April Website Article
English Professors Patrick Erben and Rebecca Harrison Awarded Summer Teaching Fellowships in
Mainz, Germany
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This summer two esteemed members of UWG’s English department will get the opportunity to teach at
Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. Dr. Patrick Erben and Dr. Rebecca Harrison have
both been awarded summer fellowships by the Transnational American Studies Institute (known as the
Obama Institute) at Johannes Gutenberg University. This program offers a global perspective on topics
related to the Americas, with special focus on global cultural impact, transnationalism, and
interdisciplinary studies.
Over the course of the summer, Dr. Erben will serve as the University’s early American studies fellow. An
accomplished author and Executive Coordinator for the Society of Early Americanists, Dr. Erben is
excited for this opportunity to teach and collaborate at a global level. He states, “Teaching and
researching at the Transnational American Studies Institute at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz
this summer perfectly reflects my commitment to positioning the literature of German-language
immigration to early America in a global and multilingual context. Myself an immigrant from Germany
living and teaching in the U.S., I will involve German M.A. students in editing and publishing the
multilingual writings of Francis Daniel Pastorius, founder of the first German settlement in North
America. That's transnational scholarship and teaching in action!"
Dr. Harrison’s fellowship in Mainz will focus on Southern studies. An accomplished author and awardwinning scholar, as well as Director of both the English Education program and the English STEM to
STEAM Initiative, Dr. Harrison is passionate about bringing Southern literature to a global stage. She
states, “I'm excited to spend a semester working with an international student body on a broad variety of
critical threads related to the study of Southern women writers in a global, hemispheric, and
transnational perspective. Exploding the boundaries of Southern literature lies at the heart of my
scholarship and work with students; this fellowship will allow me to push further with that effort by
exploring global perspectives on the U.S. South."
During their fellowships, they will each teach a seminar, as well as do research, and give scholarly
lectures at Johannes Gutenberg University and other German Universities. Congratulations to them both
for this exciting opportunity!