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Graduating seniors' independent research

Class of 2021: Issac Caswell

man with beard, wearing tie

My independent study with Dr. Haegele focused on the representation of women in DEFA (Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft), the state-run film studio of the former East Germany. This study led to a deeper inquiry into the cultural, political, and sociological landscape of East Germany where such films were produced. The project culminated in an analytical essay in German of two DEFA films, Heiner Carow's Bis daß der Tod euch scheidet (Until Death Do Us Part, 1979) and Lothar Warneke's Die Beunruhigung (Apprehension, 1982), where I explored the concept of the double burden ("die Doppelbelastung") of work and family that East German society forced upon women.

 

film poster with images of a man and a woman, text: bis daß der Tod euch scheidet    film poster with a woman. text above: eine Frau am Wendepunkt. text below: Die Beunruhigung.

Hayden Cardy, Class of 2020

man wearing glasses

"Comparative Survey of Germanic Languages"
ABSTRACT: The languages of the Germanic tribes have changed immensely since the parent language broke from Proto-Indo-European nearly 3000 years ago. This comparative survey of 13 living and 2 extinct Germanic languages draws connections between the West Germanic languages of mainland Europe and the British Isles, the North Germanic languages influenced by the Nordic peoples, and Gothic, one of the now-extinct East Germanic languages. A comparison between simple but necessary words across time and space shows the way words have shifted within this linguistic family tree. The selection of words, though limited, gives a broad look into the process of language change across centuries of expansion for the Germanic peoples and their descendants. Language change, or in the case of highly insular languages like Icelandic, the lack thereof, is the collective result of nationalism, trade, war, colonialism, as well as typical linguistic processes like standardization, clipping, word loaning, and phonemic shifts.