Journal of Undergraduate Research

Anna Katharina Burton and Dr. Laura C. Smith, Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages This study sought to compare pronunciation gains in German in three learning environments, focusing especially on the umlauted vowels, e.g., /ø:/ as in Schönheit ‘beauty’ and /y:/ as in üben ‘to practice.’ Our research aimed to answer the following questions: 1. […]

Camila Trujillo Medina and Dr. Michelle Stott James, PhD, Germanic and Slavic Languages The endeavor to preserve the memory of German composer Luise Greger (1862-1944) has taken me and my mentor, Dr. Michelle James, head of the German and Slavic Department, into the almost unexplored topic of early 20th century German music. Since very little […]

Alexander Smith and Dr. Michelle James, Department of Germanic and Slavic Before beginning this project I was aware of the vast variety of literature available in both English and German language. Having been fortunate enough to work with Dr. James already on the Sophie Project, an undertaking of the Department of Germanic and Slavic here […]

James K. Pringle and Dr. Raissa Solovieva, German Studies and Slavic Languages This research examines how Soviet directors portrayed Americans in the six anti-American films released during the late Stalin era (1945-1953). These six films are The Russian Question (dir. Romm, 1947), Meeting on the Elbe (dir. Alexandrov, 1949), Court of Honor (dir. Room, 1949), […]

Falk Kleinert and Dr. Hans-Wilhelm, German and Slavic Studies Study abroad has long been argued to be the best way to improve a student´s proficiency in a second language, e.g., German. This claim is being scrutinized more and more in light of the current economic struggles facing many students and their families. This project is […]

Emily Hall and Dr. Laura Smith, German and Slavic Languages Department Study abroad programs have long enjoyed the prestige of being considered an exceptionally effective way to become fluent in a second language (Freed 1998). This conclusion has been supported by a multitude of studies. Smith, Aten, and Baker (2009) showed that German students on […]

Zachary Duvall and Dr. Laura Smith, German and Slavic Studies With increasingly difficult economic circumstances, ever more evidence is needed to validate the costs of study abroad. This study iss part of a larger project conducted by my mentor, Dr. Laura Smith and her colleague Dr. Kelling to assess linguistic and cultural changes by students […]

Nicholas Kramer and Dr. Laura Smith, German/Slavic Department Our research project has been a very exciting development, and although there is more to be done, we have accomplished a lot in the past year. Three different surveys, all of which had 40 questions, were written and distributed while I was on a study abroad in […]

Julie Kalani Smith and Dr. James K. Lyon, German and Slavic Languages As I began researching Ruth Berlau’s life, I encountered repeated references to Berlau’s beauty, always accompanied by the suggestion that it was her looks that attracted German playwright Bertolt Brecht’s attention. Berlau was one of a long line of women whom Brecht drew […]