Sylvia Taschka
Professor of Teaching
313-577-2525
313-577-6987 (fax)
FAB, Room 3097
Website(s)
Social media
www.instagram.com/sylviataschka
Department
HistorySylvia Taschka
Sylvia Taschka grew up in Nuremberg, Germany. Before moving to the U.S. in 2002, she worked as a research assistant for the Nazi Party Rally Grounds at the Friedrich Alexander University in Erlangen (Germany), was the chairwoman of a local historical association in Nuremberg (Geschichte für alle [History for Everyone]), and taught history courses at the Evangelical Technical College of Nuremberg.
Research interest(s)/area of expertise
Taschka is the author of a book about Hans Heinrich Dieckhoff, the last German ambassador to the U.S. before World War II, which the American Historical Review called “a must for anyone interested in the history of Germany and German-American relations.” Her teaching focuses on world and European history, the history of National Socialism, the history of the two world wars, international relations, and terrorism. Her latest research interests include the history of terrorism, the radical Right, and environmentalism.
Taschka is also a poet and novelist. As such, she strongly believes in the interdisciplinary vision--and mission--of the humanities. Her latest novel Wiederkunft ("The Second Coming") is a Science Fiction/Climate Fiction dystopia that was informed by her observations as a historian.
Education
- Ph.D., Modern European History, Friedrich Alexander University, Erlangen, Germany, 2003
- M.A., Modern History and German Linguistics, Friedrich Alexander University, Erlangen, Germany, 1998
Awards and grants
In 2020, Taschka won the second prize of the Bibliothek deutschsprachiger Gedichte for her poem "Eine pandemische Poesie." She was also the recipient of a mini-grant by the WSU Humanities Center for her poetry cycle "Pandemic Poetry."
Taschka was awarded the President's Award of Excellence in Teaching in 2024.
Selected publications
Books
Wiederkunft (Prinzengarten Verlag: Detmold, 2022.)
Diplomat ohne Eigenschaften? Hans Heinrich Dieckhoff und die Selbstgleichschaltung eines deutschen Botschafters (Series: Transatlantische Historische Studien, ed. German Historical Institute, Washington, DC) (Franz Steiner Verlag: Stuttgart, 2006.)
Das Rußlandbild von Ernst Niekisch (Palm und Enke: Erlangen/Jena, 1999.)
Edited Volume
Frank-Lothar Kroll, N. Luise Hackelsberger, and Sylvia Taschka, eds., Werner Bergengruen. Schriftstellerexistenz in der Diktatur. Aufzeichnungen und Reflexionen zu Politik, Geschichte und Kultur 1940 bis 1963 (Oldenbourg: Munich, 2005).
Translation
Andrew I. Port, Die rätselhafte Stabilität der DDR – Arbeit und Alltag im sozialistischen Deutschland. Aus dem Amerikanischen (Ch. Links: Berlin, 2010).
Articles, Chapters, and Review Essays
"Mutterfrau und ‚Helferin im Kampfe des Mannes‘ – Frauen auf den Reichsparteitagen in Nürnberg,“ in Am Anfang war Sigena… Nürnberger Frauen-Geschichtsbuch, eds. Nadja Bennewitz and Gabi Franger (Ars Vivendi: Cadolzburg, 1999), S. 210-226.
"Unvereinbarkeit der Ideologien. Ernst Niekischs Kampf gegen Adolf Hitler,“ in Deutsche Autoren des Ostens als Gegner und Opfer des Nationalsozialismus. Beiträge zur Widerstandsproblematik, ed. Frank-Lothar Kroll (Duncker & Humblot: Berlin, 2000), S. 501-518.
"Im Vertrauen auf die ‚Neue Welt’. Heinrich von Brentano und die deutsch-amerikanischen Beziehungen,“ in Heinrich von Brentano. Wegbereiter der Europäischen Integration, ed. Roland Koch (Oldenbourg: Munich, 2004), S. 143-155.
"’The Nazis are the greatest secular masters of mass psychology of modern times’: Die Berichterstattung der US-amerikanischen Medien über die Reichsparteitage der NSDAP,” in Bilder für die Welt. Die Reichsparteitage der NSDAP im Spiegel der ausländischen Presse, eds. Friedrich Kießling and Gregor Schöllgen (Böhlau: Vienna/ Cologne/Weimar, 2006), S. 75-90.
"Wahlverwandtschaft wider Willen. Fascists and 'Conservative Revolutionaries,'" in Taschka, S., Beller, S., Goeschel, C., Bavaj, R., Chickering, R., Griffin, R., Potter, P. M. and van Dyke, J. A. (2017), Forum: Intellectual and Artistic Responses to Early Fascism -- the Historians' Perspective. The German Quarterly, 90: 349-353.
"Trump Hitler Comparisons Too Easy and Ignore the Murderous History," in The Conversation (3/12/2018 https://theconversation.com/trump-hitler-comparisons-too-easy-and-ignore-the-murderous-history-92394)
"Trump's America Shines Bright for Europe's Radical New Right," in The Conversation (10/7/2019 https://theconversation.com/trumps-america-shines-bright-for-europes-radical-new-right-121243)
"What's Wrong with Hitler Comparisons?", in America Now. Short Essays on Current Issues, ed. Robert Atwan (Macmillan Learning: Boston, New York, 2020), p. 64-69
"Should Public Servants Refuse to Serve under President Trump? The Lesson of William Taylor for Trump Administration Officials," The Washington Post (10/27/2019 https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/10/27/should-public-servants-refuse-serve-under-president-trump/)
"How can America Heal from the Trump Era? Lessons from Germany's Transformation into a prosperous democracy after Nazi rule," in The Conversation (1/13/2021 theconversation.com/how-can-america-heal-from-the-trump-era-lessons-from-germanys-transformation-into-a-prosperous-democracy-after-nazi-rule-152951)
Radio Interviews
For 'The World': Europe's Far Right Stands behind Trump in US 2020 Election (www.pri.org/stories/2020-09-29/europe-s-far-right-stands-behind-trump-us-2020-election)
Courses taught by Sylvia Taschka
Winter Term 2025 (future)
- HIS1300 - Europe and the World: 1500-1945
- HIS5530 - History of World War I and II: A Social and Political History of Two World Wars
- HIS7530 - Readings in the History of World War I and II: A Social and Political History of Two World Wars
Fall Term 2024
Winter Term 2024
- HIS1300 - Europe and the World: 1500-1945
- HIS5530 - History of World War I and II: A Social and Political History of Two World Wars
- HIS7530 - Readings in the History of World War I and II: A Social and Political History of Two World Wars
Fall Term 2023
- HIS1300 - Europe and the World: 1500-1945
- HIS5535 - History of Terrorism
- HIS7535 - Readings in the History of Terrorism
Spring-Summer Term 2023
Winter Term 2023
Fall Term 2022
- HIS1300 - Europe and the World: 1500-1945
- HIS5530 - History of World War I and II: A Social and Political History of Two World Wars
- HIS7530 - Readings in the History of World War I and II: A Social and Political History of Two World Wars
- HIS8310 - Seminar in World History