Faculty Spotlight: Alina Dana Weber

Alina Dana Weber is an associate professor of German in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, part of Florida State University’s College of Arts and Sciences. Originally from Transylvania, Romania, she moved to the U.S. in 2003 to pursue a doctorate in German studies and folklore from Indiana University Bloomington, which she earned in 2010. Weber joined FSU as an adjunct instructor in 2008, and she became an assistant professor in 2013 and was promoted to associate in 2020. In 2023, Weber earned an FSU Developing Scholar Award; she is currently the director of FSU’s basic German language program, a part of the German Program. Weber conducts cultural historical research on literature and film and has worked on folklore festivals, and she also currently serves as chair of the International Society for Cultural History.

Tell us a little about your background, where you’re from, and what brought you to FSU.

I was born in Transylvania, and I eventually pursued my bachelor’s degree in German and English studies at the West University of Timișoara in Romania in the early ’90s. Following my graduation, I spent two years teaching German in the U.K. through a British Council exchange program, after which I enrolled in an European literature master of studies program at the University of Oxford in England. There, I also met my husband. Upon earning my master’s degree, we moved to Bonn, Germany, where I worked in the Theater Bonn’s production office. Later, this led me to conduct theater-focused research during my doctoral studies in Indiana. When my husband was hired at FSU and I saw the multitude of cultures, languages, and research areas represented in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, I couldn’t imagine a better place to put my education and experience to work.

Can you break down your areas of research for us?

Many view the field of modern languages as solely focusing on language acquisition and history, when in fact it covers a plethora of research areas and themes not limited to those topics. I explore the intersections between popular culture and folklore in literature and film. This research is interdisciplinary and employs a cultural-historical approach to investigate how cultural factors may influence a work’s creation and reception. I also conduct research through a performative approach, which views works such as festivals or films as performances that perpetuate or challenge existing cultural norms.

For example, one of my current research projects is a new reading of German author and Nobel Laureate Thomas Mann’s masterpiece, “The Magic Mountain,” which was first published in 1924. The book is usually viewed with solemnity and philosophical depth, but as I claim, it has a lighter side with humorous references to fairytales and popular culture, such as vampires and a satire of the Wild West. I hope my ongoing research shows audiences that some of their most beloved stories have a history of tremendous depth full of surprises as well as local and global implications that stay with us to this day.

What do you want the public to know about the importance of your research?

I hope to show how connected the world is through human creativity and imagination. When engaging with works — such as digital media, artwork and novels — from cultures we don’t regularly interact with or from past historical periods, we can always find points of empathy and understanding through different experiences to which we can relate. Exploring these points allows us to learn a great deal about ourselves and our world, too. I consider my research an invitation to navigate the world through creative examples by using our imaginations.

What makes you passionate about your topics of research?

Human creativity — past and present — is a source of unending interest and inspiration for me and always offers new themes and topics for exploration.

What inspired you to choose your field of study?

I was always curious about the world, especially arts and literature. As a young woman, I wanted to become a visual artist or filmmaker, but that wasn’t possible for me growing up in Romania. Literature and language studies allowed me to build a career while fostering my interests, and I haven’t looked back.

What’s your favorite part of your job?

I enjoy my research and sharing my findings with students. The unexpected ideas students generate can sometimes throw an entirely new light on research items or interpretations, and this is always a source of great satisfaction.

What’s your best memory so far from working at FSU?

The internationalism of FSU’s students and faculty is one of my favorite parts of working here. Another is the community-wide support that carries into even unexpected aspects, for example when students came together at a very difficult time when Maura Binkley, who studied German and editing, writing and media at FSU, lost her life in a mass shooting at a Tallahassee yoga studio in 2018.

Who are your role models? Are there certain people who have influenced you most in your life and career?

Almost every author and creative artist I research is a role model for me. The way in which they prevailed against difficulty, yet were able to produce meaningful, long-lasting works of imagination and thought, always inspires me.

Do you have any exciting upcoming projects or goals you’re working toward?

One project that I am currently working on engages with aspects of “The Nutcracker and Mouse King,” E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Romantic novella that inspired Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker.” This novella’s cultural-historical background is characterized by social and political transition in the early 1800s that is reflected in its portrayals of food and the foods’ conflicts with nonhuman animals (the titular mice). Despite its literary fame and the fame of the ballet, these aspects have not yet been studied.

If your students only learned one thing from you (of course, hopefully they learn much more than that), what would you hope it to be?

In my classes, I encourage my students to open their minds and think independently, to use their imaginations, and develop a humanistic attitude.