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| Home | > | Faculty and Staff | > | Jens Kruse |
Jens
Kruse |
jkruse@wellesley.edu
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Narrative Biography: Jens Kruse was born in Hamburg, Germany; he was educated there and in the United States. He received the M.A. degree in Comparative Literature from Indiana University in Bloomington in 1971, and took the Staatsexamen at the University of Hamburg in 1974. He received the Ph.D. degree in Comparative Literature from the University of California in Los Angeles in 1982. Mr. Kruse joined the Wellesley College faculty in 1983 and became Associate Professor of German in 1990. He teaches both German language and literature on all levels of the curriculum and has served repeatedly as chair of the German Department and Coordinator of Foreign Language Chairs. His particular teaching interests are late 18th and early 19th century literature, especially the works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and 20th century literature, especially the works of Franz Kafka and Martin Walser. He has also taught extradepartmental courses, such as Classic Western Texts in Contemporary Perspective and Imaginary Crimes and Courts: the Law in Literature. In 1992, Mr. Kruse was appointed Associate Dean of the College, a position in which he served until 1999. Mr. Kruse's research interests reflect his teaching interests. He is the author of the book Der Tanz der Zeichen: Poetische Struktur und Geschichte in Goethe's Faust II and numerous articles on Goethe, Franz Kafka and Martin Walser. A common current in all of Mr. Kruse's scholarly work is the attempt to trace the connections between cultural artifacts and the historical structures that shape them and are in turn informed by them. An example of this is Mr. Kruse's current book project entitled "Goethe": Biography of a Fiction. Here, Kruse uses the fictional representations of Goethe in novels and novellas between 1832 and the present to trace that writer's unparalleled significance for the cultural identity of the German nation. In his most recent book, Tortured Enlightenment: Writing and Reading in Kafka's In the Penal Colony, written mostly for the general reader in the form of letters to his family, Mr. Kruse examines this horrifying novella of the year 1914 for instructions on how best to read Kafka. Mr. Kruse lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts with his wife Susan D. Kunk, a web designer. Their son Michael is Writer-at-Large for the Times Herald-Record in Middletown, New York. Their son Bjorn is a senior at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. For more information, see the link to my Curriculum Vitae below. Teaching Interests and Activities: I teach a wide range of courses in German language and literature at all levels, including courses on Goethe, 18th Century Literature, Kafka, Poetry, and Contemporary Novelists. I have also taught a number of extra-departmental courses. (For more detailed course information, please see links below.) Research Interests and Activities: I have published Der Tanz der Zeichen: Poetische Struktur und Geschichte in Goethe's Faust II and numerous articles on Goethe, Franz Kafka and Martin Walser. Most recently, I have published: Tortured Enlightenment: Writing and Reading in Kafka's In the Penal Colony. Student Projects: I have directed or co-directed several independent studies and thesis projects, most recently a project on the Bildungsroman. Other Professional Interests and Activities: I am a member of the Goethe Society of North America, the German Studies Association, and the Modern Language Association. My professional service includes evaluation of manuscripts, service on departmental visiting committees, and evaluation of professional dossiers. Additional Interests and Activities: My other interests include reading of popular writing about science, gardening and travel. Regularly Taught Courses: German 231: Advanced Studies in Language and Culture (course description) German 239: Germany and Austria Today (course description) German 276/376: Kafka (course description 276) (course description 376) (syllabus - view or print as PDF) (syllabus - view or print as Word doc) CPLT 254: The Law in Literature (course description) (syllabus - view or print as PDF) (syllabus - view or print as Word doc) German 325: Goethe (course description) (syllabus - view or print as PDF) (syllabus - view or print as Word doc) German 329: 18th Century (course description) (syllabus - view or print as PDF) (syllabus - view or print as Word doc) Recommended Resource Links: Der Spiegel online Kommentierte Goethe-Galerie Goethe (Re-)Collected The Kafka Project Franz Kafka: Das Schloss - Author Homepage Projekt Gutenberg-DE (links to authors, including but not limited to German authors, with small author-bios and electronic text collection for each author) Curriculum Vitae: View or print as PDF document View or print as Word doc |
| Website Designed By: Susan
D. Kunk Website Maintained By: Joanne Davenport Wellesley College German Department Page Created: November 8, 2004 Page Last Modified: May 21, 2009 |
