Nicole Coleman

Nicole Coleman

Born and raised in Germany, Nicole Coleman has always been interested in literature, history and culture. During her undergraduate years, she spent one year at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, studying transitions to democracy. After receiving her M.A. in Political Science (Development Policy), Modern History and Comparative Literature from the University of Bonn, Germany (2007), she spent one year in Montenegro, teaching German language and culture classes at the local university and traveling widely. Back in Germany, she taught German to immigrants in Berlin. Dr. Coleman connected all these different interests (human rights, interculturality, migration and literature) that developed through her studies and travels during her Ph.D. program. She continues to research and teach in these areas at Wayne State University. Nicole has been a member of Wayne State's Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures since August 2015. 

Research interest(s)/area of expertise

• Contemporary German literature
• Literature and human rights
• Intercultural theory
• Student-centered and intercultural pedagogy
• Alternative assessment practices

Research

Dr. Coleman's primary research interests include:

• 20th and 21st century German literature.
• Intercultural literature includes but is not limited to migrant and minority literature.
• The intersection of literature and human rights.

Her book, "The Right to Difference: Interculturality and Human Rights in Contemporary German Literature," was published in October 2021 by the University of Michigan Press. It analyzes the relationship between alienness and human rights violations in intercultural German literature since 1990. She examines how alienness is constructed to allow for the breach of specific groups of people and demonstrates to which extent literature can negotiate, overcome and reconcile human rights abuses as well as the underlying constructions of alienness.

Education

• Ph.D., German Studies, University of Connecticut, 2015
• M.A., Political Science, Modern History and Comparative Literature, University of Bonn, Germany, 2007
• Certificate for Teaching German as a Foreign Language, University of Bonn, Germany, 2007

Awards and grants

• Humanities Center Faculty Fellowship, 2016, Humanities Center, Wayne State University
• University Research Grant, 2017, Wayne State University
• CLAS Award for Teaching Excellence, 2018, Wayne State University
• Humanities Center Residential Fellowship, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, Humanities Center, Wayne State University
• President's Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2020, Wayne State University
• Academy of Teachers inducted 2021, Wayne State University
• University Research Grant, 2021, Wayne State University
• Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language, and Literacy, University of Arizona, supported by a grant (P229A220011) from the U.S. Department of Education (CFDA84.229A), 2022-2026

Selected publications

• Filmische Stereotype im interkulturellen Landeskundeunterricht: Theorie und Praxis.Unterrichtspraxis. 49.1 (2016): 47-56.
• The Political Tourist in Juli Zeh's Die Stille ist ein Geräusch. In Anxious Journeys: Contemporary German Travel Literature. Edited by Karin Baumgartner and Monika Shafi. Rochester: Boydell & Brewer, 2019.
• With Ivett Guntersdorfer: Intercultural Competence for Global German Studies. Unterrichtspraxis. 52.2 (2019): 138-145.
• With Lisa Hock: Introduction: German Studies Go Global. Unterrichtspraxis. 52.2 (2019): 124-129.
• With Lisa Hock: An Approach both Global and Pragmatic. German Quarterly. 92.4 (2019): 451-454.
• With Niko Tracksdorf, Damon Rarick, and Friedemann Weidauer: Impuls Deutsch 1: Intercultural-Interdisciplinary-Interactive. Stuttgart, Germany: Klett, 2019.
• With Niko Tracksdorf, Steffen Kaupp, and Damon Rarick: Impuls Deutsch 2: Intercultural-Interdisciplinary-Interactive. Stuttgart, Germany: Klett, 2020.
• Why is Critical Digital Pedagogy Relevant for German Studies? Diversity, Decolonization, and the German Curriculum (blog), August 25, 2020. 
• With Silja Weber et. al. Decolonizing German Studies Curricula: Report from a GSA Seminar. German Studies Review. 44.1 (2021): 155-66.
• The Right to Difference: Interculturality and Human Rights in Contemporary German Literature. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2021.
• Interkulturelle Pluralität: Dis/ability in ausgewählten deutschsprachigen Bilderbüchern. Akten des XIV. Internationalen Germanistenkongresses Palermo 2021. Peter Lang, 2023: 571-588.

Courses taught by Nicole Coleman

Winter Term 2025 (future)

• GER3200 - Exploring Modern Identities
• GER5800 - Literature and Cultures of Minorities
• GER7800 - Literatures and Cultures of Minorities

Fall Term 2024

• GLS2900 - Intercultural Competence for a Global World

Spring-Summer Term 2023

• GLS3830 - Topics in Global Studies

Winter Term 2023

• GLS2900 - Intercultural Competence for a Global World

Fall Term 2022

• GER3100 - Engaging Historical Moments
• GER4600 - Products, Perspectives, and Practices of Culture
• GER5600 - Research in German Studies

Winter Term 2022

• GER2010 - Intermediate German
• GER2020 - Everyday Encounters in Language and Culture
• GER4600 - Products, Perspectives, and Practices of Culture
• GER5600 - Research in German Studies