Professor Waltraud Maierhofer (GHS/German) will use the award to travel to Palermo, Italy, for the 2020 conference of the International Association of Germanic Studies. She will present on the representation of disabilities in German writing and film as part of a workshop that she has co-organized, and will edit a selection of the workshop's presentations into a book. Her presentation analyzes two recent German TV series where a woman with a disability is the protagonist: Dr. Klein, about a pediatrician who has dwarfism, and Heiland - We Are Attorney, about an attorney who was born blind. Both have been applauded by critics for their depiction of contemporary German society as diverse and inclusive, and Maierhofer will interview the writers for the programs. Her research and presentation will help shape the curriculum of her course "Disabilities in Global Writing and Film."  

About the CLAS Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank Faculty Scholar Awards:
The Developmental Sciences Hybridoma Bank (DSHB) Awards provide support to tenured CLAS faculty for an approved research project within the humanities. The award is expected to result in at least one project for publication, or a national/ international presentation.

To ensure that aspiring scientists at the UI are learning from humanities professors at the forefront of research in their disciplines, DSHB funds the DSHB Faculty Scholar Awards for humanities researchers in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The reason is simple: They believe that for scientists to do their best work, they need the ethical grounding and communication skills that humanities education instills.