Faculty & Staff

Susanne Rinner

Ph.D., German Literature, Georgetown University, Washington, DC.
M.A., German Literature, Washington University, St. Louis, MO.
Zwischenprüfung, German Literature, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany.
Phone: (336) 334-4857
Fax: (336) 334-5358
Email: s_rinner@uncg.edu

Research/ Teaching Interests

Twentieth-century and contemporary German literature, film, and culture
Cultural memory
Feminist criticism
Transnational and transcultural relations between the US and Germany
Language teaching and pedagogy, course and syllabus design, and material selection.

Personal Statement

Dr. Rinner is originally from Speyer, a small, yet historically significant town located in the south of Germany. After an apprenticeship at Brockhaus & Duden, publisher of the respected German dictionary Duden and the leading German encyclopedia, she began her studies in philosophy, literature, and law at the Freie Universität in Berlin. Experiencing feelings of Wanderlust, she continued her graduate studies in the US. After teaching at Allegheny College, Georgetown University, and George Washington University she joined the faculty at UNCG in 2007. With a focus on twentieth century and contemporary German literature, film and culture, her interdisciplinary research interests include cultural memory and social movements. Dr. Rinner is also interested in modern language pedagogy and curriculum development, and she enjoys working closely with students in and outside the classroom. With her scholarship and teaching, she contributes to the mission of the liberal arts in higher education.

Selected Professional Achievements

Book:

The German Student Movement and the Literary Imagination: Transnational Memories of Protest and Dissent. New York: Berghahn Books, 2013.

Select Articles:

"From Student Movement to the Generation of 1968: Generational Conflicts in German Novels from the 1970s and 1990s." In: Laurel Cohen-Pfister and Susanne Vees-Gulani, eds. Generational Shifts in Contemporary German Culture. Rochester: Camden House, 2010: 139-160.
"Transnational Memories: 1968 in Recent German Fiction." In: Ingo Cornils and Sarah Waters, eds. Memories of 1968. International Perspectives. Oxford, Bern: Peter Lang, 2010: 199-220.

Awards and Grants

Recipient of the 2012 Alumni Teaching Excellence Award for Untenured Faculty
Several awards and grants (from UNCG, Fulbright, DAAD, and AATG) enabled Dr. Rinner to travel to Germany, to present her scholarship on both sides of the Atlantic, and to organize German and European Studies colloquia and workshops at UNCG.