GESA ZINN
Associate Professor of German Studies
Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures
University of Minnesota Duluth
Phone: (218) 726-8990 (office) (218) 525-2522 (home)
e-mail address: gzinn@d.umn.edu
(Permanent Resident)
2005-present, Associate Professor of German Studies, University of Minnesota Duluth (member of the Graduate Faculty)
2006-2008, Director, Masters of Liberal Studies Program
2001-2005, Assistant Professor of German Studies, University of Minnesota Duluth (member of the Graduate Faculty)
1996-2001, Assistant Professor of German, University of Louisville (member of the Graduate Faculty, Women's Studies, and Humanities)
1995-1996, Lecturer, Institute of International Studies, University of Minnesota,Twin Cities
EDUCATION
Ph.D. in German, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, 1995
M.A. in German, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, 1990
B.A. in English, California State University, Sacramento, 1985
Abitur, Ernst-Barlach Gymnasium, Kiel, Germany, 1982.
Teaching Award, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota Duluth, 2011
Research Award, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota Duluth, 2007
Best Article Award for “ Teaching the Kurds, Roma and Sinti." Die Unterrichtspraxis /
Teaching German, AATG, Washington D.C., 2001
CLA Travel Grant, University of Minnesota Duluth, 2006, 2008, 2010
CLA Research Grant, University of Minnesota Duluth, 2005, 2007, 2010
Travel Grant, Consortium for European Studies, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 2005
Chancellors Faculty Research Grant, University of Minnesota Duluth, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008. 2009, 2010
CLA Teaching Grant, University of Minnesota Duluth, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,
Grant-in-Aid for "Female, Urban and Exile: Gypsies in 21st Century Germany." University of Minnesota, 2003-2005
Imagine Fund Grant, University of Minnesota, 2009
CLA Research Development Grant, University of Minnesota Duluth, 2002
AATG and MAATG Grant for a joint project entitled “Exploring the Presence of the Roma and Sinti in Germany” (with A.
Ratwik and M. Zachmeier-Ruh), 2002
Research on Women Grant, University of Louisville, 1998-1999
Research Initiation Grant, University of Louisville, 1997-1998
German language, literature, film and culture courses
Undergraduate Courses at UMD:
CLA 1001 Introduction to College Learning (1 cr.)
EDSE 4600 Student Teaching (3-12 cr.)
Ger 1101 Beginning German I (4 cr.)
Ger 1102 Beginning German II (4 cr.)
Ger 2315 German Film: History and Analysis (4 cr.)
Ger 3302 Advanced Composition and Analysis (4 cr.)
Ger 3401 Introduction to Literary Studies (4 cr.)
Ger 3403 Theater und Poetik: Heute und Gestern (4 cr.)
Ger 3406 Deutsche Literatur: 1800-1960 (4 cr.)
Ger 3591 Independent Study (1-4 cr.)
Ger 4095 Special Topics ("Minorities in the Federal Republic of Germany") (4 cr.)
Ger 4202 Die Deutsche Novelle (4 cr.)
Ger 4302 German Women Writers and Filmmakers (4 cr.)
Ger 4305 German Cinema (4 cr.)
Ger 4404 Contemporary Germany (4 cr.)
Ger 4591 Indepedent Study (1-4 cr.)
Graduate Courses at UMD:
IS 5002 Exodus and Exile in Contemporary Cinema (4 cr.)
IS 8001 Introduction to Liberal Studies (1-4 cr.)
IS 8501 Seminar: Ethics and the Human Condition (4 cr.)
IS 8591 Directed Study (1-8 cr.)
Undergraduate and Graduate Courses taught in English at UofL:
ML 352/GER 313 Weimar Culture
Hum 5xxx German Film
WS 5xxx Feminist Film and Theory
American Association of Teachers of German
German Studies Association
Women in German
"Home, Alienhood and Transcience in Stephen Frears' Dirty Pretty Things and Fatih Akin's The Edge of Heaven." The International Journal of the Humanities (forthcoming)
"Souls in Transit: Exilic Journeys in Fatih Akin's On the Edge of Heaven (2007)," forthcoming in: Exile Through a Gendered Lens. Women in European History, Literature and Cinema. Co-editor: Maureen Tobin Stanley (forthcoming, Palgrave MacMillan, New York)
Book: Exile Through a Gendered Lens. Women in European History, Literature and Cinema. Co-editor: Maureen Tobin Stanley (forthcoming, Palgrave MacMillan, New York)
Book: Female Exiles in 20th and 21st Century Europe. Co-editor: Maureen Tobin Stanley. New York: Palgrave, 2007.
"A Gypsy in Exile: 'Home' and 'Nostalgia' in Creative Works by the Austrian Romni Ceija Stojka"in: Tobin Stanley, Zinn (eds.) Female Exiles in 20th and 21st Century Europe (New York: Palgrave, 2007)
“Bridging the Gap between Upper-Division Writing and German Studies Courses with Katja von Garnier's Bandits." Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German.37.2 (Fall 2005):117-131.
"Global Goals, Nested Roles: An Examination of My Teaching Philosophy," Instructional Development Services Newsletter, UMD, 2005
“Shadow and Sunlight: ‘Exile,' ‘Home,' and ‘Nostalgia' in Paintings and Poetry by the Romni Artist Ceija Stojka." International Journal of the Humanities, Vol. 2, # 2, 2004
“ Identity Narratives in Zafer Senocak's Gefährliche Verwandtschaft ”South Atlantic Review (Spring 2004)
“Helke Sander and the Meaning of Laughter,” South Central Review 20.2-4 (Summer-Winter 2003):131-42.
“Teaching the Kurds, Roma and Sinti. Germany's other ‘Others' in an Upper-Division German Culture Class,” Die Unterrichtspraxsi/Teaching German 33.2 (Fall 2000):106-12.
“Gender, Germans and Men in Helke Sander's Die Deutschen und Ihre Männer ,” South Atlantic Review 64.2 (Spring1999): 20-36.
“Female Subjects and the Story of (R)Evolution in Helke Sander's Oh Lucy,” in: Covi,Giovanni (ed.). Figurations of the Female Subject in Contemporary Literature. Trento: Universita; Degli Studi Di Trento, Dipartimento Di Scienze Filologiche e Storiche, 1997 (26 pages)
“Melodrama” and “Gruppe 61” in Eigler, Friederike and Susanne Kord (eds.) The Feminist Encyclopedia of German Literature. Connecticut: Greenwood P, 1997 (4 pages)
Presenter, "Home, Alienhood and Transcience in Stephen Frears' Dirty Pretty Things and Fatih Akin's The Edge of
Heaven," New Directions in the Humanities Conference, Grenada, Spain, June 8-11, 2011
Presenter, "Female Exiles in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century European Literature, Film and Culture: Home and Country
through a Gendered Lens," 1st European Conference on Politics and Gender, Queens University, Belfast, UK, Jan., 2009
Co-editor, Female Exiles in 20th and 21st Century Europe. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007.
Presenter, "Home and Nostalgia in Creative Works by the Austrian Gypsy and Holocaust Survivor Ceija Stojka", Third Friday
CLA Faculty Presentations, Oct., 2006, University of Minnesota Duluth
Presenter, "Identity Construction in Paintings, Poetry, and Testimonials by Romni Artist Ceija Stojka." 20th Century Literature
and Culture Conference, University of Louisville, February 2006.
Presenter, "The Life of the Gypsies: Roma and Sinti in Germany Today." Alworth Brownbag Series, University of
Minnesota Duluth, April 2005
Presenter, "Arbeitsgruppe 3," Qualifizierung von Sinti und Roma zu Mediator(innen)
in Schule, Beruf, und sozialer Arbeit." Internationale Fachtagung, Berlin, Germany, Oct.2004
Presenter, “‘Exile,' ‘Home,' and ‘Nostalgia' in Paintings and Poetry by the Romni Artist
Ceija Stojka,” International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, Prato, Italy, July 2004
Presenter, “From Soup to Noodles: Creation, Preparation and Consumption of Culture in
Multicultural Times,” International Conference on Diversity, Los Angeles, CA, June 2004
Presenter and Project-chair: “Roma and Sinti in the DAF -curriculum,” MAATG, Minneapolis, MN, April 2003
Presenter, “Weibliche Banditen im Unterricht,” ACTFL/AATG, Salt Lake City, UT, Fall 2002
Presenter, “Post-Identity in Zafer Senocak's Gefährliche Verwandtschaft ,” MMLA,
Minneapolis, MN, Fall 2002
Seminar Leader, “Teaching German Film” (a two-day seminar), Minnesota Humanities
Commission, St. Paul, MN, February 2002
Presenter, “Minorities in 21 st Century Germany,” MCTLC, Minneapolis, November 2001
Chair of various German sessions and German sessions organizer, Twentieth Century
Literature Conference, Louisville, Kentucky, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
Coordinator and Presenter, “Former Voices of the East: Gabriele Eckart,” Twentieth
Century Literature Conference, Louisville, Kentucky, 2000
Presenter, “Laughing with a Vengeance: Humor and Irony in Helke Sander's The
Germans and their Men and The Trouble with Love,” 24 th Colloquium on
Literature and Film, Morgantown, West Virginia, 1999
Presenter, “Women Filmmakers and the New German Cinema,” Portland, OR, Spring1999 (by invitation)
Presenter, “Violence, Gender, and Intertextuality in BeFreier und Befreite ,”
German Studies Association, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1998
Presenter, “Revising German History or Writing Feminist Film? U.S. and German
Reception of Helke Sander's BeFreier und Befreite,” Foreign Language Conference, Lexington, Kentucky, 1998
Participant, Film Institute (5-day Seminar with A. Kaes, E. Rentschler), Dartmouth, New Hampshire, Summer 1998
Coordinator, “Performing in Pedagogy,” Women in German Conference, Los Aptos, California, 1997
Participant, 5-day Ciber Workshop: Teaching Business German, Champaign, IL, Summer 1997
Participant, ACTFL Refresher Workshop: Oral Proficiency Interview, Pittsburgh, PA, Fall 1996
Presenter, “Feminist Laughter Between the Lines: Laughter, Humor and Irony in Helke Sander's Written and
Visual Texts,” German Studies Association, Chicago, IL, Fall 1995
Co-coordinator, “Representation and Exploration of Xenophobia in Films by Politically and Socially Marginalized
German Speaking Filmmakers,” Women in German Conference, Great Barrington, MA, Fall 1993
Presenter, “The Gender Politics of Helke Sander,” Foreign Language Conference, Lexington, KY,1993
Presenter, “Through Erna's Eyes--Audience Identification in Piel Jutzi's Mother Krause's Journey into Happines, ”
German Studies Association, Buffalo, NY, 1990
BOOK REVIEWS
Ascheid, Antje. Hitler's Heroines. Stardom and Womanhood in Nazi Cinema. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2003. Book Review. Colloquia- Germania. Internationale Zeitschrift für Germanistik . (Fall 2004)
Korte, Helmut. Einführung in die Systematische Filmanalyse . Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag, 1999. Book Review. Colloquia-Germania. Internationale Zeitschrift für Germanistik , 2001
Cordes, Mechthild. Die Ungelöste Frauenfrage. Eine Einführung in die Feministische Theorie . Frankfurt: Fischer Verlag, 1995. Book Review: German Studies Review, 1997
Weinberger, Gabriele. Nazi Germany and its Aftermath in German Directors' Autobiographical Films of the 1970s. In the Murderers' House. San Francisco: Mellen Research University Press, 1992. Book Review: Women in German Newsletter, 1994
EDITORIAL WORK
Associate Editor, The International Journal of the Humanities, Vol. 9 (forthcoming, 2011)
Einfach Deutsch Lernen. First-and Second-year German Text. New York: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008. Review of Manuscript, by invitation by Prentice Hall.
Associate Editor, The International Journal of the Humanities, Vol. 2, #2, 2004
COMMITTEE WORK
College of Liberal Arts, UMD:
Academic Affairs Committee
Departmental Committee
ESL Search Committee
Spanish Search Committee
German Search Committee (Chair, 2006)
Research Committee
Student Affairs Committee
Teaching Committee (Chair in 2004/2005)
University-Wide Committees, UMD:
Baeumler-Kaplan Holocaust Memorial C.
Baeumler-Kaplan Holocaust Memorial Sub- C.: Film
Chancellor's Research Award C.
Graduate Council
Master's of Liberal Studies Advisory Committee (Chair)
UEA-Rep Council
Women's Study Advisory Board (Chair, 2007/2008)
Research project: “Female, Urban and Exile: Gypsies in 21st Century Germany”
One of the many developments after the fall of the wall has been the flight of refugees to Germany, among them the Roma and the Sinti. I am investigating their status as exiles in Germany's larger cities, including the financial and emotional support systems within their family structure and within German society, as well as development opportunities offered by the state, by Germany, by the E.U. and by gypsy organizations in their struggle for self-determination. My ethnographic research on the female urban gypsies focuses on three interrelated questions: (1) What are Roma/Sinti women's everyday strategies for resisting socio-economic marginalization ? (2) How are these complicated by ethnic, gender, class identities and their roles within their family structures? And (3) how do the state/ E.U. and Roma and Sinti organizations support their emotional and material needs? The central research methods I utilize are archival work, participant observation, and interviews.
My research fosters interdisciplinary dialogue between social and humanistic sciences, thereby forging crucial linkages between the political economy of development and the politics of representation and identity. Furthermore, it addresses current debates about development policy and its implementation upon marginalized ethnic groups in Germany and the E.U. In terms of the wider impact of my study, this research will shed more light on the changes Germany is experiencing as it is coming to terms with the many challenges multicultural societies are facing.