Meet our PhD students in the dual degree program who are currently in Germany.
Our PhD students and candidates Irene Bibi, Laurie Clark, Harriet Olulo, and Sina Meissgeier got together in Leipzig and explored the city! All four are participating in our Transcultural German Studies Program: Irene is currently completing her academic year in Leipzig while Laurie and Hafrriet are part of the second cohort who participates in the exchange with Cologne. Sina is about to complete her dissertation in Leipzig, where she also spent her academic year abroad.
Sina's dissertation focusses on Holocaust Literature written by and about German Jewish and Communist Women from Ravensbrück Concentration Camp, and on anti-fascist narratives surrounding Ravensbrück in the GDR. Harriet enjoys teaching German as a Second Language and hopes to expand her teaching experience and deepen her knowledge in the field of Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Teaching and Learning. Irene's research interest is in German Literature (Enlightenment, Romanticism), Second Language acquisition theories, Multilingualism, Second Language Teacher Pedagogy and Migrant Studies. Laurie’s research interests are primarily focused on the integration of drama pedagogy into the foreign language classroom, as well as dance and theater in Germany during the Weimar Republic.
With its German partner universities in Leipzig and Cologne, the dual PhD/Dr. phil. degree program in Transcultural German Studies fosters intercultural competence and professional excellence across the Atlantic. The program offers interdisciplinary doctoral training in two rigorous academic environments, while providing intensive mentoring opportunities and comprehensive financial support.
Incoming US-based students complete one year of doctoral coursework at the University of Arizona and a second year in Germany, either at the University of Leipzig or the University of Cologne, while financially supported through teaching and research fellowships. Students who begin their doctoral studies in Leipzig or Cologne pursue their second year of doctoral course work at the University of Arizona, where they teach alongside their US-based colleagues in the German Studies Department. Students complete their third year of coursework at their home institution.
For more information about the dual program, see here.