Gerlind Institute Team

Marion Gerlind, Ph.D.
Director and Founder of Gerlind Institute for Cultural Studies

I am passionate about my mother tongue, German: its sound, complexity, and precision. Working with students makes me happy because I enjoy communicating and learning across languages, cultures, and differences. Coming from a metro city like Hamburg, I have always been curious to read and dialogue about meaningful experiences in life. For nearly 20 years I have taught German language, literature, and culture at college and community settings in Germany and the United States. After receiving my M.A. in German at San Francisco State University, I achieved a Ph.D. in German, with a Minor in Feminist Studies, at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

My dissertation interpreted the oral histories of Jewish Holocaust survivors from Germany and Poland, focusing on women who came from working-class and rural poor families whose voices were “off the record.” Integrating my scholarly and creative writing with teaching, I use language as a tool to express thoughts and emotions, to connect with others, and to contribute to healing in the world.

I am especially interested in German cultural studies of the 20th and 21st centuries, including the Weimar Republic, Third Reich, Holocaust, Eastern Europe and post-World War II literature. Of all these subjects, I am particularly interested in women’s and minority’s writing, oral history, popular culture, and film. However, I love teaching every period of German history and all levels of German language classes. I support students in meeting their educational goals, be it fluency in speaking, mastering grammar and writing, translating, passing exams…you name it! I am dedicated to making your studies fun and as easy as they can be while leading to your success!

web site: mgerlind.com
e-mail: marion@gerlindinstitute.org
Marion Gerlind

Jutta Schinscholl, M.A.

Jutta graduated in Philosophy, Literature and Cultural Science from the University of Leipzig, Germany and is currently teaching German in San Francisco. She is committed to language teaching and had students from all over the world. She believes that taking on a foreign language is important, as it opens the students' mind to other ways of thinking and living. Jutta also likes to discuss philosophical topics. In her recent work on Hannah Arendt she describes how Arendt reconstructs the idea of humanity after its breakdown during the Shoah.

e-mail: jutta@gerlindinstitute.org
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Jutta Schinscholl

JB
Owner, DRAGA design and Pre-Paid Legal Services

  • Web design
  • Technical support
  • Co-sponsor of Filmnacht

JB has been a computer guru for over 20 years, and a German student for nearly as long! She enjoys the comraderie of the Klönschnack and the great films screened during the Filmnacht series. She believes the Gerlind Institute provides quality instruction and cultural studies for German speakers in the Bay Area.

web site: barenose.com and Less Than a Cup of Coffee a Day.com
e-mail: jb@gerlindinstitute.org

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JB

Robert Leonard Rope

  • Educator
  • Independent photo-journalist

Robert is busily finishing up his first photo-journalistic work focusing on stories from the former Yugoslavia: “Portraits of Humanity.” His upcoming project will specifically center on the Holocaust, as experienced in the former Yugoslavia and Albania. We plan to videotape the testimony of survivors as well as witnesses.

e-mail: robert@gerlindinstitute.org
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Robert Rope