Claire E. Scott is a visiting assistant professor of German. In her research and teaching she focuses on German-language literature and film from the 20th and 21st centuries. Scott is particularly interested in melodrama, representations of violence and contemporary adaptations of mythological material.
Her work reflects a deep commitment to gender and sexuality studies. Scott serves on the steering committee for the Coalition of Women in German and is an active member of the Diversity, Decolonization, and the German Curriculum collective.
Scott’s first book, "Murderous Mothers: Postmodern Medea-Figures and Feminist Politics," is forthcoming after winning the 2020 Peter Lang Young Scholars Competition for German Studies in America.
Areas of Expertise
Gender and sexuality studies, affect theory, narratology
Education
2017 — Doctor of Philosophy from University of North Carolina a
2011 — Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College
Courses Recently Taught
GERM 111Y
Intensive Introductory German
GERM 111Y
This is the first half of a yearlong course for students who are beginning the study of German or who have had only minimal exposure to the language. The first semester introduces students to the German language in all four modalities: reading, writing, speaking and listening. The work includes practice in understanding and using the spoken language. Written exercises and elementary reading materials completed outside class serve as a basis for vocabulary-building and in-class discussion and role-plays. Students also will write four short essays on familiar topics over the course of the semester. During the second semester there is more advanced practice in the use of the spoken and written language and we will use short fictional and authentic cultural texts in order to develop techniques of reading. This course includes required practice sessions with an apprentice teacher (AT), which will be scheduled at the beginning of the semester. Students enrolled in this course will be automatically added to GERM 112Y for the spring semester. Offered every fall.
GERM 112Y
Intensive Introductory German
GERM 112Y
This is the second half of a yearlong course for students who are beginning the study of German or who have had only minimal exposure to the language. As in the first semester, the work includes practice of the German language in all four modalities — reading, writing, speaking and listening — in class, in scheduled review sessions with an apprentice teacher and using an online workbook. There will be more advanced practice in the use of the spoken and written language. We will develop reading skills through a variety of fictional and cultural texts, including a short book we will read in its entirety. This course includes required practice sessions with an apprentice teacher (AT), which will be scheduled at the beginning of the semester. Prerequisite: GERM 111Y or placement or permission of instructor. Offered every spring.
GERM 362
Contemporary German Fiction
GERM 362
In a special journal issue on emerging German writers, Frank Finley and Stuart Taberner write: "What is most immediately striking about the German literary market since unification, and in particular since the mid-1990s, is its sheer diversity." In this course, we will read and interpret exemplary works from the wealth of texts that form this new literature. Among the authors are emerging writers, as well as well-established writers such as Nobel Prize winner Günter Grass. Our focus for discussion will shift a number of times during the semester. We will explore issues of German history and German identity with respect to Grass's novel "Im Krebsgang" and Thomas Brussig's satirical alternative "history" of the fall of the Wall "Helden wie wir." More aesthetic and philosophical problems, such as intertextuality and memory, will guide our discussion of W.G. Sebald's "Schwindel. Gefühle." Sebald's book is related to Judith Hermann's "Nichts als Gespenster" through the theme of the travelogue. Likewise, we will discuss the poetics and narrative strategies of Hermann's stories. We will investigate questions of popular literature and generational issues ("Generation Golf") by looking at Christian Kracht's "Faserland" (which — like the Hermann and Sebald texts — can be read as a travelogue) and Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre's "Solo-Album." The novels "Helden wie wir" and "Solo-Album" also will be discussed in the context of their respective motion picture versions. The format of the course will be seminar-type discussion complemented by occasional presentations by students and the instructor. All readings and discussion are in German. Prerequisite: GERM 325 or above or permission of instructor. Generally offered every three years.
GERM 391