Lorie A. Vanchena, Ph.D.
Humanities - German Studies, Germanic Languages/LiteraturesAssociate Professor
vanchena@ku.edu
Primary office:
785.864.9174
Wescoe Hall, 2078
University of Kansas
1445 Jayhawk Boulevard
Second office:
Max Kade Center for German-American Studies
Teaching
Dr. Vanchena teaches courses on the German-American experience, German-language literature, and contemporary German-speaking Europe. She regularly teaches courses for the online BGS Degree-Completion Program.
Teaching Interests
- German-language literature, German-American experience, contemporary German-speaking Europe, online courses
Research
Dr. Vanchena's current research focuses on German immigrant culture in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She is creating a digital scholarly archive of poems written by German Americans during the First World War and uses this poetry to explore how German immigrants and their descendants defined their national identity during the war. She is also engaged with local German American history such as the Lawrence Turnverein.
Research Interests
- World War I
- Immigrants
- Poetry
- 19th-century German culture in America
- Cultural transfer
- Cultural identity
- Immigrant identity
- Reinhold Solger
- 19th-century
- Political literature
- Nationalism: national identity
Service
Dr. Vanchena directs the Max Kade Center for German-American Studies and currently serves as Director of Undergraduate Studies and Associate Chair.
Selected Publications
Vanchena, Lorie A. “Reading German Culture, 1789-1918: Distant Readings/Descriptive Turns: Topologies of German Culture in the Long Nineteenth Century, Washington University in St. Louis 21st St. Louis Symposium on German Literature & Culture,.” Web Publishing (article, blog, etc.). JLT - Journal of Literary Theory. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter, July 28, 2012. http://www.JLTonline.de.
Vanchena, Lorie A. “Transatlantische Interpretationen Des Amerikaerlebens: Reinhold Solger’s Anton in Amerika.” Book Chapters. In Amerika Im Europäischen Roman Um 1850. Varianten Transatlantischer Erfahrung, edited by Alexander Ritter, 237–50. Vienna: Praesens Verlag, 2011.
Solger, Reinhold. Anton in America: A Novel from German-American Life. Books. Edited by Werner Sollors. Vol. 3 of New Directions in German-American Studies. Vol. 3. New York: Peter Lang, 2006.
Vanchena, Lorie A. “From Domestic Farce to Abolitionist Satire: Reinhold Solger’s Reframing of the Union (1860).” Book Chapters. In German Culture in Nineteenth-Century America: Reception, Adaptation, Transformation, edited by Lynne Tatlock and Matt Erlin, 289–316. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2005.
Vanchena, Lorie A. Political Poetry in Periodicals and the Shaping of German National Consciousness in the Nineteenth Century. Books. Edited by Jeffrey L. Sammons. Vol. 26. New York: Peter Lang, 2000.
Selected Presentations
Vanchena, L., & Crist, A. (11/20/2017). The WWI Immigrant Poetry Digital Humanities Project. Hall Center Digital Humanities Seminar. Lawrence, KS
Vanchena, L. A. (9/30/2011). A Transnational Perspective: Germans Fighting for the Union and German National Identity. German Studies Association Annual Conference. Louisville, KY
Vanchena, L. A. (4/30/2011). Solger, Freiligrath, Schiller: Transatlantic Cultural Transfer. Hall Center for the Humanities, Early Modern Seminar and Modernities Seminar, University of Kansas. Hall Center for the Humanities
Selected Grants
Seed Grant. KU Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities. $14928.51. Submitted 12/1/2014 (5/1/2015 - 5/31/2016). University (KU or KUMC). Status: Funded. Awarded for the KU Editorial Branch, American World War I Poetry Digital Archive, a collaborative project with Kansas State University. KU Editorial Branch focuses on immigrant poetry written in response to WWI. Funds three undergraduate research assistants who are identifying, transcribing, encoding (XML), and annotating poetry.
General Research Fund Award. University of Kansas. $5888.00. (12/31/2009). University (KU or KUMC). Status: Funded. Research trips to the Library of Congress and the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin
Revisitation Research Grant for Faculty. German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdiens). (12/31/2007). Foreign (company, govt, agencies, etc.). Status: Funded. One month of archival research in Frankfurt am Main and Karlsruhe, Germany
Franklin Research Grant. American Philosophical Society. $1000.00. (3/31/2005). Not-for-Profit (not Foundation). Status: Funded. One week of research at the Library of Congress.
Conference Grant. American Association of Teachers of German. $300.00. (11/30/1999). Other. Status: Funded. Award to attend annual conference, American Association of Teachers of German
