Jeffrey Schneider
Jeffrey Schneider joined the Vassar faculty in 1997. He received his BA from Bates College and his master's and PhD in German Studies from Cornell University.
Professor Schneider’s scholarship spans a wide range of topics. His primary research explores debates on masculinity and sexuality in Imperial Germany (1871-1918), in particular the intersections of the Prussian-German military and the modern queer emancipation movement that began in Germany. He has also published on contemporary literature, drama, as well as, together with Silke von der Emde, language learning pedagogy and curriculum development. Most recently, he has begun work on a new queer studies project focused on the growing global popularity of Boys’ Love (BL) television and web series from China, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. His scholarship has appeared in a variety of journals, including Central European History, German Quarterly, German Studies Review, Germanic Review, Literature & History, and Modern Language Journal.
Jeffrey Schneider joined the Vassar faculty in 1997. He received his BA from Bates College and his master's and PhD in German Studies from Cornell University.
Professor Schneider’s scholarship spans a wide range of topics. His primary research explores debates on masculinity and sexuality in Imperial Germany (1871-1918), in particular the intersections of the Prussian-German military and the modern queer emancipation movement that began in Germany. He has also published on contemporary literature, drama, as well as, together with Silke von der Emde, language learning pedagogy and curriculum development. Most recently, he has begun work on a new queer studies project focused on the growing global popularity of Boys’ Love (BL) television and web series from China, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. His scholarship has appeared in a variety of journals, including Central European History, German Quarterly, German Studies Review, Germanic Review, Literature & History, and Modern Language Journal.
Like his research activities, Jeffrey Schneider’s teaching interests are diverse. In addition to teaching all levels of German language as well as German-language literature and culture from 1750 to today, he offers courses in English on Marx, Nietzsche, Freud and the discourse of sexuality in modern Germany. He also regularly teaches a first-year writing seminar as well as courses in international studies and queer and feminist studies.
In addition to his teaching and research, Professor Schneider serves as the faculty director of affirmative action in the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action/Title IX and chairs the Committee on Inclusion and Equity. Outside of Vassar, he is a co-founding member of End the New Jim Crow (ENJAN) in Poughkeepsie, a local community organization of volunteers who fight mass incarceration and racism in the criminal legal system. In that capacity he also supervises Vassar students interested in community-engaged learning opportunities with ENJAN and its court watching program.
Research and Academic Interests
- Imperial Germany
- Queer Media in Asia
- Masculinity, the Military and Militarism
Departments and Programs
Courses
Selected Recent Courses
GERM 101. Sex Before, During, and After the Nazis
GERM/GNCS 181. Nietzsche and His Followers
GERM/GNCS 182. Reading Freud and His Critics
GERM 301. Excessive Speech: Language and the Question of Style
INTL 106. Introduction to International Studies
WFQS 201. Introduction to Queer Studies
Selected Publications
Books
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Uniform Fantasies: Soldiers, Sex, and Queer Emancipation in Imperial Germany. (Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2023)
Selected Articles
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“The Emperor’s New Uniforms: The Uniform Fantasies of Wilhelm II and His Critics.” German Studies Review 47.1 (forthcoming February 2024).
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“The Captain of Köpenick and the Uniform Fantasies of German Militarism.” Central European History 55.2 (2022): 187–204.
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“Dueling and the Fantasmatic Specter of Male Honor in Imperial Germany: The Kaiser’s Will and Theodor Fontane’s Effi Briest.” Literature & History 31.1 (2022): 25–40.
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“Soliciting Fantasies: Knowing and Not-Knowing About Male Prostitution by Soldiers in Imperial Germany.” After the History of Sexuality: German Interventions. Ed. Dagmar Herzog, Helmut Puff, and Scott Spector. Oxford/New York: Berghahn, 2012. 124-138.