Deborah Janson, Ph.D.
Dr. Janson completed a B.A. in German at Michigan State University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in German Literature at University of California, Los Angeles.
Deborah Janson is an associate professor of German in West Virginia University's Department of World Languages, Literatures and Linguistics. Her scholarly interests include the theme of national and personal identity in literature by minority and East German writers, and the theme of social justice in works from the German Enlightenment and Romantic periods through today’s post-wall era. In addition, she has been drawn to the relevance of ecocriticism for literary analysis, and has applied this theoretical approach to the work of both contemporary and Romantic writers, in particular, Christa Wolf and Bettina von Arnim. Dr. Janson teaches upper-level German language courses as well as German culture, literature and film courses covering all periods, and Foreign Literature in Translation Courses. In the past, she directed the department's Colloquium on Literature and Film, and regularly serves on the Department's Honors and Awards Committee and its Faculty Evaluation Committee. She is also advisor to the WVU German Club and to LAMBDA, the WVU chapter of Delta Phi Alpha, and directs a faculty-led summer study abroad program to Münster, Germany. For her efforts in teaching, Dr. Janson has received the University's Outstanding Teaching Award.