Why Germany, you ask?

Michelle tells me that there have been lots of people asking why we are in Germany for the next 10 months. I guess that means it is now my responsibility to tell all of you.

I'm a graduate student at Binghamton University in upstate New York. I study modern European history, specifically post-1945 German history. I finished all of my exams and courses last spring, and now I'm starting to work on my dissertation. To do that, I needed to come to Germany to conduct research.

What is my dissertation about, you might ask? Here's the short version (If you ever talk to me in person, you may want to avoid bringing up my work. I'll talk your ear off once I get going): I'm looking at the way television programs affected (and reflected) East and West German morality, ethics, and religion in the 1950s and 1960s. To do that, I'm looking at archival documents at the major television archives, located in Berlin and Frankfurt. There, that's as short as I can make it.

By the way, don't expect very many posts from me. I won't have a lot of free time while we're here. Poor Michelle looks to have WAY too much time on her hands, though, so be sure to comment away on what she writes. :)