Before coming to Pitt, Dr. Kurash taught courses in German language, literature, and culture at the College of Wooster, Allegheny College, the University of Maryland, and the Ohio State University. Put broadly, her research interests include 19th and 20th century German literature, film, and visual culture. She specializes in gender and cultural studies approaches to reading images of women’s engagement with technology, women’s work, and the cultural influence of communication media.
COURSES TAUGHT
- GER 101: Beginning German 1
- GER 102: Beginning German 2
- GER 201: Intermediate German 1
- GER 202: Intermediate German 2
- GER 1001: German Writing
- GER 1502: Indo-European Folktales
- GER 1530: Weimar Culture: Sexuality, Technology, and Revolution in the Weimar Republic (1918-1933)
EDUCATION & TRAINING
- PhD, The Ohio State University, 2015
- MA, University of Maryland, 2005
- BA, Allegheny College, 2001
SERVICE
- Project Coordinator for German Campus Weeks (funded by German Information Center USA at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany)
- 2016 Event Series, “Migration, Integration, and the Refugee Crisis.”
- 2017 Event Series, “Germany at the Polls: Politics, Media, and Europe”
- 2019 Event Series, “Germany, Then and Now: 1989-2019”
Research Interests
German Week
In 2015, Germany welcomed over one million migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. In response to this wave of newcomers, the German government and the German people launched humanitarian efforts to provide accommodations and begin the process of integration. In order to highlight these efforts, as well as the history of immigration to Germany since the postwar era, the German Department at the University of Pittsburgh, with generous funding from the German Information Center, USA at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, implemented an event series held in October 2016 focused on the topic: “Migration, Integration, and the Refugee Crisis.” The events included two film screenings, a roundtable discussion, a keynote talk by invited speaker Dr. Kathrin Bower (University of Richmond), and a Poster Presentation Competition, in which beginner and intermediate level German students presented their projects.