Professor Horwege welcomes Suri Xia ’15 (left) and Olivia Fagan ’15 as the newest members of Delta Phi Alpha.

On Tuesday, May 7, Sweet Briar College’s Lambda Eta Chapter of the Delta Phi Alpha German Honor Society initiated two new members. The ceremony took place during a dinner at Main Street Eatery in Lynchburg.

The society welcomed sophomores Suri Xia and Olivia Fagan. Professor of German Ronald Horwege conducted the ceremony, which was also attended by John Reynolds, national secretary-treasurer of Delta Phi Alpha, as well as Alyssa Sarminento ’15 and Sixtine Abrial ’15, who were initiated last year, Stacey Karmen ’15, German assistant Carola Haese and Horwege’s wife, Sandra.

Delta Phi Alpha was founded at Wofford College in 1927 and now has more than 236 chapters throughout the United States. Sweet Briar College received its charter in 2001. Professor Horwege is presently serving as national president of the society.

The purpose of the society is stated in its charter: “The National German Honor Society, Delta Phi Alpha, seeks to recognize excellence in the study of German and to provide an incentive for higher scholarship. The Society aims to promote the study of the German language, literature and civilization and endeavors to emphasize those aspects of German life and culture which are of universal value and which contribute to man’s eternal search for peace and truth.”

Maite Killiam

Sweet Briar professors are often praised for their excellence in teaching, and for the strong bonds they form with students. But their commitment goes well beyond the classroom: They are also fully engaged in their disciplines as researchers, writers and artists.

The 2011-2012 academic year resulted in an eclectic list of faculty accomplishments. For the curious, examples include French professor Maite Killiam’s book “The End of Art: A Comparative Analysis of French Postmodern Art Theorists,” poetry professor John Casteen’s travels in China, and the purpose behind theater director Bill Kershner’s trip to Edinburgh.

To learn more, visit sbc.edu/academics/faculty.

The award will be given annually to someone “for outstanding performance and dedication to the profession,” said AATG board member Dirk Johnson, who is chair of modern languages at Hampden-Sydney College.

Ron Horwege has been teaching at Sweet Briar since 1971.

Horwege, a professor at Sweet Briar for 41 years, also was chosen unanimously by the chapter’s board to be the first recipient of the award.

The recognition is bittersweet for Horwege, who has spent much of his career promoting the German language at Sweet Briar and beyond. It comes after the College announced last spring that it will no longer provide German as a major or course offering on campus.

Despite Horwege being a fixture in the academic community, he was not expecting such an honor.

“I have always enjoyed working with my German colleagues and I know that they have appreciated everything I have done with them and for them,” Horwege said. “But I was still surprised to receive such a significant token of this appreciation. It is a nice cap to my work in the profession.”

Horwege’s career began in 1966, when he completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Kansas with a double major in German and history. While there he spent his junior year at the Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms Universität in Bonn, Germany, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Phi Alpha (German honor society) and Phi Alpha Theta (history honor society). He pursued his graduate work at Indiana University, where he received his master’s in Germanic linguistics in 1968 and his Ph.D. in Germanic linguistics with minors in German literature and Scandinavian studies in 1971. Much of his research was completed at the Freie Universität Berlin during the 1969-1970 academic year.

Horwege came to Sweet Briar College in 1971 and has been in charge of the German program ever since. In 1983, he initiated the exchange program with the University of Heidelberg and six years later, he entered into a partnership with Vassar College and the College of William and Mary in managing the Summer Program in Münster, spending several summers there with the program.

Horwege has served four terms as president of the Virginia chapter of the AATG and has also been president of the Foreign Language Association of Virginia. In 1999 he founded a chapter of Delta Phi Alpha at Sweet Briar and has served as the national president of this organization since 2008. From 1992 to 2010, Horwege was in charge of an annual Immersion Weekend for German Teachers at the College, and for the past eight years he has organized and managed a weeklong summer seminar for German teachers, also at Sweet Briar. He worked for several years as the German program coordinator for the Center for Liberal Arts at the University of Virginia. His last annual statewide workshop for German teachers was held in 2011.

Horwege has received many awards for his work, including a Certificate of Merit from the AATG and the Goethe-Institut and the Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Foreign Language Association of Virginia, both in 2003. In 2004 he was the recipient of the first Cameron Fellowship awarded by Sweet Briar College.

Horwege still has two more years to go before the German program is phased out, but he’s already making plans. Not surprisingly, those plans don’t include retiring from German altogether.

“I actually look forward to some yard work, a lot of travel and also finding some way to continue working with German through some study and research in pursuit of my own interests and through continued work in the professional organizations,” he said. “I will also look for more volunteer work, perhaps working with illiteracy.”

— Janika Carey

On Monday, April 30, Sweet Briar College’s Lambda Eta Chapter of the Delta Phi Alpha German Honor Society initiated eight new members. The ceremony took place in the Cochran Library Browsing Room.

The society welcomed Katherine Allison ’14, Sixtine Abrial ’15, Kathleen McGregor ’14, Alyssa Sarmiento ’15, Lilian Tauber ’14, Megan Kelly ’15, Emma Cuneo Merritt  ’14 and Jillian McDaniel ’12. Professor of German Ronald Horwege, chapter advisor, conducted the ceremony, assisted by Delta Phi Alpha members Alexandra Mebane ’12, Rachel Akers ’12 and Hannah Robinson ’13.

Delta Phi Alpha was founded at Wofford College in 1927 and now has over 236 chapters throughout the United States. Sweet Briar College received its charter in 2001. Professor Horwege is presently serving as national president of the society.

The purpose of the society is stated in its charter: “The National German Honor Society, Delta Phi Alpha, seeks to recognize excellence in the study of German and to provide an incentive for higher scholarship. The Society aims to promote the study of the German language, literature and civilization and endeavors to emphasize those aspects of German life and culture which are of universal value and which contribute to man’s eternal search for peace and truth.”

Since Sweet Briar College’s founding, German has been an integral part of the academic program.

“Delta Phi Alpha supports the dedication the College has had to international education and fostering international understanding,” Horwege said.

Sadly, this will be one of the last inductions of Sweet Briar students into the society, as the College has decided to discontinue the German major after 2014.

The event is free and open to the public and is sponsored by Sweet Briar’s Lectures and Events Committee, the dean and the Honors Program.

Tatar is the John L. Loeb Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures and chair of the folklore and mythology program at Harvard University. She is the author of numerous critical essays and books, including “The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales.” The recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies and the National Endowment for the Humanities, Tatar has written for the New York Times, the New Republic and the Harvard Crimson. Her work has been featured on the Today Show and in Harvard Magazine and was reviewed by the New York Times. Tatar has also been interviewed by NPR.

“She is easily one of the world’s foremost authorities on fairy tales, folklore and the sex and violence contained therein,” said Laura Reinert, assistant professor of English at Sweet Briar. Reinert teaches medieval literature and fairy tales and has used one of Tatar’s textbooks in her “Origins of Fairy Tales” class.

Tatar’s talk comes at a time when fairy tales are back in style, with television series like “Once Upon a Time” and “Grimm” drawing large audiences, and two new film adaptations of “Snow White” coming out this year. In the past 15 years, young adult and children’s literature involving fantasy and fairy tale elements, such as “Harry Potter,” “Twilight” and, most recently, “The Hunger Games,” has contributed to this trend.

The lecture came together when one of Reinert’s students, Lauren Babineau, was looking for an outside reader for her senior honors thesis. Babineau will present “Grooming the Bride: Transformations in the ‘Beastly Bridegroom’ Category of Folklore” at 2 p.m. Friday, April 27, in the 1948 Theater.

“I had told Lauren that there was no harm in shooting for the stars and we agreed that Maria Tatar would be our absolute first choice if we could have any scholar in the world,” Reinert said.

She was able to establish contact with Tatar through Sweet Briar’s German professor Ron Horwege, who attended a summer program with Tatar 40 years ago in Berlin.

“We were stunned — and then ecstatic — that she agreed!” Reinert said. “I am thrilled that we have been able to give Lauren this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with the scholar in her field. Words cannot express how pleased and proud I am of Lauren.”

Contact: Janika Carey

Before his show Wednesday night at Sweet Briar, German cabaret artist André Hartmann greets each attendee individually. Having performed in front of 200 people in Washington, D.C., the day before, the 35-year-old Bavarian clearly appreciates the College’s intimacy.

“The sense of community here is wonderful,” he says, and he’s not just talking about Sweet Briar.

Though small in numbers, the crowd in front of Memorial Chapel consists mainly of German immigrants, some of whom have been here since the 1970s. Whenever there is anything German going on in Central Virginia, they know about it.

There are three generations of the Wurth family from Amherst County, a German-British couple from Goode, and an engineer from Areva. As much as they’re here to see German comedy, they’re also here to connect.

Notwithstanding 40 years in the U.S., Wolfgang Wurth still knows his German dialects, and the lady from Goode hasn’t forgotten those German folk songs she learned as a small child after the war.

Hartmann, on the other hand, is too young to remember them, though he teaches music and has been playing the piano since he was four. Much of his improvised show is based on song requests from the audience — most of them German “schlager” (a style that features catchy melodies and simple, sing-along lyrics), pop music from the 1980s and ’90s, and famous classical pieces.

Some requests are American songs, such as “Country Roads,” a tune most Germans grew up singing over and over (and over) in music class.

Trying to figure out exactly which German artist wrote “Country Roads,” Hartmann starts off by impersonating various German singers, including Heino (“I don’t know if I’m allowed to do Heino because he’s not really politically correct.”), Udo Lindenberg (“He’s really like that, I’m sorry, I’m not drunk”) and actress Inge Meysel (“I woke up sick one day and noticed that I sound just like her.”).

He’s brought wigs for some of them, but the real comedy is in his versatile voice and body language.

After slipping into the role of former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder (who, as Hartmann’s alter ego, pops up repeatedly throughout the show) and impersonating current chancellor Angela Merkel without any props at all (“I usually can’t do Merkel, but today I’m wearing a suit, so that works.”), Hartmann moves on to his real “mission”: teaching the history of music.

“I want these twenty-five people here on campus to go home educated,” he explains.

The audience is shocked to learn that every piece of music was actually written by Bach, and that every major composer in the history of music stole from him.

“Mozart stole tunes even after his death!”

His fingers flying across the piano, Hartmann races through the centuries, showing how Beethoven, Liszt and Chopin all played essentially the same exact songs, including “Ode to Joy” and Germany’s national anthem.

The handful of non-Germans miss a joke here and there as Hartmann switches between English and German, but they’re clearly having fun.

“I love German cabaret,” says librarian Lisa Johnston and throws in a request of her own for Kurt Weill’s “Pirate Jenny.”

After 90 minutes, Hartmann, who’s also a serious pianist, drops the comedy and wraps up his show with a three-minute piece by Chopin.

This time, it’s really not Bach, and Mozart didn’t steal it.

Hartmann has performed worldwide at the invitation of German embassies and consulates and through the Goethe-Institut. This year’s trip to the U.S. marks his third visit, and he plans to come back next year. Hartmann can be contacted through his website at andrehartmann.de.

Contact: Janika Carey

Hartmann was born in 1976 in Starnberg and studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. A high school music teacher in Bavaria, he has given piano concerts on all six continents. Following a musical cabaret show in Beijing, China, in 2005, he has performed at various events worldwide at the invitation of German embassies and consulates and through the Goethe-Institut. Since 1997, Hartmann has worked as a pianist with cabaret star and quick-change artist Frank Astor, but has also presented many of his own cabaret programs. Hartmann is known in Germany for his portrayal of former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder.

In addition to his artistic endeavors, Hartmann has been active in charity. Between 1997 and 2002, he collected more than 50,000 euros for children with cancer in Munich with his benefit CD “Millionen für Melodien,” and in 1998 he founded the charitable organization “Nepalhilfe-Starnberg e.V.,” through which an elementary school for poor children was built in Lalitpur, Nepal. More information about Hartmann is at andrehartmann.de.

Hartmann will present his program in German with some English. For more information, contact Herr Horwege at horwege@sbc.edu or (434) 381-6188.

Contact: Janika Carey

Labro attended Washington and Lee University in the 1950s when he was 18 and wrote a novel, “L’Etudiant étranger” (The Foreign Student) about his experiences in the United States. Labro is a laureate of the Prix Interallié, a French literary distinction founded in 1930, which he received for the novel in 1986. He is a prolific author, having published his most recent work, “7,500 Signes,” in 2010. Labro also has seven film titles to his credit and has been a member of France’s Legion of Honor since 1980, where he now holds the title of commander.

Sweet Briar president Jo Ellen Parker and her husband, Rick Manasa, will attend the lecture, which is one of two named lectureships recently endowed through the Bradt Family Fund. The fund, created by Dr. David A. Bradt, a JYF alumnus, and his family supports twice-yearly multi-disciplinary lectures and receptions in France with prestigious French leaders in the arts, business, science and technology, and politics.

Patricia Nichols was a 20th-century business woman, equestrian and educator who immersed herself in French arts and literature throughout her life. She cherished French literary realism and naturalism with particular joy in the works of Flaubert and Zola, according to the Bradt family. She was known for developing future leaders for a complex world who understand linguistic and cultural differences, and will be remembered for her support of emerging talent and her passion for the mot juste.

The first lecture in the Bradt series, the inaugural Phoebe Bradt Lectureship, was presented by Dr. Rony Brauman, an epidemiologist and former president of Doctors Without Borders, in October.

The lectures and social gatherings are held during the academic year to advance mutual understanding between members of the university community, including the students of Sweet Briar’s JYF, University of Paris and alumni of these institutions, as well as JYF faculty and friends. JYF has been placing co-eds in study abroad programs in Paris since 1948 and since last year at University of Nice Sophia Antipolis.

“The speaker series is an exceptional opportunity for JYF students, colleagues, professors and friends of the program who are in France to hear from and meet prestigious leaders in those fields,” said Margaret Scouten, director of the JYF program. “We are grateful to Dr. Bradt and his family for their generosity in funding these events.”

While in Europe, President Parker also will be meeting with students, alumnae, parents and friends of the College at a series of events. Receptions will be held Monday, March 14 in Seville, Spain, and Wednesday, March 16 in Paris. A brunch will be held Saturday, March 19 in London. Anyone from the Sweet Briar community interested in attending one of these events may e-mail Dawn Gatewood at dgatewood@sbc.edu or call (434) 381-6161.

Titled “Piel de Angel,” or “Angel Skin,” the book deals with the pain associated with loss. “I am a poet,” Olivera writes on her Web site. “I aim for clarity and accessible poetry. Communication is my main goal, as I strive to reach the reader, to accompany a life journey, to help in any way, to provide solace.”

Olivera, a Paraguayan who writes in Spanish under her maiden name, Mereles, has taught at Sweet Briar since 2007. “Piel de Angel” is her fifth book; her sixth, “Cerranon las puertas” (“They Locked the Doors!”) will be released in a few months.

Her books have been published in Europe, the United States and South America and distributed in both the Americas and Europe. Her fourth book, “En tu mundo deshabitado” (“In Your Desolate World”), was featured at the 2007 Madrid Book Fair.

Olivera won her first poetry contests as an elementary and high school student, and studied to be an architect before leaving Paraguay to study literature in Spain. While in Europe, “Volviendo a Omega” (“Returning to Omega”), which she calls her “fondest book,” won a poetry prize.

She is working on her seventh and eighth books, one of which is based on critical research of Nicaraguan poet Ernesto Cardenal, a subject of her first book. For more information on Olivera and her books, visit her Web site.