, Culture, and Civilization
Interdisciplinary Courses in Culture and the Humanities
Computer-Assisted Language Instruction

SELECTED COURSES TAUGHT:     

Courses in German Language and Literature
Elementary German
Intermediate German
Age of Goethe
German Literature after 1945
German Literature Through the Reformation
German Women Writers

Courses in German Studies and the Humanities
Literature and Music. Embodying the Word
Modern Medievalism: Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Eco’s The Name of the Rose
Speaking the Unspeakable: Imagining the Holocaust and its History in Literature and Film
The Path to Modernity: German Literature, Music, and Philosophy in 19th Century Europe.
Arthurian Literature
Creative Mythology
    
Other Courses
Introduction to Women’s Studies: Theory and Practice
Literature and Writing:  Cultural Landscapes    

LANGUAGES

Near-native fluency in German
Novice-level in Spanish
Reading knowledge of Latin and French
Reading knowledge of Old Norse and Old English

ACADEMIC HONORS

Goshen College
2002    Faculty Research Grant
2001    Women’s Studies Summer Research Grant
1996    Faculty Research Grant

Pennsylvania State University
1994-1995    Edwin Earle Sparks Dissertation Fellowship
1992-1993    DAAD Dissertation Fellowship:  Universität Köln

University of Wisconsin-Madison
1990         Delta Phi Alpha (German Honor Society)
1988-1989    Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Fellowship

University of Rochester
1987-1988    Fulbright-Hays Study Grant:  Universität Köln
1987        Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude
1987        Phi Beta Kappa (Iota Chapter)

TEACHING AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE

Appalachian State University
2003-        Associate Professor of German and Chair

Goshen College
2001-2003    Chair, Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures
2001-2002    Interim Director of Goshen College Honors Program
2001 (Summer)    Director of Goshen College Study-Service-Term (SST) in Jena, Germany
1999-        Associate Professor of German
1995-1999    Assistant Professor of German
1996- present    Fulbright Program and BCA (Brethren Colleges Abroad) Study Abroad Advisor

Pennsylvania State University
1991-1995    Graduate Assistant, Department of German

University of Wisconsin-Madison
1988-1991    Teaching Assistant, Department of German

SCHOLARLY RESEARCH

Publications

Book:
Topographies of Gender in Middle High German Arthurian Romance.  Studies in Medieval History and Culture.  New York:  Garland, 2001.

Book projects: Women in Text and Image in Medieval Germany 1150-1350  (working title).  I am also interested in doing research on the relationship between German dramatist Friedrich Schiller and nineteenth-century Italian opera.

Articles:  
"Women on the Edge in Parzival:  A Study of the 'Grail Women'." Quondam et Futurus: A Journal of Arthurian Interpretations (now renamed Arthuriana ) Vol. 3, no. 2. (Summer 1993):  56-68.

“Places to Play:  Topographies of Gender in Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan.” Essays in Medieval Studies. Proceedings of the Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the Illinois Medieval Association. Vol. 16 (Spring 2000): 53-66.  A copy of this article can be viewed in the online edition of the journal at http://www.luc.edu/publications/medieval/emsv16.html

“Hell hath no fury…” Triuwe and vâlandinne in the Nibelungenlied. In: Nû lôn' ich iu der gâbe: Festschrift for Francis G. Gentry. Ed. Ernst Ralf Hintz. Göppinger Arbeiten zur Germanistik. 693. Forthcoming, Spring 2003.

“Uta and Isolde: Designing the Perfect Woman.” The Politics and Aesthetics of Gender in the Middle Ages. Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Meeting of the Illinois Medieval Association. In Essays in Medieval Studies. Vol 19.  Morgantown: West Virginia Press, 2003, 70-89.

“Gender and Love in the Epic Romances of Hartmann von Aue.” in: The Hartmann Companion.  Ed. Francis G. Gentry.  Forthcoming.

Contributions to the following reference works:
The Nibelungen Encyclopedia. Ed. Winder McConnell.  New York:  Routledge, 2002.

Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia.  Ed. John M. Jeep.  New York: Garland Publishing, 2002.

The Rise of the Medieval World 500-1300: A Biographical Dictionary. Ed. Jana K. Schulman. Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 2002.
    
Book Reviews:  
In progress:  Bea Lundt. Weiser und Weib : Weisheit und Geschlecht am Beispiel der Erzähltradition von den "Sieben weisen Meistern" (12.-15. Jahrhundert)  Munchen : Fink, 2002.  Forthcoming for the Medieval Feminist Forum. Winter 2004.

Hartmann von Aue. Arthurian Romances, Tales, and Lyric Poetry: The Complete Works of Hartmann von Aue. Trans. Frank Tobin, Kim Vivian, and Richard H. Lawson. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001. In: Speculum. A Journal of Medieval Studies. 78.1 (Winter 2003).

Karin Tebben, ed.  Beruf:  Schriftstellerin.  Schreibende Frauen im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert.  Sammlung Vandenhoek. Göttingen: Vandenhoek und Ruprecht, 1998.  In: Colloquia Germanica 34.1 (Summer 2001): 68-71.
    
Jerold Frakes.  Brides and Doom.  Gender , Property, and Power in Medieval German Women’s Epic. In: Monatshefte vol. 88  no. 3  (Fall 1996): 393-395.

Scholarly Presentations and Service: Medieval Studies

Service:
Elected to serve as president of the Society for Medieval German Studies for a two-year term from 2002-2004 term.  This action was taken at the 35th International Congress on Medieval Studies. Kalamazoo, May 4-7, 2000.

Recent Presentations:
"Walking with  the Ents: Tolkien and Marketing Medieval Studies in the Modern Curriculum"  AATG Annual Meeting. American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Philadelphia, 21-23 November 2003

“Sight and the Transformation of Psyche in Konrad von Würzburg’s Partonopier und Meliur.” Novus et Antiquus: The Thirty-Third Annual Interdisciplinary CAES Conference. Ball State University (Muncie, IN) 11-12 October 2002                            
“Uta and Isolde: Poetry in Stone.” 37th International Congress on Medieval Studies. Kalamazoo, 2-5 May 2002.

“Camelot through the Brandenburg Gate: Christoph Hein’s Ritter der Tafelrunde.”  Presentation at the Humanities Roundtable. Goshen College, February 2001.

Scholarly Presentations and Service: Teaching and Pedagogy

Service:
Elected to serve as Vice President of the Indiana chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German for a two-year term from 2002-2004. This action was taken at the annual meeting of the Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association 7-9 November 2002.

Recent Presentations:
“Bach’s Bible: History and Language” and “Looking at the Past through the Present:  Eighteenth-Century Germany and Anti-Semitism.” Two lectures as part of the Goshen College Bach Festival. 26 March – 7 April 2003.

"Grad School didn't quite prepare me for this or If I had only known what life would really be like" (with Jack Hellenbrand, German teacher, Mishawaka High School, Mishawaka IN).  Perspectives on the Profession. A conference sponsored by the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures. Washington University, St. Louis, 10-12 May 2002.

“Creating Connections in Northern Indiana:  A Cooperative Venture in Intermediate German,” with James L. Graves.  Session on Advocacy/Recruitment of Students for the Small German Programs Special Interest Group (SIG) at the annual convention of the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Language (ACTFL), Boston, November 17-19, 2000.

“Women in Today’s Academy: A Perspective from Two Generations.” Discussion leader with Judith Davis, Goshen College Professor of French and Humanities, at the Second Intercollegiate Women’s Conference. Goshen College, October 23, 1999.

SERVICE  

Goshen College: Committee work and other administration

2002-        Group Facilitator for Goshen College Women's Leadership Initiative: Setting Out on the Spiritual Path
2002 (summer)    Member of English Dept. Search Committee
1997- present    Women’s Studies Advisory Committee (Co-chair of committee 1997-2000)
2000- present    Humanities Task Force
1996- present    Member of the International Education Committee
1996- present    Director and Organizer of the Germany exhibit for the annual Goshen College Ethnic Fair

Goshen College: Modern Language Department
2000-        Editor of MCLL Department Newsletter
1999-         Sponsor and organizer of German Club        
1998-1999    New Faculty Mentor
1998- present    Designated Technology Consultant and Working Web Designer for the MCLL department
1997- present    Organizer of the first Goshen College German Day in October 1997.  
1995- present    Member of the Goshen College Orchestra
1995- present    Kaffeestunde and Stammtisch for speakers of German on campus

Goshen Community
2000-        Member of the Elkhart County Symphony: Principal second violin
2000 (May)    Honored guest at the Northridge High School 2000 Spring Awards Banquet at the invitation of student Jessica Yoder, who enrolled in German 201-202 during her senior year.  All seniors who attended were allowed to invite the teacher they viewed as the most influential in their lives.  Ms. Yoder is now studying  German and Russian at Indiana University (Bloomington).
1999-    Cooperative venture with kindergarten teacher and early childhood professor Barbara Stahly to develop an exploratory German unit for the GC lab kindergarten, in which GC students of German provided most of the instruction over a 3 week period in March 1999.
1999-        Co-organizer of cooperative dual credit college/high school Intermediate German course with Goshen High School, taught jointly at Goshen High School and Goshen College with teacher James L. Graves for high school seniors.  The first group began in August 1999.  
1997-1998    Co-organizer of high school exchange between Bethany Christian High School and the Paul-Klee- Gymnasium near Cologne, Germany.
1997-2000    Founding member and concertmaster of the Maple City Chamber Orchestra

Pennsylvania State University
1994- 1995    Selected as member of Graduate Committee:  Department of German
1994- 1995    Tutor: Academic Support Center for Student Athletes
1994 (Spring)     Member and Co-Organizer of Planning Committee for German Day at Penn State:  A program for high school students to visit Penn State and participate in German cultural activities.  To be held in April 1995 on the Penn State campus at University Park.  In spring 1999, the program had over 200 student participants (according to recent news from the PSU Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies.)

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT


2002        Summer Workshop: Training and Practice with TPR-Storytelling. Led by Julie Baird (Wawasee High School, Syracuse IN) at Valparaiso University, 1-2 August 2002.
2002        Workshop: Active and Interactive Learning Strategies and Techniques in the Language Class.  Led by Dr. Robert DiDonato (Miami University of Ohio) at the University of Notre Dame, 9 May 2002.
2002        Graduate Student Mentor: Society for Medieval Feminist Studies (37th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo)
1999 (Fall)    New Faculty Mentor

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

ACTFL (American Council of Teachers of Foreign Language)
AATG (American Association of Teachers of German)     
International Courtly Literature Society (North American Branch)  
International Arthurian Society (North American Branch)
The Medieval Academy
The Medieval Association of the Midwest
Midwest Modern Language Association
MLA (Modern Language Association)    
National Women’s Studies Association
Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship (SMFS)
Society for Medieval German Studies (SMGS)        
Women in German (WiG)