Natalie Eppelsheimer
Associate Professor of German
eppelshe@middlebury.edu
work(802) 443-5238
on leave fall 2019
FIC 225
Natalie Eppelsheimer holds a Staatsexamen in English and Biology from the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, an M.A. in German Studies from the University of Arizona, and a Ph.D. in German with emphasis in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Irvine. She joined Middlebury in 2008.
She teaches German language classes as well as upper-level courses in German and Comparative Literature, focusing on representation and memorialization of the Holocaust, on exile and refugee experiences, and on sustainability. Moreover, she regularly facilitates professional development workshops for high school, college and university teachers of German in the U.S.
She has published various articles on sustainability, (inter-)cultural competence, and the teaching of German as a foreign language. Her most recent publication is Roads Less Traveled: German-Jewish Exile Experiences in Kenya 1933-1947 (June 2019)
Courses
Courses offered in the past four years.
▲ indicates offered in the current term
▹ indicates offered in the upcoming term[s]
CMLT 0700 - Senior Thesis ▲
Senior Thesis
A senior thesis is normally completed over two semesters. During Fall and Winter terms, or Winter and Spring terms, students will write a 35-page (article length) comparative essay, firmly situated in literary analysis. Students are responsible for identifying and arranging to work with their primary language and secondary language readers, and consulting with the program director before completing the CMLT Thesis Declaration form. (Approval required.)
Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Winter 2020
FYSE 1489 - Memory Matters
Memory Matters
In this seminar we will look at Holocaust memory cultures that have evolved in the U.S. and Germany and at the processes that have shaped our collective imaginations of the Shoah across time, space, and genres. Students will develop critical awareness of the power of stories and the importance of memory work in all of our lives. They will also reflect on their own roles in the transmission of memory and the formation of collective and national memory cultures. We will examine documentary and feature films, read survivors' testimonies and fictional accounts, comics, poetry, theoretical and historical reflections, and examine monuments, counter-monuments, and commemorative sites. 3 hrs. sem. CMP CW LIT
Spring 2017
GRMN 0101 - Beginning German
Beginning German
Geared toward quick and early proficiency in comprehension and free expression. Grammatical structures are practiced through group activities and situational exercises (e.g., role-playing games and partner interviews). Active class participation by students is required and will be counted toward the final grade. Since this is an integrated approach, there will be laboratory assignments but no special drill sections. Classes meet five times a week. Students take GRMN 0102 as their winter term course. 5 hrs. sem. LNG
Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017
GRMN 0102 - Beginning German Continued
Beginning German Continued
This course is the intensive continuation of GRMN 0101 which will further the development of your language skills in an immersion-like environment, and will include bi-weekly cultural readings in English. Classes meet for two hours each morning, then lunch at the language tables, in addition to afternoon and evening activities (e.g. film screenings). Completion of this course is a prerequisite to enrollment in GRMN 0103. (GRMN 0101 or equivalent) LNG WTR
Winter 2016
GRMN 0103 - Beginning German Continued ▹
Beginning German Continued
This course is a continuation of GRMN 0101 and 0102. Increased emphasis on communicative competence through short oral presentations and the use of authentic German language materials (videos, songs, slides). Introduction to short prose writings and other documents relating to contemporary German culture. Five class meetings per week. (GRMN 0101 plus winter term GRMN 0102, or equivalent) 5 hrs. lect. LNG
Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020
GRMN 0310 / CMLT 0310 - Literary Responses-Holocaust
Literary Responses to the Holocaust (in English)
Can the Holocaust be described in words? Can images represent the horrors of Auschwitz? In this seminar we will explore the literary and artistic representations of the Shoah, their mechanisms, tensions, and challenges. We will approach the issues of Holocaust representations by considering a significant array of texts that span genres, national literatures, time, narrative and poetic styles, and historical situations. Readings will include theoretical texts on witnessing, memory, post-memory, and trauma by authors such as Sherman Alexie, Jean Amery, Hannah Arendt, Ilan Avisar, Tadeusz Borowski, Paul Celan, Chaim Kaplan, Ruth Kluger, Primo Levi, Bernhard Schlink, Art Spiegelman, Peter Weiss, and Eli Wiesel. 3hrs. sem. CMP EUR LIT
Spring 2016
GRMN 0350 - Advanced Writing Workshop
Advanced Writing Workshop
The goal of this course is to train students to present their thoughts, ideas, and arguments in correct, coherent, and effective writing. Students will practice writing several text forms that are required in higher education and, during study abroad. Students will also learn about format requirements for writing a longer term paper in German. Some class time will be used for creative, structured, or contemplative writing practice. Students will expand their active vocabulary and aim for a consistently high level of grammatical accuracy. Grammar topics will be covered within the context of writing, through targeted teaching of linguistic structures and peer-editing/peer-teaching sessions. (Formerly GRMN 0304) 3 hrs. sem. LNG
Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017
GRMN 0415 - Colonialism and Racism ▹
Colonialism and Racism
Racism, the ideology that humans may be divided into separate and exclusive biological entities called “races,” justified colonial exploitation and was the essence of Nazism. In this course we will examine Germany’s short era of colonialism (1894-1918), analyze literary and cinematic representations of colonial life, and deconstruct colonialist and racist thinking. We will also trace definitions and usages of the term “race” in German language and culture, read UNESCO’s 1950 “Statement on Race,” which declared that there was no scientific basis or justification for racial distinction, and discuss why in Germany the term “race” (“Rasse”) is no longer used. Taught in German. 3hrs. sem. EUR HIS LNG
Spring 2020
GRMN 0421 - Exiles, Refugees, Migrants
Exiles, Refugees and Migrants from/in Germany
In this course we will study experiences of exiles, refugees, and migrants and their escapes both from and to Germany. We will focus on two time periods: 1933 to 1945, when people fled persecution from Nazi Germany, and the “refugee crisis” in Germany between 2015 to 2018. Using literary texts, letters, autobiographies, films, current news coverage, and documentaries, we will place flight narratives in their historical contexts, follow escape routes across borders, study post-flight lives of refugees in their reception countries, and learn about international refugee and asylum politics. Taught in German 3 hrs. sem./screen CMP EUR LNG SOC
Spring 2019
GRMN 0500 - Independent Study ▹
Independent Study
(Approval only)
Fall 2015, Winter 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021
GRMN 0700 - Senior Research ▹
Honors Project
(Approval only)
Fall 2015, Winter 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021