Alumni of the graduate program in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures at Illinois have won major national awards! Here is a selection:
- Regine Criser, Ph.D. 2013, now a faculty member at U. of North Carolina–Ashville, received the Goethe Institute – AATG certificate of merit.
- Amanda Sheffer, Ph.D. 2011, now a faculty member at Catholic University of America-Washington, D.C., received the FL-A-CH award.
- Kathleen Condray, Ph.D. 2001, now a faculty member at U. of Arkansas-Fayetteville, received the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation Teacher Award.
Congratulations!
Here is just a small selection of information about what some of our undergraduate alumni are doing now:
Sophia Ebel (BA 2022) double-majored in German Studies and in Comparative and World Literature, with minors in French and Arabic. She won a Fulbright grant to teach English and conduct research in Austria in 2022-2023! At UIUC, Sophia served as president of UIUC Deutschklub, was a Chancellor's Scholar in the Campus Honors Program, and was a member of Illinois Rowing. She also co-led the Reform Minyan at Illini Hillel, facilitated a course section of LAS 101, and worked in the University Archives.
Alexandra Schneeberger (BA 2021) is working toward the M.A. degree in German here at UIUC, and is teaching in our undergraduate program.
Zachary Grotovsky (BA 2011, MA 2014) is currently working for EY (Ernst and Young) in their Microsoft practice as a Solution Architect designing and implementing software for a variety of the top Fortune 500 companies. The skills he learned in the German Department help him connect more closely with his client contracts and ensure success on project engagements.
Emily Freiburger (BA 2019, minor in German) is teaching English in Austria with support from the Fulbright Foundation and the Austrian-American Education Commission!
Alison Hartlein (BA 2019, minor in German) is pursuing a graduate degree in elementary education!
Kiersten Heiman (BA 2019, minor in German) received her law degree from Washington University-St. Louis!
Nadia Hu (BA German and Economics, 2018) is a financial analyst with the Oshkosh Corporation!
Soman Kotadia (BA German and Global Studies, 2017) is a research fellow at the University of California-Berkeley Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society!
Jenna Kurtzweil (BA German, 2019) is working in Communications at the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment at the University of Illinois!
Allison Wheeler (BA German and Global Studies, 2018) is pursuing a master's degree in European Union Studies!
Elena Wilson (BA German [with Honors] and Molecular/Cell Biology, 2020) completed a post-baccalaureate fellow at the National Cancer Institute and a masters program in Bioethics at Johns Hopkins University. She is working toward the joint MD/PhD degree at Yale University.
Lauren Karplus (BA German and International Studies, 2010) completed the MA in Political Science at Illinois State University, and is currently working as an Academic Advisor and Experiential Learning Coordinator in the College of ACES at the University of Illinois.
Current undergraduates are encouraged to contact the Humanities Professional Resource Center here on campus, for career and professional advising tailored to students in Humanities fields.