Benjamin Bruch - Curriculum Vitae

Benjamin Bruch

Dr. Benjamin Bruch

Lektor für Keltologie
Institut für Anglistik, Amerikanistik und Keltologie
Vergleichende Indogermanische Sprachwissenschaft und Keltologie
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Am Hof 3-5, D-53113 Bonn
bruch@post.harvard.edu
b.bruch@uni-bonn.de

Curriculum Vitae

Download as PDF: European/A4 format • North American/Letter format

Personal

Date of Birth: 28 February 1973
Birthplace: Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
Citizenship: United States of America

Education

Ph.D. in Celtic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University, June 2005.
Preparation for the doctoral degree included work with medieval manuscripts in English, Latin, and Cornish as well as research on the history of English metrics and versification, English mystery and miracle plays, and the historical phonology of English, Welsh, and Cornish.

Dissertation: Cornish Verse Forms and the Evolution of Cornish Prosody, c. 1350-1611.
Director: Professor Patrick K. Ford.
Abstract:My doctoral thesis is an analysis of the system of versification employed by writers of Cornish verse in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, its origins, and its evolution. Since no contemporary descriptions of this system survive, I have reconstructed the ‘rules’ of Middle Cornish prosody based on the evidence of the six surviving texts from this period, which together comprise roughly 21,000 lines of verse, most of it religious drama. Most previous work on this topic has focused on individual texts, and has sought parallels (if at all) only among other Celtic literary traditions. This study is the first to examine the question of whether all of the known medieval and early modern Cornish verse texts are products of a single system of versification, and to explore the links between Middle Cornish verse and the stanza forms used in contemporary Middle English, French, and Latin literature.

A.M. in Celtic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University, June 2002.
Coursework for the master’s degree included seminars on medieval and modern Celtic languages and literatures, historical linguistics, and Indo-European studies.

A.B. in English and American Literature and Language, cum laude, Harvard University, June 1997.
Coursework for the bachelor’s degree included seminars, tutorials, and lectures on gay and lesbian studies, literary criticism (including feminist/queer theory, semiotics, deconstruction, and cultural studies), phonology, syntax, the history and structure of the English language, comparative literature, French literature, Arthurian literature, Shakespeare, English literature from Africa and South Asia, twentieth-century theatre, codicology, and palaeography.

University Teaching and Research

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn 
Bonn, Germany
Lecturer in Celtic Studies in the Institute of English, American and Celtic Studies at the University of Bonn, October 2009-present, teaching:

  1. “Frauen in der keltischen Welt,” a seminar examining the roles of women in ancient and medieval Celtic societies.
  2. “Keltische Metrik,” a lecture course on Celtic metrics and versification examining material from Continental Celtic, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish, and Breton sources.
  3. “Die Kelten im Altertum II,” a seminar focusing on the interpretation and translation of Continental Celtic languages.
  4. “Altirisch,” an introductory course in Old Irish.
  5. “Altirisch III,” an intermediate course in Old Irish featuring readings from Strachan’s Stories from the Táin.
  6. “Mittelkymrisch,” an introductory course in Middle Welsh featuring readings from Pwyll Pendeuic Dyued.
  7. “Mittelkymrisch II,” a second-semester course in Middle Welsh featuring readings from Math Uab Mathonwy.
  8. “Mittelkymrisch II: Mittelkymrische Mysterienspiele,” a second-semester course featuring readings from Middle Welsh mystery and morality plays.
  9. “Mittelbretonisch,” an introductory course in Middle Breton.
  10. “Spracherwerb und Sprachtraining Neukymrisch,” an introductory course in spoken Modern Welsh.
  11. “Spracherwerb und Sprachtraining Neukymrisch II,” a continuation of the above.
  12. “Geschichte der kymrischen Sprache und Literatur,” a lecture course tracing the history of the Welsh language and its literature from its origins to the present day.
  13. “Neukymrisch III: Kymrische Gegenwartsliteratur,” a seminar focusing on contemporary Welsh literature for advanced students of the language.
  14. “Neukymrisch IV,” an advanced course in Modern Welsh language and literature.
  15. “Neukymrisch IV: Neukymrische Konversation,” an advanced course focusing on developing fluency in spoken Modern Welsh.
  16. “Spracherwerb und Sprachtraining Neubretonisch,” an introductory course in spoken Modern Breton.
  17. “Neubretonisch II,” a continuation of the above.
  18. “Geschichte der bretonischen Sprache und Literatur,” a lecture course tracing the history of the Breton language and its literature from its origins to the present day.
  19. “Neokornisch I,” an introductory course in spoken Revived Cornish.
  20. “Neokornisch II,” a continuation of the above.
  21. “Geschichte der kornischen Sprache und Literatur,” a lecture course on the history of the Cornish language and its literature focusing on works from the Old and Middle Cornish periods.
  22. “Geschichte der kornischen Sprache und Literatur II,” a continuation of the above, focusing on works from the Late Cornish period.
  23. “Kornische Gegenwartsliteratur,” a survey of literature in revived Cornish.

Other responsibilities at the University include advising students in the B.A. and Magister programmes, attending committee meetings, designing final examinations for students in all three years of the B.A. programme, and helping to plan the curriculum for the current academic year.

Universität Wien 
Vienna, Austria
Visiting Professor of Indo-European Linguistics at the University of Vienna, March 2008-January 2009, during which time I designed and taught eight courses:

  1. “From Indo-European to Celtic,” a lecture course treating the historical development of early Celtic languages (Gaulish, Lepontic, Celtiberian, Old Irish, Old and Middle Welsh, Cornish, and Breton) from Indo-European.
  2. “Einführung ins Neuwalisische,” an introductory course in colloquial Modern Welsh
  3. “Neuwalisisch II,” a second-semester course in Modern Welsh.
  4. “Einführung ins Neokornische,” an introductory course in spoken revived Cornish.
  5. “Mittelwalisische Dichtung: Dafydd ap Gwilym,” a seminar examining the form, content, and context of the medieval Welsh poetry of Dafydd ap Gwilym and his contemporaries.
  6. “Indogermanische und keltische Dichtung,” a lecture course on the historical development of Celtic poetry and versification in relation to other Indo-European traditions.
  7. “Handschriften der britischen Inseln,” a seminar on palaeography and codicology focusing on manuscripts from Britain and Ireland.
  8. “Frauen in der keltischen Welt.”

Other responsibilities at the University included acting as an advisor and examiner for students writing masters’ theses or doctoral dissertations, attending committee meetings, and participating in the development of a new curriculum for the department of Indo-European and Celtic Studies, which was adopted in 2009.

Ongoing work supervising masters’ theses and doctoral dissertations, June 2008-present.

University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies 
Aberystwyth, Wales
Visiting Fellow conducting research in preparation for a scholarly edition of the Tregear Homilies, June-August 2007. My work at the Centre included designing and carrying out a research programme involving travel to Oxford’s Bodleian Library, the British Library, and other archives in Wales, England, and Cornwall, editing the text of a sixteenth-century manuscript for publication, and meeting regularly with my two collaborators.

Harvard University 
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Post-Doctoral Fellow in Celtic Languages and Literatures, July 2005-July 2008.

Teaching Fellow, February 2001-June 2002, teaching discussion sections for:

  1. “Poets and Poetry in the Celtic Literary Tradition,” a lecture course taught by Prof. Patrick K. Ford focusing on the history and composition of medieval Welsh and Irish poetry, Spring 2001.
  2. “Knowledge of Language,” an introductory lecture course in linguistics taught by Prof. Bert Vaux, Fall 2001.
  3. “The Hero of Irish Myth and Saga,” a lecture course on the epic literature of medieval Ireland taught by Prof. Tomás Ó Cathasaigh, Spring 2002.

Duties as a teaching fellow included attending weekly meetings with other fellows, helping design writing assignments and examinations, leading weekly discussion sections for groups of 15-20 students, and marking papers and exams. The two Celtic courses focused primarily on teaching undergraduates how to apply close reading skills to the analysis of literary texts.

Research Assistant to Prof. Patrick K. Ford, Summer 2000.

Other Teaching and Research Experience

Studienhaus für Keltische Sprachen und Kulturen
Königswinter, Germany
Language instructor for “Modernes Kornisch I,” an intensive weekend course in revived Cornish for beginners, November 2010.

Cornish Language Partnership
Truro, Cornwall
Paid consultant and teacher helping to develop the Standard Written Form for revived Cornish, to write and publish materials relating to the new orthography, and to train teachers in its use, December 2007-July 2008. Ongoing work with the Cornish Language Partnership, advising on translation, vocabulary, and the production of learning materials, August 2008-present.

Celtic Institute of North America
Berkeley Springs, West Virginia
Founder and director of a school offering workshops and seminars in Celtic languages, literatures, folklore, history, and culture, October 2006-June 2008.

Kernewek dre Lyther
Correspondence course teacher and representative for North America, September 1998-present.

Teacher and organizer of the Annual North American Cornish Language Weekend, Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, August 2004, 2005, and 2006; November 2007.

Other Experience and Skills

Web Design
I have considerable experience with HTML programming, and since 2006, I have designed and maintained a number of websites. These include www.benjaminbruch.com, a site featuring course materials and links to web-based resources for my students at the University of Bonn, and www.kernewegva.com, a site providing information, resources, and streaming audio and video material for learners, teachers, and speakers of revived Cornish.

Desktop Publishing
Over the last decade, I have been involved in the editing and production of a number of publications, including two issues of a magazine for Cornish language learners, an issue of the Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, and the formal written specification of the new Standard Written Form of Cornish. I have extensive experience with Microsoft Word and related software.

PowerPoint
Beginning in 2002, I was one of the first members of the Celtic academic community to use PowerPoint extensively in my teaching and in conference presentations. I have found it to be an extremely useful tool for discussing metrics and palaeography, since it allows for dramatic visual displays which can be annotated and manipulated in real time. Examples of my presentations may be viewed here.

Teaching and Research Interests

Literature:
Medieval and modern English literature; medieval poetry and drama; metrics and versification; medieval and modern literature in Celtic languages; literature in minority languages; literature and performance; literature and translation; comparative literature; science fiction and fantasy; children’s literature; American literature; French literature; representations of the human body in literature; gender and sexuality studies; cultural studies.

Linguistics:
Ancient and modern languages of the British Isles; history and structure of the English language; dialectology; phonology; syntax; historical linguistics; language and gender; Indo-European; sociolinguistics; language contact; language death, preservation, and revival; language planning; bilingualism; linguistic field methods.

Languages:
Old and Middle English; Middle and Modern Welsh, Breton, and Cornish; Old and Middle Irish.

Other:
Medieval manuscripts; palaeography; bibliography; codicology; folklore and mythology; music.

Honours and Awards

Harvard University:
Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Spring 2001.

Summer School Tuition Waiver Fellowship, Summer 2001 (approximately US$3000)

Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Fall 2001.

Graduate Society Dissertation Completion Fellowship, 2004-2005 academic year (US$17,500).

Commencement Marshal for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, June 2005.

Cornish Gorsedd:
Won the Mordon-Caradar Rosebowl for Prose Fiction in Cornish, 1997.

Made a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedd through examination in the Cornish language, 1998.

Professional Organizations

Modern Language Association of America (MLA).

Celtic Studies Association of North America (CSANA).

North American Association for Celtic Language Teachers (NAACLT).

Brennos - Verein für Keltologie

Service

Manuscript reviewer for the Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Keltische Forschungen (journal and monograph series), and the Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie.

Member of the Editorial Board for Keltische Forschungen, a peer-reviewed journal of Celtic studies based in Vienna, Austria, October 2009-present.

Member of the Corpus Working Group established to advise the Cornish Language Partnership on linguistic research, standardization of vocabulary, and the publication of dictionaries, textbooks and other learning materials, July 2009-present.

Member of the Linguistic Working Group and Ad Hoc Committee established by the Cornish Language Partnership to advise on the adoption of a Standard Written Form for Revived Cornish, February 2007-July 2008.

Member-at-large of the Executive Committee of the Celtic Studies Association of North America (CSANA) for 2005-2007.

Member of the Editorial Board for the Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, vol. 20/21 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University, 2007).

Organizer (with Charlene Shipman) of the 21st Annual Harvard Celtic Colloquium, an international Celtic studies conference featuring 26 speakers from five countries. Harvard University, 12-14 October 2001.

Organizer (with Charlene Shipman) of “Bridging the Irish Sea,” a series of Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Research Workshops in the Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University, September 2000-May 2001.

Professional Outreach

Taught a basic Cornish language course at the 11th Annual Potomac Celtic Festival, Leesburg, Virginia, June 2004.

Provided Cornish language consultation (translation, bilingual signs, basic Cornish instruction, children’s programme) for the 13th Gathering of Cornish Cousins, Mars Hill, North Carolina, July 2005.

Taught an intensive introductory course in Cornish at the 13th and 14th Annual Cornish Festival and Celtic Celebration, Mineral Point, Wisconsin, September 2005 and 2006.

Languages

English:
Native speaker. University coursework in medieval English literature and the history of the English language, English syntax, and phonology. Extensive work with medieval and early modern English manuscripts (Brut Chronicle, miracle and mystery plays, fifteenth- and sixteenth-century legal documents). Taught a course on palaeography at the University of Vienna focusing on manuscripts from the British Isles, including Old and Middle English texts.

German:
One semester of German for reading knowledge (intensive), Summer 2001; nine years of further study. Taught numerous courses through the medium of German at the Universities of Bonn and Vienna. Excellent reading and speaking ability.

French:
Seven years of study through high school (AP Language); two semesters of French literature in college. Passed departmental examination with distinction, March 2005. Good reading and speaking ability.

Latin:
Two years of independent study; passed departmental examination in May 2002. Considerable experience with medieval Latin manuscripts.

Welsh:
Three semesters of Modern Welsh in graduate school (language and literature); good reading and speaking ability. One semester of Middle Welsh (a third-semester course in medieval literature) in graduate school. Currently teaching introductory and advanced courses in Middle and Modern Welsh at the University of Bonn.

Cornish:
Fifteen years of study, fluent speaker. Wrote articles and short stories published in the Cornish-language monthly An Gannas (September 1996-July 1998). Edited and published a bilingual (Cornish and English) magazine, January-September 1999. Extensive work with medieval manuscripts.

Breton:
One year of Modern Breton in college; thirteen years of further study. Good reading, writing, and speaking ability. One semester of Middle Breton in graduate school; additional research as part of ongoing work in Celtic historical linguistics. Currently teaching Modern Breton at the University of Bonn.

Irish:
One year of Modern Irish in graduate school. Two years of Old and Middle Irish language and literature in graduate school, as well as one semester of historical linguistics focusing primarily on Old Irish. Currently teaching Old Irish at the University of Bonn.

Scottish Gaelic:
One year of study in graduate school.

Manx Gaelic:
Ongoing independent study.

Other:
University course work on Gaulish, Lepontic, and Celtiberian inscriptions, Hittite and Hieroglyphic Luvian, Armenian, and Proto-Indo-European.

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