of Victoria
Slavic StudiesNavigation
PhD (Queens)
Germanic Studies, German Literature, Technology-enhanced Language Learning, Vampire Studies
After studying for my undergraduate degrees in Germany (U of Mannheim) and England (U of Sussex), I completed my MA at the University of Waterloo (on Lou Andreas-Salomé) and my PhD at Queen’s (on Adolf Muschg). I came to UVic in 1992 and now I am the only member of the Department who was hired in the last century.
My first publications were on German literature. In the mid-90s, my research interests shifted in light of the digital revolution. I published on cyberpunk and then focused on the web as a teaching tool. With the help of UVic’s Innovation and Development Corporation, I founded HyperEdvantage Language Service and its website, germanfortravellers.
My most recent ‘academic turn’ took place in the early 2000s, when I started to get more serious about the study of vampires as a cultural phenomenon. I published an article on Buffy and Dracula and on Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire and Dennis Gansel's We Are the Night. I am also interested in humour studies and I published on Dani Levy's Mein Führer.
I have been active in the Canadian Association of University Teachers of German (CAUTG), as webmaster, editor of the Bulletin and Directory, Regional Rep for BC and Alberta, and as Vice-President and President (2007-10). In 2008, I received the University of Waterloo Arts in Academia Award for outstanding contribution to academics. I was Chair of the Department from 2002 until 2013 and Acting Associate Dean Academic in 2016.
Fall 2023
GMST 351 The New German Cinema
GMST 454 A Cultural History of Vampires in Literature and Film
“Finally on Film: Dennis Gansel talks about his upcoming Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver.” Interview. Online. Goethe Institut. March 2018.
“Through the Eyes of Angels and Vampires: Berlin Ruins in Wings of Desire and We Are the Night.” Cultural Topographies of the New Berlin. Eds. Karin Bauer and Jennifer Hosek. Berghahn, 2018: 347-363.
“Dierks, Manfred. Adolf Muschg: Lebensrettende Phantasie. Ein biographisches Porträt.” Book review. The German Quarterly. 88:4 (Fall 2015): 557-59.
“Haha Hitler! Coming to Terms with Dani Levy’s Mein Führer – The Truly Truest Truth About Adolf Hitler.” Cinema and Social Change in Germany and Austria. Eds. Gabriele Mueller and James M. Skidmore. Waterloo: WLU Press, 2012. 173-188.
“German Studies in the Great White North.” German Studies Association Newsletter. (Spring 2010): 52-59.
“Intertextualität und Vampirismus bei Patrick Süskind und Adolf Muschg.” We’re from Jazz: Festschrift in Honor of Nicholas V. Galichenko. Eds. Megan Swift and Serhy Yekelchyk. Washington DC: New Academia Publishing, 2010. 121-131.
"Fear and Laughing in Sunnydale: Buffy vs Dracula Journal of Dracula Studies. (Fall 2009): 23-41.
“See Lola Run–Run Lola Run.” HoBo (Fall/Winter 06/07): 113, 125-26.
“E/Valuating E-Learning for Second and Foreign Language Learning.” Kenneth Reeder, Trude Heift, Jörg Roche, Shabaz Tabyanian, Stephan Schlickau, and Peter Gölz. New Perspectives on CALL for Second Language Classrooms. Eds. Sandy Fotos and Charles M. Brown. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004.
“Bridging the Gap: Delivering Distance Education Courses on the Web.” IALL Journal of Language Learning Technologies. 31.1/2 (1999): 17-23.
“Von Ödipus zu Parzival: Inter- und Intratextualität bei Adolf Muschg.” Neue Perspektiven zur deutschsprachigen Literatur der Schweiz. Ed. Romey Sabalius. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1997. 215-25.
“Räume ohne Grenzen: Cyberspace und reale Virtualität.” Natur, Räume, Landschaften. 2. Internationales Kingstoner Symposium. Eds. Burkhardt Krause and Ulrich Scheck. München: iudicium, 1996. 261-272.
June 3, 2021. Popular Culture Association (online). “Herzog’s Dialogue with Murnau & The Creation of the Cinematic Pandemic Vampire.”
April 17, 2021. “Nosferatu’s Cats: Undead Genre Conventions in Murnau, Herzog, and Merhige.” International Dracula Congress 2021 (online): Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania and Marie Curie-Sklodowska University, Poland.
November 18, 2019. Introduction to Gundermann. UVic, Cinecenta.
February 6, 2019. Introduction to Adam and Evelyn. Victoria International Film Festival.
October 8, 2017. “Postcards from the Undead”. German Studies Association. Atlanta Georgia.
October 27 and 28, 2017. “Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Fact and Fiction.” Invited lectures for Ballet Victoria’s performance of Dracula.
March 24, 2016. “Alive in the Shadows: Nosferatu’s Legacy.” Popular Culture Association Annual Conference. Seattle, Washington State.
March 24, 2016. Session Chair. “Vampire in Literature, Culture, and Film VIII: The Television Vampire.” Popular Culture Association Annual Conference. Seattle, Washington State.
October 20, 2016. "Dreyer’s Vampyr and its Relation to Classic German Horror.” Invited lecture for MediaNet’s Cinema Salon. Victoria.
October 27, 2016. “Introduction.” Special Event: The Golem or How He Came Into the World. Screening with Live Music. Cinecenta, UVic. (See also: Ogden, Alistair. “Cinecenta brings The Golem—and silent film—back to life.” Martlet. October 20, 2016.)
November 26, 2016. “The Application of Film at All Levels of Language Instruction.” Workshop for the DAAD Fortbildungsseminar „Neue Ansätze und Konzepte im Deutschunterricht.“ University of Victoria. Presented with Anna Jäsche.
April 1, 2015. Session Chair. “Identity: Peter Fox and Afro-Caribbean Culture, the Grimm Brothers and Identity, and Kafka’s 'Josephine' and Animal Rights." Popular Culture Association Annual Conference. New Orleans, LA.April 1, 2015. "Fangs of Desire". Popular Culture Association Conference, New Orleans.
March 29, 2012. “Bela Meets Bella – A Short History of Vampires on Film.” In Pursuit of Knowledge Lecture Series. UVic.
April 5, 2011. "The Most Magical Mountain? The Wall of Death – Nordwand." Deutscher Abend an der Uni.
April 6, 2010. “Margarethe von Trotta’s Promise.” Deutscher Abend an der Uni, UVic.
Oct. 30. 2009. “Vampire Science / Fiction: Folklore, Film, and Photochemistry.” Presented with Jay T. Cullen. Fireside Chats Lecture Series, UVic.
October 9, 2009. “German Studies in the Great White North.” German Studies Association, Washington, DC.
July 31, 2009. “The Blue Angel’sSound of Music.” invited lecture, MusicFest Vancouver.
February 22, 2009. “Zur technischen Integration von Spielfilmen in den Unterricht.” CATG Jahrestagung. Vancouver.
September 24, 2008. “Sucking on Celluloid: Vampires on Film.” University of Waterloo.
May 1, 2008. “HaHa Hitler – Coming to Terms with Dani Levy’s Mein Führer – The Truly Truest Truth About Adolf Hitler.” Cinema and Social Change in Germany and Austria. University of Waterloo.
October 31 2007. “Vampires Don’t Suck: A Cinematic History of the 20th Century’s Most Popular Myth.” Invited lecture. Ziegler Visiting Speakers Series. UBC, Green College. Vancouver.
May 27 2007. “To laugh or not to laugh: New German Humour.” CAUTG Annual Meeting. University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.
Oct. 13 2006 “A Symphony of Horror, Desire, and Disgust. Murnau’s Modern Masterpiece.” Invited pre-concert lecture, Victoria Symphony, Victoria.
Aug. 25, 2006 “Fear and Laughing in Sunnydale: Buffy vs Dracula.” Gender Laughter Media Conference, Kamloops.
November 9, 2021. Real Talk with Ryan Jespersen.
October 31 2021. Mon prof est vampirologue. CBC Radio Canada.
October 25, 2021. An undying interest in vampires. UVic. The Ring.
Oct. 30, 2021. UVic Vampire History Course Celebrates 20 Year Anniversary. UVic. Martlet.
Roundhouse Radio Vancouver. October 29, 2016.
October 30, 2016. “Vampire class is in session! A brief history of blood suckers.” CBC Vancouver. North by Northwest.
October 31, 2016. CFAX Victoria.
Vampire course will rise again