German PhD Student
Teaching Assistant
Melissa is a Ph.D. candidate in German Studies, working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. She obtained a B.A. with a double major in Vocal Performance and German in 2008 from Calvin College. In 2011, she received her M.A. in German Studies from Wayne State University in Detroit. During her Master’s program, she spent one year studying abroad at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, Germany, which she considers one of the best years of her life. Her dissertation focuses on the role of music in DEFA cinema as a means of expression in East Germany. She is also interested in how music functions in film adaptations of novels to comment upon and further interpret the source text. In her free time, Melissa enjoys singing in the Calvin Alumni Choir, cooking, hiking, and traveling anywhere and everywhere.