Christiane Schönfeld, Head of the Department of German Studies, Mary Immaculate College.
Christiane Schönfeld is Head of the Department of German Studies at Mary Immaculate College, Chair of W+IGS, and a member of the Royal Irish Academy.
What did you study as an undergraduate and postgraduate?
I studied Art History, Archaeology, and Germanic Languages & Literatures at the University of Freiburg as an Undergraduate and then moved to Bonn (the then capital of West Germany), where I was invited to do a PhD in Art History with Prof. Tilmann Buddensieg. I wanted to focus on the American architect Philip Johnson in my thesis and applied to the Pennsylvania State University to research contemporary American architecture, taking up employment as a teaching assistant at Penn State’s German Department to finance my education there. Even though I knew nothing about how to teach my native language at the time, I tremendously enjoyed working with those wonderfully enthusiastic (and very patient) undergraduate students, who were decidedly more informed in matters of German grammar than me! After only a few weeks, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I decided to stay in the US and focus my studies on a future career in teaching German as a foreign language as well as on intercultural communication, and transnational, interdisciplinary studies. I completed my MA at Penn State with a thesis on contemporary Austrian literature and, four years later, graduated with an interdisciplinary PhD (after completion of the taught programme and passing four ‘comprehensive exams’ and a viva voce, a year in Paris, and many weeks in the National Archive for German Literature in Marbach, writing a thesis on the representation of prostitutes in German Expressionism).
Tell us a bit about your research
Much of my research and published work is devoted to the role of writers, filmmakers and artists who put marginal figures (such as asylum seekers, exiles, sex workers, single mothers, etc.) centre stage, contributing to the communication of fundamental values (such as equity, diversity, and inclusion) - and thus to the public sphere and, ideally, the betterment of society. Furthermore, I work on adaptations, and in my publications reconceptualise the interstices between different modes of cultural production, especially in my latest monograph The History of German Literature on Film (Bloomsbury, 2023; 720 pp.). Finally, I work to resurrect unjustly marginalised contributors to cultural canons, such as Emmy Hennings or Ernst Toller, co-editing, for example, the works Ernst Toller (6 vols, 2015) and a new translation of Ernst Toller’s A Youth in Germany (trans. Eoin and Eva Bourke, ed. with Lisa Marie Anderson; Broadview, 2024).
What do you enjoy most about undertaking your research projects?
I love working in archives, uncovering new knowledge, and contributing to a better understanding of German-language culture. My favourite part is always ‘learning’, especially when it is prompted by unexpected discoveries that shed new light on our cultural history; I truly enjoy the critical examination of archival materials, the accumulation of new insights and understanding, and the conceptualisation of a research project. That doesn’t mean that every day holds a new discovery; it takes time, often spent in windowless, air-conditioned rooms surrounded by countless dusty boxes of documents, pictures, or films, with little awareness of the sunny days of summer outside. (And sometimes, the work is even infuriating – my husband still remembers the summer in Berlin I spent researching the (ab)use of canonical literature by the Nazi film industry... I came home exasperated every evening; but in the end this work contributed to our critical understanding of the strategies and subtle mechanisms of racist propaganda on film).
Disseminating this new knowledge at conferences is also an important part of any research project, and it is always a joy to develop ideas further in conversations and by having them placed within new contexts by others. I firmly believe in the value of interdisciplinary humanist research and the need for its widest possible dissemination, and it’s a huge privilege to be able to do this work.
What do you like about supervising students?
Again, it’s a privilege to be able to supervise students, to support them in developing expertise in the German language and intercultural competence – skills much needed in Ireland today. Being part of a student’s learning journey gives meaning to the many hours we spent in developing our own expertise as academics, and I love sharing my knowledge about German-language literature and transnational culture, the teaching of German, Europe, and active citizenship, and how interdisciplinary work is practiced and conceptualised. Watching students grow professionally and personally - helping them to develop expertise, tackle ever more complex questions, complete challenging projects, and to build a career - is hugely rewarding.
Do you have any advice for someone considering taking up a postgraduate programme by research?
Bring your enthusiasm and curiosity to the table. Choose a subject area that you are really interested in (as you’re going to spend a lot – and I mean: a LOT) of time working in your chosen field. Never hesitate to explore new ideas – be creative! – who knows where this learning journey will take you. Talk to potential supervisors before committing to a programme to ensure that you get guidance and support within a productive environment suitable to your needs and the innovative contribution you want to make to your chosen field. A postgraduate degree opens many doors, and the skills you’ll acquire will help you build a career, no matter which path you’ll choose to take.
MIC’s Meet the Researcher series focuses on the breadth of research output from MIC academics and student researchers.
