{"id":10581,"date":"2015-05-08T07:43:37","date_gmt":"2015-05-08T12:43:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=10581"},"modified":"2024-07-02T16:07:33","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T16:07:33","slug":"woelk2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=10581","title":{"rendered":"Emma Woelk Ph.D. ’15: A collaborative degree in German studies"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Emma<\/a>
Emma Woelk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When she first arrived at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Emma Woelk aspired to work in research science, but added German Studies classes \u201cjust for fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was until a study abroad trip to Germany quickly reversed her interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in Berlin, I worked in a lab as part of my biology major, but I realized I was way more interested in the language, history and culture of Germany and exploring that than the actual lab work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Eight years after first roaming Germany and learning her passion for the country was more than just a hobby, Woelk will earn her Ph.D. in German Studies this weekend at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill\u2019s Doctoral Hooding Ceremony<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Woelk will join 250 other graduate students who receive their doctoral degrees at the ceremony May 8 at the Dean E. Smith Center at 9:30 a.m. Susan A. Murphy<\/a>, recipient of a 2013 MacArthur Foundation \u201cgenius\u201d grant for breakthroughs that may help clinicians more effectively assess and adapt treatment of chronic and relapsing diseases, will serve as the ceremony\u2019s keynote speaker.<\/p>\n

But unlike the rest of the doctoral graduates, Woelk will be receiving a degree from more than Carolina, as she becomes the first graduate of the Carolina-Duke Graduate Program in German Studies<\/a>, a collaborative program between the two universities. Launched in 2009, it combines faculty and library resources of the two universities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one graduate program that\u2019s situated at two different universities,\u201d said Eric S. Downing, director of graduate studies with the\u00a0 Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences<\/a>. \u201cWith the combined faculty we are one the largest, if not the, largest German studies program in North America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arriving in North Carolina as part of the program\u2019s second cohort in 2010, Woelk specializes in the German language, culture and Yiddish in postwar writing \u2014 an interest she developed during her several trips to the German capital.<\/p>\n

Woelk first experienced Berlin while working in a biology lab as a junior at Vassar, but after graduating in 2008, she returned to Germany where she spent a year studying disability policy in East Germany.<\/p>\n

It was her yearlong trip that solidified her decision to enter academia to study the country\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really young and vibrant city, but it\u2019s also a city whose history is very visible,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s had a very tumultuous history in the 20th Century. \u2026 It\u2019s very conscious of its history and I think it\u2019s fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n

After returning to the United States, Woelk spent the next year as a teacher at an English\u2010Spanish preschool before she turned her focus back to her own education and began her doctoral work in German Studies at Carolina and Duke.<\/p>\n

Studying at both schools, Woelk was able to work with a variety of faculty members and experience teaching at a private and public university. During the school year, she taught classes at Carolina, and during the summer organized and led Duke\u2019s study abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth UNC and Duke have established German programs, so you had the benefit of two programs \u2014 you had all the professors, all the resources, all the opportunities to teach in the summer, all the opportunities to get research funding and work with people in other fields,\u201d she said. \u201cUNC has some of the best German history in the country and I knew I\u2019d have access to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

While in the program, Woelk focused on the Yiddish language and it\u2019s use in Cold War-era literature.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmma is an extraordinary student both as a person and a scholar,\u201d Downing said. \u201cShe has an incredibly lively intellect and warm personality who is just a marvel to have around. She\u2019s contributed so much to our intellectual community.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating, Woelk will return to her hometown of Austin, Texas, where she will teach language and culture as the only German professor at Saint Edward\u2019s University.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels really good,\u201d Woelk said. \u201cI\u2019ve been a student for a long time and have loved being a student. I\u2019m excited to get to stay at a university now that I\u2019m done.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Brandon Bieltz, Office of Communications and Public Affairs<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When she first arrived at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Emma Woelk aspired to work in research science, but added German Studies classes \u201cjust for fun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10582,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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