I am deeply saddened by the unexpected passing of my Doktorvater, Professor Hans Sauer. The German “Doktorvater” is usually translated as “PhD supervisor/advisor” but the literal translation “doctoral father” is…
2020 has been a strange year for reading: some of us have had a lot more time for reading, others far less. Regardless whether you’ve been able to indulge or…
The link between language and identity is a subject written about most profusely by linguists, and it never seems to fall into obsolescence. Yet, novelists manipulate the association between language…
As a child, the Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe (1930-2013) loved stories and he loved reading. Like many children, he was particularly fascinated with tales of adventure, exploration, and discovery. In…
Students of Beijing Normal University who were part of the May Fourth Movement (Image credit: Wikipedia) This month marks the 100th anniversary of China’s May 4 Movement. This intellectual and…
Unpublished manuscripts from the estate of Hans Natonek (Source: Arts in exile) On International Women’s Day I explored why female academics publish less than their male peers. Academic journal submissions…
Carl Rohling, The Teplitz incidence. Goethe (left) draws his hat and bows to the imperial party while Beethoven (front-center) strides on Over the holidays, I’ve had the opportunity to read…