Welcome to to my web site.  I am an Associate Professor of German at the University of Mary Washington (UMW) in Fredericksburg, VA.

My research focuses on visual communication in Central Europe in the 20th century, especially on poster propaganda of Germany and Austria during World Wars I and II. Growing up in East Germany, I developed early on an interest in propaganda. Additionally, I have done work on product advertisement during the Weimar Republic and, more recently, on U.S. government propaganda towards German-Americans during the World Wars.

My research also informs my teaching here at UMW. Our German program offers language courses from the Beginner to the Advanced-Low level (according to the ACTFL guidelines) or A1 to B2 level (according to the CEFR). My colleague Jennifer Hansen-Glucklich and I use varied forms of images as backbone for language acquisition in our courses We also teach literature, and culture seminars that encompass topics such as German film, Viennese coffee house literature, or representations of the Holocaust in contemporary German and U.S. culture. See a full lineup of courses.

I also enjoy the exchange with my German-teaching colleagues from all education levels. I am active on the board of the Virginia chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German and as Trainer in the Goethe-Institut trainer network.

In my community, I was the founding president and am now the treasurer, membership coordinator, and webmaster of the Schwetzingen-Fredericksburg Alliance, a civic organization that promotes the partnership between Schwetzingen in Germany and Fredericksburg.

For more detailed information about my professional life, see my Curriculum Vitae.

You can follow me on Twitter: @rotter
I occasionally post on my blog page “The Jotter of Rotter”