German news archive
2015
May
#ThingsWeKeep - a modern archaeology project
‘Things We Keep – curators of our own history’ is curating objects that German expats have brought from home to find out what motivates these decisions, and what the items mean to them. Launched by the Departments of German and European & International Studies at King’s College London in collaboration with the German Historical Institute London (GHIL), research partner Tobias Becker and artist Rolf Sachs, Things We Keep will culminate in an exhibition in London and an interactive website.
Königspost - German newsletter
The 11th edition offers an opportunity for students and other German-speakers alike to read up about this year’s German play and sport clubs at King’s College. In addition, we have covered contemporary political and economic events in Europe by incorporating detailed and brilliant articles written by current students. As ever, there is a translation part to Königspost, and this time we turn to poetry for our source of inspiration as well as collaborative English to German translations by final year students. Our Kopf des Tages is dedicated to Professor Weninger who has lectured for the last twelve years at King’s College London. There are also a few words to be found on the late author Günter Grass.
New Erasmus Partnership with the University of Mannheim
The German Department is delighted to announce that it has just signed an Erasmus agreement with the University of Mannheim, allowing students of German & Management to spend their year abroad at a world-leading centre for business management.
April
German at King's ranked no. 1 in London
The German Department is delighted to announce that it has been ranked no.1 in London by the 2016 Complete University Guide rankings. The rankings also show that German at King's is now ranked 6th in the country and continues to excel, having climbed eight places in the tables since the last issue of the Complete University Guide.
Sabrina Klein wins Bithell Prize 2014
Former student Sabrina Klein has won the Alice Emily Bithell Prize 2014, awarded for the best final year undergraduate degree result in German Studies across all the Colleges of the University of London.
March
Die Räuber: Schiller thriller
The King’s College London German Society performs a play in German, every year. Everyone involved in the play, from the cast to the directors to the production team, is a student who has volunteered - taking on a project lasting several months, at the same time as their studies. This year, the play is Die Räuber or “the Robbers” by Schiller. German student and society member Sam Parkinson talks about this year's play.
February
A Tribute to John White
The Department of German would like to express its sadness at the death of Professor John White (Emeritus), our former Head of Department and renowned scholar of literary modernism, who passed away on Saturday 31 January 2015. His longstanding colleague, Professor Jeremy Adler, also a King’s Emeritus Professor and former Head of German, read this tribute, which expresses eloquently the loss felt in the Department at his passing, at Professor White’s funeral.
January
Königspost Featured in Pro Campus-Presse
The editorial team is happy to announce that Königspost is featured in the January issue of Pro Campus-Presse Themenservice.
Undergraduates selected to speak at prestigious national conference
We are delighted to announce that two undergraduate students have been chosen to present papers at the first Cambridge Undergraduate Conference in German Studies.
2014
December
Podcast: The Christmas Truce: Fact or fiction? - Dr Catherine Smale
Dr Catherine Smale (Department of German) explores the broad appeal of the account to the British audience, contrasting its popularity to the relative silence the Truce has been met with in German culture. She discusses how the historical accuracy of the events have been romanticised, explaining how this has contributed to a fundamental reworking of the narrative.
Modern Languages ranked 9th in UK
The Modern Languages departments at King’s College London are pleased to announce that they have been ranked 9th in the UK in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) power rankings. The power rankings indicate the quality and quantity of research activity while the REF assesses the quality of research taking place between 2008 and 2013 in UK higher education institutions. Modern Languages also performed well in terms of impact with 100% of their research rated as having an outstanding (4*) or considerable reach and significance. Overall, 79% of Modern Languages research was assessed as being of a world-leading (4*) and internationally excellent (3*) standard.
Königspost - German newsletter
In the 10th edition of our departmental newspaper Königspost, read up about what really happened the night the Berlin wall fell, the Bavarian beer-drinking at Oktoberfest and cultural reviews from London to Lindau. There are also articles from final year students about sport and social events, as well as budding Germanists (the winner of a school competition). Grab a copy from the Department of German or read online!
November
Dr Catherine Smale – Podcast
Dr Catherine Smale (Department of German) reviews the Sainsbury’s advert that has already sparked controversy for exploiting emotions surrounding the First World War and analyses the advert’s depiction of gender relations.
Ab initio pathway: study German from scratch to BA level
The Department of German is delighted to announce a new opportunity for applicants to our combined honours programmes. 2015 sees the launch of a new pathway in ab initio German that students can take on any of our combined programmes.
October
Königspost Competition 2014: Der Hype um Berlin
We've had 'Cool Britannia'. Now we have 'Cool Germania', and at its hear, 'Cool Berlin'. If you are a year 12 or 13 student of German, we'd be delighted to receive an article, written in German, on the subject of 'Der Hype um Berlin'.
April
Head of Department appears on the Today programme
Professor Erica Carter contributed to a discussion on the television drama 'Generation War' on Radio 4, alongside the programme's producer (1h 53m).
Scholarship success for German students
Three undergraduate students will spend part of the Summer in Germany on a DAAD scholarship.
March
Careers Alumni Speed Meet
A Careers Alumni Speed Meet was held for students in the Department of German on 25 February 2014.
February
German alumnus wins Bithell prize
Congratulations to recent alumnus Nicholas Potter, who has been awarded the Alice Emily Bithell Prize for best modern language BA with a German component across all colleges of the University of London.
January
Heads of Departments argue importance of French and German
Erica Carter , head of German, and Patrick ffrench , head of French, have had an article published in Times Higher Education railing against David Cameron's assertion that school pupils in the UK 'should look beyond...French and German', instead choosing Mandarin.
2013
December
Königspost – German newspaper
The eighth edition of of this student-led newspaper is now available to read online or download as a pdf. Copies are also available in the Department of German.
October
New publication - Alex Clarkson
Dr Alex Clarkson, Lecturer in German and European & International Studies has recently had his book Fragmented Fatherland: Immigration and Cold War Conflict in the Federal Republic of Germany 1945-1980 published by Berghahn Books.
Undergraduate success in prestigious translation competition
The Department of German is delighted to announce that two third-year students have won prizes in the prestigious Ernst Jünger Translation Competition, hosted by the University of Bristol.
September
New publication - Catherine Smale
Dr Catherine Smale has recently had her book Phantom Images: The Figure of the Ghost in the Work of Christa Wolf and Irina Liebmann published by the Modern Humanities Research Association.
August
First exhibition of Translation Games: “What We Made, or The Only Think About You That We Could Fathom”
The first exhibition of the Translation Games project was recently held in the Anatomy Museum.
July
German student wins Jelf Medal The Department of German is pleased to announce that Nicholas Potter (BA German) has been awarded the Jelf Medal for the Arts and Humanities – the very highest honour that the College can bestow on one of its students.
Joint PhD programmes in the German department Dr Ben Schofield discusses the joint PhD programmes developed by the Department of German.
JK Rowling's secret book- podcast
Following the news that JK Rowling has secretly written a crime novel called 'The Cuckoo's Calling' under the guise of male debut writer Robert Galbraith, Dr Benedict Schofield, Department of German, discusses the problems surrounding the 'bestseller' label - questioning whether it is an indication of value, or just a marketing tool.
German students win Bithell Prizes
The Department of German is delighted to announce the double success of students from the Department in the Bithell Prizes.
June
Moving up the ranks
The School of Arts & Humanities has achieved exceptional results in the Guardian University guide 2014 subject league tables released last week, with seven out of eight subject areas being rated in the top 10 in the country.
Translation Games - research project
The Department of German and King’s Cultural Institute Creative Futures initiative are funding the pilot phase of the research and exhibition project Translation Games. The project will examine the theory and practice of translation within literature.
Königspost – German newspaper
The seventh edition of of this student-led newspaper is now available to read online or download as a pdf. Copies are also available in the Department of German.
April
New publication - Florian Lippert
Florian Lippert has recently had his book Selbstreferenz in Literatur und Wissenschaft. Kronauer, Grünbein, Maturana, Luhmann published by Wilhelm Fink Verlag.
Successes for DAAD University Summer Course Scholarships
Three students from the Department of German have been successful in receiving a University Summer Course Scholarship from the DAAD this summer.
Bringing languages to life
The annual German play and Königspost take German undergraduates beyond the classroom.
Königspost - editorial team podcast
The editorial team discuss their experience of running the Königspost newspaper in 2012-13.
March
Alumni Careers Speed Meet held for Languages Students
On 5 March 2013 an Alumni Careers Speed Meet was held for students in the Department of German, organised by students from the department.
February
Love in the time of Rom-Coms - podcast
Alice Guilluy, Film & German PhD student and King’s resident romantic comedy expert, explains how movies are satirising the classic date-flick.
January
Felicitas Hoppe, Büchner prize winner visits King's!
Olivia Wiltshire, a student in the Department of German reviews Felicitas Hoppe's visit to King's.
2012
December
Königspost – German newspaper
The sixth edition of this student-led newspaper is now available to read online or download as a pdf. Copies are also available in the Department of German.
King's Awards 2012
Dr Benedict Schofield has won a King's award for his work in establishing two pioneering collaborative research programmes in the Department of German.
October
NSS results 2012
The Department of German is pleased to announce a 12% increase in overall satisfaction from 2011.
August
New publication - Professor Robert Weninger
Professor Robert Weninger has recently had his book The German Joyce (A Volume in The Florida James Joyce Series) published by Gainesville: University Press of Florida
The London Riots: One Year Later - An Interview on WDR 5
Dr Alexander Clarkson, Lecturer in the Departments of European & International Studies and German gave a radio interview on the legacy of the London riots of August 2011.
July
King's student discovers lost writings of Katherine Mansfield
A King's student on a joint PhD-Net programme with the University of Stuttgart has uncovered four previously unseen stories by Katherine Mansfield, the prolific modernist writer, one of which provides a fascinating insight into a turbulent period in her personal life.
New publications - Dr Ben Schofield
Dr Benedict Schofield has recently had his book Private Lives and Collective Destinites: Class, Nation and the Folk in the Works of Gustav Freytag published by Modern Humanities Research. He also edited the recently published The German Bestseller in the Late Nineteenth Century which has been published by Boydell & Brewer, Limited.
June
Timon of Athens at the Globe
Dr Ben Schofield blogs about Timon of Athens at Shakespeare's Globe
March
Careers Speed Meet
A Careers Speed Meet was held on 6 March for all students in the Departments of German, European & International Studies, French and Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies.
Königspost – German newspaper
The fifth edition of this student-led newspaper is now available to read online or download as a pdf. Copies are also available in the Department of German.
February
Königspost – German newspaper
The fifth edition of this student-led newspaper will be launched in the middle of March 2012. Read all about the Eurocrisis from a German perspective, our entry into the post-fossil era, anecdotes of our Erasmus-students, and much more!