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Modern Languages & Literatures

Randall P. Donaldson, Ph.D.

Associate Professor Emeritus
Randy Donaldson

Associate Professor Emeritus of German

Education

  • The Johns Hopkins University, M.A., Ph.D (German)
  • Pomona College, B.A. (German Language)

Courses Taught

  • GR 102: Introductory German 2
  • GR 103: Intermediate German 1
  • GR 104: Intermediate German 2
  • GR 301: German Culture and Civilization 1
  • GR 315: German and the Nobel Prize in Literature
  • GR 352: The Giants of German Literature
  • LS 689: American Film Classics
  • LS 713: The Many Faces of Immigration
  • LS 742: Film Noir and Post-War America

Publications

Monographs and Chapters in Edited Volumes

  • Donaldson, Randall. “Foreword,” rpt. Dieter Cunz, The Maryland Germans [Princeton UP, 1948] (Rockland, ME: Picton Press, 2015), iii–xviii.
  • “Introduction,” Changing Language Education through CALL, R.P. Donaldson & M.A. Haggstrom, editors (New York: Routledge, 2006), vii–xii [with M.A. Haggstrom].
  • The Literary Legacy of a ‘Poor Devil’: The Life and Work of Robert Reitzel (1849–1898). New York, Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2002, 244 pp.
  • Chapter on the “USA” in Bibliographie zur deutschen Sprache und deutschsprachigen Literatur im Nord- und Lateinamerika (1945 ff.), Hildesheim: Olms, 1990, 47–130.

Monographs as Editor

  • The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 47, (2017), x, 146 pp.
  • The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 46, (2011), x, 141 pp.
  • Developed and brought online http://www.shgm.org, the website of the with the help of Charles Lockwood and a number of others at the Loyola/Notre Dame Library. The website makes available the complete run of the Report: A Journal of German-American History, the journal of the Society, in a form which allows word-level searches.
  • “From the Potomac to the Patapsco: Ingeborg in Baltimore,” a small volume to accompany a poetry reading in German and English by Ingeborg Carsten-Miller on 15 March 2007.
  • Changing Language Education through CALL. New York: Routledge, 2006. xii, 285 pp. [with M.A. Haggstrom]
  • The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 45, (2004), xii, 120 pp.
  • The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 44 (2000), 124 pp.
  • The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 43 (1996), 104 pp.
  • The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 42 (1993), 92 pp.
  • The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 41 (1990), 67 pp.

Articles

  • “Baltimore’s Enduring German Connection: Zion Church and the Johns Hopkins University,” The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 47 (June 2017), 35–41.
  • "William A. Potthast." In Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 3, edited by Giles R. Hoyt. German Historical Institute.
  • “Contemporary Liberal Education: Slowing Down to Discern,” On The Horizon (2014), 22, 1 [Liberal Education in Crisis? Functions, forms, and foils], 7–9 [with V.R. Delclos].
  • “Genealogy versus History: Generating Synergy,” Yearbook of German- American Studies 45 (2010), 177–192.
  • “The First American Doctorate in German,” The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 45 (September 2004), 41–43.
  • “Using CALL to Address Changes in Student Learning Styles,” C.A.L.L.—The Challenge of Change: Research & Practice (Exeter: Elm Bank Publishing, 2001), 31–40), Ed. K. Cameron [with M.A Haggstrom].
  • “The Joseph Horner Library of the German Society of Pennsylvania,” The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 44, (February 2000), 1–4.
  • “Empowering Student Learning in Cyberspace,” Selected Papers from CALL: The Learning Community (Exeter: Elm Bank Publishing, 1999), 137–142.
  • “Language learning in a MOO: creating a transoceanic bilingual virtual community,” Literary and Linguistic Computing, 14, 1 (April 1999), 67–76 [with M. Kötter].
  • “Language learning in Cyberspace: Teleporting the Classroom into the Target Culture,” CALICO Journal, 16, 4 (June 1999), 531–557 [with M. Kötter].
  • "Robert Reitzel (1849–1898) Lutheran Minister, Freethinker, and Liberal Firebrand,” The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 43 (1996), 57–65.
  • “Reading is Creative, Too! A Discussion of Two HyperCard Stacks which can Facilitate Second-Language Reading Comprehension,” Computer Assisted Language Learning, 7: 3 (November 1994), 195–208 [with M.A. Haggstrom and L.Z. Morgan].
  • “Making the Most of Scarce Resources: A Small College Language Department’s Experience with HyperCard,” CALICO Journal, 11: 4 (Summer 1994), 41–59 [with L.Z. Morgan].
  • “German-American Social Organizations in Baltimore, Part I,” The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 42 (1993), 23–29.
  • “The Role of German‑American Social Groups in the Assimilation of German Immigrants,” The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 41 (1990), 33–41.
  • “Robert Reitzel (1849–1898) and his German‑American Journal, Der Arme Teufel,” Occasional Papers of the Society for German‑American Studies, No. 8 (1980), 1–19.

Reviews

  • Review of Eric Rentschler. The Use and Abuse of Cinema: German Legacies from the Weimar Era to the Present (New York: Columbia University Press, 2015) in Yearbook for German-American Studies, 52 (2017), 274–276.
  • Review of Larissa Schütze. William Dieterle und die deutschsprachige Emigration in Hollywood: Antifaschistische Filmarbeit bei Warner Bros. Pictures, 1930–1940 (Stuttgart: Fritz Steiner Verlag, 2015) in Yearbook for German-American Studies, 52 (2017), 276–277.
  • Review of Lisa Beichl. Reported Killed in Action: An unexpected soldier, a remarkable life (Athens, GA: Deeds Publishing, 2015) in The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 47 (June 2017), 138–139.
  • Review of Jan Stievermann & Oliver Scheiding, eds. A Peculiar Mixture: German-Language Cultures and Identities in Eighteenth-Century North American (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State UP, 2013) in Journal of American Ethnic History, 35, 4 (summer 2016), 115–117.
  • Review of H. Glenn Penny. KINDRED BY CHOICE: Germans and American Indians since 1800 (Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2013) in Yearbook for German-American Studies, 48, 215–216.
  • Review of Jochen Krebber. Württemberger in Nordamerika: Migration von der Schwäbischen Alb im 19. Jahrhundert (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2014) in German Quarterly, 88:4 (Fall 2015), 584–585.
  • Review of June Hall McCash, A Titanic Love Story: Ida and Isidor Straus (Mercer University Press, 2012) in Yearbook for German-American Studies, 47 (2014), 161–162
  • Review of Annette R. Hofmann, The American Turner Movement: A History from its Beginning to 2000 (Indianapolis: Max Kade, 2010) in Yearbook for German-American Studies, 47 (2014), 178–179.
  • Review of Jim Merkel, Beer, Brats, and Baseball: St. Louis Germans (St. Louis, MO: Reedy Press, 2012) in Yearbook for German-American Studies, 47 (2014), 245.
  • Review of Don Heinrich Tolzmann, German-Americana: Selected Essays (Little Miami Publishing Company: Milford, OH, 2000) in The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 46 (June 2011), 106–107.
  • Rev. Richard G. Anderson, The Charles Town, West Virginia, Confectioner: John Frederick Blessing,His Family, and His Descendants (Brownsburg, VA: McClain Printing, 2008) in The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 46 (June 2011), 107.
  • Rev. Susan L. Mizruchi, The Rise of Multicultural America: Economy and Print Culture 1865–1915 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 2008), Yearbook for German-American Studies, 43 (2009), 194–195.
  • Review of Robert W. Frizzell, Independent Immigrants: A Settlement of Hanoverian Germans in Western Missouri (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri, 2007), Yearbook for German-American Studies, 42, 148–149.
  • Review of Robert L. Koenig, One Man’s Mission to Wage the Great War in America (New York: PublicAffairs, 2006), Yearbook for German-American Studies, 42, 167–168.
  • Review of Gary Carl Grassl, The Search for the First English Settlement in America: America’s First Science Center (Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2006), Yearbook for German-American Studies, 41, 198–199.
  • Review of Krista O’Donnell, Renate Bridenthal, Nancy Reagin, eds., The Heimat Abroad: The Boundaries of Germanness (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2005), Yearbook for German-American Studies, 41, 179–180.
  • Review of Charles R. Mack and Henry H. Lesesne, Francis Lieber and the Culture of the Mind (Charleston, SC.: The University of South Carolina Press, 2005), Yearbook for German-American Studies, 40 (2005), 178–179.
  • Review of Werner Mohr, Albert Bloch: Caricaturist, Social Critic, and Translator of Karl Kraus (Riverside, CA: Ariadne Press, 2003), Yearbook for German-American Studies, 40 (2005), 198–199.
  • Review of Annemarie Reuter Schomaker, Out of the Ashes: Berlin 1930 to 1950 (n.p.: 1st Books Library, 2003), Yearbook for German-American Studies, 39 (2004), 164–165.
  • Review of William D. Keel et al., eds., Unsere Leute: The Volga Germans of West Central Kansas—Aspects of Their History, Politics, Culture and Language (Lawrence, KS: Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies, the University of Kansas and the Volga German Society, 2004), Yearbook for German-American Studies, 39 (2004), 165–166.
  • Review of Peter C. Merrill, German-American Urban Culture: Writers & Theaters in Early Milwaukee (Madison, WI: Max Kade Institute for German-American Study, 2000), Yearbook of German-American Studies, 38 (2003), 345–346.
  • Review of Carlotta R. Anderson, All-American Anarchist: Joseph A. Labadie and the Labor Movement (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1998), The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 44, (February 2000), 119–120.
  • Review of Antonius Holtmann, ed., Ferner thue ich euch zu wissen…: Die Briefe des Johann Heinrich zur Oeveste aus Amerika 1834–1876 (Bremen: Edition Temmen, 1995), The Report: A Journal of German-American History, 44, (February 2000), 120–121.

Areas of Specialization

  • German-American history, culture, and literature
  • German literature of the nineteenth century
  • Twentieth-century German poetry
  • Early eighteenth-century literary culture and criticism in Germany
  • Computer-aided language learning (CALL)

Presentations

  • “German Seed in Texas (and other) Soil: Weighing Location and Culture,” in honor of William D. Keel, Professor of German at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, 30 April 2016 at the 40th Annual Symposium, Society for German-American Studies, San Antonio, TX.
  •  “The German Society of Maryland and the Rise of Baltimore,” 39th Annual Symposium, Society for German-American Studies, St. Louis, MO, 10–12 April 2015.
  • "The German Societies of Pennsylvania and Maryland: Two Perspectives on German-Language Immigrants to North America," German Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in commemoration of its 250th anniversary, 19 February 2014.
  • "Baltimore, Bibles, and William Kurrelmeyer," Lecture and Panel at the inaugural symposium of the Eric Gritsch Memorial Foundation at Zion Lutheran Church on City Hall Square, Baltimore, 8 March 2014.
  • “Another Chapter in German-American Entrepreneurship: Potthast Bros. Furniture,” 38th Annual Symposium, Society for German-American Studies, 12 April 2014, Milwaukee, WS.
  • "ΦΣΙ in Convention: Tradition; Knowledge; and Discernment," Keynote Speaker for national meeting of Phi Sigma Iota,  Allegheny College, 29 March 2014.
  • “The Potthast Bros. Furniture: A Maryland Tradition and a German-American Success Story,” 35th Annual Symposium of the Society for German-American Studies, 15 April 2011, University of Delaware, Newark, DE.
  • “German Immigration into the Free State: German-American Communities in Maryland,” Annual Dinner Meeting of the Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland, 14 September 2010.
  • “Bremerhaven to Baltimore: the story of one immigrant’s journey,” 32nd Annual Symposium, Society for German-American Studies, Williamsburg, VA, 18 April 2008
  • “Setting Sail for the New World,” 31st Annual Symposium, Society for German-American Studies, Lawrence KS, 28 April 2007.
  • “Digital Access to the Past,” 30th Annual Symposium, Society for German-American Studies (co-hosted by the Pennsylvania German Society), Lancaster, PA, 6 May 2006.
  • “The History of German-American Lutherans and their Worship,” invited lecture before the Lutheran Historical Society of the Mid Atlantic for its meeting at Zion Lutheran Church on 16 April 2005.

Service Activities, Memberships in Academic Societies

Service: College Activities (Representative Assignments)

  • Phi Sigma Iota, national foreign language honor society (FSI); Gamma Iota Chapter (Loyola): Advisor, 2000–2008; National Secretary, 2007–2010; President-elect, 2010–present
  • American Association of University Professors (AAUP), Loyola College Chapter: Treasurer, 1975–1977; President, 1977–1979

Memberships in Academic Societies

  • American Goethe Society, Maryland Chapter, Vice‑President, 1973–1977; President, 1977–1979
  • Modern Language Association (MLA)
  • South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA)
  • American Association of Teachers of German (AATG)
  • Society for German‑American Studies (SGAS). First Vice-President, 2007–2009; Vice-President and President-Elect, 2009–2011; President, 2011–present
  • Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland (SHGM), Executive Board, 1986–present; Treasurer, 1987–present
  • German Society of Maryland

Other Professional Activities, Awards & Conferences

  • 37th Annual Symposium, Society for German-American Studies, New Orleans, LA, 9–12 May 2013 (presided over the meeting as president).
  • 36th Annual Symposium, Society for German-American Studies, Lawrence, KS, 12–15 April 2012 (presided over the meeting as president).
  • 35th Annual Symposium, Society for German-American Studies, Newark, DE, 14–16 April 2011 (planned and coordinated the 2011 meeting).
  • Lord Baltimore Fellow, Maryland Historical Society, June 2010–July 2011.
  • Research Grant, under the auspices of the German Historical Institute, Washington, DC, for work at the German Society of Pennsylvania, June–July 2010.
  • 27th Annual Symposium, Society for German-American Studies, Loyola College, 24–27 April 2003 (planned and coordinated the 2003 meeting at Loyola).
  • Participated in seminar on “Literatur nach der Wende” sponsored by AATG, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, 10–23 June 1994.
  • "Two HyperCard Applications for the Foreign Language Classroom,” workshop presented on a graphic imaging stack for teaching German culture at the Loyola College Technology Fair, 23 September 1992.
  • Participated in seminar on “East German Short Fiction” sponsored by AATG, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, 15–29 June 1991.
  • Participated in Institute on “Deutsche Literatur in beiden deutschen Staaten,” Europäische Akademie, Berlin, Germany, 16–21 July 1989.