The Dessy-Roffman Myth Collaborative at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with IUP’s Literature and Criticism Program, will offer the inaugural fall semester German Lecture Series starting on September 17.
The series will highlight diverse perspectives in German studies. Programs will be presented from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. via Zoom. The programs are all free and open to the community, but preregistration is requested.
Programs feature scholars from across the country to explore themes of myth, fairy tale, literature, and cultural memory, including IUP Associate Professor of German Heide Witthöft, who will present the lecture on November 7. Her lecture is “Going Where No Woman Is Supposed to Go: The Stepmother’s Path to Destruction in Sneewittchen (Snow White).”
Additional programs in the series include:
-
Sept. 17, Olivia Gruber Florek, Delaware County Community College, presenting “The Absent Empress: Photomontage and the Myth of the Happy Imperial Family”
-
Oct. 10, Juliane Wuensch, Skidmore College, presenting “Amalia Schoppe and the forgotten tales by German women writers"
-
Oct. 22, Kristin Mlay-Kuhns, IUP Literature and Criticism doctoral student, presenting “Märchen Prinzessin Sissi: The Influence of Fairy Tale Adaptation on the “Sis(s)i Myth”
-
Nov. 19, Heidi Schlipphacke, University of Illinois Chicago, presenting “Sisi, Queer Femininity, and Food”
-
Dec. 12, Sandra Digruber, Smith College, presenting “Once Upon a Myth: The Origins and Afterlife of Fairy Tales”
The Dessy-Roffman Myth Collaborative, opened in 2021, is designed to be a dynamic, cross-disciplinary resource for students and faculty that will enhance the on-campus site, where the study of myth is nurtured and supported, providing an exchange of ideas among faculty of diverse departments, offering seminars and workshops on myth, and designing cocurricular courses.
Sean McDaniel, IUP professor of Spanish in the Department of Language, Literature, and Writing, has been appointed as the new director of the Dessy-Roffman Myth Collaborative, succeeding Michael Williamson.
McDaniel brings to the role a strong background in foreign languages and literature, as well as a commitment to expanding the Collaborative’s reach across disciplines and cultures.
The German Lecture Series is a collaboration between McDaniel and Kristin Mlay-Kuhns. Mlay-Kuhns developed the idea for the series following the highly successful Yiddish Summer Lecture Series organized by Rachel Martin, a fellow doctoral candidate in the Literature and Criticism doctoral program, and Williamson.
“After leading a German summer translation group, I saw the potential for a lecture series that would further the Collaborative’s mission of fostering cross-cultural and interdisciplinary dialogue,” Mlay-Kuhns said.
Mlay-Kuhns, who is preparing to complete her comprehensive exams and dissertation on a German Studies–related topic, sees this initiative as a meaningful step in supporting both the IUP community and the broader goals of the Collaborative, including working to ensure that the Collaborative continues to thrive as a hub for interdisciplinary research, discussion, and innovative programming.
“By incorporating foreign language scholarship and programming, we hope to take the Myth Collaborative in a more foreign language-centric direction that reflects the global scope of myth, literature, and cultural studies,” McDaniel said.
The Dessy-Roffman Collaborative is named in honor of Blane Dessy, a 1973 English major graduate, and IUP Professor Emerita of English Rosaly DeMaios Roffman. It is physically located in the Department of Language, Literature, and Writing in Jane E. Leonard Hall.