Mission  |  Bylaws  |  Officers  |  Membership
Syllabi  |  Archive  |  Search  |  Site Map

June 16, 2008

The fact that I’m writing the president’s column is indicative of changes on the board of the Goethe Society. In an earlier email I announced that Ellis Dye regretfully resigned for personal reasons after three years as vice president and his first year as president. Even though his tenure was brief, Ellis left his mark on the Society. Ellis saw to it that our bylaws were brought up to date in referenda voted on by the membership. Our thanks to Ellis for many years of faithful service to the Goethe Society in his several capacities, as director-at-large, book review editor, and most recently as vice president and president.

We also owe a debt of thanks to Ellis for making sure that a very capable individual was appointed to replace our executive secretary, Astrida Tantillo, who resigned at the conclusion of her term. We welcome Patricia Simpson, associate professor at Montana State University-Bozeman. Patty is the author of The Erotics of War in German Romanticism (2007) and co-editor with Evelyn Moore of The Enlightened Eye: Goethe and Visual Culture (also 2007). Many of you will, no doubt, find occasion to interact with Patty on matters that concern the Society.

Astrida Tantillo was honored for her distinguished service to the Society at the annual meeting in December. Goethe-era scholarship in North America owes a great debt to Astrida. In addition to representing the Society to other institutions, such as the MLA and the GSA, Astrida engineered the partnership with Bucknell University that led to the creation of our own monograph series, New Studies in the “Age of Goethe.” I am delighted that Astrida remains the series editor and that our first book is in press, After Jena: Goethe’s Elective Affinities and the End of the Old Regime, by GSNA member Peter Schwartz. Astrida and the members of the editorial board, Fritz Breithaupt, Jane Brown, and Robert Tobin, invite you to submit your manuscript.

The spring newsletter contains information about the special election to fill the position of vice president. I am pleased to announce that Astrida is one of the candidates and Liliane Weissberg is the other. My thanks to both of these members for agreeing to run for the position. I would also like to thank the members of the nominating committee, Horst Lange, Elisabeth Krimmer, and Andrew Piper.

You should have received Goethe Yearbook Vol. 15 by now. Daniel Purdy was my co-editor for that volume and now assumes full responsibility as editor. Martha Helfer edited the book review section of Vol. 15 and has handed over that duty to Catriona MacLeod. We owe Martha a debt of thanks for her excellent service.

In sum, the board has undergone considerable change, but the level of energy and devotion to the Goethe Society remains the same. The GSNA is in good hands.

Speaking of energy, a real measure of the vibrancy of North American Goethe studies today, especially among young scholars, has been the initial response to the CFP for the Goethe Society’s first ever conference. Let me remind you that we began the process of organizing this conference by first asking members to fill out an online questionnaire. Many of you responded and your preferences and suggestions became the basis for “Goethe and the Postclassical: Literature, Science, Art, and Philosophy 1805-1815,” set for 6-9 November at the University of Pittsburgh. You will find the detailed call in the current newsletter, but I’d like to mention our two splendid keynote speakers. I am delighted that Ulrich Gaier of the University of Konstanz will open the conference with a talk on Faust. All of us are familiar with his many important contributions to Herder, Faust, and Hölderlin scholarship. Professor Gaier has been a close friend of the GSNA since the 1980s and has participated wholeheartedly in transatlantic dialogue. I am further delighted to announce that Robert Richards, the Morris Fishbein Professor of Science and Medicine and Professor of History, Philosophy and Psychology at the University of Chicago, author of The Romantic Conception of Life: Science and Philosophy in the Age of Goethe, will speak on “Theories of Species Evolution in Goethe and Schelling.” In addition to a full array of panels with paper presentations by our members, old and new, we will also be holding workshops for graduate students writing Goethe-era dissertations, all in an effort to cultivate and support the next generation of Goethe scholars. My co-organizers, Karin Schutjer and Clark Muenzer, and I are extremely excited by the prospect of our conference and encourage you to submit a proposal by March 31. Many of the past GSNA presidents have already committed to attending. This may well prove to be the largest convocation of Goethe scholars on North American soil ever. Certainly you too want to be in that number. Conference details will be announced shortly after the March 31 deadline, but rest assured that we have already reserved rooms in a nearby hotel at conference rates.

Because of the 200th anniversary of the publication of Faust Part I, the board agreed that we would attempt to organize a rousing panel for the MLA, the sort of event that actually draws people from the other MLA hotel. I teach Faust to approximately 100 students every year, not in order to make Goethe or Faust popular, not in order to preserve a tradition or to transmit humane values. I teach it because it’s a text that takes great risks, makes a huge wager. My students seem to understand that. They feel that way about their own lives and the world they live in. They want to look the risks and dangers in the face. My hope was to find three scholars of stature also willing to confront Goethe’s Faust. And I’m very pleased to announce that Gayatri Spivak of Columbia University, Michael Holquist, emeritus of Yale University and past president of the MLA, and our own Jane Brown have agreed to speak. This will be a signal event.

Our next business meeting will be at the MLA as usual. This year the honor of delivering the presidential address goes to Arnd Bohm, Carleton University in Ottawa, whose “big book” on Goethe’s Faust and European Epic: Forgetting the Future was published in 2007. Arnd also has an astonishing article called “Naming Goethe’s Faust: A Matter of Significance” in Deutsche Vierteljahresschrift (2006). In his address at the MLA Arnd will speak on “Goethe’s Reception of Stoicism: Elective Affinity.” The MLA bunches most Society business meetings together in the last session of the conference. As the MLA’s grinchlike holiday habits draw to an end, I ask you to consider booking your flight and hotel in such a way that you’ll be able to attend the business meeting (which we keep very short) and the presidential address (which is a great occasion).

I’m looking forward to seeing many of your proposals for the GSNA conference. And I also wish you a pleasant remainder of the semester and a refreshing and productive summer.

Simon Richter
University of Pennsylvania
    

June 16, 2008

Dear Colleagues and Fellow Members of the Goethe Society of North America,

I regret that health problems in my family have made it necessary for me to step aside as President of the Goethe Society of North America. I informed the Board of my need to do so on January 17, 2008.
                                                                      
My gratitude for your confidence in electing me and for your support is abiding and has grown over the past two years, first, in my capacity as Vice President and then as President. I remain a member of the Society and will continue supporting it and all of you in every way that I can. Let me begin by saying how glad I am that our Vice President, Simon Richter, is going to step in as the new President and by offering him every possible support

May I presume to offer a parting word of wisdom to those who are still young and still surveying available ways of building a career? The advice I would offer is this: Let your work speak for you, not your c.v. Serve the truth, not some ephemeral fashion. Let your genuine interests guide your research, not windows of opportunity. Be glad for journals and panels that practice a policy of anonymous submissions, and do make it your own practice to submit your work to such journals and panels. Network if you must, but don’t rely too much on networking

That’s it. Again, I cannot thank you enough for your confidence and support.

All good wishes,
Ellis Dye
  

June 16, 2008

Minutes of the Business Meeting
30 December 2007
MLA Convention, Chicago

President Ellis Dye opened the meeting.

Report from the President

Ellis Dye announced that Astrida Tantillo will be stepping down as Executive Secretary, but will continue as Editor of the Book Series. He was glad to announce that Patricia Simpson will assume the duties of the Executive Secretary and he welcomed her to the board.

The Society has changed its policy on awarding the annual essay prize and now meets at the GSA conference to determine the recipient. This allows the recipient time to make plans to attend the MLA and receive the prize in person.

The Society is in the process of changing its bylaws. Some changes were approved this year (including electronic balloting and the appointment of a representative in California for tax purposes), but more will be forthcoming in a future ballot.

Report from the Secretary-Treasurer

The Society’s finances are sound and its capital increased at a modest rate this year. Membership is at its highest level in at least 10 years, and our dues intake was notably higher this year thanks to the suggestion that tenured faculty pay dues at the senior member rate. The Society invested money in a socially responsible equities fund and a smaller portion in a conservative hedge fund this year. Returns on these long-term funds have been modest, at best, but since these are long-term investments, we will wait a while longer to evaluate whether or not to continue with these funds.

Presentation to Astrida Tantillo as outgoing Executive Secretary

Secretary-Treasurer John Lyon thanked Astrida on behalf of the Society for her exceptional service which included not only the professional manner in which she handled the traditional responsibilities of this position, but also for the extra initiatives she undertook, including the compilation of data for our 25th Anniversary (now available on the Web site) and for founding the GSNA book series with Bucknell University Press. On behalf of the Society, he presented Astrida with a small token of its appreciation.

Report from the Executive Secretary

Upcoming panels: Kamal Haque will arrange the GSNA panel at the ASECS conference. The topic will be “Authors and their Admirers.” Simon Richter will arrange the GSNA panel at the MLA conference. The topic will be “Faust at 200.” Stefani Engelstein will arrange the GSNA panel for the upcoming GSA conference. The topic will be announced in a call for papers by email.

GSNA Book Series: The series is receiving more and more proposals, and has accepted its first monograph.

Report from the Yearbook Editors

Volume 15 (Simon Richter’s final volume) will be sent out before the end of January, after which Daniel Purdy will take over as editor. Daniel thanked Simon for his generous help and mentoring in editing the Yearbook. He announced that he has received many submissions for Volume 16, but that it is not yet complete. Starting with Volume 15, online versions of the Yearbook will be available through Project Muse and ProQuest. We are hoping to make back issues available online in the future, although at present only Volumes 15 and higher will be available.

GSNA Conference in Pittsburgh

Simon Richter reported on the upcoming GSNA conference. It is scheduled for November 6-9, 2008, and will focus on the years 1805-1815. A call for papers will appear shortly. Simon thanked all who contributed to the online surveys, as these surveys helped determine the time and location of the conference. The conference will include a workshop for dissertating students, postdoctorates, and new assistant professors working on the Goethezeit. If the conference goes well, we hope to sponsor another one in a year or two.

Annual Essay Prize

Ellis Dye announced that Andrew Piper is the recipient this year’s essay prize, for his article “Rethinking the Print Object: Goethe and the Book of Everything” (PMLA 2006). Ellis read a letter praising Andrew’s contribution and congratulating him on the prize.

Speaker

Ellis Dye introduced the speaker, Professor Judith L. Ryan of Harvard University, who presented an engaging paper titled “‘Pfeile mit Widerhaken’: On the Aphorisms in Goethe’s Wahlverwandtschaften and Wanderjahre.”

After the presentation, President Ellis Dye adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

John Lyon
University of Pittsburgh
  

June 16, 2008

In an ongoing effort to increase the strength of the society, the GSNA is always looking for new members. We ask for your assistance in this endeavor. If you know of any scholars or other interested parties who are interested in the Age of Goethe, but are not yet members, would you please encourage them to join the society? We are particularly interested in recruiting younger scholars—current and recent graduate students—to ensure the society’s future for decades to come. Joining is simple. Thanks for your support in this endeavor.

John Lyon
University of Pittsburgh
  

June 16, 2008

The GSNA maintains a listserv, goethe-l@davidson.edu, to help facilitate the exchange of ideas among its members. To subscribe, or unsubscribe, members should send an email message to webmaster@goethesociety.org.