Berit Jany
Teaching Associate Professor • German lower division language coordinator • Undergraduate faculty advisor
German Program

Office:  McKenna 234
Office hours: In person Tuesdays 1:15-2:15pm and by appointment

M.A. Technische Universität Dresden, M.A. Ohio State University, Ph.D. Ohio State University

Berit Jany is the coordinator of the undergraduate German language program. She also serves as outreach organizer and tester for the Goethe Institut language exams B1-C1.

Main research and teaching interests:

SLA, Holistic Foreign Language Teaching and Learning, Proficiency and Assessment, German-Americana, Anabaptism and Pietism.

Recent publications:

Teaching & Linguistics

“‘Das kann ja jeder sagen‘: Neue Einsichten und Ansätze zur Vermittlung der Modalpartikeln im DaF-Unterricht.” Linguistische Treffen in Wrocław 21 (2022): 101-116.

Spracherwerb als Prozess—Förderung des Selbstgesprächs in Anfänger DaF-Kursen. Germanistische Werkstatt 11 (2021): 119-132. 

Mit Ruhe und Gelassenheit: Imagination, Movement, and Relaxation in the German Language Classroom.” Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German 53 (2020): 99-118.

Von Komplimenten, ihren Erwiderungen und Gefühlen sozialer Verbundenheit: Ein Beispiel zur Integration von Sprechakten im DaF-Unterricht.” Linguistische Treffen in Wrocław 16 (2019): 39-50.

Bewegung, Entspannung und Meditation: Yoga im DaF-Unterricht.” Babylonia: A Journal of Language Teaching and Learning N3 (2019): 12-19.

“Interimssprache und das Bewusstmachen von Sprachfähigkeit: Eine Studie zu elektronischen Fremdsprachenportfolios in DaF Anfängerkursen.” Linguistische Treffen in Wrocław 13 (2018): 97-107.

“Beyond the Essay: Digital Documentary Productions in German-Americana Courses.” Society of German American Studies 52 (2018): 169-181.

And Lights, Camera, Action: Toward Active German Language Learning Through Digital Media Production.” Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German 48 (2015): 244-254.“

Literature & Culture

 “Piety and Brotherly Union: Jung-Stilling and the Mennonites.” German Life and Letters 72 (2019): 245-261.

“From Zealots to Saints: The Dichotomy of Anabaptist Images in Swiss Historical Fiction.” Mennonite Quarterly Review 93 (2019): 57-79.

Between Alpine Identity and Civic Duty: Encounters with Swiss Brethren in Rudolf von Tavel’s Historical Novel Der Frondeur (1929).” Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies 6 (2018): 213-226.  

Searching for Harmonia. Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus and Hungarian Anabaptists.” Studia Theodisca 25 (2018): 27-48. 

“Caught Between the Lines: The Fictionalization of Anabaptism in Novels of the Kulturkampf Era.” Journal of Mennonite Studies 35 (2017): 357-380.

Community of Faithful Dissidents. Representations of Anabaptism in Swiss Historical Fiction by Walter Laedrach and Katharina Zimmermann.Studia Theodisca 23 (2016): 53-70.

“Het pleidooi voor vrede in Menno Simons’ Dat fundament des christelycken leers (1539-40) en Erasmus.” Doopsgezinde bijdragen 42 (2016): 11-32.

"United We Suffer: Sixteenth-Century Anabaptism and Twentieth-Century Auslandsdeutschtum in M. V. Rubatscher’s Das Lutherische Joggele.Studia Austriaca 23 (2015): 65-86.

 “Coming Home: The Bruderhof Returns to Germany.” Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies 2 (2013): 31-47.

The Gruber Family: Alms, Books and the New World.” Chloe 47 (2013): 117- 145.

Auf der Suche nach Glück in Ingo Schulzes: 33 Augenblicke des Glücks.” Focus on German Studies 18 (2012): 3-18.