Eyshe Beirich ’23
As a student studying Yiddish and German, I occupied an unusual slice of life at the University of Chicago and found no better academic home than the Department of Germanics Studies. The program in Germanics was an incredibly supportive and transformational time for myself as a burgeoning scholar. Regarding language training, I studied Yiddish with Dr. Jessica Kirzane and German with Dr. Maeve Hooper, both of whom offered rigorous and phenomenal instruction. Once I had proficiency in these languages, I was able to explore my interests through German and Yiddish literature seminars, as well as undertake hundreds of hours of supervised and independent research culminating in my senior thesis. For anyone interested in Yiddish, German, or German-Jewish studies, you can find no better place at UChicago.
Postgraduation Plans:
— Beginning a PhD in Germanic Languages (+ Comparative Literature) at Columbia University
— Working as a Pedagogical Coordinator of the YIVO-Bard Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture, as well as a Yiddish instructor
Awards: Beinecke Scholarship