Roxanne is originally from Opelika, Alabama, and completed her BA in History at the University of South Alabama in 2008. After living and working in Germany (Munich and Hamburg) for 10 years she decided to return home in 2022. Her goal in pursuing an MA in German Studies at the University of Alabama is to preserve and deepen the bond she has formed with the language and culture she has grown to love.  She is currently in her first year of the German MA program and serves as a GTA. Her academic interests include second language acquisition and modern German history. She is interested in the role history plays in affecting culture, especially as it relates to a divided Germany. In her free time, you can find her reading, traveling, soaking up the sun, playing squash, or singing the praises of her all-time favorite city Hamburg.

I began my academic career in the early 1960s, at Dartmouth, Harvard, FU Berlin, and London University. I was an assistant professor (French) at SUNY Buffalo for three years. My passions were poetry, 20^th century fiction, and, most recently, literature of the middle ages. I then went to California and, for over 20 years, worked in various programs for migrant workers, honing my Spanish and raising a family. A bay area Latino poet, Luis Garcia, turned me on to Latin American poetry, and this became another passion for me. In 1989 I moved to Taiwan. I lived there for 25 years teaching English and French, and discovering Chinese literature, especially classical poetry, and fiction of the early 20^th century. I retired and returned to the US in 2013, now able to devote all my energies to my literary interests, mostly poetry and the middle ages.  This year, I decided to formalize my studies, and I entered the MA program in German at the University of Alabama.

Tobias grew up in Melsungen, Germany, and graduated from the University of Kassel in 2022 with a Bachelor of Education in Economics, Business Education, and English. Currently, Tobias is pursuing a German M.A. at the University of Alabama as a scholar of the Verband der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Clubs, and a master’s at the University of Kassel. With his teaching background in vocational schools, Tobias teaches UA students learning German as a second language. He also served as the German House director in the fall of 2022 and the spring of 2023 where he supported cultural exchange and communication for undergraduate students interested in German. Tobias’ research interest is focused on Business German and Languages for Specific Purposes. Outside of school, Tobias enjoys going to the gym, playing pickleball, watching sports events, and reading non-fiction books on all kinds of subjects.