Sheirich (Richard) Papers, 1955-2009

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Summary

Title:
Richard Sheirich Papers
Dates:
1955-2009
Creators:
Sheirich, Richard, 1927-2011
Abstract:
This collection contains course materials, departmental correspondence and planning documents, and grant proposals belonging to Pomona College professor, Richard M. Sheirich.
Extent:
10 Linear Feet (9 record cartons, 2 document boxes, 1 half-size document box)
Language:
Languages represented in collection: English, German.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Richard Sheirich Papers (PC-0020). Pomona College Archives, Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, California.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains materials belonging to Pomona College professor, Richard M. Sherich, for courses in German language, literature, and culture. Additional materials include those related to the "German Across the Curriculum" program and departmental correspondence and planning documents from Sheirich's involvement in the Modern Languages Department, study abroad program, Radio Oldenborg, and various other committees and programs. Grant proposals, annual reports, sabbatical reports, and correspondence with colleagues and students are also included.

Biographical / historical:

Richard M. Sheirich was born in 1927 in Erie, Pennsylvania and attended local schools through high school. As his parents felt 16 was too young to go to college, he spent an extra year at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, graduating in 1945. He attended Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, for part of his freshman year before enlisting in the U.S. Navy. After a year's service at Williamsburg, Virginia, Sheirich was discharged and returned to Colgate to complete his undergraduate degree in 1949.

He earned a master's degree in German from Northwestern University, and a Ph.D. in German from Harvard University in 1965. He also held a DAAD Fellowship at Universität Hamburg in 1957-58. After teaching at Colgate and UC Berkeley, he joined the Pomona faculty in 1965, and for 31 years taught courses in German language, literature and culture ranging from early tribal migrations to the Cold War and reunification. He also conducted research on Viennese poet, novelist, and playwright Richard Beer-Hofmann, producing a number of articles as well as an edition of Beer-Hofmann's correspondence, Der Briefwechsel mit Paula, 1896-1937. Most summers, Professor Sheirich spent time in Vienna, doing research.

In the 1990s, Sheirich led a major grant-funded project, "German Across the Curriculum," to better integrate the study of German into non-language courses in the humanities and social sciences. The goal of the project, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, was to improve foreign-language skills and to promote, among both faculty and students, a greater understanding of the complexities inherent in a foreign culture and of the relationship between language and other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Perdita Sheirich, 2012, 2014.
Processing information:

Processed and arranged by Jamie Weber.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into the following two series:

  • Series 1: Course Materials, 1969-1993 and undated
  • Series 2: Administrative Materials, 1955-2009 and undated
Accruals:

Additions to the collection are not anticipated.

Physical location:
Please consult repository.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Jamie Weber and Sean Stanley
Date Prepared:
© 2021
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2021-03-25 12:01:09 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection open for research.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to the Archives

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Richard Sheirich Papers (PC-0020). Pomona College Archives, Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, California.

Location of this collection:
333 N. College Way
Claremont, CA 91711, US
Contact:
(909) 621-8138
archives@pomona.edu
Website