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 at BYU, I was also aware of the number of German-language literature pieces that Dr. James has collected over the past years. However, I was not aware of the impact that this literature can have and the insights that it can provide.

While working on my ORCA project I was able to spend much time searching through and reading a wide variety of writing from various German women authors, who wrote in poetry and prose, in both long and short pieces and in a variety of different print styles. This allowed me to gain an insight into the lives of German women between the 17th and 20th centuries, and how their world differed so greatly from that of men at that time.

The project has run relatively smoothly and I have made great progress. I read, transcribed and annotated all the texts I selected, and many of them have been formatted in the way that they will be published. It will be entirely completed at the end of Fall Semester 2011. The decision was made by Dr. James and myself to keep the publication free and available to all by releasing it as an e-publication as soon as it is finished, available on the Sophie Project website (http://www.sophie.byu.edu), which is hosted by the College of Humanities. This will allow for greater access by students and faculty both here at BYU and at other schools across the country.

I am very grateful for the opportunity I have had in working on this project; it has given me great understanding to the meaning of individual research and has only increased my interest in continuing on this path of discovery.

Sincerely,
Alexander C. Smith