• Alexander Pichugin
  • Alexander Pichugin
  • Director of German Language and Cultural Studies
  • Assistant Teaching Professor
  • Degree: Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania M.A., University of Pennsylvania M.Ed., Rutgers University
  • Office: 15 Seminary Place, Room #4134
  • Campus: College Avenue Campus
  • Office Hours:

    Tuesdays, 2:00pm - 3:00pm, and by appointment

  • Zoom Link for Office Hours:

    RUZoom-Pichugin

 


Research Interests

Dr. Pichugin's two main research areas are literary ecocriticism and second-language acquisition.

In the area of literary ecocriticism his current research revolves around the formulation and exploration of ecological approaches in German-language literatures from the end of the past century until today. He is currently working on a book project The Development of the Ecocritical Paradigm in German-language Literatures, which stems from his dissertation and represents a considerable expansion of its scope.

In the area of second-language acquisition (SLA), Dr. Pichugin's research is both theoretical (examining cultural aspects of language learning) and practical (curriculum development and classroom practices). He conducts research in second-language acquisition with special attention to the cultural aspects, students' personal development in the context of SLA, as well as SLA in language-immersion environment.

Dr. Pichugin's other research interests include German poetry, 19th-Century German literature, science and literature, literary representation of trauma and memory, early German-American film, photography and philosophy, as well as questions of cultural knowledge and heritage.

 

Selected Awards, Fellowships & Grants

Dr. Peter J. Schroeck Lecturer in German, Rutgers University, 2013-2016

Hans J. Ludscheidt Award from the German Language School Conference (GLSC), 2013

Grant from the National Heritage Language Resource Center (NHLRC), 2013

Professional Development Fund Award from the President of Rutgers University, 2013

Research Grant from the Max Kade Center for Contemporary German Literature at Washington University in St. Louis, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), 2012

Pamela Richards Endowed Memorial Fellowship, Rutgers University, 2010-2013

Scholarship Award for 2008 International Summer School "Fiction and Reality. Resisting Texts 1900-2008," Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, 2008

Scholarship Award for Trans-Atlantic Summer Institute in German Studies (TASI) "Germany in the Age of Globalization," Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich (supported by the DAAD and the Volkswagen-Stiftung), 2004

Arthur M. Daemmrich and Alfred Guenther Memorial Prize for outstanding achievement in German studies, 2003

Max Kade Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania, 2002-2003

Edmund S. Muskie/Freedom Support Act Graduate Fellowship Award (U.S. State Department), 2001

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Scholarship Award, 1997-1998

 

Selected Publications

“Ernst Kreuder und die ökologisch orientierte Schreibweise.” Rondas Literarias de Pittsburgh 2009. Ed. Gregorio C. Martín. New Kensington PA: Grelin Press, 2010. 219–229. Print.

“‘Wissenschaftliches Glaubensbekenntnis’: Aufklärung und Romantik in Chamissos ‘Ansichten von der Pflanzenkunde und dem Pflanzenreiche.’” Rondas Literarias de Pittsburgh 2008. Ed. Gregorio C. Martín. New Kensington PA: Grelin Press, 2010. 169–180. Print.

“‘People Like Us Are a Thorn in the Side of the World’: Images of the Outsider in the Writings by Ernst Kreuder.” The Image of the Outsider in Literature, Media, and Society. Ed. Will Wright and Steven Caplan. Pueblo: The Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Social Imagery, Colorado State University, 2008. 96–101. Print.

“Memory Transmission and Barthes’ Concept of Photography in The Emigrants by W. G. Sebald.” Language and the Scientific Imagination: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference of the International Society for the Study of European Ideas (ISSEI). University of Helsinki, Finland, 2008. ISBN 978-952-10-6118-9.

“Erlebnis und Umschreibung. Zur Darstellung der Zerstörung deutscher Städte in der deutschen Literatur.” Stadt und Trauma. Annäherungen – Konzepte – Analysen. Ed. Monika Stromberger and Bettina Fraisl. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2004. 311–324. Print.

“Hero-Warrior or Hero-Poet? Self-representation of Emperor Maximilian I in his Teuerdank.” The Image of the Hero in Literature, Media, and Society. Selected Papers. 2004 Conference of The Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Social Imagery. Ed. Will Wright and Steven Caplan. Pueblo: The Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Social Imagery, Colorado State University, 2004. 374–381. Print.

 

Selected Presentations

“Ecocritical Approach in Teaching German Language and Literature: Rationale and Implementation.” 129th Annual Convention of the Modern Language Association (MLA). Chicago, IL, Jan. 2014.

“A Course in Civilization and Culture: Design, Technology and Pedagogy.” 2013 Annual Convention and World Languages Expo of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Orlando, FL, Nov. 2013.

“Concepts of Alternative Communication Technologies in Contemporary German Literature.” 111th Annual Conference of the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA). San Diego, CA, Nov. 2013.

“Cultural Studies and Media in Content-Based Language Instruction.” 67th Annual Convention of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association (RMMLA). Vancouver, WA, Oct. 2013.

“Developing Intercultural Competence via Media Use: Design and Evaluation.” 2013 Canada International Conference on Education (CICE-2013). University of Toronto, Canada, June 2013.

“Phenomenology of Cultural Knowledge in the Context of Second Language Education.” 2012 Annual Convention and World Languages Expo of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Philadelphia, PA, Nov. 2012.

“Cultural Dimensions of the Identity of a Heritage Language Teacher.” 2012 Annual Convention and World Languages Expo of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Philadelphia, PA, Nov. 2012.

“Humans, Animals, Gente: Ecocritical View on the Representation of Animal Life in Contemporary German Literature.” 2012 Annual Convention of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA). Durham, NC, Nov. 2012.

“Cyborgs or Chimeras: Ecocriticism and Cyborg Theory.” 110th Annual Conference of the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA). Seattle, WA, Oct. 2012.

“Green German: Integrating Ecocriticism in German Curricula.” 66th Annual Convention of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association (RMMLA). Boulder, CO, Oct. 2012.

“Striving Beyond Dualities: Cyborg Theory, Symmetrical Anthropology, and Ecocriticism.” 26th Annual Conference of the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts (SLSA). Milwaukee, WI, Sept. 2012.

“La nature et le fantastique dans le concept écologique d’Ernst Kreuder.” Conference “Fantastic Narratives and the Natural World”. Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, Apr. 2012.

“Problematisierung der ‘deutschen’ Perspektive auf die Judenverfolgung in Grete Weils ‘Tramhalte Beethovenstraat.’” 65th Annual Kentucky Foreign Language Conference. University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, Apr. 2012.

“Conceptualization of Culture at the Level of Educational Institutions.” 3rd International Conference on the Development and Assessment of Intercultural Competence of the Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy (CERCLL). University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, Jan. 2012.

“Science, Enlightenment and Romanticism in Chamisso’s ‘Views on Botany and the Plant Kingdom.’” 127th Annual Convention of the Modern Language Association (MLA). Seattle, WA, Jan. 2012.

“Das Biographische und das Gestische in der Lyrik von Bertolt Brecht und Hans Erich Nossack.” 24th Pennsylvania Foreign Language Conference on French, German, Italian and Hispanic Literatures. Pittsburgh, PA, Sept. 2011.

“Anagnorisis in den Theaterstücken von Bertolt Brecht.” 23rd Pennsylvania Foreign Language Conference on French, German, Italian and Hispanic Literatures. Pittsburgh, PA, Sept. 2010.

“Autoren-Ich als Roman-Nebenfigur: zum Konzept literarischer Selbstbehauptung.” 12th Congress “Multiplicity and Unity of German Studies Worldwide” of the International Association for German Studies. University of Warsaw, Poland, July – Aug. 2010.

“Late Goethe’s Dialectics of Time.” Conference “Goethe and the Postclassical: Literature, Science, Art, and Philosophy 1805–1815” organized by the Goethe Society of North America. Pittsburgh, PA, Nov. 2008.

“Crime and Punishment in the Prose of F. Kafka and E. Kreuder.” 2008 Annual Conference of the Midwest Popular Culture Association / American Culture Association (MidwestPCA/ACA). Cincinnati, OH, Oct. 2008.

“To Jump from the Moving Train: The Concepts of Time in the Writings of Ernst Kreuder.” International Summer School for Ph.D. Candidates and Post-Docs “Fiction and Reality. Resisting Texts 1900–2008.” Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich, Germany, Aug. 2008.

“‘The True, the Unreal Reality’: Multiple Realities in ‘The Attic Pretenders’ by Ernst Kreuder.” 61st Annual Kentucky Foreign Language Conference. University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY. 17–19 Apr. 2008.

 

Conference Panels Organized

Integrating Ecocriticism into College-Level German Curricula • 129th Annual Convention of the Modern Language Association (MLA), Chicago, IL, Jan. 2014.

Integrating Ecocriticism into College-Level English Curricula • 129th Annual Convention of the Modern Language Association (MLA), Chicago, IL, Jan. 2014.

Designing and Teaching Interdisciplinary Courses • 67th Annual Convention of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association (RMMLA), Vancouver, WA, Oct. 2013.

New Perspectives on German Ecocritical Prose: Messages, Patterns, and the Revision of Literary Canon • 128th Annual Convention of the Modern Language Association (MLA), Boston, MA, Jan. 2012.

Teachers of Heritage Languages: Profile, Issues & Perspectives • 2012 Annual Convention and World Languages Expo of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), Philadelphia, PA, Nov. 2012.

Animal in the German Ecocritical Discourse • 2012 Annual Convention of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA), Durham, NC, Nov. 2012.

 

Courses Taught at Rutgers

Undergraduate
Elementary German I (470:101)
Intermediate German I • German without Borders (470:131)
Intermediate German II • Germany: People, Language, Culture (470:132)
Advanced Conversation and Composition I • Green German: Man and Nature in Text, Image, and Film (470:232)
Contemporary German Media and Society • German Media: Past, Present, Future (470:299)
Introduction to Literary & Cultural Analysis • At the Crime Scene and Beyond: Crime in German Cultural Discourse (470:301)
Business German I (470:313)
Topics in German Literature & Civilization • Das Leben mit der Flimmerkiste: German TV in Its Cultural Context (470:389)

Graduate
Apprenticeship in German (470:502)
Knowledge Structures and Information Professions (17:610:580)
Information Technologies for Libraries and Information Agencies (17:610:550)