Department of World Languages

Education

• Ph.D. German Language and Literature, University of Oregon
• Fulbright, Universität Bielefeld, Germany
• M.A. German Language and Literature, Portland State University
• B.A. English/Secondary Education, Boise State University

Biography

Professor Damiano received a Ph.D. in German at the University of Oregon in 1998 and has been teaching at EMU since 2001. While at EMU she was chosen by faculty and students to receive the Ronald Collins Distinguished Faculty Teacher Award I in 2005, is the author of two books on German author Walter Kempowski. On her sabbatical in 2009/2010, she conducted research in Berlin for a co-edited book project on German author Walter Kempowski with Prof. Sascha Feuchert, Justus Liebig University, Gießen, Germany, and Dr. Andreas Grünes, Universität Koblenz-Landau, Mainz, Germany. The book, Walter Kempowski: Leben-Werk-Wirkung, is forthcoming in 2017. She has been the EMU campus Fulbright adviser for both students and faculty since 2006. Her research interests include post-1945 German literature, Walter Kempowski's life works, memory studies and the teaching of the Holocaust, and international Jewish women's writing.

• Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Foreign Languages, Georgetown College, Georgetown, Kentucky, 1998-1999.
• Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Foreign Languages, Lycoming College, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 1999-2001.
• Associate Professor of German, Department of World Languages, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, 2006-2011 (Tenure and Promotion 2006).
• Professor of German, Department of World Languages, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI (Promotion to Full Professor 2011)

Publications

• Book Article. Damiano, Carla. The Embodied Archive in the NON-STOP Readings from Walter Kempowski’s Das Echolot: Performance as Catharsis? In: Aleksandra Bednarowska, Beata Kolodziejczyk Mróz (eds).  Über das Schweigen. Das Verschwiegene – das Ungesagte – das Unsagbare. Weidler Verlag, Berlin 2017.
• Book, co-edited: Damiano, Carla, Sascha Feuchert, Andreas Grünes, Eds. Kempowski-Handbuch. Berlin: De Gruyter,Forthcoming 2017.
• Book Chapter. Damiano, Carla. Montage/Collage. In:Damiano, Carla, Sascha Feuchert, Andreas Grünes, Eds. Walter Kempowsk: Leben-Werk-Wirkung. Berlin: De Gruyter,Forthcoming 2017.
• Book Chapter. Damiano, Carla. Haben Sie Hitler gesehen? In:Damiano, Carla, Sascha Feuchert, Andreas Grünes, Eds. Walter Kempowsk: Leben-Werk-Wirkung. Berlin: De Gruyter,Forthcoming 2017.
• Book Chapter. Damiano, Carla. Moin Vaddr läbt. In:Damiano, Carla, Sascha Feuchert, Andreas Grünes, Eds. Walter Kempowsk: Leben-Werk-Wirkung. Berlin: De Gruyter,Forthcoming 2017.
• Book Chapter. Damiano, Carla. Stalingrad. In:Damiano, Carla, Sascha Feuchert, Andreas Grünes, Eds. Walter Kempowsk: Leben-Werk-Wirkung. Berlin: De Gruyter,Forthcoming 2017.
• Book Chapter. Damiano, Carla. Der Krieg geht zu Ende. In:Damiano, Carla, Sascha Feuchert, Andreas Grünes, Eds. Walter Kempowsk: Leben-Werk-Wirkung. Berlin: De Gruyter,Forthcoming 2017.
• Book Chapter. Damiano, Carla. Alles umsonst. In:Damiano, Carla, Sascha Feuchert, Andreas Grünes, Eds. Walter Kempowsk: Leben-Werk-Wirkung. Berlin: De Gruyter,Forthcoming 2017.
• Book Chapter. Damiano, Carla. Plankton. In:Damiano, Carla, Sascha Feuchert, Andreas Grünes, Eds. Walter Kempowsk: Leben-Werk-Wirkung. Berlin: De Gruyter,Forthcoming 2017
• Book Article. Damiano, Carla. The Embodied Archive in the NON-STOP Readings from Walter Kempowski’s Das Echolot: Performance as Catharsis? [to be included in a publication of the conference proceedings from the conference: „Über das Schweigen“ – Das Verschwiegene – das Ungesagte – das Unsagbare. I presented the paper entitled: A Particularly German Act of Holocaust Remembrance: Defying the Silence – The Public Readings from Walter Kempowski’s Echolot Works. Pädagogical University, Krakow, Poland, 27-29 September 2013.
• Journal Article: Tagebuch performativ – oder: Nicht immer schweigen die Toten. Die öffentlichen Lesungen aus Walter Kempowskis Echolot. In:  Böttcher, Philip, Kai Sina. edition text + kritik, 2014, pp. 240-254.
• Journal Article: Uwe Johnson und Walter Kempowski gehen in eine Bar . . . : Oder: How Walter Kempowski Found his Groove. In: Johnson-Jahrbuch, 20 / 2013, pp. 129-143.
• Book Article. Damiano, Carla. Die Aufführung der Vaterfigur in Walter Kempowskis Hörspiel “Moin Vaddr läbt.” In: Bürgerliche Repräsentanz – Erinnerungskultur – Gegenwartsbewältigung. Ed. Lutz Hagestedt. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter, 2010.
• Online Review Article.  Sascha Feuchert, Erwin Leibfried, and Jörg Riecke, Eds. Die Chronik des Gettos Lodz/Litzmannstadt, Göttingen: Wallstein, 2007, 5 vols. In: http://www.michiganwarstudiesreview.com/2008/20080901.asp
• Book. Damiano, Carla. Walter Kempowski’s Das Echolot: Sifting and Exposing the Evidence via Montage. Heidelberg: Winter, 2005.
• Book. Damiano, Carla, Jörg Drews, Doris Plöschberger, Editors. “'Was das nun wieder soll?' – Vom Block bis Letzte Grüße: Zu Leben und Werk Walter Kempowskis. Göttingen: Wallstein, 2005.
• Book Article. Damiano, Carla. Walter Kempowski: Lehrer und Schriftsteller – Das Montage/Collage-Prinzip als Baustein des Unterrichts und des Schreibens. In: Damiano, Carla, Jörg Drews, Doris Plöschberger, Eds. “'Was das nun wieder soll?'  – Vom Block bis Letzte Grüße: Zu Leben und Werk Walter Kempowskis. Göttingen: Wallstein, 2005: 171-187.
• Book Article. Damiano, Carla. Walter Kempowski’s 'Echolot': Questions Of Reception and the Genesis and Nature of Montage. In: Kyora, Dunker, Sangmeister, Eds. Literatur ohne Kompromisse: Ein Buch für Jörg Drews. Bielefeld, Aisthesis, 2004: 421-434. 

Courses

International Jewish Women's Writing. Interdisciplinary course (Women's and Gender Studies, World Languages, Jewish Studies, English) co-created and co-taught with Elisabeth Däumer.

Professional

Conference Presentations/Moderator

• 20th Annual American Literature Association’s Jewish American and Holocaust Literature Symposium. I presented the paper entitled: Walter Kempowski’s “Did you ever see Hitler”: A Book, a Radio Play, and German Memory in the early Postwar Decades”. Miami, FL, 9-11 November, 2014.
• „Über das Schweigen“ – Das Verschwiegene – das Ungesagte – das Unsagbare. I presented the paper entitled: A Particularly German Act of Holocaust Remembrance: Defying the Silence – The Public Readings from Walter Kempowski’s Echolot Works. Pädagogical University, Krakow, Poland, 27-29 September 2013.
• Weil Jedes Menschen Erfahrung löcherig ist: Uwe Johnson und Walter Kempowski im Dialog. Conference on German post-WWII authors Uwe Johnson and Walter Kempowski. I presented the paper entitled: Uwe Johnson und Walter Kempowski gehen in eine Bar . . . . University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany, May 11-13, 2012.
• Walter Kempowski – Theodor Fontane: Begegnungen. A Joint Conference of the Walter Kempowski and the Theodor Fontane Societies. Neuruppin, Germany. Title: Kempowski und Fontane: Mass Culture Through Technology – Toward an Understanding of the “Culture of Mass Memory.” May 12-15, 2011.
• Memory, Mediation, Remediation. Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Session co- organizer and presenter. Session Title: Performing Trauma in the Creation of Cultural Memory. Presentation Title: Performing the Archive and German Cultural Memory: Walter Kempowski’s Das Echolot. April 28-30, 2011.
• Archiv Werden: Walter Kempowskis Arbeitswelten. Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. Title: Das Echolot auf der Bühne. April 16, 2010.
• Internationales Walter-Kempowski-Symposium 2009, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany. Title:  Die Aufführung der Vaterfigur in Walter Kempowskis Hörspiel ‘Moin Vaddr läbt.’ April 30-May 2, 2009.
• ACTFL Conference 2008, Orlando, FL.Session Organizer:Teaching the Holocaust through Eyewitnesses in Literature: Kempowski and Feuchert. November 20-23, 2008.
• GSA Conference 2008, St. Paul, MN. Invited to participate in round-table discussion panel. Session title: Are Language Studies also German Studies? October 2-4, 2008.
• CSC Conference 2008, Dearborn, MI. [Central States Conference] Session co-organizer and presenter. Session and panel title: Literary Remembering: Trauma and Memory in Mexico and Germany. March 8, 2008.
• NECTFL Conference 2007, New York, NY. Session co-chair: The Nazi Era: Eyewitness Testimonies in German Instruction. Presentation title: Discovering the Past Through Eyewitness Testimony: Lessons for the German Classroom through the Example of Walter Kempowski. April 13, 2007.

Grants, Honors And Awards

• $1,000 Jewish Studies Travel Award to present at conference: Walter Kempowski’s “Did you ever see Hitler”: A Book, a Radio Play, and German Memory in the early Postwar Decades”. Miami, FL, 9-11 November, 2014.
• $450 DoWL Faculty Travel Award to present at conference: Walter Kempowski’s “Did you ever see Hitler”: A Book, a Radio Play, and German Memory in the early Postwar Decades”. Miami, FL, 9-11 November, 2014.
• $650 CAS Faculty Travel Award / $1,000 Jewish Studies Travel Award / $450 DoWL Faculty Travel Award to present at conference: Über das Schweigen“ – Das Verschwiegene – das Ungesagte – das Unsagbare. Title: A Particularly German Act of Holocaust Remembrance: Defying the Silence – The Public Readings from Walter Kempowski’s Echolot Works. Pädagogical University, Krakow, Poland,
• 27-29 September 2013.
• Promotion to Full Professor. Department of World Languages, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI. June 2011.
• $5,000 Women in Philanthropy Grant. Co-recipient to fund the EMU Representing the Holocaust study abroad trip in May 2011.
• $6,550 2011 International Education Stimulus Grant. Co-recipient to fund Justus Liebig University colleagues to accompany EMU students and faculty participating in the Representing the Holocaust study abroad trip in May 2011.
• $5,000 Women in Philanthropy at EMU. Co-recipient for scholarship funding for the Representing the Holocaust study abroad trip in May 2011. November 15, 2010.
• $425 Dean’s Travel Grant for conference presentation at: Memory, Mediation, Remediation at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. April 28-30, 2011.
• $6,704 2010 International Education Stimulus Grant.Co-recipient to fund Representing the Holocaust, See: http://ep.emich.edu/abroad/holocaust.aspx
• Sabbatical Leave for the academic year 2009-2010.
• $900 Honorarium from the Universität Rostock for paper presentation at the International Walter-Kempowski Symposium 2009, Rostock, Germany.May 2009.
• $500 travel grant from the Institute for Holocaust Literature,Justus Liebig University,
• Gießen, Germany, July, 2008.
• Founding Member, Kempowski-Gesellschaft , Gießen, Germany, June 2007.
• Ronald W. Collins Distinguished Faculty Teaching I Award, 2004 recipient. March 2005.
• AATG (national) Representative and Co-Chair of the session C1-Landeskundliches Lernen und interkulturelle Kommunikation for the International German Teachers’ Association (IDT Graz 2005) Conference. Graz, Austria. August 1-6, 2005.
• AATG American Delegate to participate in the 2003 IDV-DACH International German Teachers’ Seminar. Vienna, Linz, Münich, Freiburg. July 8-24, 2003.

Professional Development Activities, Special Training and Service

• Vice President of the Advisory Board, Kempowski-Gesellschaft. Gießen, Germany. June 2011 - present.
• OPI Certified Full Tester
• Idaho Secondary Teacher Certification. Renewed 2011 (certified since 1986 - valid through 9/1/2016). Certified in English, German, Italian.
• Representing the Holocaust study abroad trip to Germany, the Czech Republic, and Poland. Co-created and co-led this two-week student trip from May 16-29, 2011.
• 2011 Jack and Anita Hess Faculty Seminar on Teaching about the Holocaust through Eyewitness Testimony: Using Interviews and Memoirs in the Classroom. I was accepted to participate in this prestigious seminar. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Washington D.C., January 2-7, 2011.
• AATG Nominating Committee Chair. Duties involved leading the nominating committee members in identifying qualified candidates to run for open positions on AATG's Executive Council. 2011.
• Seminarreihe 2010: Bildungsarbeit mit Zeugnissen von Opfern des Nationalsozialismus, participant. Berlin, Germany, April 23-24, 2010.
• AATG / U.S. A. Delegate at the IDV-DACH 2003 (International German Teacher's Seminar), Austria & Germany. July 8-24, 2003.

Membership in Professional Organizations

• American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
• American Association of Teachers of German (AATG)
• Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association (RMMLA)
• Michigan Association of Teachers of German MI-AATG)
• Michigan World Languages Association (MIWLA).
• Walter Kempowski-Gesellschaft
• Fulbright Alumni Association