Session V: “Mystery Memoir from Germany: A Historical Detective Journey,” taught by Anabel Aliaga-Buchenau and Jules Geaney-Moore
July 22 and July 24; July 29 and July 31
10am – 12pm

Come on an unlikely journey of discovery with a team of three researchers: Anabel Aliaga-Buchenau, Ph.D., John Sullivan, and Jules Geaney-Moore originally set out to uncover the mystery of a memoir discovered at an auction in Detroit many years ago. After translating and researching the memoir, the team contacted archives in Germany and the Czech republic, conducted extensive interviews and research to find the identity of the author, figured out whether there were any descendants and found a place to house this important historical document. In this class, you will follow along on this historical search, find out the identity of the author, learn about the historical moment and context of the memoir. Finally, we hope to have you participate in the joys of ongoing historical discovery.

Meet your instructors:

Dr. Anabel Aliaga-Buchenau is Professor of German and currently serves as Chair of the Department of Languages, Cultures and Translation. She was awarded the prestigious Bank of America Teaching Award in 2021 and the Board of Governors’ Excellence in Teaching Award in 2022. She was a nominee for the Carnegie/Case Professor of the Year in 2011 and from 2009-2012 she was honored with the Bonnie E. Cone Teaching Professorship at UNC Charlotte. A native of Germany, Aliaga-Buchenau’s training is in comparative literature. She has served as Professor of German at Charlotte since 2002. In her research, Aliaga-Buchenau focuses on 19th century immigrants from Germany and their literary production. In particular, she is interested in women immigrants to the Americas. She also works on the translation of memoirs and novels from Spanish to English or German to English.

Jules Geaney-Moore is Business Service Coordinator in the Department of Languages, Cultures and Translation and a graduate student in the Department of History. Jules’ research focuses on 20th century German and Mexican history. Jules was instrumental in uncovering the mystery of the German memoir central to the class offered by Dr. Aliaga-Buchenau.