Sections
Medieval Studies
Jun. Prof. Dr. Irina Dumitrescu
In teaching and research the Medieval Studies section focuses on various aspects of language, literature and culture in England and in Britain during the Middle Ages. Our classes provide students with the necessary skills and background knowledge to read and translate Old and Middle English texts, to understand the role of the Middle Ages in early modern and modern literatures, cultures and languages, and to develop their own research interests in the medieval period.
Modern Anglophone Literatures and Cultures
Prof. Dr. Uwe Baumann, Prof. Dr. Marion Gymnich, Prof. Dr. Barbara Schmidt-Haberkamp
It is our goal to provide our students with a broad knowledge of modern anglophone literatures and cultures, giving them the opportunity to explore their research interests in the various fields that our section covers. In research and teaching we focus on areas as diverse as English literature from the 16th century to the present, film and television studies, as well as postcolonial studies – always in accord with current issues in the study of English literatures and cultures.
North American Studies
The North American Studies Program is dedicated to the innovative transdisciplinary study of the United States and Canada from their colonial beginnings to the era of postmodernist cultural practices. Putting a strong focus on theory and methods of North American Studies, we cooperate with a range of disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, law, and the sciences, and work with transdisciplinary, transatlantic, comparative and intercultural perspectives.
English Linguistics
Vertr.-Prof. Dr. Alexander Kautzsch
We analyse how the system of present-day English puts meaning into wording and wording into sounding and writing, i.e. language that goes into our ears or eyes. Based on empirical data we seek to find out what is possible, what is frequent and why a specific wording is used, e.g. I like that vs. That I like.
Applied English Linguistics
At BAEL, we focus on language use in social contexts and the underlying cognitive processes involved. We work with naturally occurring text and talk as well as with experimental data. Furthermore, we believe that students must be involved in this work and empowered to do research right from the start.
Celtic Studies
The section for Celtic Studies (Abteilung für Keltologie) offers the opportunity to study all of the living Celtic languages.Furthermore it is possible to acquire a knowledge of the extinct continental Celtic languages as well as of the medieval variants of Irish and Welsh. Besides, the various cultural and historical aspects of the Celtic speaking areas belong to the content of teaching of Celtic Studies in Bonn.
Teaching of English as a Foreign Language