Reinhold Heller, Professor, joint appointment with Art History (MA, PhD Indiana University), has been at Chicago since 1978. His research interests include German Expressionism, the Weimar avant-garde, and the history of modern German art. His most recent book is Stark Impressions: Prints in Germany (Northwestern UP, 1994).
E-mail: rheller@uchicago.edu
Samuel Jaffe (1934-2014) was involved with the Department longer than any other current faculty member (BA, MA, PhD, and Professor at the University of Chicago). His teaching and research interests ranged from the Middle Ages to Moses Mendelssohn, Freud, and Nietzsche. He participated both in the Committee in Medieval Studies and Committee on Jewish Studies.
Peter K. Jansen (1934 - 2007) published articles on Heinrich von Kleist, Georg Büchner, Johann Nepomuk Nestroy and Viennese popular theatre, Bertolt Brecht, and reviewed books on many authors and subjects in German literature from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Along with Kenneth Northcott, he translated three plays by the late Austrian playwright Thomas Bernhard which were published under the the collective title of Histrionics.
Kenneth J. Northcott (1922 - 2019) focused on the theory and practice of translation, especially in the works of Thomas Bernhard (see for instance The Voice Imitator). His research interests and publications ranged from Medieval German literature to Modern European drama. He participated both in the Committee on Comparative Studies in Literature and the Committee on General Studies in the Humanities.
Hildegund Ratcliffe, Senior Lecturer (PhD Innsbruck), was coordinator of the language program. In addition to organizing language instruction at the first, second, and third year levels, she offered a course in pedagogical theory and methods and also taught language courses. She was also responsible for the academic aspects of the Spring Quarter program in Weimar (for undergraduates) and conducted German language proficiency tests for students at the University of Chicago.
